Stephen F. Austin Downs Northern Iowa, 22-20, in Battle of Top-10 Teams
No. 11/ 10 Stephen F. Austin 22, No. 10/13 Northern Iowa 20
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - After a first half that saw 42 points, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack defense pitched a shutout in the final 30 minutes to preserve a 22-20 victory over Northern Iowa at the UNI Dome Saturday night. The victory moves the No. 11/10 Lumberjacks to 2-1 on the season, while No. 13 Northern Iowa falls to 1-1.
"You never know what to expect in big games like this," SFA coach J.C. Harper said. "I talked to our guys all this week that our big players have to step up. I felt like our receivers and Jeremy (Moses) did that tonight.
"Northern Iowa players really stepped up too. Carlos Anderson and Tirrell Rennie were phenomenal tonight. We couldn't tackle those guys, but we just came out on top in a hard fought game. We are striving to be what UNI already is."
Despite all the first half offense, it was a defensive play that turned out to be the difference in the game. On second-and-13 from the 10-yard line, UNI quarterback was dropped in the end zone by Devin Ducote and Sean Warren for a safety. The play at the time gave SFA a 9-6 lead. The defensive highlight would prove the difference in the game.
The Lumberjacks didn't get out to a good start as UNI quarterback Tirrell Rennie carried the ball 75 yards for a touchdown on the games first play to take a 6-0 lead. The SFA offense finally settled down as senior quarterback Jeremy Moses guided SFA on an 11-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown reception from freshman Kris Lott, his first career TD catch.
After dropping Rennie for a safety, the Lumberjacks were back on the attack in the second quarter. SFA tacked on another score after Travis Walker capped a nine-play, 55-yard drive with a one-yard plunge, but SFA fumbled the snap on the extra-point attempt. The touchdown run was the first of Walker's career.
The momentum didn't last long. In fact, it quickly swung in Northern Iowa's favor as Carlos Anderson took the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown. The Panthers regained the lead when Jerred Herring added an 83-yard touchdown reception eight minutes later. The Lumberjack offense got things turned around with a late drive as sophomore Romonté Hampton scored on a one-yard run to give SFA a two-point advantage, 22-20 heading into the locker room.
SFA held the football for nearly nine minutes long than the Panthers in the opening half, but the 'Jacks were victimized by big plays. Northern Iowa recorded four plays of 39 yards or longer in the first 30 minutes. But the big plays were neutralized by penalties as the hosts were penalized eight times for 79 yards in the first half.
The Panthers outgained SFA, 272-261, in the first half due in large part to 126 yards rushing. Moses completed 25-of-34 passes for 231 yards in the first half, surpassing the 10,000-yard mark for his career.
The Panthers nearly closed out the third quarter with the only points of the of the 15-minute stanza. UNI's Rennie broke away from what would have been a sure sack on third, and took the ball 67 yards down to the SFA 18, but after offsetting penalties, UNI was forced to replay the down. After 42 points in the opening half, neither team could muster a point in the third quarter.
Neither team could crack the scoreboard in the second half as SFA held on for the win. The Panthers recorded 474 yards on the night, while SFA finished with 435. Moses completed 37 passes for 356 yards and one touchdown. Crawford led all receivers with nine catches for 130 yards. SFA held the football for nearly seven minutes longer than UNI.
The Lumberjacks return to action Saturday when they return home to host Lamar. The game against the Cardinals is slated to begin at 6 p.m. from Homer Bryce Stadium.
Texas State 21, No. 18/17 Cal Poly 12
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Facing a triple-option running attack for the first time this season, the Texas State football team answered with a strong running game of its own as the Bobcats upset No. 18/17 Cal Poly 21-12 on Saturday at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium.
"This was a big win," Texas State coach Brad Wright said. "Our defense played well against an option team. (Texas State defensive coordinator Fred Bleil) and his staff did an incredible job. Playing against the option is a completely different game plan. We did the little things that it took to be successful. This victory goes to the defense, no doubt about it."
It also goes to Texas State running backs Karrington Bush and Dexter Imade as they answered a challenge as well. Bush Imade led the Bobcats with 95 yards rushing and scored the first two touchdowns of his collegiate career on 16 carries. While, Bush gained 86 yards and scored another touchdown on 14 carries.
Bush scored his touchdown on a 37-yard run to give Texas State an early 7-0 lead with 10:45 left to play in the opening quarter. The scoring drive began when Tyler Arndt completed a 28-yard pass to Daren Dillard to the Mustang 43-yard line. Then Arndt completed a six-yard pass to Corey Scott to set up Bush's touchdown run.
Cal Poly's Mark Rodgers returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to Texas State's 20-yard line. But Texas State's defense held and the Mustangs were forced to settle for a 32-yard field by Jake West.
The two teams didn't score again until the third quarter. The Mustangs scored the first points in the second half when West kicked another field goal, this time from 33 yards away with 7:46 left in the period.
Texas State answered with nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive as Bush and Imade accounted for the bulk of the yardage. The drive started with Texas State taking possession at its own 35-yard line. After Arndt completed a pass to Eric Gentry to give the Bobcats a first down at the 43, Bush gained 30 yards on a run around the right side. Then, Imade broke free up the middle for a 26-yard jaunt just shy of the goal line.
The strangest play of the night statistically happened on the next play. Imade tried to run a sweep around the left side, when he was tackled by Kenny Jackson for an 8-yard loss. But, Jackson was called for grabbing the face mask and Cal Poly was penalized half the distance to the goal. As a result, Texas State took over on its 4-yard line with a first and goal. The Bobcats scored two plays later when Imade went up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown run. After Justin Garelick kicked the extra point, the Bobcats held a 14-6 lead with 4:29 left to play in the quarter.
"I was relieved to help out the defense mainly," Imade said. "They had been working so hard the whole game."
On Cal Poly's next drive, the Mustangs drove down the field 74-yards for a touchdown to pull to within 14-12 when quarterback Doug Shumway scored on a one-yard run up the middle. Cal Poly elected to try a two-point conversion in an effort to tie the score, but Shumway's pass was overthrown out of the end zone.
The Bobcats answered quickly as they took the ensuing kickoff and drove down the field once again. Imade capped off the drive when he rushed up the middle for a 37-yard touchdown run. Garelick added the extra point to make the score 21-12.
The Mustangs never cross the 50-yard line on their last three possessions as Texas State's defense forced Cal Poly to punt the ball away each time. The first came after Shumway completed a pass to Dominique Johnson for six yards to the Mustang 40-yard line. But, Shumway's next pass to Jordan Yoakum fell incomplete.
Texas State drove the ball down to Cal Poly's 42-yard line before Bobcat punter Ben Follis pinned Cal Poly back at its own four-yard line. The Mustangs did get a first down to the 16, but Johnson caught Shumway's third-down pass out of bounds and forced Cal Poly to punt again.
The Bobcats were force to punt again four downs later and Follis answered with a 53-yard punt that forced the Mustangs to take over at their four-yard line a second straight time. Cal Poly was able to move the ball down to Texas State's 47-yard line before the game ended.
The victory improves Texas State's record to 2-1 and Cal Poly drops to 2-1.
Northwestern State 17, Tarleton State 14
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State quarterback Paul Harris led the Demons on an 88-yard drive to a touchdown to open the game and Northwestern never trailed, holding off Division II power Tarleton State 17-14 Saturday night at Turpin Stadium.
The win was the first of the season in three tries for Northwestern, and ended a 13-game skid dating back to the beginning of last season. Tarleton, which was No. 10 in the final Division II poll and had wins in two of its last three games against Southland Conference foes, dipped to 0-3 this fall.
Harris threw for 208 yards on 15-of-23 aim, including an 8-yard touchdown to T.C. Harris that put Northwestern up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game. The Demons got a 1-yard Sterling Endsley touchdown plunge early in the second quarter, and extended their lead to 17-7 with 8:37 remaining on a 44-yard John Shaughnessy field goal.
The Texans closed within 17-14 on a 5-yard Aaron Doyle run with 1:29 to go, but did not try an onside kick and tried to regain possession by using timeouts and forcing a Demon punt. But on third-and-4 with 1:11 left, Harris looped a play-action bootleg pass to fullback Brant Legendre that went for 35 yards and allowed Northwestern to run out the clock.
"This feels so great for these players, for this coaching staff, for our students, for our band, for this community, for our administration. There have been so many people who have been so kind to us and so supportive, we won this one for them," said second-year coach Bradley Dale Peveto, who was given the game ball by his players in the locker room afterwards.
"Tarleton State made it difficult and we knew they would. They fought their tails off. They have a lot of very good players and they played a great game," Peveto said. "I'm very proud of our team for the awesome effort we got, and for making the plays to win."
Northwestern outgained Tarleton 354-246. It was a rugged game with each team flagged 14 times. Linebacker Derek Rose led the Demons with nine tackles while cornerback Cashas Pollard made eight and defensive end Ledell Love had six.
Endsley led the rushing attack for Northwestern with 50 yards on 12 carries. Nine different players had receptions, topped by Bradley Brown (3-41) and Jake Bryan (3-31).
Tarleton answered the Demons' quick opening scoring drive with a 12-play, 68-yard march on its first possession to tie the game at 7. Jeken Frye snagged a 3-yard pass from Doyle with 5:40 left in the opening quarter to knot it up.
Northwestern went on top to stay less than a minute into the second period. Harris completed passes of 11 and 12 yards to Endsley, and a 23-yarder to Brown, to set up Endlsey's 1-yard dive up the middle 14:10 before halftime to produce a 14-7 advantage.
On its first series after halftime, Northwestern moved to the Texans' 23 and failed on a fake field goal. Early in the fourth quarter, the Demons' Lamont Simmons recovered a fumble at the Tarleton 24, but the visitors' Lonnie Buchanan recovered an Northwestern fumble at the 14 on the next play.
True freshman Rumeal Morris had a 13-yard run and Harris added a 12-yarder as the Demons moved 31 yards on 7 plays to give Shaughnessy his 44-yard field goal try with 8:37 remaining for the 17-7 lead.
Doyle led the Texans downfield in the waning minutes as two pass interference penalties and two more defensive infractions aided the visitors on a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive. But the Texans chose not to try an onside kick and were unable to regain possession.
The Demons head up to North Dakota next Saturday to play the Fighting Sioux in a 4 p.m. contest at the Alerus Center.
Central Arkansas 21, Murray State 20
CONWAY, Ark. -Central Arkansas, which lost seven close games last season, turned the tables Saturday night, scoring a late touchdown and then blocking a field-goal attempt in the final seconds to secure a 21-20 victory over Murray State at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
Sophomore running back Jackie Hinton scored on a 22-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter and Eddie Carmona's point-after gave the Bears a one-point lead. Sophomore defensive back Marcus Dumas then blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt by the Racers (0-3) with 34 seconds remaining andUCA ran out the clock for the victory.
The Bears, who had only 105 yards of offense in the second half, put together the drive they needed midway through the fourth quarter, beginning at their own 19 after a Murray State punt. Junior quarterback Nathan Dick completed a 16-yard pass to sophomore running back Terence Bobo, then an 11-yarder to junior receiver Joseph Harris. Dick added a 12-yard scramble for a first down at the Murray 44.
Redshirt freshman Wynrick Smothers came on and ran 9 yards for a first down and Dick did the same to put the Bears at the Murray State 22. Hinton then went around the right end 22 yards for the tying touchdown with 4:21 left on the clock.
Carmona kicked off but UCA was called for a penalty and Carmona had to kick again. He boomed one to the Murray State 8 but Dexter Barnett returned it 37 yards. However, the Racers were called for an illegal block, pushing them back to their own 24.
Murray State, which finished with 323 total yards, drove into UCA territory with help from a UCA personal foul. But the Bears' defense held, tackling Duane Brady for a 1-yard loss on a third-and-6 play. Kienan Cullen came on for what would have been a career-long 50-yard field goal but Dumas sailed through and blocked the attempt to seal the win.
The Bears led early on a 50-yard pass from Dick to senior receiver Kenneth Robey. Murray State got a 43-yard field goal from Cullen to close it to 7-3 but Central Arkansas got a 7-yard touchdown run from Hinton to re-take the lead at 10-3.
Murray State quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt then connected twice with Daniel Ard for touchdowns, from 16 and 8 yards, to take a 17-14 lead at halftime.
The UCA offense struggled in the third quarter, punting three consecutive times and turning the ball over on downs another time. But the Bears' defense held the Racers out of the end zone, allowing just a 39-yard field goal by Cullen with 5:16 left in the third quarter.
Junior linebacker Frank Newsome led the Bears' defense with 14 tackles and an interception, followed by sophomore safety Seth Allison with 11 tackles. Senior linebacker Tok Opeloye had nine tackles and two for loss. Sophomore cornerback Desmond Wilcox had the Bears' other interception and also recorded five tackles.
Dick finished 19-of-33 passing for 210 yards and one touchdown. He also added a team-high 47 rushing yards. Hinton was next with 32 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Carmona punted six times for a 43.0-yard average.
Ehrhardt completed 35-of-46 passes for 247 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Central Arkansas travels to Tulsa next Saturday. Kickoff is 6 p.m.
Lamar 29, Southeastern Louisiana 28
HAMMOND, La. - Andre Bevil threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Hayes with 1:52 remaining Saturday night, and Mark Murrill recovered a last-minute fumble to highlight Lamar's comeback from a 20-point deficit in its 29-28 victory over Southeastern Louisiana.
In coming within 12 yards of his school-record 429 passing yards set in the Cardinals' season opener against McNeese State, Bevil guided his teammates on an 11-play, 80-yard drive to the winning score. His 34 completions (on 55 attempts) gave him another school record, exceeding by one the 33 completions John Evans had in a 1989 game against Angelo State.
Murrill's game-preserving fumble recovery came at the Lamar 48-yard line with 59.3 seconds remaining, and the Cardinals went to 2-1 in the early going by draining the clock on three running plays by Cody Hussey and Bevil's final incompletion as the final second ticked off the Strawberry Stadium clock.
"I'm so proud of this football team," said a jubilant Ray Woodard, Lamar's head coach, moments after the game ended. "At halftime, the players had their lips poking out. They knew they had stunk it up (with turnovers and costly penalties) for 30 minutes.
"In the second half, this team came together and made some huge strides. We made it difficult on ourselves at times, but I'm so glad we have a bunch of guys who want to play hard and to win.
"After Southeastern scored to go up by 20 points on the first possession of the second half, we could've tucked it in and gotten beat by 40. We came back and made it a whale of a game on both sides of the ball."
In addition to Hayes' leaping catch in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, Bevil also threw scoring strikes of 21 yards to Hayes in the first quarter and 13 yards to Hayes in the third as well as a 2-yarder to Marcus Jackson early in the fourth.
"When we were down by 20 (points), the only thing I could think about was pride and heart," said Bevil, a junior from West Orange-Stark. "We dedicated ourselves to fighting right down to the end. We fought like dogs the entire second half.
"I got hit, and I was on the ground when J.J. made the winning catch. I didn't see it, but when I heard our fans go up in roar, I knew J.J. had caught the ball. J.J. is a bigtime player."
Hayes, a junior from Diboll by way of Navarro College finished with six catches for 87 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Powdrill also had 87 receiving yards on seven catches, and Jackson had six grabs for 78 yards and Kendrick Prejean two for 73 yards.
The Cardinals wound up with 434 total yards, 10 fewer than the 1-2 Lions accumulated. Quarterback Brian Young threw for a career-high 301 yards on 24-for-35 accuracy, while Sam Fairley rushed for a game-high 98 yards, and Kory Theodore accumulated a career-high 164 receiving yards on seven catches.
Zeke Jones had a pair of 1-yard touchdown dives and a 5-yard scoring run for the Lions, and Theodore scored their other touchdown on a 30-yard catch early in the second quarter.
A 23-yard Bevil pass to Powdrill on a third-and-22 play helped enable the Cardinals to drive inside SLU's 10-yard line on the game's first offensive series, but the scoring opportunity was lost when Stout was wide left on 24-yard field goal try with 10:57 left in the first quarter.
Linebacker Asim Hicks promptly retrieved the ball for the Cardinals, however, by recovering a first-down fumble at the Lion 25-yard line. The Cards cashed this time as Bevil took them the distance in four snappy plays and ended the drive with a 21-yard pass to Hayes just inside the end zone on the left sideline.
The Jackson-to-Jackson connection of Marcus to Darby clicked for the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals their 8-0 lead with 9:41 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Lions retaliated with an 11-play, 67-yard touchdown drive on which Young set up Jones' 5-yard run up the middle for the score with a clutch 5-yard pass to Simmie Yarborough.
It then became the Lions' turn to play takeaway as weak safety Curtis Strong intercepted a Bevil pass near midfield with 4:47 left in the first quarter. The Lions were unable to convert, however as they turned over the ball over on downs near the three-minute mark.
Kollin Kahler's 49-yard punt backed the Lions inside their 10-yard line late in the first quarter, but the Cardinals failed to capitalize on the field position advantage as Billy Chavis jumped offside on a punt attempt, enabling Southeastern to maintain possession. The Cards wound up paying dearly for the mistake as Young completed his 30-yard TD pass to Theodore on the second play of the second quarter to put the Lions up 14-8.
Bevil completed a gutsy fourth-down pass of 6 yards to Powdrill on Lamar's ensuing possession, but on the next play cornerback Clint Coleman wrestled the ball from Hayes in the end zone to rob the Cardinals of an almost certain touchdown.
After forcing an Southeastern punt, the Cardinals committed another costly mistake as Bevil and Hussey missed connections on a handoff near midfield, and linebacker Mark Newbill recovered for the Lions.
The Lions received further help on a personal foul penalty against Lamar's defense, but cornerback Braden Thomas saved the day for the Cardinals by coming up with a tipped-pass interception near the goal line with 4:40 left in the half.
The Lions extended their lead to 21-8 with a seven-play, 39-yard drive that Jones ended with a 1-yard dive into the north end zone with 53.8 seconds remaining before halftime. Fairley helped set up the score with first-down runs of 13 and 18 yards.
Southeastern held a 220-131 advantage in total yards at the intermission, but the biggest difference was in the turnover column - three for the Cardinals and one for the Lions.
Young hit Theodore in stride on a 49-yard pass to highlight Southeastern's seven-play, 67-yard scoring drive to open the second half. Jones dived 1-yard for his third TD on the night to put the Lions up 28-8 with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals answered with a six-play, 72-yard scoring drive of their own as Bevil connected with Marcus Jackson for a big 46-yard gain down the right sideline then hit Hayes on a 13-yarder for the TD with 9:54 left in the third quarter.
A 68-yard Bevil-to-Powdrill pass got the Cardinals out of a third-and-26 hole on the third play of the fourth quarter, and they went on to complete the 11-play, 90-yard drive that pulled them to within 28-22 with 10:45 remaining. Marcus Jackson got the touchdown with a leaping catch in back of the end zone for the 2-yard score.
Seth Sebastikan was wide right on a 34-yard field goal attempt with 6:37 left, giving the Cardinals an opportunity to overcome their six-point deficit.
The Cardinals will return to the road this Saturday for another taste of Southland Conference opposition when they play Stephen F. Austin State at 6 p.m. in Nacogdoches' Homer Bryce Stadium. Lamar is at Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m.
South Alabama 39, Nicholls 21
MOBILE, Ala. - Nicholls put forth its best offensive showing of the season with 21 points and 418 yards of total offense, but could not hold off South Alabama as the Jaguars won 39-21 in Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
"We could not keep the momentum," Nicholls coach Charlie Stubbs said. "We made big plays and had good scoring drives, but they (South Alabama) matched our momentum, and once they took it, we could not get it back.
"We are getting better on offense, but we still missed on plays that were there. I tell the team all the time that in a given game you are only going to have a few opportunities to make big plays, and we missed on our fair share tonight."
The Colonels (0-3) were led by sophomore quarterback LaQuintin Caston with 319 yards passing that included two touchdowns, while also finishing 13-of-23 with one interception. Accounting for two of the scores was junior running back Jesse Turner with a career day that included 205 yards of total offense (144 receiving and 61 rushing).
Leading the Colonels on the defensive side was junior linebacker Pa'a Kamauoha with 10 total tackles (six solo), while true freshman linebacker Warren Lennix accounted for the team's only sack.
The Jaguars (2-0) had 490 yards of total in the win with 282 of it coming on the ground. South Alabama had two running backs go over the 100-yard mark in the victory.
After stopping the Jaguars on their opening possession, the Colonels marched right down the field and scored on a fourth-and-one play that saw Turner shake two would-be tacklers for a 33-yard touchdown run. Turner sprung free off the left side following a key block by redshirt freshman fullback Russ Gisclair.
True freshman kicker Andrew Dolan put it through the uprights for the PAT, and Nicholls led 7-0 with 10:33 left in the first quarter. It was the first time that the Colonels had stopped an opponent on their opening drive, and scored on their opening offensive series.
South Alabama followed with a score, and capping of a two-play 11-yard drive was Brandon Ross with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Jaguars were aided on the drive by a 69-yard kickoff return and a Colonel penalty.
However, Nicholls matched their momentum, and on the next offensive series, Caston and Turner hooked up with a screen pass that went for a 95-yard touchdown. It was the second longest pass play in school history, second to the 97-yard score Brad Smith and Sullivan Beard connected on against Jacksonville State in 1999.
Dolan's PAT was good, and Nicholls retook the lead, 14-7 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
However, South Alabama went on a scoring tirade in the second quarter, outscoring Nicholls 20-0 to take a 27-14 lead into halftime. The first two scoring drives in the quarter by the Jaguars were made possible after the Colonels failed to convert a fourth down attempt, and the next came after a fumble by Kenyad Blair.
After stalling on their opening drive, Nicholls needed a stop on defense and got one with a bad quarterback-to-running back exchange that sophomore defensive end Fernandez Garner came up with.
Nicholls then went 86 yards on four plays with the drive being capped off with a 62-yard touchdown reception by sophomore wide receiver Andrew Wynn. It was Wynn's first career touchdown, and longest reception.
Dolan's PAT was good, cutting the Jaguar lead, 27-21 at the 6:22 mark of the third quarter. It was the only score in the third quarter by either team.
However, the first play of the fourth quarter was a Jaguar score that went 20 yards on the ground by Kendall Houston to give South Alabama the 34-21 advantage with 14:52 left in the game.
South Alabama scored a total of 12 points in the fourth quarter, while Nicholls was held without for the remainder of the game.
Nicholls will play its first home game of the season next week when they host Bacone College at 4 p.m.
Western Illinois 56, Sam Houston State 14
MACOMB, Ill. - Just when it looked like the light was beginning to turn on for a young Bearkats squad, Western Illinois flipped off the switch.
The Leathernecks assaulted the end zone from the ground and through the air and used three third-quarter scores to start the second half to turn what was once a close game into a runaway.
Senior Matt Barr tied a career-high with three touchdown passes and set a school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 125 as Western Illinois routed Sam Houston State 56-14 Saturday afternoon at Hanson Field.
"I thought this was a game we could have easily scored 35 points, we just couldn't sustain any drives in the second half," Bearkats coach Willie Fritz said.
"Defensively, we just gave up too many big plays and we didn't tackle well at all. We had several chances to sack their quarterback and stop a play from happening. There were 10 or 12 times we had the right play called and didn't execute. We have to go back to square one on tackling."
Down 28-14 at the half, the Bearkats (0-2) weren't having any trouble moving the ball. The second half was a different story, though. Sam Houston had three-and-outs on its first three possessions of the third quarter.
Western Illinois, in the meantime, couldn't stay off the scoreboard. Barr ripped off a 42-yard run to start the second half and hit Justin Morgan for a 13-yard touchdown strike to help the Leathernecks (2-1) grab a 35-15 lead.
Senior wide receiver Todd Speight added a score on a 27-yard reverse and Barr capped his day with a 43-yard scoring pass to Terriun Crump with 2:04 to go in the third, pushing the lead to 49-14.
"We didn't execute the way we wanted to," Sam Houston junior defensive end E.J. Nduka said. "We need to come play more physical and a little bit harder. The opportunities were there, we just didn't execute."
The first half was the complete opposite of the second for Sam Houston, at least offensively.
The Bearkats finally snapped out of their offensive funk after falling behind 14-0 following a fumble on their own 1-yard line, which led to a scoring run by Leathernecks sophomore Caulton Ray. Sam Houston put the ball in the hands of redshirt freshman running back Tim Flanders and the Kansas State transfer delivered.
Flanders had carries of 6 and 13 yards to capitalize on a 53-yard kickoff return by senior Brandon Closer. A false start backed the Kats up, but it didn't matter. On the next play, Flanders bobbed and weaved his way through the Western Illinois defense for a 33-yard touchdown, Sam Houston's first of the season.
Just when it looked like the Bearkats were finally starting to figure things out, Barr dashed 69 yards to push the lead to 21-7 on the first play of the next possession.
Flanders was just warming up though.
Freshman quarterback Brian Bell, who replaced senior Bryan Randolph in the second quarter, showed some nice touch on a pass over the middle that found its way into Kevin Matthews' hands for a 34-yard gain.
Behind the blocking of Kaleb Hopson, Cameron Pound, Travis Watson, Riley Smith and Chris Crockett, Flanders ripped off an 18-yard run, then found the end zone again from 31 yards out to get the Bearkats back to within 21-14 following Miguel Antonio's extra point.
By the time the first half was over, Flanders had 153 yards on 17 carries.
"I made a mental mistake in the first quarter, but I told the guys I was going to get it back," Flanders said. "The offensive line did a great job opening up the holes. Even though we lost, we did make some plays today."
Western Illinois tacked on another touchdown late in the second quarter when Barr hit wide receiver Lito Senatus from 9 yards out. The Bearkats had one more opportunity to get on the board, but a drive that featured an 18-yard run by Flanders, a 15-yard scramble by Bell and a 20-yard reception by Seth Patterson stalled and Antonio missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.
The stats were almost even in the first half. Western Illinois accumulated 270 yards of total offense, while Sam Houston accumulated 249.
The major difference was the turnover and five penalties by the Bearkats that cost them 30 yards. The Leathernecks didn't give the ball away or pick up a single flag in the first 30 minutes.
Bell threw an interception that bounced out of the hands of wide receiver Grant Merritt in the fourth quarter that led to Western Illinois' final score.
"We can't afford to make mistakes and beat ourselves," Fritz added. "There was a big turnover when we were backed up and that kind of changed the momentum a little bit. We are a young club, but we have to play like a mature club. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot more today than we did against Baylor. We had a lot of unforced errors."
Sam Houston will play its home opener Saturday against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs at 6 p.m.