No. 11/12 McNeese State Renews Rivalry with 30-27 Win over Lamar
No. 11/12 McNeese State 30, Lamar 27
LAKE CHARLES, La. - Quarterback Jacob Bower and tailback Marcus Wiltz played their first games for the No. 11/12 McNeese State Cowboys on Saturday and led them to a 30-27 season opening non-conference victory over Lamar here.
Bower, a transfer from Tulsa, completed 18-of-31 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a touchdown while Wiltz, a freshman, rushed for 182 yards. Together they led the Cowboy offense.
The game marked a renewal of a rivalry that had its last game 21 years ago, the year that Lamar dropped the sport.
Attendance was 19,023, the largest crowd in Cowboy Stadium since 20,300 piled in for the McNeese-Grambling game in 2002.
The play of Lamar and a few fumbles from McNeese kept the game close. The Cowboys lost three fumbles in the first half that probably would have led to touchdowns.
The Cowboys opened the scoring on a 37-yard field goal by Josh Lewis, but trailed at the end of the first period 7-3 after Lamar had scored on a 26-yard pass from Andre Bevil to Marcus Jackson.
McNeese came back to take a 16-10 halftime lead on a 2-yard run by Bower and field goals of 37 and 25 yards by Lewis.
At the end of three periods the Cowboys were up 23-13 with a 48-yard pass from Bower to Bernardo Henry producing a third quarter score. McNeese went on to tally on a 6-yard pass from Bower to DeVionte Edmonson with five minutes left in the game to get the final lead.
During this time Lamar got field goals of 32 and 21 yards from Justin Stout, and touchdown tosses of 12 yards to Josh Powdrill and 4 yards to J. J. Hayes from Bevil.
Lamar scored the last points with 3:23 left but the Cowboys took the ensuing kickoff and then advanced the ball and ran out the clock.
The Cowboys totaled 207 yards rushing and held Lamar to 20 but the Cardinals passed for 426 yards while the Cowboys netted 288.
Wiltz had come off the bench in place of McNeese starting tailback Champlain Babin who was shaken up on a play in the first period. It was his first appearance in a Cowboy game.
Corday Clark led the Cowboys in receiving with four catches for 38 yards while Damion Dixon had three catches for 83 yards.
Bevil completed a 24-of-41 passes for a school record 426 yards for the Lamar. Jackson caught six passes for 123 yards for Lamar while Powdrill had four for 120 and Hayes nine for 90 yards.
McNeese intercepted two passes, one by Malcolm Bronson and one by Brandon Robinson who returned his for 32 yards.
The Cowboys play at Missouri next Saturday at 6 p.m. while Lamar will play host to Webber International next Saturday at 6 p.m.
Texas A&M 48, No. 8/8 Stephen F. Austin 7
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 8/8 Stephen F. Austin managed only seven points dropping a 48-7 decision to Texas A&M Saturday night at Kyle Field.
"We have to take our hats off to Texas A&M," SFA coach J.C. Harper said. "They are a fine football team. I thought they came out tonight well prepared and focused. Their defense hits hard and plays well together, and their offense is one of the tops in the country."
A 30-yard completion to junior Brandon Scott put SFA into Texas A&M territory with just under five minutes remaining in the opening quarter, but the drive stalled and the Lumberjacks had to punt the ball away. Texas A&M responded by taking the ball 80 yards on 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The Aggies Christine Michael capped the drive with a 15-yard run for the score.
After falling behind 17-0, the Lumberjacks responded with a 10-play, 56-yard drive that ended in a 23-yard touchdown completion from quarterback Jeremy Moses to sophomore Cordell Roberson with 4:24 remaining in the half. It was Moses' 88th career touchdown pass.
The Aggies closed out the half with a 10-play, 52-yard drive that ended in a Randy Bullock 32-yard field goal. Texas A&M took a 20-7 lead into the locker room.
Texas A&M tacked on seven points early in the third quarter, and then forced a turnover on the ensuing return. The Aggies converted the SFA miscue into seven points, taking the ball 39 yards on seven plays for a touchdown. SFA was unable to answer, and the Aggies closed out the game tacking on two more scores.
Moses became the Southland Conference all-time leader in completions with his ninth completion of the game (857), surpassing Central Arkansas' Nathan Brown. The record-breaking play was a 17-yard completion to Roberson.
Moses completed 19-of-37 passes for 171 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Gralyn Crawford caught a team-high five passes for 52 yards. Sophomore Romonte Hampton finished the game with 18 yards on 11 carries in his first career start. Preseason All-America selection Jabara Williams recorded a game-high 10 tackles.
The official attendance was 81,287, which was the 27th largest crowd in Texas A&M history, and the largest opening day crowd in program history. It also marked the largest crowd an SFA team has played in front of.
The Lumberjacks return to action Saturday when they host Albany. The 2010 home opener against the Great Danes is slated to begin at 6 p.m. from Homer Bryce Stadium.
Baylor 34, Sam Houston State 3
WACO, Texas - Sam Houston State's defense demonstrated it can be a force for the Bearkats this year and the offense showed flashes of promise in a 34-3 loss to the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium.
Miguel Antonio provided the Bearkats their only points with a 27-yard field goal with 10:35 to play in the game following a 15-play, 59-yard drive.
"With more than half of our squad playing in their first NCAA Division I game before such a huge crowd, I thought we got a great effort out of our youngsters," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said.
The 42,821 fans at Floyd Casey Stadium comprised the fifth largest crowd ever to witness a Sam Houston State football game.
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin completed 19-of-36 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 50 yards and another score to pace the Bears.
Griffin opened the scoring with a 68-yard strike to Brad Taylor at the 9:53 mark of the first quarter. Five minutes late Griffin broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run.
Griffin hit Torrance Williams for a 23-yard touchdown with 7:52 before intermission to give the Bears a 21-0 lead at halftime.
Jay Finley dashed up the middle for a 44-yard score to make the score 28-0 in the third minute of the third quarter. Aaron Jones booted a 29-yard field goal with 6:37 remaining and a 36-yard three-pointer with 2:12 remaining.
In the first three quarters, the Bearkats had three opportunities inside the Baylor's end of the field but fumbled once and missed two field goal attempts.
There were many bright spots for the young Bearkats.
Darius Taylor and E.J. Nduka stopped Jay Finley for no gain on a fourth-and-one at the Sam Houston 23-yard line on Baylor's first offensive series. Taylor also picked up a fourth quarter sack of Griffin.
Former Australian rules player from Melbourne Matt Foster boomed a 43-yard punt on his first attempt in his first appearance in an American football game. Later Foster boomed a 49-yarder and completed the night with a 39.2 average on eight punts.
Robert Shaw broke up a Griffin pass in the end zone and caused another incompletion with a hard hit on a pass to the right sideline.
Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz even got an official's call reversed via video replay to give the Bearkats a fumble recovery for a first down in Baylor territory.
Quarterback Bryan Randolph completed 12-of-23 passes for 102 yards. Tim Flanders led Kat rushers with four carries for 40 yards. Seth Patterson was Sam Houston's top receiver with four catches for 31 yards.
Taylor led the defense with six tackles including one for a loss.
Sam Houston State has an open date next week, then travels north to play Western Illinois Sept. 17. The first home game for the Bearkats will be Saturday Sept. 25 when Gardner-Webb visits Bowers Stadium for Family Weekend.
Air Force 62, Northwestern State 21
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A thundering pregame flyover by four F-15E Strike Eagles just before kickoff over Falcon Stadium at the Air Force Academy Saturday afternoon signaled the launch of the 2010 college football season for visiting Northwestern State.
It took two quarters for the Falcons to follow suit by hitting the afterburners, breaking open a three-point halftime game with two touchdowns in the next five minutes and two more on their next two possessions to trigger a 65-21 triumph over the Demons.
"We were doing a lot of good in all three phases in the first half, but we did a 180 degree turn coming out after halftime," second-year coach Bradley Dale Peveto said. "Offensively we stopped making first downs, keeping their offense on the sideline. Defensively we didn't get them stopped, and in special teams we gave up some big returns that put them in great field position. We weren't helping ourselves in any of the three phases, and against a team of this caliber, coming off three straight bowl games, that's going to be the final score."
Northwestern was blasted with 41 unanswered points on 389 yards piled up by the Falcons, while the visitors netted only 57 yards offense in the second half.
That was a far cry from the 24-21 halftime score which dampened the partisan crowd of 40,236 at the base of the Rocky Mountains.
"We came and quieted the stadium in the first half, and it's no surprise to our team. We've got confidence, regardless of our (12-game) losing streak," said Demons' sophomore quarterback Paul Harris, who was 19-of-32 for 214 yards and a touchdown. "But being close at halftime, that doesn't really mean anything, 65-21 is the final score. We have to be better for four quarters."
The Demons outgained the Falcons 257-227 in the first half, primarily on the chops of the feisty left-handed Harris. He threw a 5-yard pass to junior tight end Justin Aldredge to tie the game at 7 with 3:36 to go in the opening quarter, then scored on what likely will wind up as the most spectacular play that the Demons or the Falcons will pull off this fall.
Harris capped a nifty nine-play, 80-yard drive by tucking the ball on a pass play from the Air Force 11, cutting to his right and leaping toward the goalline from the 3. He was met by three defenders inside the 2, was completely pinwheeled around at shoulder height, but landed feet first facing the end zone and dove across to make it 17-14 9:23 before the half.
"Once I get inside the 5, I get pretty hungry. I felt like I needed to go up in the air, and they twisted me around, but I landed on my feet and I knew I was in," Harris said. "I got pretty excited."
Air Force replied less than two minutes later, using a 50-yard Jon Warzeka kickoff return to set up Tim Jefferson's 37-yard option keeper on fourth-and-1 for a 24-14 advantage.
Even though Harris had to step aside after being sandwiched by tacklers early in the Demons' last possession, with 1:22 to go at midfield, Northwestern stayed on track with backup Tyler Wolfe. He set the tone by scooping up a bouncing shotgun snap on his first play and flinging a 9-yard completion, then hitting Adrian Reese for 23 yards on the next snap.
Wolfe looped a 3-yarder to Aldredge with 33 seconds showing, drawing the Demons within 24-21.
But after stacking up 13 first downs by halftime, it wasn't until the last two minutes of the third quarter, trailing 52-21, that Northwestern managed another. Harris was back, but the offense wasn't.
"The biggest difference was they stopped us on first down, and that put us in second and third-and-long situations," said the quarterback. "We had them over and over again and they are tough to overcome. We went three three-and-outs to start the second half and Air Force definitely took advantage."
Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense scored on six consecutive series, with 18 different Falcons getting at least one carry in their option offense.
"Give Air Force credit, they hit us with a real fast pace after halftime. We didn't handle it," Peveto said.
"Suddenly we were hustling to get in position, our eyes were not in the right place, our feet were not set, and consequently we overran a lot of their running plays and they made nice cuts to take advantage."
But before Air Force carpet bombed the Demons after halftime, Northwestern pulled a sneak attack on the Falcons to make it a tightly-played first half.
"They had about four wrinkles in there early, and we had to make some adjustments. They hit us in the nose in the first half, and in some ways, we were on our heels," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. "It's a first game and we didn't adjust to game speed as we would hope. Our coaches did a heck of a job making adjustments at halftime, and our players just cut loose and made plays. We played at a faster tempo."
"They were a high energy football team, had high emotions coming out of the gate and we didn't match that," said Air Force's Jefferson, who produced four touchdowns, passes of 29 and 38 yards and runs of 37 and 6.
"That's why the game was like it was in the first half. Maybe the altitude (6,623 feet on the field) kicked in some and we ramped up our approach, and it went our way."
Harris' pluck and performance impressed the Air Force side.
"He kept a lot of plays live today, plays were I thought we had him bottled up, but credit to him," said Calhoun. "The guy's really a good player."
The Demons, who used 10 true freshmen in the game, seven on offense, got 111 yards receiving from sophomore Bradley Brown on six grabs as eight different receivers made catches in a 249-yard passing attack on 22-37 aim. Northwestern netted only 62 yards rushing, suffering five sacks by the Falcons.
"We have a lot to build on. Now we get home for two games and hope to get it done for four quarters and celebrate after the final horn," said Peveto. "We've made strides. Now let's cash in."
Northwestern plays Samford, a 59-6 victim of Florida State on Saturday, in Turpin Stadium next Saturday at 5 p.m.
San Diego State 47, Nicholls 0
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Nicholls opened up the 2010 season with a 47-0 loss to Division I-FBS foe San Diego State Saturday evening in front of 25,290 fans in Qulacomm Stadium.
Nicholls (0-1) was led by sophomore LaQuintin Caston at quarterback with 83 yards passing. Caston completed 12-of-25 attempts while rushing 17 times for 49 yards. Caston completed passes to six different receivers on the night, but his favorite targets were sophomore running back Jesse Turner and junior wide receiver Kenyard Blair. Turner caught three passes out of the backfield for 28 yards, while also carrying the ball ten times for 45 yards.
Meanwhile, Blair, in his first season after transferring in from Northeast Oklahoma Junior College, snared three passes for 20 yards in his first game in a Colonel uniform.
Leading all tacklers for the Colonels was senior Tarbarris Hicks with seven total (six solo, two assist) and one for a loss. Junior Shawn Elrod followed with 5.5 total (five solo, one assist) in his first game as a Colonel.
The Colonels played over 25 freshmen in the game, with three - Tyrie Allen, Josh Dudley and Jordan Hanberry - starting the game. At multiple times in the game, Nicholls had five or more freshmen on the field on both sides of the ball.
"We had times, not numerous, but some times to score in the game but just didn't finish on drives. Overall, I have to give a lot of credit to San Diego State, they are so athletics at every position and are fast, which is tough to simulate in practice," Nicholls coach Charlie Stubbs said.
"I'm not overly disappointed. They are a formidable opponent, and we knew that coming in. There are a lot of positives from the game.
I told the team after the game that I was proud of them and I thought that they played hard from start to finish, and that this was a test for us but it wasn't the final. We have a lot more football ahead of us."
The Colonels were without a turnover until late in the fourth quarter.
To that point, Nicholls had run 59 offensive plays without a miscue.
Senior Patrick Dolan lived up to his preseason All-American status, punting seven times for an average of 42.1 yards per punt. He had a long of 50 and one land inside the 20-yard line.
Also, Nicholls forced an Aztec fumble in the first quarter with senior Jeremy Garrett stripping Davon Brown and senior Ed James recovering.
The play ended with a failed 40-yard field goal attempt by true freshman Andrew Dolan, having the distance but sailing wide left.
After a scoreless first quarter, San Diego State scored three touchdowns in the second quarter with Aztec quarterback Ryan Lindley and wide receiver DeMarco Sampson connecting twice for scores. However, breaking the scoreless tie was Davon Brown with a 6-yard touchdown run.
Brown's score came at the 11:31 mark of the second quarter. Brown finished with two touchdowns and 65 yards on 11 carries.
The first of the Lindley-to-Sampson connections for scores came on a 71-yard strike down the sideline, and the second came on an 18-yard dart that split two Colonel defenders in the middle of the end zone. Sampson finished with seven receptions for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
"All in all, we have some positives to build from. There are some things that we have to work on, but I just want the team to know that there is a tomorrow and we are going to keep getting better and improving," Stubbs said.
Nicholls came out in the second half, and on the San Diego State's first offensive series, the Colonels forced a punt - their first of the game. Junior Chika Madu got a few key blocks, and scampered 32-yards before being taken down. In addition to his punt return, Madu took five kickoff returns a total of 91 yards with a long of 25 to lead the Colonels with 116 all-purpose yards.
Madu's punt return gave the Colonels a spark, and Nicholls put together an 8-play 35 yards drive that ended with a Dolan 24-yard field goal try.
However, the attempt was blocked and returned 18 yards to the 32 by the Aztecs, setting up a 6-play scoring drive that was capped by a 20-yard Brown touchdown run to extend the lead, 27-0 with 11:55 in the third.
San Diego State rounded out the third quarter scoring with a 44-yard field goal by Abel Perez at the 2:44 mark.
The Aztecs scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to round out the game. Nicholls will play at Western Michigan next Saturday.
Houston 68, Texas State 28
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston broke open a close game in the second quarter as the Cougars handed Texas State a 68-28 loss in both teams' season-opening game before a sellout crowd of 32,119 at Robertson Stadium Saturday night.
The Cougars took an early 13-0 lead in their first two drives of the game as Case Keenum threw touchdowns passes of 40 yards to Michael Hayes and 63 yards to Patrick Edwards. The first touchdown came on Houston's second play of the game.
After Drenard Williams had a kickoff return of 28 yards to Texas State's 38-yard line. Playing in his first game since October 17 last season, Karrington Bush gained 22 yards to give the Bobcats a first down at Houston's 45-yard line. But, Texas State's drive stalled when Tim Hawkins for sacked for a five-yard loss on a fourth-and-four play.
The Cougars struck quickly once again as Keenum connected with Edwards on the second play of the drive. The lone bright spot at the time came on the extra-point attempt when Marcus Clark blocked Matt Hogan's kick and Bryan Iwuji scooped up the miss. He was tackled at Texas State's 41-yard line.
After the failed extra-point try, Texas State climbed back into contention when freshman Tyler Arndt came into the game for the first time and led the Bobcats down the field 80 yards on 10 plays. After Dexter Imade began the drive with a 1-yard run, Arndt completed the first two passes of his collegiate career to Da'Marcus Griggs. The first completion was for 4 yards and the second was for 18 yards on a third and 10 plays after Texas State was called for illegal procedure.
Then, Bush gained 24 yards on three carries and Eric Gentry added more yards on another attempt to put the ball on Houston's 35-yard line. Then, Arndt completed an 18-yard pass to Daren Dillard. After Frank Reddic gained three yards on the ground, Arndt capped off the drive with a 12-yard run to pull Texas State back to within 13-7.
After Tyron Carrier returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to Houston's 43-yard line, the Cougars drove down the field in eight plays to take a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Houston seized control of the game in the second quarter as the Cougars outscored the Bobcats 34-0 in the final 5:41. The first score came after Texas State's Justin Garelick missed a 49-yard field goal attempt. Four plays later, Keenum connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kerrie Johnson. Then, he threw a 17-yard TD pass to James Cleveland.
After Matt Nicholson recovered a fumble by Tim Hawkins, Keenum threw a 21-yard TD pass to Johnson six seconds later.
After the Bobcats were forced to punt in four plays, Edwards returned the punt by Ben Follis 40 yards down to Texas State's 17-yard line before he was tripped up by Sam Pier. Two plays later, Bryce Beall scored a touchdown from three yards out on a run up the middle.
Then, Nicholson intercepted a pass by Hawkins on a crossing route and returned it 42 yards for another touchdown. Hogan missed the extra point attempt to make the halftime score 54-7.
The Cougars opened the second half the same way they had begun the game with touchdowns on their first two drives in the period. The first score when Cotton Turner, who replaced Keenum, three a 26-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sweeney. After Jeremy Smith intercepted another pass by Hawkins, Hayes scored the second touchdown
The Bobcats scored their touchdown when Arndt hit Eric Gentry on a five-yard touchdown pass to pull Texas State to within 68-14.
Texas State also scored the only points in the fourth quarter. The first touchdown came on a 1-yard touchdown run by Frank Reddic. Then, Arndt scored on a five-yard quarterback draw to make the final score 68-28.
The Bobats play host to Southern Arkansas next Saturday at 6 p.m.
Thursday Results:
Central Arkansas 47, Elizabeth City State 20
Tulane 27, Southeastern Louisiana 21