Published: October 15, 2008 12:23 pm            

QBs shining in the Southland

College Football

Much like the rest of the conferences in college football, quarterback play is dominant in the Southland Conference. Signal callers are piling on the passing yards as well as touchdowns and don’t seem to be slowing down.

Last week, four SLC quarterbacks tossed for more than 300 yards. With the passing, comes a lot of scoring and the SLC teams combined to tally 294 points.

The game of the week featured Sam Houston State and Central Arkansas. Both the Bearkats and the Bears came into the game on a roll. It was billed as a duel between Rhett Bomar and Nathan Brown and lived up to the moniker.

Bomar threw for 361 yards on 29-of-47 passing, while Brown finished with 269 on 20-of-28 passing. Both quarterbacks tossed three touchdowns and it was Brown’s squad who came out on top, 48-46.

“It was kind of a shootout at the OK Corral,” UCA head coach Clint Conque said. “It’s been a common theme in our league so far. A lot of things happened and it actually took a defensive play on a two-point conversion to win it for us.”

Sam Houston struggled in the game, even though the scoreboard didn’t seem like it. The Bearkats literally let opportunities slip through their fingers. Sam Houston had several chances to tie the game, but a fumble and a botched snap on an extra point doomed the visitors.

The Bearkats now travel to McNeese State, where they have been historically inconsistent.

“McNeese is one of the more athletic teams int he league and we have a long history of not getting it done against them,” Sam Houston head coach Todd Whitten said. “In order to get over the hump, we need to figure out how to play well against them.”

The Cowboys are coming off a tough loss to Texas State at home. McNeese was dominated on both sides of the ball for three quarters and luckily were able to make it a game in the fourth.

When the Cowboys return home to play the Bearkats, they will try to put the loss behind them. McNeese head coach Matt Viator said while watching the film, his team needs to perform better.

“Watching the game on tape, it was a tremendous football team and I wouldn’t want to be playing one of them the next week, but we are,” Viator said. “It’s a huge game. Two losses would be tough. We’re certainly not here throwing up the flags or anything. We need to do things better.”

While the Cowboys have a history of winning in the SLC, Nicholls State is still trying to right the ship. It hasn’t been easy for the Colonels, as they’ve only had three games on which to gauge their season.

Nicholls State will be the last team in Division I to make its home debut this Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. The Colonels are going to be happy to sleep in their own beds.

“It’s going to be exciting to have a home game,” Nicholls State head coach Jay Thomas said. “It seems like two years ago now since we’ve had one. It’s going to be good for our guys to get the home routine down.”

The Lumberjacks are coming off a shutout win over Kentucky Wesleyan. SFA quarterback Jeremy Moses has played large for his team, passing for five, four and five touchdowns in his last three games, respectively.

While Moses’ play has excited Lumberjack head coach J.C. Harper, it’s his defense that makes him giddy.

“We got the first shutout since 1995,” Harper said. “I was really proud of both our defense and our offense. Every ball we dropped was a catchable ball. It’s kind of hard to not find anything great about Jeremy Moses. He’s been on point recently.”

Another team with solid quarterback play this season has been Northwestern State, although, like Texas State, it’s been using the two-QB system. The Demons have found solace in the rushing attack, which piled on 258 against Nicholls State last weekend.

Southeastern Louisiana, who will play Northwestern, had an idle week last Saturday. The Lions are trying to get healthy after opening up against Nicholls State and are looking for consistency on special teams.

“We’re having an open competition for deep snapper,” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. “We just need to keep control of the ball on special teams. The young man (andre Cryer) who had the fumbles on the punt was real hard on himself. We just needed to work on technique with him and make sure he understands what he needs to do. He’s far too explosive to take off our punt team.”

        

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