Actually a good win for us. TAMU-C (or East Texas State, as I still call them) is basically an FCS team playing in Division II. The would probably be a middle-of-the-pack SLC team right now. Game of the year coming up on Saturday. That sure would be a fun roadie, but alas, I have a commitment and won't even get to listen or watch. Will have to keep track via phone app during breaks. Tough to get a feel for this game. McNeese barely beat Abilene Christian who we completely mopped the floor with. Their QB threw 3 INTs and their offense had 5 turnovers. But they're always tough at home, especially at night. They were probably looking ahead to our game.
Bingo. "The Hole" is the toughest place to play in the SLC. Even in years when McNeese wasn't very good, I've always been nervous for SHSU to play there.
LaDarius Brown and Jalan Overstreet suspended for the game against McNeese. WTF is going on up there? Seems there was an article about it on Go Bearkats but it was taken down.
Well, that was a bummer. Got off to a 10-0 lead after 1 and never scored again. McNeese did a good job containing the run game and proved to simply be the better team. Going to have to win out to get in. I don't think we can finish 3rd and still get in the playoffs.
Disappointing to be sure. It's going to be tough sledding to get in now. Not only do they need to win out, but some losses from other teams in the mix would help. I suppose it shouldn't matter, but perhaps reputation ends up helping the Bearkats a little bit. Over the last five years or so, they've become a name in FCS football, and as long as humans are determining the playoff field, stuff like that can make a difference.
This team is so tough to figure out. They lay an egg against Lamar, then win 5 in a row and look to be unstoppable.....then this. I don't think we're going to beat Central Arkansas. Or make the playoffs.
Good win against Northwestern State. They need to try to find a way to win on the stripes to get into playoffs. Although, looking at the field, a 6 team win could get in.
The Kats ended up with a pretty favorable draw, honestly, particularly compared to others potential second round and quarterfinal matchups. If they beat Southern Utah, they'll get McNeese on the road. That would be a tough game, but you'll always prefer facing off against the devil you know versus the unknown. If they get past McNeese and the seeds hold, they'll get James Madison, who will be without their starting quarterback, Vad Lee.
Nice draw IF we beat SUU. Don't know much about them except they like to throw the ball a lot, which worries me. But I would LOVE another shot at McNeese the next week!
5th straight year of playoffs for SHSU. Nice to be among the FCS elite. Let's hope the ride continues for many years, hopefully with a national title thrown in there somewhere.
Game day! Since I don't know much about SUU, here's some ranks... Passing Offense SHSU - 15th SUU - 22nd Rushing Offense SHSU - 9th SUU - 36th Total Offense SHSU - 2nd SUU - 25th Scoring Defense SHSU - 52nd (includes all games played...including the Tech game) SUU - 18th (includes playing such powers as Brevard College, Weber St, Sacramento St....both of whom they shut out...and UC Davis. In the games not against the Sisters of the Poor, they gave up 32 points per game) Rushing Defense SHSU - 88th SUU - 81st Yeah...we both suck here. Passing Defense (yds allowed) SHSU - 43rd SUU - 24th On paper, it's a fairly even game. Being at home, we should have the advantage and should be able to control the ball with our rushing attack. We HAVE to avoid giving up the big play. That's what this game will come down to, IMO. Temps shouldn't be an issue but there is a chance of more rain this afternoon.
I wasn't wrong...that was a close game. Again, we were demolished by big plays. But even with Avery AND Overstreet injured, the Bearkats prevail again. Now 9-0 in home playoff games. On to McNeese for round 2. We absolutely will not win the game if we continue to give up big plays and if JJ is going to play as terribly as he did today. If it weren't for the 3rd and 4th string rb's (Ridgeway Frank and Remus Bulmer...a freshman who runs an awful lot like Tim Flanders), along with P.J. Hall (who is going to play on Sundays and will likely be the highest SHSU draft pick ever), this season would be over. Some questionable play calling by Keeler's staff made this even tougher than it needed to be. I've never seen 2 teams with such horrifyingly bad special teams. It was truly amazing how craptastic the kickers for both teams were. SUU wins this game if they can properly execute an extra point. This was one of the strangest games I've ever witnessed. I'm just glad we were on the winning end of it.
I turned it on when we were up by like 11 in the 2nd, and turned it off when we were down 13 in the 3rd and Briscoe threw that interception. Very surprised wet won.
Kudos to all those that made it out to Bowers and then stuck around. It truly looked like a miserable day to be out there. It's still tough for me to fathom that, given how up and down this season has been for SHSU, that we're sitting here in the second round of the playoffs. Someone on KatFans mentioned earlier that it's amazing that we're into the second round of the playoffs and we still don't really have an idea who this team is. I think there's a lot of truth in that.
Very much true. All we do know is that the running game is going to be awesome and PJ Hall is going to be dominating. He singlehandedly kept us in this game today.
It was indeed very strange. We scored our first TD and I wondered if the game would be over by halftime. So easy. Then SUU scores 4 consecutive TD's. How often does a team that scores 4 consecutive TD's lose? I turned the game off and went outside to hang Christmas lights when it was 39-26. Seemed like SUU had all the momentum. When I came back in to check the score, it was 39-33, so I watched the rest of it. I thought SUU got conservative in the 2nd half and that really helped us. Seemed like they were just intent on trying to run out the clock and get out of there with a win. Odd play-calling by us continuing to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking FG's. A reverse on 4th and goal? Really? Defensive play in the 2nd half was the key. After that early TD, we slammed the door on them. On to McNeese! In their last 8 playoff appearances, they've been one-and-done 7 times.
