Puppy Chow! Sam Houston Defense Dominant in 9-3 Victory
Puppy Chow! Sam Houston Defense Dominant in 9-3 Victory
Five sacks and a key interception help put LaTech in the doghouse
Louisiana Tech may be have a K9-based mascot, but the “dawgz” all resided on the Sam Houston defense as they powered the Bearkats to a win on a temperate, breezy night at Bowers Stadium.
Louisiana Tech stepped onto the field to start the game, looked around at the sea of fans donning all Black colors and easily marched down the field in the first half, keeping the Sam Houston offense as invisible as Sammy’s ghost costume. The problem is the Bulldogs’ multiple trips to the redzone ended mostly ended in failure, as the Bearkat defense built a wall around the enzone. "Our guys do not panic when that time hits when they are in the redzone,” said Sam Houston head coach KC Keeler.
That would hold true throughout the game, as LaTech could only find three points against the defense. A big reason for this goes to defensive back Caleb Weaver, who continued his all-conference caliber season with a 22 yard interception of quarterback Evan Bullock.
Each and every proceeding attempt by the Bulldogs was rebuffed.
Next for Sam Houston is an 18 day break(!!!). After that, is a roadie against Kennesaw St. on November 16th. The Bearkats are still in the hunt for a spot in the CUSA Title Game, and, as of this writing, actually control their own destiny to get there.
POSITION GRADES
Quarterback D
Okay, I led with the positive, so let’s get to the grimy stuff; Sam Houston has simply not had good quarterback play in their last ten quarters of football. A good chunk of that is due to starting QB Hunter Watson’s absence last week due to injury. But he returned against LaTech and looked very rusty, throwing a deflating redzone interception in the second quarter that ended what had been a great drive up that point. In a callback to the Western Kentucky game, Watson left the game twice against LaTech due to what Coach KC Keeler called a bruise to his nonthrowing shoulder.
Keeler did not sound too concerned but he did tell reporters he wants Watson to run smarter in order to preserve himself. That meant Jase Bauer entered the game and was okay in backup duty for most of the second half. If the Bearkats hope to win the inexCUSAbly Awesome Conference, they’ll need much better production from the signal caller position. The good news is there are 18 days off to figure it all out.
Running Back B
Coach Keeler said best in his postgame presser: “We’ve got to run the ball better.” Jay Ducker was the MVP of this group, making the most of his thirteen carries; finishing with 76 yards and scoring what would be the game winning touchdown in the third quarter. But it felt like the RBs left a lot on the table. This is not all on the players themselves, rather, I would have liked to have seen DJ McKinney get a few more carries than the three he had. John Gentry is said to be healthy. A game like this would have been great to get him a few snaps with so many on offense struggling.
Wide Receiver D
This is another group indicated by Keeler as needing to play better. Like the running backs, a some of this grade hinges on the play calling, which, while it did open up for a few shining drives in the second half, trended more toward conservative downhill runs and did not offer much opportunity for pass catchers. Another reason for this grade is the fumble on Michael Phoenix II, which came after Sam Houston had finally found some juice when they had the ball.
Offensive Line D
”For how physical we played on the offensive line this season…we’ve lost some of that.” Those were the words of a coach disappointed in his big guys up front. They may have just given up one sack, but the offensive line was slow off the ball and got pushed around for the second straight game. This threw off the timing of the rushing attack, causing another scoring funk as a result. For his part, Keeler did sound confident in the coaching staff’s ability to get this unit back online during the eighteen day break.
Defensive Line A+
The first perfect grade from Fobbs Talks Ball goes to the Sam Houston defensive line, who left their large, meaty thumbprint all over the Bearkats 9-3 win. They set the tone early during the first quarter, courtesy of big 4th down stop from Richard Outland and a safety caused by sophomore Kendrick DuJour. Feeling good in the breezy Black Out Night at Bowers, DuJour added another sack in the third quarter while Seth Mason recovered a fumble. A big reason for DLine dominance was keeping a fresh set of them on the line of scrimmage at all times. “You can roll in six different tackles…I don’t’ know a lot of teams that can do that on defense,” said Keeler.
Linebackers A+
Let’s keep the excellent grades going. A few errors last week keep this unit from a higher score, so we are giving it to them now. Like the DLine, Sam Houston loves rotating fresh linebackers in, and the mad science of defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity worked like a charm with this group. Out of Cassity’s linebacker lab came the fumble recoveries of Trey Fields and Kavian Gaither, as well as the Chris Murray sack in the third quarter. They also did well in surrounding and containing the LaTech running backs; holding them to just 2.5 yards per carry and played well when asked to assist in the passing game, where the Bulldogs had hoped to find their bread and butter.
Defensive Backs A+
This unit was so good at stopping the LaTech quarterbacks that the Bulldogs benched starter Evan Bullock for backup Jack Turner after a Caleb Weaver interception. It would prove foolhardy on the part of LaTech, with the DBs each doing their part to shut down the Bulldogs by pulling receivers off their routes. They gambled a bit and may have gotten a few pass interference calls, had LaTech been able to be more accurate with their passes.
Special Teams C-
Three straight missed field goals now. If someone shows this to Coach Keeler, please tell him I understand his plight. Christian Pavon is a walk on who did not expect to be starting this season. Yes, he has kicked game winners. Yes, most teams do not carry two scholarship kickers. I understand and agree on all points. But the bottom line is that if Sam Houston wants to reach the next rung of their goals this year, which is playing for a conference title, the kicking game simply has to be better and more reliable. As for the punting and kickoff units….well at least they did not do anything to end up on SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 this week. Progress!