TexasTerror
April 18th, 2007, 07:54 PM
This is the first of what I hope is a column that I hope that, especially once the season commences, that will appear a bit regularly on this board.
Please feel free to let me know what you think and we'll go from there! I'm hoping that by writing this, I bring a bit more light to the Southland Conference and the great brand of football that exists.
It's going to take me awhile to get back into the swing of writing, but we'll see what transpires now, won't we?
-----------------------
Down South(land)
In Texas, you grow up loving two things. Football and Texas. People in this neck of the woods have a sense of pride when it comes to their state, but more importantly, at a young age you find yourself loyal to a football team or several teams. While I bled Columbia blue for the Houston Oilers (that's the last we'll hear about them), there was another team that took my attention, the Rice Owls.
I grew up on the Rice Owls under Fred Goldsmith and later Ken Hatfield. This was a team that had a few rough years. Okay, that's an understatement, a few rough decades. The first time I ever saw the Sam Houston State Bearkats, my dad's alma mater, was at a Rice game. Rice squeaked by with the win, but that's a game I'll never forget. I got a good laugh at my dad at the expense of the SHSU football team. I always told him I’d never end up at SHSU. Sure enough, a mere fourteen years later, there's no team I love more than my Bearkats.
While most of you know that I bleed Bearkat orange more than most, I've fallen even harder for Southland Conference football. This is a special brand of football. It doesn't have the national championships that the Southern Conference has or the historic significance of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. It does not have the prestige of the Ivy League or even the perceived 'toughness' of the Gateway Conference. Yet, this league brings to the gridiron a weekly war of attrition to see who will rise above the rest to proudly display the Southland Conference championship banner on their campus.
I'm not sure there are any head coaches that think they can go undefeated in the Southland. Road trips to Lake Charles (McNeese State) and Natchitoches (Northwestern State) are always tough. Some fans may overlook a road trip to Thibodaux (Nicholls State), but crazy things seem to happen in the Louisiana swamp!
As time goes on, I think we'll all know just how tough a trip to Conway (Central Arkansas) is as I believe the Bears are going to be a team that is going to compete, not only in the Southland, but nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision. It would be nice to win at home, but even winning at home is not as easy as it seems.
In the Southland, the word 'upset' does not exist. Nothing is a given. A team that is 0-6 in conference play is no more the underdog as the team 6-0 across the field is the favorite. 'Any Given Saturday' rings true in this conference where it seems that yearly, a team from the bottom comes up and bites one of those top dogs in the bud. From having destiny in your hands one week to becoming the sacrificial lamb for the next team up the following week. Things change quickly in the Southland Conference. If you go away a week, your bound to miss a whole lot.
It's a shame each year in the Division I playoffs when the Southland Conference falls flat once more. Yes, there have been years when the Southland has sent teams to the semifinals and even the championship game. Yet, it seems that more often than not, these Southland teams are out of gas by the time they reach the playoffs. Four straight years (since 2003), the team that has possessed the conference's auto-bid has not made it out of the first round. During this time, Sam Houston State (2004) and Texas State (2005) made the semifinals of the greatest four weeks of the NCAA calendar as at-large entrants, but the auto-bid holder found themselves watching the last three weeks from their big comfy couch.
Was all the energy to gain the punched ticket to the playoffs expended during the season? I believe so. Yes, the Southland, especially in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had to play more Football Bowl Subdivision teams than the rest of the nation, however, that reason falls second to this one. These teams have to endure what amounts to an Ironman Triathlon running through the yearly Southland slate. If you can swim through the home schedule, you'll be hard-pressed to successfully bike through one or two contests if not triumphantly run through upwards of four conference road games. By the end, you'll be gasping for your last breath in order to punch the ball in from inside the one yard line.
This is the Southland Conference that many have come to love. While the on the field action between Southland rivals does not commence until this fall, the coaches have begun preparing plans of action for the forthcoming season that will be chalk full of battles on the field. The addition of Central Arkansas to the Southland slate, several new head coaches, a few intriguing out of conference contests and a high profile quarterback transfer from Oklahoma provide all the backdrop for what will be another exciting year!
I hope you enjoy this column as we take off our adventure Down South(land)!
Southland Conference News and Notes
* The player that gives Southland coaches nightmares in the offseason resides at McNeese and his name is Steven Whitehead. Entering his senior year, Whitehead seems to find his way to the end zone each time he touches the ball. A dangerous return man, Whitehead can not be stopped on the run or when hustling through a secondary. Whitehead rushed for 51 yards on three carries in the recent McNeese spring game and caught four passes for 52 yards. Whitehead threw in a score on a 29-yard run if you need him.
* Freshman Jeremy Moses got off to a rocky start under center, but finished the annual SFA Purple-White football game completing 16-of-26 passes for 219 yards as he rallied the Purple team to a 20-17 win over the White. Moses is penciled in behind first-team All Southland Conference quarterback selection Danny Southall.
* Houston Baptist University has announced plans to move from NAIA to Division I. While there are no plans for adding football, the athletic intentions of HBU have caught the attention of the Southland Conference fans who believe their conference will see realignment in the near future, whether it due to a departing football-playing institution or actions taken by a non-football member.
Til next time,
TexasTerror
Please feel free to let me know what you think and we'll go from there! I'm hoping that by writing this, I bring a bit more light to the Southland Conference and the great brand of football that exists.
It's going to take me awhile to get back into the swing of writing, but we'll see what transpires now, won't we?
-----------------------
Down South(land)
In Texas, you grow up loving two things. Football and Texas. People in this neck of the woods have a sense of pride when it comes to their state, but more importantly, at a young age you find yourself loyal to a football team or several teams. While I bled Columbia blue for the Houston Oilers (that's the last we'll hear about them), there was another team that took my attention, the Rice Owls.
I grew up on the Rice Owls under Fred Goldsmith and later Ken Hatfield. This was a team that had a few rough years. Okay, that's an understatement, a few rough decades. The first time I ever saw the Sam Houston State Bearkats, my dad's alma mater, was at a Rice game. Rice squeaked by with the win, but that's a game I'll never forget. I got a good laugh at my dad at the expense of the SHSU football team. I always told him I’d never end up at SHSU. Sure enough, a mere fourteen years later, there's no team I love more than my Bearkats.
While most of you know that I bleed Bearkat orange more than most, I've fallen even harder for Southland Conference football. This is a special brand of football. It doesn't have the national championships that the Southern Conference has or the historic significance of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. It does not have the prestige of the Ivy League or even the perceived 'toughness' of the Gateway Conference. Yet, this league brings to the gridiron a weekly war of attrition to see who will rise above the rest to proudly display the Southland Conference championship banner on their campus.
I'm not sure there are any head coaches that think they can go undefeated in the Southland. Road trips to Lake Charles (McNeese State) and Natchitoches (Northwestern State) are always tough. Some fans may overlook a road trip to Thibodaux (Nicholls State), but crazy things seem to happen in the Louisiana swamp!
As time goes on, I think we'll all know just how tough a trip to Conway (Central Arkansas) is as I believe the Bears are going to be a team that is going to compete, not only in the Southland, but nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision. It would be nice to win at home, but even winning at home is not as easy as it seems.
In the Southland, the word 'upset' does not exist. Nothing is a given. A team that is 0-6 in conference play is no more the underdog as the team 6-0 across the field is the favorite. 'Any Given Saturday' rings true in this conference where it seems that yearly, a team from the bottom comes up and bites one of those top dogs in the bud. From having destiny in your hands one week to becoming the sacrificial lamb for the next team up the following week. Things change quickly in the Southland Conference. If you go away a week, your bound to miss a whole lot.
It's a shame each year in the Division I playoffs when the Southland Conference falls flat once more. Yes, there have been years when the Southland has sent teams to the semifinals and even the championship game. Yet, it seems that more often than not, these Southland teams are out of gas by the time they reach the playoffs. Four straight years (since 2003), the team that has possessed the conference's auto-bid has not made it out of the first round. During this time, Sam Houston State (2004) and Texas State (2005) made the semifinals of the greatest four weeks of the NCAA calendar as at-large entrants, but the auto-bid holder found themselves watching the last three weeks from their big comfy couch.
Was all the energy to gain the punched ticket to the playoffs expended during the season? I believe so. Yes, the Southland, especially in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had to play more Football Bowl Subdivision teams than the rest of the nation, however, that reason falls second to this one. These teams have to endure what amounts to an Ironman Triathlon running through the yearly Southland slate. If you can swim through the home schedule, you'll be hard-pressed to successfully bike through one or two contests if not triumphantly run through upwards of four conference road games. By the end, you'll be gasping for your last breath in order to punch the ball in from inside the one yard line.
This is the Southland Conference that many have come to love. While the on the field action between Southland rivals does not commence until this fall, the coaches have begun preparing plans of action for the forthcoming season that will be chalk full of battles on the field. The addition of Central Arkansas to the Southland slate, several new head coaches, a few intriguing out of conference contests and a high profile quarterback transfer from Oklahoma provide all the backdrop for what will be another exciting year!
I hope you enjoy this column as we take off our adventure Down South(land)!
Southland Conference News and Notes
* The player that gives Southland coaches nightmares in the offseason resides at McNeese and his name is Steven Whitehead. Entering his senior year, Whitehead seems to find his way to the end zone each time he touches the ball. A dangerous return man, Whitehead can not be stopped on the run or when hustling through a secondary. Whitehead rushed for 51 yards on three carries in the recent McNeese spring game and caught four passes for 52 yards. Whitehead threw in a score on a 29-yard run if you need him.
* Freshman Jeremy Moses got off to a rocky start under center, but finished the annual SFA Purple-White football game completing 16-of-26 passes for 219 yards as he rallied the Purple team to a 20-17 win over the White. Moses is penciled in behind first-team All Southland Conference quarterback selection Danny Southall.
* Houston Baptist University has announced plans to move from NAIA to Division I. While there are no plans for adding football, the athletic intentions of HBU have caught the attention of the Southland Conference fans who believe their conference will see realignment in the near future, whether it due to a departing football-playing institution or actions taken by a non-football member.
Til next time,
TexasTerror