A FAMILIAR LOOK AT THE TOP
BEHIND POWERFUL OFFENSE, SAM HOUSTON ST. STILL LEAGUE’S TEAM TO BEAT
Sam Houston State coach K.C. Keeler left no doubt about who should be the Southland Conference’s best football team this season during media day in July.
He believes his Bearkats, coming off an undefeated regular season and winning their fourth conference title since 2011, should repeat as champions.
The Southland coaches and sports information directors agree with Keeler, picking Sam Houston State to unanimously win the conference in its preseason poll.
“We have the best two players in the country (in quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe and defensive end P.J. Hall),” Keeler said. “The expectations should be high.”
Briscoe, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, leads an offense which averaged 49.5 points per game last season and returns receivers Yedidiah Louis (1,152 yards, 14 TDs) and Nathan Stewart (1,004 yards, 12 TDs).
Sam Houston State’s prolific offense made Hall, the reigning Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and the defense’s job look easy.
Only James Madison, which beat the Bearkats 65-7 in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs, scored more than their almost 50 points-pergame average.
“We’ve had our work cut out because the offense gives us leads that help rid of stress,” Hall said. “But we’re working hard this summer to come back and win a (national title).”
Central Arkansas, picked second, and McNeese State, picked third, provide the greatest challenge to Sam Houston State.
The Bears have the most preseason all-conference selections (12) of any team and will rely on their defense, led by outside linebacker George Odum. They allowed 21.7 points per game in 2016, the fewest in the conference.
“I feel like we’re going to have another good defense,” Odum said. “I actually think we can be better (than 2016). We need to be better.”
McNeese State is looking to rebound from a 6-5 season after going undefeated in the regular season the year before.
Second-year coach Lance Guidry took over as the defensive coordinator, a move he believes will help the team despite the Cowboys finishing second in scoring defense and total defense last season.
“We’re excited to have (Guidry) back as our defensive coordinator,” Cowboys defensive end Jammerio GrossWhitaker said. “We’re going to be really good, especially on the defensive line.”
Outside of the top three teams, only Southeastern Louisiana (7-4, 7-2 SLC) and Nicholls (5-6, 5-4 SLC) had winning conference records last season. They were picked to finish fourth and fifth this year, respectively.
Abilene Christian (Adam Dorrel) and Lamar (Mike Schultz) have first-year coaches and were selected seventh and eighth, respectively, in the preseason poll.
“The teams that are picked ahead of us in the preseason poll are really good teams that have an established history of winning,” Schultz said. “We haven’t quite arrived at that point so I don’t see how we could’ve been picked higher.
“We’re right where we should be.”