Bearkats look past Harvey to Spiders

Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe and his Sam Houston State teammates are in Waco to try and win a football game, and the former Stratford High standout said they’ve been able to separate their sport from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast.

“Football and life are two totally different things,” Briscoe told the Bearkat Sports Network this week while standing in Baylor’s McLane Stadium. “You have to know you’re here to play football, and that’s what we’re here for right now. It’s your job.”

The Bearkats, many of whom are from the Houston area, will try and focus on their job starting at 6 p.m. Friday against Richmond. The season opener was scheduled for last Sunday night but Harvey forced a postponement and relocation. Baylor offered to play host and make the game free for fans.

“We can’t thank Baylor and (coach) Matt Rhule enough,” Sam Houston coach K.C. Keeler said. “Everything from using the practice fields to the game field, the cold tubs … basically it’s been like being back at Sam Houston — we’ve gotten all of the comforts.”

Keeler said he got back to the basics when the team started practicing in Waco in preparation for Friday’s game.

“On Tuesday I said, ‘That is the sun, it really is out,’” Keeler said. “It had been a while since we had seen that.”

In a letter from the SHSU athletics department posted on its website, fans attending the game are encouraged to “thank all of (Baylor’s) individuals (at the game) for the selflessness and friendship.”

The ballyhooed FCS contest against Richmond originally was scheduled for airing nationally on ESPNU, but it shifted to ESPN3 with the change in date and venue. The Bearkats will get another chance for a national-television audience, however, within a week. They play at Prairie View A&M on Thursday night in another game scheduled for ESPNU, before finally playing in Huntsville on Sept. 23 against Nicholls State in their Southland Conference opener.

“Everything is not always going to be on script,” said Briscoe, the top returning quarterback in the nation in FCS. “You have to roll with it.”

The Sam Houston athletic department added in the open letter, “If you are able to safely attend, we would love to have you in Waco. For one night, let’s turn Waco orange . ... Football is just a game but on Friday, we hope it can be something more.”