Bearkats will try to impose their tempo on PV

Panthers enter game as a blank slate after opener is postponed

PRAIRIE VIEW — There’s a bit of mystery concerning Prairie View A&M’s football team going into Thursday’s home game with Sam Houston State.

Because last week’s game against Texas Southern was postponed to Thanksgiving weekend, the Panthers now open their 2017 season with the Bearkats, ranked third in FCS. Sam Houston State is at a disadvantage in terms of scouting Prairie View and coming back on a short week following its impressive 4834 win over No. 7 Richmond last Friday in Waco.

What is no longer a mystery is how Sam Houston State senior safety Josh Price would perform in his first football game since 2014, when he was playing for NCAA Division II Southern Nazarene. Price recorded two red-zone interceptions in the Bearkats’ opening victory.

On Monday, Price was named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe, who passed for 411 yards against Richmond, was the SLC Offensive Player of the Week.

“It was just great to be back on the field,” Price said. “I know it’s only the first game and I don’t want to get too hyped up about it, but that was a homecoming for me. I really needed that.

“I was at the right place at the right time (on the interceptions), based on coaching.” Price is right

Price, who did not play football in 2015 after leaving Southern Nazarene and was ineligible in 2016 because he was short on transfer credits, is one of nine first-year starters on the Bearkats’ defense.

“One thing coach (K.C. Keeler) didn’t want to do was make plays so difficult that we were hesitant on the field,” said Price, a product of Hightower High School. “So they made the plays a lot simpler so that we could play fast.”

Playing fast on both sides of the ball has been a trademark of Keeler’s teams that have played in the FCS playoffs in each of his first three seasons at Sam Houston State and the past six years overall.

“We’re a tempo team, we play with rhythm,” Keeler said. “We play best when we’re playing tempo, playing aggressive.”

Sam Houston, State which went unbeaten in the regular season last year, led FCS in offense in 2016. In coach Willie Simmons’ first two seasons at Prairie View, the Panthers also have displayed a high-scoring offense.

Prairie View has a gifted quarterback in junior college transfer Lavell McCullers, who is expected to start against the Bearkats at Panther Stadium.

“He’s perfect for what they do in terms of their RPO (run-pass option) game and their quarterback-run options,” Keeler said. ‘A complete turnaround’

Quarterback play will be on display Thursday, as will Price, who is glad to be playing football again. He walked on at the Huntsville school in the spring of 2016 and is now a vital part of a revamped Sam Houston State defense.

“They trusted me in the spring (of 2017) when they put me in with the starters,” Price said. “I took that to heart, and I understand that they see something in me that I hadn’t seen.”

Against Richmond, Price’s second interception was a game clincher. It came with 2:03 remaining and the Spiders inside the Bearkats’ 10-yard line. He added eight tackles.

Price has gone from playing on a team that did not win a game in 2014 at a Division II school to a top-10 FCS program.

“Imagine what I came from to where I’m at right now,” Price said. “A complete turnaround.”