READY TO RUMBLE
Chattanooga pushed top-ranked Sam Houston State to the edge in its Football Championship Subdivision playoff opener. The Bearkats’ 41-36 win came down to a late deflection by defensive end P.J. Hall. That was only a warm-up for this week’s chilling challenge.
The fifth-seeded Bearkats take on No. 4 seed James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., where freezing temperatures are expected tonight, on a short week in arguably the toughest FCS quarterfinal.
Sam Houston (12-0) and James Madison (11-1) meet at 6 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium.
“It’s hard to win a national championship, so you can’t make excuses and you can’t find ways out,” Bearkats coach K.C. Keeler said. “You’ve got to realize it’s going to be really hard, and this is a tough task — traveling there, they’re going to have a great crowd and it’s going to be a great atmosphere, and it’s going to be a tough opponent, we have to travel on a short week, and all those kinds of things.
“But those are the challenges that, when you win a national championship and you look back, you say, ‘You know what, wow, that made this special.’”
Defense rises up
The Mocs were a special opponent.
They built momentum on Sam Houston’s mistakes and erased a 21-0 deficit, tying it 2121 early in the third and forcing the Bearkats to hang on in a tight finish after controlling the first 15 minutes.
Hall’s third-down deflection with 25 seconds left helped them stay alive.
“It was really great to see our defense have to make a play at the end of the game to win it, because everyone talks about our offense so much, almost ad nauseam, all the points that we score, and the yards and all of those things … sometimes our defense gets overlooked,” Keeler said.
Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe didn’t sport his best look.
The junior was sacked six times and completed only 50 percent of his passes with one interception.
He still threw for 363 yards and five touchdowns and set an FCS single-season record with his 57th TD pass — a 26-yarder to freshman receiver Nathan Stewart for a 41-33 lead with 9:02 remaining.
“He’s blessed to have an offense that fits his skill set and … really talented receivers around him, so it all works that way,” Keeler said.
“(The record’s) even more impressive realizing he didn’t play in seven fourth quarters.”
Airing it out
Briscoe’s favorite target Saturday was WR Yedidiah Louis, who hauled in eight passes for 156 yards and three TDs.
Louis boasts eight touchdowns in his last three games.
Keeler said the junior’s prolific production, including 28 receptions for 449 yards, is the pleasant result of what defenses are doing against them during the stretch, and not anything Louis is doing particularly well now — he’s been great all season — or an effort to design more plays his way.
Stewart, Davion Davis and Tyler Scott are equally capable of video-game numbers.
Stewart had 12 catches for 268 yards and three TDs against McNeese State, Davis had six receptions for 184 yards and three TDs against TSU, and Scott had eight grabs for 130 yards and a TD against Abilene Christian.
“Whatever we can get open, we’re going to throw the ball that way,” Keeler said.
“So when people want to try doubling (Louis), we actually enjoy that because it will open up the other guys on the field, and we’re not afraid to get the ball to everybody.”
Ball-hawking foe
The Dukes are taking the ball from everybody.
They have 25 takeaways, with 18 interceptions, led by free safety Raven Greene (five INTs) and cornerback Taylor Reynolds (two INTs, eight pass breakups), who Keeler recruited at Delaware.
But it’s the Dukes’ offense that has Keeler feeling like he’s looking in a mirror.
They’re averaging 48.3 points and 525.8 yards behind another ultra talented QB in Bryan Schor (2,397 yards, 23 TDs passing).
“We think we’re playing our equal,” Keeler said.
“We’re playing a really good football team, and we know that this is going to be one of those three- or seven-pointers.
“At least that’s what we hope it comes down to.”