Steve Campbell laid it out simply inside Houston's Hilton Americas at the Southland Conference football media day Friday morning.
The blessing of the returning quarterback and entire offensive line; the possible replacements for the graduation of the University of Central Arkansas' all-time leading receiver; a defense with five members named to the preseason All-Southland First Team; and the fact that all of those pieces are only hopeful answers to finally surpassing the team that has kept the Bears at second place in the Southland the past three seasons.
Southland preseason poll
Voting done by league coaches and sports information directors
Analysis by Brooks Kubena
1 — Sam Houston State — 200 points, 20 first-place votes
The Bearkats return senior quarterback and 2016 FCS Walter Payton Award winner Jeremiah Briscoe, who threw for an FCS record 57 touchdowns in 2016. Senior 6-1, 310-pound defensive end P.J. Hall was the runner-up for the 2016 FCS Defensive Player of the Year award. Sam Houston has won the Southland Conference championship six times and reached the FCS national championship in 2011 and 2012.
2 — Central Arkansas — 177 points, 2 first-place votes
The Bears have finished second in the Southland Conference in three consecutive seasons. Last season, the program won its first FCS playoff game since 2011. Senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was named to the preseason All-Southland second team and has started 19 games since the 2015 season. The offense lost all-time leading receiver Desmond Smith to graduation, the defense returns six starters, and a Southland-leading four defensive members were named to the preseason All-Southland first team.
3 — McNeese State — 163 points
Second-year Coach Lance Guidry regained control of the defense after the Cowboys gave up 285 total points in 2016, the most allowed in three years, and allowing 28 red-zone scores in 30 tries. The former McNeese defensive coordinator said he felt like the Cowboys’ standard was not held and “thought it would be best if I took back over.” McNeese plays at UCA on Oct. 28.
4 — Southeastern Louisiana — 136 points
The Lions swept Southland’s Louisiana schools in 2016 and in 2017 and opens the season at Sun Belt Conference opponent Louisiana-Lafayette. The state has 11 Division I football programs, and sixth-year Southeastern Louisiana Coach Ron Roberts said another sweep of the state could help substantially in recruiting. “For us to have success over them will hopefully add value to us to recruits,” said Roberts, whose team went 7-4 last season. “At the end of the day, kids want to win.”
5 — Nicholls State — 133 points
The Colonels gained national attention when they nearly beat Georgia in a 26-24 loss at the start of last season. They open the season against a conference opponent, McNeese State, for the first time since starting the 1992 season with a 38-0 loss to Southland opponent Louisiana-Monroe. Nicholls will travel to Texas A&M the following week. Third-year Coach Tim Rebowe said the focus remains on earning the team’s first winning conference record since tying for first in 2005. “We really haven’t done anything yet,” Rebowe said.
6 — Stephen F. Austin — 114 points
The Lumberjacks started the 2016 season 3-1 before they lost 12 players to injury and finished the season 5-6. SFA lost TCU transfer quarterback Foster Sawyer to an injury sustained over the Fourth of July weekend that will sideline him for 8-10 weeks from the injury. Sawyer had earned the starting position after spring practice, and three other quarterbacks who are a combined 2 for 4 for 25 yards as Lumberjacks will compete for the spot. “The reality is Foster’s our guy,” said fourth-year Coach Clint Conque, a former Central Arkansas head coach. ¨All three of these kids will have to step up.”
7 — Lamar — 68 points
The Cardinals have had one winning season since returning a football program to campus in 2010. Lamar hired its second coach since the rebirth, Mike Schultz, who was the offensive coordinator at Texas State from 2011 to 2015. Schultz began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach at Sam Houston State in 1979 and was the offensive coordinator at TCU when NFL Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson finished fourth in the 2000 Heisman Trophy voting. Lamar returns 10 starters on offense and defense.
8 — Abilene Christian — 66 points
First-year Coach Adam Dorrel is trying to change the culture of an Abilene Christian program that has not had a winning season since joining the Southland in 2014. Dorrel, who led Northwest Missouri State to three NCAA Division II championships, announced tangible improvements in his first seven months: The team’s GPA increased from 2.5 last fall to 3.2 this summer; and the team increased its community service to 400 hours, which helped quadruple its season ticket numbers. ACU will open their new 8,500-seat Wildcat Stadium against Houston Baptist on Sept. 16.
9 — Houston Baptist — 56 points
The Huskies enter the season with a senior class of the program’s original recruits. HBU has gone 4-20 in Southland play since joining the conference in 2014. Junior linebacker Garrett Dolan was named to the preseason All-Southland First Team, and fourth-year Coach Vic Shealy reflected on starting up the program. “To see football become a grounded sport has been exciting,” Shealy said. “Starting out, all we had was hope to sell and a vision for a future.”
10 — Northwestern (La.) State — 49 points
Fifth-year Coach Jay Thomas hired a new offensive and defensive coordinator after the Demons went 1-10 (0-9, Southland) last season. Quarterback coach Kyle Manley was promoted to offensive coordinator to stimulate an offense that ranked No. 8 in the Southland in total offense (367.8 yards per game). Former Demon all-time passing leader Brad Laird was hired as the program’s defensive coordinator for the third time. Laird, who was most recently the athletic director at Ruston High (La.), was the defensive coordinator when the Demons last won the Southland championship and had an FCS playoff appearance in 2004.
11 — Incarnate Word — 48 points
The Cardinals have finished their four-year process of reclassifying from an NCAA Division II team to Division I and are eligible for postseason play for the first time this season. Incarnate Word has competed in the Southland for three seasons (10-16), and fourth-year Coach Larry Kennan has higher expectations this year. “When we started, we were a bad Division II team,” said Kennan, a former offensive coordinator for three NFL teams. “We have gotten to the point where we expect to be a good Division I team.”
"You beat Sam Houston," said Campbell, UCA's fourth-year head coach. "You have to win that game. We're not making it any more or less of it than it is. Our goal is to win the conference and compete for the national championship. We went 10-3 last season. Had a good little run. But we didn't beat Sam Houston. We have to get back to work."
Presumptive fanfare revolved around the six-time Southland champion and two-time national runner up from Huntsville, Texas. In the preseason poll, voted on by coaches and sports information directors, Sam Houston State earned 20 of 22 first-place votes (UCA earned the others). The Bearkats' returning quarterback and 2016 FCS Walter Payton Award winner, Jeremiah Briscoe, headlined the preseason All-Southland First Team a season after tossing an FCS-record 57 touchdowns.
UCA was again picked second.
"Absolutely, it does get frustrating to be just a little short each year," said senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand, who threw for 3,051 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season. "I guess we turn that into motivation. You hate to lose. The next time it rolls around, we'll play Sam Houston knowing what they did to us last year. You just learn from it. That's all you can do."
UCA has not beaten Sam Houston since Campbell was hired in December 2013, and the Bears have been outscored 139-67 in their three meetings since. Sam Houston gave UCA its only conference loss last season, 59-23, when the Bearkats defense intercepted Hildebrand twice and sacked him four times.
"Not a pleasant thought in my mind," Hildebrand said. "They're a good team. Not taking anything from them. But we've proven ourselves to be a playoff contender, and it's time to take that next step. [Sam Houston is] the type of competition we have to compete with in the playoffs. The last 10 teams left will be all of that caliber. We have to come back stronger."
Sam Houston entered the FCS playoffs as the No. 4 seed, before losing to No. 5 seed and eventual national champion James Madison 65-7 in the third round. UCA won its first playoff game since 2011 in a 31-24 victory over Illinois State before losing 31-14 at No. 2 Eastern Washington.
Campbell outlined UCA's defensive strengths as reasons the Bears could make a further push. The unit returns six starters from the group that ranked first in the conference in points allowed per game (21.7) and yards allowed per game (336.3). In the preseason All-Southland First Team, 3 of the 5 defensive backs were from UCA, and the program's five overall first-team members were the most in the conference.
Sam Houston State led the Southland in passing yards per game (368.3) and points per game (49.5)
"Against Sam Houston State, you better be good in the secondary," Campbell said. "And we've got three preseason all-conference secondary guys, and two all-conference pass-rusher guys. We need to rush the passer against these guys. We don't specifically build [a team to beat] Sam Houston. They're the hot hand here late, but you want to build the best team against anybody."
UCA finished second in the Southland in scoring offense (33.1) last season, and the offense returns nine starters -- including the entire offensive line of whom Hildebrand said "I'm best friends with all of them."
The Bears will replace its two top scorers: running back Antwan Wells (593 yards, 10 touchdowns) and the program's all-time leading receiver Desmond Smith (893 yards, 8 touchdowns). Sophomore Carlos Blackman led the Bears in rushing as a true freshman last year (616 yards, 5 touchdowns), and Hildebrand said senior wide receiver Brandon Cox (204 yards, 2 touchdowns) will be an "explosive" option at both slot and wide receiver.
UCA travels to Kansas State (Sept. 2) and Murray State (Sept. 9) before hosting preseason projected No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 16) and Sam Houston State (Sept. 30). Campbell said early victories would give the Bears a "head start" on "high ground."
A fourth consecutive loss to Sam Houston State would likely provide the opposite feeling.
"We're going to do our best to make sure it doesn't happen again this year," Hildebrand said. "Everybody talks about the Southland Conference championship, and we want to be able to beat them. We want to change that, and we think we can do it."
Sports on 07/21/2017