Oct. 6, 2005
Fresh off a convincing 42-12 win over South Dakota State, No. 14 Texas State will turn its attention to the Southland Conference race beginning Saturday when the Bobcats travel to Southeastern Louisiana. The game will be the first ever SLC contest for the Lions who resumed playing football in 2003 after nearly a 20-year hiatus.
Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium on the Southeastern Louisiana campus. The game will be broadcast locally in San Marcos by KTSW-FM 89.9 and can also be heard through CSTV Bobcats All-Access.
The game is part of a full opening weekend of conference play. Nicholls State travels to Stephen F. Austin while Northwestern State takes on Sam Houston State in SLC action on Saturday. McNeese State, whose campus was ravaged two weeks ago by Hurricane Rita, returns to action with a game against Texas Southern that will be played at Northwestern State.
Fans have flocked back to the Southeastern Louisiana campus for the return of football. Strawberry Stadium seats 7,408 but SLU has brought in portable seating systems to accommodate fans. During its first season back in 2003, SLU led the nation in attendance per capacity (126.55 percent) and last year ranked third in the statistical category drawing 118.26 percent of capacity.
The Lions have not played at home since defeating Alcorn State 48-21 back on Sept. 10. That early season non-conference game drew a plus-capacity crowd of 7,823. With the first step toward a conference championship for both teams being on the line Saturday, another crowd exceeding capacity is expected this week.
In addition to the focus now on championships, Southeastern Louisiana is also coming off a confidence-building 28-21 loss against Division I-A Tulane which is adding to the excitement surround the Lions' program.
SLU quarterback Trey Willie completed 38 of 54 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the Lions' loss to Tulane. Receivers Josh Taylor and Blake Alfortish each had eight receptions while All-American Felton Huggins had seven catches and a pair of touchdowns in the loss.
On the year, Huggins has caught 16 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He only needs 14 receptions to become the career reception leader at SLU. Taylor is the team's leading receiver so far this season with 25 catches for 251 yards.
Willie, like Texas State quarterback Barrick Nealy, can both run and pass the ball. He is the Lions' leading rusher with 141 yards on 42 carries. He ranks eighth nationally in total offense per game, averaging 310.3 yards an outing.
Defensively, the Lions are giving up 108 yards rushing and coming off a Tulane game in which they held the I-A Green Wave to just 18 yards on the ground.
But SLU's defense will face a Texas State team which ranks among the top 20 nationally in rushing, averaging 228 yards on the ground, and 449.5 yards of total offense per game. Nealy is the Bobcats' leading rusher, having run for 349 yards and five touchdowns this season while senior running back Douglas Sherman has run for 325 yards.
In addition to leading the team in rushing, Nealy has completed 62-of-93 passes for 877 yards and five touchdowns. The Dallas native's 306.5 yards of total offense per game and 159.32 pass efficiency ratio both rank among the top 10 in Division I-AA.
The key Sunday could be special teams.
Both teams feature strong punters. SLU junior Jim Hall leads Division I-AA with a 45.94 punting average while Texas State's Cory Elolf is averaging 42.3 yards per punt.
Defensively, Southeastern Louisiana has already blocked five punts and a point after try while the Bobcats have also blocked a punt this year. Five different Lions have blocked kicks this season including cornerback Romalis Mayo who leads the team with 19 total stops and has two pass break ups.
Texas State linebacker David Simmons has 27 total tackles while cornerback Walter Musgrove has 24 tackles including a quarterback sack.
