Sam Houston State vs. Baylor Floyd Casey Stadium - Waco, Texas September 4, 2010 - 6 p.m. kickoff BEARKATS OPEN 2010 SEASON AT BAYLOR Armstrong rushed for 125 yards including touchdowns of 39 and fi ve Sam Houston State University begins its 95th season of football yards to lead the Bears to 355 yards total off ense. Saturday, Sept. 4 when the Bearkats kick off against the Baylor Bears at Aaron Karas (who was the older brother of Bearkat backup quar- Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000) in Waco. terback Adam Karas) passed for 188 yards and a touchdown. The Bearkats own a 51-39-4 record in season opening games. Sam Houston has won 10 of its last 12 season openers and owns a 16-8 SAM HOUSTON BEARKAT FOOTBALL IN 2010 record in opening games since moving up to NCAA Division I Football Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz knew coming into the Championship Subdivision (FCS) play in 1986. season that he was going to have his hands full turning around the Bearkats’ football program. Sam Houston returns only 29 of the 63 14TH SHSU HEAD COACH MAKES DEBUT players who lettered on last year’s 5-6 squad. Willie Fritz became the 14th head football coach at Sam Houston The 34 lost letter-winners is the highest total of departed players last December. In a 28-year career both as an assistant and a head since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA Division I FCS level in 1986. coach, Fritz has produced a record of 220 victories, 78 losses and fi ve The previous high was 28 lost lettermen in 1993 when Sam Houston ties. went 4-7 for the year and 2-5 in Southland action. Just eight starters Fritz has coached the past 13 years at the University of Central Mis- (two on off ense and six on defense) are among the returnees. Sam souri where he became the “winningest” head coach in the 113-year Houston does not return a running back who touched a ball in the history of Mules football. Fritz compiled a 97-47 record that included 2009 season and the Bearkats’ top six receivers from last year are gone. eight consecutive years with seven or more victories. Of the 90 players who reported for the opening of preseason From 1993 to 1996, Fritz was head coach at Blinn College where camp on August 6, only 48 took part in Fritz’s spring practice in April. he turned around a program that had gone 5-24-1 in its three previous The other 42 players were either freshmen or transfers. seasons and led the Buccaneers to two junior college national cham- The Bearkats’ 44-man two-deep for the Baylor game breaks down pionships. Fritz went 39-5-1 in three years at Blinn including back-to- as follows – 12 freshmen (7 off ense, 5 defense); 16 sophomores (7 back 12-0 seasons his fi nal two years. off ense, 9 defense), 10 juniors (6 off ense, 4 defense) and 6 seniors (2 The new Bearkat head coach is no stranger to Sam Houston. He off ense, 4 defense). served as a graduate assistant for Bearkat squads that went 16-6 in “We lost a bunch of guys - 27 seniors - from last year’s group,” Fritz 1984 and 1985, winning the Gulf Star Conference championship in said. “I’m excited about the kids we have coming back and the body 1985. He was secondary and special teams coach for the Kats in 1991 of work they are doing. I like the direction we are going. I feel like we and 1992, helping led SHSU to a Southland title in 1991. signed a good class. I like the staff we have put together. I think this is All four of his years at Sam Houston, Fritz worked for head coach going to be a good mix. It will be an interesting season that is for sure, Ron Randleman who coached Fritz when the new coach was a four- but we are looking forward to it.” year starter as a defensive back at Pittsburgh State University. Fritz SHSU’s coordinators both are former Southland Conference head played on two conference championship teams at Pittsburgh State. coaches - Bob DeBesse (Southwest Texas) and Scott Stoker (North- western State). SAM HOUSTON-BAYLOR SERIES Sam Houston has visited Floyd Casey Stadium twice before, play- THE BEARKAT OFFENSE ing in Waco in 1990 and 2003. The biggest change for the 2010 Bearkats will come on off ense The Bearkats threw a scare into the Bears in the 1990 encounter. where Sam Houston will look to become more balanced. Playing before 34,413 at Floyd-Casey (at that point, the largest crowd “I think you have to run the ball successfully to win,” Fritz said. “We ever to witness a Sam Houston football game), the Kats led 9-0 at are going to control the game and we are going to look and see where halftime and were up 9-7 at the start of the fourth quarter. the weaknesses are and see what we can take advantage of. We will Sam Houston’s defense, led by All-American lineman Michael have a lot of diff erent formations, but most everything we are going to Bankston, who went on to play eight years for the Arizona Cardinals, do is with the same philosophy.” limited the Bears to only 56 yards total off ense in the fi rst half. Senior quarterback Bryan Randolph earned the starting role dur- Two long punt returns set up the go-ahead scores for Baylor in the ing spring practice. He has been the backup the last two years, playing fourth quarter as Jeff Ireland kicked fi eld goals of 25 yards with 12:29 behind Rhett Bomar (now with the New York Giants) in 2008 and to play and 41 yards with 1:44 remaining. But the Bears still had to Blake Joseph (who passed for 2,440 yards and 14 touchdowns last intercept a pass at midfi eld in the fi nal minute to win 13-9. year). Backing up Randolph is redshirt junior Greg Sprowls. Sam Houston’s off ense outgained Baylor 234 total yards to 225 With no running backs who carried during either the 2009 season and held possession for 33:41. or in spring practice, Sam Houston has collected a strong stable of The 2003 meeting wasn’t as close as Baylor took advantage of runners in preseason camp. Freshmen Ridgeway Frank (Spring HS) off ensive and special teams mistakes to roll up a 27-6 victory. Rash and Cameron Brown (Austin LBJ HS) and Louisiana Tech transfer D. J. Sam Houston Football Morrow (Palestine Westwood HS) will carry the load. have a bunch of young running backs and wide receivers. But we’re Junior center Travis Watson and left tackle Chris Crockett ready to get started. We had a big group that stayed in Huntsville this were starters in 2008 who missed playing in 2009 because of injury. summer to work together and everyone is pulling together and is Sophomore tackle Kaleb Hopson was a starter as a freshman last year ready to play.” and sophomore tackle Rily Smith and guard Cameron Pound were backups last year, giving the Kats an experienced front line. Senior cornerback Jarvis Pippins Wide receivers Brandon Closner and Melvis Pride and tight end “The work ethic from our young guys has been impressive.With T. J. Jones were the only returning Bearkats to catch passes last year the new coaching staff , there was a lot of energy on the fi eld every (combining for 13 catches for 170 yards). day. We’re going to play every down with high energy and be aggres- sive all the time. As one of the few seniors, I know I have to try to be THE BEARKAT DEFENSE more of a leader this year. I was to lead by my actions as well as vocally. It is no secret that one of Sam Houston’s biggest weaknesses last I need to be one of the guys running hard to the ball every play.” season came in the secondary. The Bearkats started three freshmen, two safeties and a cornerback, who got on-the-job training while BEARKATS TABBED SEVENTH IN SOUTHLAND PRESEASON POLL taking their fair share of lumps. Sam Houston ranked sixth out of eight Stephen F. Austin has been tabbed as the favorite in the 2010 teams in the Southland Conference in pass defense at 253.5 yards a Southland Conference football race according to a vote of the league’s game. Things got better towards the end of the season including a head coaches. Sam Houston was picked to fi nish seventh in the eight- victory over Central Arkansas in which the Kats gave up only 106 yards team league race. passing and picked off two passes. The league’s head coaches predicted the race to fi nish with SFA in What was once a major weakness could now be a strength for the fi rst, McNeese State second, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State Kats heading into this season. Those three freshmen - Darnell Taylor, tied for third, followed by Central Arkansas, Northwestern State, Sam Kenneth Jenkins and Robert Shaw - are a year older, and more Houston and Nicholls. importantly, have now been in defensive coordinator Scott Stoker’s A sign of the overall lack of experience which characterizes the scheme for an entire season. 2010 Sam Houston team, for the fi rst time in SHSU’s 24 years in the Throw in senior cornerback Jarvis Pippins and senior safeties league, no Bearkats were named to the preseason All-Southland Con- Victor Carmichael and Brandon Bruce, and Sam Houston all of the ference squad.