Angelo State @ Sam Houston

[mistanice]

game tonight @ 6pm.

[JasperDog94]

Sam better watch out. I'm sure Angelo State had a huge upset some 30 or 40 years ago against some team that nobody really cares about.

Be careful!!!:eek: :eek: :p

[burnet44]

no

Sam wins with a D1 qb
big whoooo
actually we never lost to Sam
Yes I know that was a while back
went 3-1 with SFA
3-1 with SWT
0-4 vs A and I
they were cheating before anyone thought of cheating
lol

you just posted to rag on me
Its fine I went where I went
good school
and has 1 more national football championship than Sam

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Rams ho-hum about the hype - Bomar’s presence won’t be center of team’s attention in opener
By Jeff Wick (Contact)
Thursday, August 30, 2007


Rhett Bomar, a former No. 1 national quarterback recruit who was kicked off the University of Oklahoma football team last year, returns to action tonight. He’ll lead Sam Houston State in the season-opener against the Angelo State Rams.

Leave it to a hard-nosed West Texas kid from Mason to put all the hype about Rhett Bomar’s return to college football into perspective.

Today the Angelo State University football team will have the spotlight of the college football world on it. Bomar — the former national No. 1 high school quarterback recruit who was kicked off the University of Oklahoma team after he was paid by a booster for work he didn’t do at a Norman car dealership — returns to the field for the first time with the Sam Houston State Bearkats as they open the season against the Rams.

Reporters from across the country will be there to cover Bomar’s return.

ESPN will show highlights.

Former Mason High School standout Michael McLeod, a junior strong safety for the Rams who will be in Bomar’s cross hairs, doesn’t care about that.

“I honestly didn’t really know who he was until one of the other players told me,” McLeod said. “They said, ‘Brett Bomar ... you know, from Oklahoma.’ It didn’t click with me.”

Sports Illustrated might be there to write about Bomar, but McLeod didn’t know the guy’s first name.

That, in a nutshell, is how the entire Angelo State team is approaching a player with Bomar’s credentials — with a collective shrug of the shoulders.

“I don’t think our players are really singling him out at all,” Angelo State head coach Dale Carr said. “They know that there are 10 other guys on that offense with him that they better be concerned about.

“In fact, my biggest concern from a defensive perspective is that offensive line. That’s where the seniority is.”

Not convinced?

“We’re not doing anything special just because he’s supposed to be this great, wonderful quarterback,” ASU junior cornerback Tarric Jones said. “We want to stop the whole offense, not just one quarterback.

“Honestly, it’s just another game.”

In Hunstville, it’s anything but just another game.

Bomar’s arrival at SHSU last year was huge for the I-AA program. Here was a player who was so highly recruited out of Grand Prairie High School in 2004 that he could have picked any school in the country.

As a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma, he started the last 11 games of the 2005 season for the Sooners, threw for 2,018 yards and was the MVP of the Holiday Bowl.

When the allegations against Bomar surfaced last summer, he was kicked off the team and left school.

Within weeks, Bomar had enrolled at Sam Houston, which has had a history of success with D-I tranfer quarterbacks, including Dustin Long from A&M and Josh McCown from SMU. Bomar arrived hoping to get his eligibility restored quickly by the NCAA so he could play late in the season for the Bearkats.

That never happened — so his return to college football comes today against the Rams.

Sam Houston State head coach Todd Whitten said one of the things that has struck him most about Bomar throughout spring and summer workouts is his footwork.

Whitten has been even more impressed with the off-the-field Bomar.

“Rhett, he loves to work out,” Whitten said. “He studies the game. I really like his enthusiasm.”

All the Rams are enthusiastic, too, although not so much about facing Bomar as starting a new season and trying to turn around last year’s struggles.

“There’s some people that have said, ‘Oh, they have Brett Bomar,’” said McLeod, maintaining he hasn’t given Bomar (or his first name) much thought. “He’s human just like the rest of us. He went to a D-I school and stuff. If he made it there, of course, he’s going to be good. Of course, it’s going to be an extra challenge. I’m sure all his mechanics are going to be perfect.

“I think it’s better to be an underdog. You get to step up to their level.”

Old buddies

Angelo State head coach Dale Carr and Sam Houston State head coach Todd Whitten are old friends dating back to when Whitten was coaching at Tarleton State in Stephenville and Carr was at Tyler Junior College.

“I know Todd fairly well,” Carr said. “I’ve had him over at my house before. He recruited TJC players really hard. His assistants always tell me that they owe their jobs to TJC because they got some good ones that helped them win a lot of games at Tarleton.

“It seemed like they’d sign four or five Tyler kids every year when Todd was there.”

Angelo State at Sam Houston State

- What: College football season-opener for both schools.

- When: 6 p.m. today.

- Where: Bowers Stadium, Hunstville.

- On the air: The game is scheduled to be broadcast live at southland.org as a free preview of Southland TV.

- Of note: Rhett Bomar, the former University of Oklahoma quarterback, makes his return to college football today with the Bearkats. ... ASU was 3-7 last season

[mistanice]

Ready to rock

Bearkats open much anticipated 2007 season tonight against Angelo State

By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor

The wait is finally over and now it’s time to see what the Sam Houston State football team can do.

Since the end of last season, anticipation has been building and expectations soaring for this moment when the Bearkats kick off the 2007 campaign against Angelo State tonight at Bowers Stadium.

SHSU was one win away from a Southland Conference championship in 2006. But with the addition of several key transfers and a strong supporting cast of returning players, this could be the year the league title returns to Bearkat country.

Tonight, the guys get their first test and the chance to see how much the team has improved since last November.

“We have to play a game in order to progress as a team and for us coaches to evaluate where we stand as a team,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “The weather hasn’t been cooperating lately and all we have been able to do is walkthroughs. So I’m a little concerned about that. But we have worked hard and should be ready to play.”

Tonight’s came also marks the debut of highly touted quarterback Rhett Bomar. After serving a year-long suspension in 2006, the University of Oklahoma transfer will be playing in his first game since winning most valuable player honors in the 2005 Holiday Bowl.

Bomar has had a year to learn the offense and can’t wait to finally take the field of battle with his Bearkat teammates.

“I’m excited and anxious. I’m not nervous or anything like that because it has been a long journey this past year, and I just want to get back on the field,” Bomar said. “It seems like practice has gone by fast since it started in the beginning of August. I’m just pumped, and I don’t think I have been this excited in a long time.”

With four returning starters on the offensive line and preseason All-America tight end Blake Martin, the Bearkats have the potential be even better on offense this season. SHSU was second in the SLC in both scoring (23.9) and total offense (345.1 yards) in ‘06.

Of course that was also with SLC offense player of the year D.D. Terry in the backfield. But promising young running backs Chris Poullard, TyMagic Robinson and Randall Eldridge, along with Bomar, are capable of picking up the slack. And wide receivers Darnell Jones, Catron Houston, Justin Wells and Trey Payne should be able to stretch the field.

“I feel like we are ready to go out and have a big game,” Bomar said. “We can’t underestimate Angelo State. They have athletes too, and are going to come ready to play. But I feel like we have the talent and all we need to do is come out an execute. We are ready to go at someone else.”

The Rams are a Division II team from the Lone Star Conference, but that doesn’t mean they are going to be a pushover. ASU has given SHSU all it could handle in the teams’ previous two meetings.

The Rams beat the Bearkats 24-17 at Bowers Stadium in 1997 and came close to another upset the following year, falling 27-26. SHSU also lost to another LSC foe four years ago, when Whitten led Tarleton State to a 39-20 thumping over the Kats in 2003.

“I’m expecting a good football team out of Angelo State,” Whitten said. “They had a down year last season, but I think the year before that they made the playoffs. I have a lot of respect for coach (Dale) Carr and the Angelo tradition. I spent a lot of time in that league and coached in there for six years.

“Over the years they have been capable of coming in here and beating us. They did it in 1989 and in 1997. We have to be respective of them and have to come out and play them like they are another Southland Conference team.”

The Bearkats will also have a new look on the defensive side of the ball tonight. SHSU will field only one regular starter from last year’s team, linebacker Luke McCall. But safeties Byran Richmond and Carlton Cobey, and linebacker Nolen Bucek have seen plenty of playing action during their SHSU careers. And All-SLC defensive end David Branch makes his return after missing last season because of shoulder surgery.

Juniors Stanley Garrett and Wonseleh Brewer will make their first starts at cornerback, while senior Josh Moore fills out the other safety spot. University of Texas transfer Chris Brown will start opposite Branch at the other end, and Jerod Brown and Kevin Smith will plug up the interior.

Even though the Bearkats have so many new starters, they feel like this year’s unit can have a big year.

But first they will have to stop Rams running back Daniel Thomas, who rushed for a team-high 748 yards and four touchdowns a year ago. He also caught 14 pass out of the backfield for 215 yards and two more scores. ASU will have a new quarterback under center, but return leading receiver Drew Peterson (30 receptions, 290 yards and two TDs).

“We want to come out and set a tone for this season,” Richmond said. “I think we have a chance to be better on defense this year. As far as the playerswise, last year we had a little more talent because we had older guys like Chadd Oliphant and Braylon Linnear.

“But this year, everybody is buying into what the coaches want.”

Tonight’s kickoff is scheduled for 6.



Out of the lineup

The Bearkats will be without several defensive contributors for tonight’s game. Lineman Eric Mikolajchak is still out with a back injury and linebacker Frank Simon is sidelined with a foot injury. Junior defensive back Erva Trotter is also not expected to suit out.

Linebacker Patrick Robinson will miss the entire year while recovering from offseason knee surgery.

[3afan]

for the ASU perspective ::

Rams Open Season Thursday

The new year of football for Angelo State begins two days earlier than normal as the Rams kickoff the season at 6 p.m. Aug. 30 with a game at NCAA Division I foe Sam Houston State. The Rams are 23-19-1 all-time in season openers and have claimed wins in each of the past two seasons to start off the year. The Thursday game will mark the first such contest for the Rams since Sept. 1, 2005, when ASU hosted Southern Nazarene University.

Against the Bearkats...Thursday will mark the 30th all-time meeting between the Rams and SHSU with Angelo State holding a 17-12 advantage in the series. The last ASU victory in the series came in 1997 with the Rams downing SHSU, 24-17, in the team's last trip to Huntsville. The Bearkats have claimed victory in five of the last six meetings, including last game in the series in 1998, a game in which SHSU pulled off a 27-26 victory in San Angelo.

The two teams met yearly from 1970-91, including twice each in 1977 and 1978. Sam Houston State was a member of the Lone Star Conference from 1931-84. During the 12 years the two teams overlapped in the league, the Rams held a 13-3 advantage and won 12 consecutive games against the Bearkats.

The first meeting between the two programs came in 1965, the Rams' second season of football as a four-year institution, with ASU grabbing a 19-12 victory at home.

Five Seniors To Start Final Season...Just five seniors are scattered through the Rams' 98-man roster to open up the 2007 campaign. Of the five Rams in their final year with the team, two reside on the offensive line, one at quarterback, one at linebacker and one is a punter. The senior duo of Josh Hammerquist and Matt Jones anchor the young front line. Senior signal caller Jay Immel returns after serving as the Rams' starter for a majority of the 2006 season. Daniel Smith, ASU's leading tackler from last year, returns to lead a stout linebacking corps. Punter Jeff Jones returns for his third year in the role for the Rams.

The Coaches...Dale Carr (Colorado State, 1987) is in his third season as the head coach for the Angelo State Rams and boasts a 12-10 career record at ASU. In his debut season in 2005, Carr turned around a program that had three-straight losing seasons to a playoff-caliber team. The native of Odessa guided the Rams to a 9-3 record in 2005 and their first postseason appearance in eight seasons. Last fall, his squad ended the season with a 3-7 overall mark, going 2-4 in LSC South Division play. Prior to taking over at ASU, Carr spent nine seasons as the head coach at Tyler Junior College. During his stint with TJC, Carr boasted a 66-31 overall record and led the Apaches to five bowl game appearances.

Todd Whitten (Stephen F. Austin, 1987) is no stranger to the Angelo State Rams. In his third season at the helm of the Bearkats, Whitten spent six seasons (1996, 2000-04) as the head coach at Tarleton State University. At TSU, Whitten posted a 45-23 record and led the Texans to their first NCAA Division II postseason appearance in school history in 2001. He also guided Tarleton State to the playoffs in 2003. While at Sam Houston State, Whitten has a 9-12 in two seasons. In 2006, he led the Bearkats to a runner-up finish in the Southland Conference.

Ram Offense...Junior Daniel Thomas will be looked upon a as spark for the Ram offense in 2007. The Taylor native rushed for 748 yards as a sophomore last fall with four touchdowns. In addition, Thomas pulled in 14 catches for 215 yards and two scores out of the backfield. At quarterback, the duo of sophomore Josh Neiswander and senior Jay Immel will compete for playing time. Neiswander enters the first week of the regular season as the slated starter for the Rams. He appeared in five games as a redshirt freshman in 2006, completing 46.8 percent of his passes. Immel played in seven games as a junior. He completed 61.6 percent of his tosses with seven touchdowns. Junior wide out Drew Peterson was the Rams' leading receiver a year ago and returns to guide a talented crew of receivers this fall. In 2006, he pulled in 30 receptions for 290 yards for two touchdowns, all team highs.

Ram Defense...The Rams return three of their four leading tacklers from 2006, including top performer Daniel Smith at linebacker. Smith, a senior from San Antonio, tallied a team-best 80 stops as a junior with an interception, two fumble recoveries and a pair of break-ups. Sophomore linebacker Ian Ritchey was third on the squad with 75 tackles last fall while junior safety Jared Hicks was fourth with 62 tackles. Junior safety Michael McLeod, who led the Rams with three interceptions in 2006, also returns for ASU.

Ram Special Teams...Senior punter Jeff Jones returns for his third year of action for the Rams. As a junior, Jones averaged 34.8 yards per punt while placing 13 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. A battle at kicker has developed in the preseason as redshirt freshmen Ryan Smith, Brad Holcomb and J.D. Bales look to fill the void left by J.D. Williams.

Scouting the Bearkats...Sam Houston State posted a 6-5 record in 2006, finishing as runner up in the Southland Conference with a 4-2 mark in league play. The Bearkats, a member of NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly I-AA, are preseason ranked No. 18 by Sports Network and No. 23 in the Coaches' Poll. Sam Houston State returns five All-SLC players, including senior tight end Blake Martin and senior offensive lineman Brandon Hale, who were each named preseason All-SLC earlier this month. In addition, SHSU returns 2005 All-SLC pick David Branch, a senior defensive lineman, who missed last season due to injury. Senior quarterback Brett Hicks and junior tight end Dustin Dziuk were honorable mention all-conference performers in 2006.

However, it is the Bearkat newcomers, one in particular that has garnered much of the press in the off season. Junior transfer quarterback Rhett Bomar, formerly of the University of Oklahoma, is slated to make his SHSU debut against the Rams on Thursday. Bomar served as the starting quarterback for the Sooners in 2005 as a redshirt freshman before removed from the team after NCAA violations. He was forced to sit out the 2006 season as a penalty of those violations. Other top four-year transfers on the Bearkat roster are Chris Brown, a junior defensive end from Texas, and Titus Brothers, a junior cornerback from Nebraska.

[burnet44]

Sam better win big

[Bull19]

how exciting

[BMOC]

Gotta LOVE this time of year. Reading all that just gets exciting for football.

[Black_Magic]

My brothers son is playing tonight for the Rams for the first time. Looks like he will see time as a RB tonight. he is just a Frosh and is backing up the starter.

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by Black_Magic
My brothers son is playing tonight for the Rams for the first time. Looks like he will see time as a RB tonight. he is just a Frosh and is backing up the starter.

What's his name?

[Bull19]

43 sec left in 1st.... sam is up 10-0


rhett has 1 td and 1 int.

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by Bull19
43 sec left in 1st.... sam is up 10-0


rhett has 1 td and 1 int.

I'm still at work, anymore updates?

[sweetwater07]

17-7 SHSU..almost half time

[Bull19]

rhett has 1 td passing and 1 running

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by Bull19
rhett has 1 td passing and 1 running

Thanks

[burnet44]

ASU vs SAM (http://www.southland.org/mediaPlayer/video.dbml?KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=18400&DB_ACCOUNT_TYPE=USER&SPEED_TO_USE=HIGH&CLIP_ID=23988&CONTENT_TYPE=EVENT&USE_THIS_STREAM_ID_ONLY=1)

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by burnet44
ASU vs SAM (http://www.southland.org/mediaPlayer/video.dbml?KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=18400&DB_ACCOUNT_TYPE=USER&SPEED_TO_USE=HIGH&CLIP_ID=23988&CONTENT_TYPE=EVENT&USE_THIS_STREAM_ID_ONLY=1)

b44 whats up with the love for the mean green?

[Bull19]

17-10

[burnet44]

scored but a holding penalty brought it back
fg
17-10
rb looks good
but sam gutted us on the last drive

[burnet44]

Originally posted by ASUFrisbeeStud
b44 whats up with the love for the mean green?

800 bucks a month and my daughter goes there

[Bull19]

17-13

[Bull19]

rhett is currently not playing........cramps,,, took him to locker room


nevermind ....bomar is back

[burnet44]

17-13 end of 3rd
Sam OL is better than out front 7
we have a chance
but we have to do better up front on d
way better

[burnet44]

Bomar is back
360 to for Sam
160 for ASU

[burnet44]

Sam starting to roll
Screen weak
ASU got caught in a stunt
first 10 on ASU 13

[Bull19]

muffed snap

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Turnover on downs, Rams football.

[burnet44]

3 straight incomplete passes
one was wide open
fg attempt bobbled snap
holder runs
tackled
ASU ball on the 3 lol

[burnet44]

almost a safety

[burnet44]

out route complete to the 19
first down
cut back run 2nd amd 4

[Bull19]

completition 15 yard line

[burnet44]

held em
4th 7 from
3:26 left

[Bull19]

qb sack

[burnet44]

1st 10 from our 10
90 yards

[burnet44]

sacked on the 5 ouch
pass to the 12
3rd and 8

[Bull19]

incomplete

[burnet44]

draw didnt work

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

They made it close.

[burnet44]

4th down pass incomplete
SAM ball on the 12
running the greatest play in fb

SAM shoulda scored more
Bomar wins 17-13

Gutsy play by the Rams
SAM shoulda been better

1-AA vs D2

Rams might be better than I though
maybe

I aint gonna say they are conference world beaters
but a good effort against a superior team
SAM out gained us huge

Bomar had good stats but didnt score much

overall a weak win by SAM
a gutsy tough loss by ASU

[SWMustang]

way to represent, ASU