LSC Roundup 10-28

Progress slow for Javelinas' next opponent - George Vondracek, Corpus Christi Caller Times
After hearing the same spiel more than a dozen times during the course of two seasons as Southwestern (Okla.) State’s football coach, Dan Cocannouer has the message. Resurrecting the Bulldogs’ program isn’t an instantaneous proposition.

That is little solace, however, for the former longtime successful Oklahoma high school coach.

“I’m very impatient. I’m very frustrated because, heck, I want to win now,” said Cocannouer, in his second season at his alma mater. “Right now we’re still about two or three guys on both sides of the football of being where we need to be. I feel like we’ve played some very close ballgames this year. In two or three of the games if we do what we’re supposed to, we could’ve won those ballgames. We’re not far from being where we want to be.”


Fowler wants to win, but not just because it's Midwestern
By BRAD KEITH
Sports Editor
brad.keith@empiretribune.com

Tarleton head football coach Cary Fowler would be the first to tell you every game is a big game.

But even he admits there is a little something different about his Texans' game this weekend.
Tarleton State (2-6 overall, 2-5 LSC, 1-3 South) visits Midwestern State (6-2, 5-2, 2-2) in a Lone Star Conference South Division game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wichita Falls' Memorial Stadium.  Fowler spent seven years as defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Midwestern State from 2001-07. He held both roles at Tarleton in 2008 and 2009 before being named head coach in March.

But Fowler insists a trip to Wichita Falls is in no way like going home.

"I'm at home in Stephenville. This is my home," Fowler said emphatically. "When I left Midwestern it was a complete separation. I haven't had a lot of contact with anybody at Midwestern at all except for Coach (Brian) Natkin, the offensive line coach. We're great friends."

Still, Fowler has plenty of friends who will be at the game wishing him well.

"There will be 150 people there who are Fowler friends from Wichita Falls," he said. "I have a lot of contact, daily contact, with my friends there. Both my daughters were born there. My wife and I spent seven very good years of our lives there."

It's homecoming week at Midwestern, and Fowler expects to see droves of players he both recruited and coached during his time at Midwestern.

But that's not why he wants to win Saturday.

"It's not about me, and it's not about winning in front of old friends or beating the guys I used to work with," he said. "It's all about what it would mean for our program to get a win. To come as far as we came a week ago and getting so close to knocking off a top 10 team, a win in a game like this would be the ultimate confident boost for our program."

Midwestern is ranked No. 22 in the latest coaches' poll, falling nine spots from No. 13 after falling to No. 17 West Texas A&M, 42-29, on the road last week. It was the Mustangs' second loss, leaving them in playoff mode the rest of the season.

"They have everything to play for up there. It's a playoff atmosphere every game now for Midwestern," Fowler said. "I look forward to our kids being in this type of game late in the year and striving to match that intensity level.

"I haven't seen the intensity level - for a full 60 minutes - that I like to see as a coach," Fowler continued. "Reaching that intensity is the next step for our young program."

Fowler doesn't want to come close - like the Texans did in last week's 13-10 loss to No. 5 Texas A&M-Kingsville - he wants a win.

"I'm not in this business for moral wins and looking good," he said. "I'm in it for wins and losses, and I want to win."

Doing it at MSU - on homecoming weekend, nonetheless - would just be icing on the cake.


ASU FOOTBALL: Back on track - Nathan Wright, San Angelo Standard Times
If the Angelo State University football team needed a boost to its confidence following four straight losses — all by 14 points or less and three to nationally-ranked teams — it got it Saturday night.

The Rams had their best offensive performance of the season in a 61-17 rout of Incarnate Word at San Angelo Stadium.

ASU had 25 first downs, 650 yards of offense and scored 61 points — and all but six points on a punt return for a touchdown were scored by the offensive unit.

The win won’t help the team make the playoffs — the Rams were 0-4 in the Lone Star Conference South Division going into the game — but with three games left on the schedule, it gave them back their confidence and some momentum.

Both are something they need heading into this week’s Big Country-Concho Valley Shootout against Abilene Christian at 2 p.m. Saturday at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.

“There is no doubt that after you lose four straight, you have some frustration built up,” ASU quarterback Josh Neiswander said. “It was good to come out and see the offense, defense and special teams put a game together where everybody did well. That was something we had been missing all season, and we finally found it.”


Gilley loves being on guard for MSU - J. Scott Russell, Times Record News
Although most players are set at a position by the time they get to college, many of them have spent at least some time playing a position on the other side of the ball.

But Hank Gilley had only played on the defensive line for St. Joseph High School in Victoria.

That didn’t make a difference in his first two seasons at Midwestern State, but it did as a redshirt sophomore when he moved to the offensive line.

The transition was a little tough, but the 6-4, 315-pound senior overcame it and is now comfortable as the starting left guard for the Mustangs.

“I came here as a defensive lineman but I got hurt a few times and things weren’t going well — I couldn’t lose the weight they wanted me to,” Gilley said. “So I moved to the offensive line and it was a whole new world for me. I had never played offense before in high school and it was difficult for me learning all the plays, the calls and the different reads. But coach (Brian) Natkin was a big help.”



WT racks up points until fourth quarter - Dave Henry, Amarillo Globe News
It's hard to find weaknesses with an offense that ranks third in the nation in total offense (523.75 yards per game), second in the nation in passing offense (410.25 yards per game) and sixth in the nation in scoring (41.75 points per game).

Let's go ahead and nit-pick, though.

West Texas A&M is outscoring its opponents by a healthy margin this season, 334-188.

However, in the fourth quarter, the Buffs are getting beat, 71-49.

When your record is 6-2 - with your two losses coming by a combined seven points - that stat isn't a reason to panic, but it is interesting.

The Buffs are aware of how their offense scores in spurts - running off three or four unanswered scores - and then slows down.

"I can tell you that there has been two games where that has been a major concern - (Texas A&M) Kingsville and Angelo (State)," said WT offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt. "A lot of times we're way ahead in the fourth quarter and we're not trying to score. We're milking the clock and not pushing the ball down the field."

Lone Star Conference rankings 10/28/2010 - Joey Richards, Abilene Reporter News
Oklahoma state college football power poll & predictions: Northeastern State ... - Scott Munn, The Oklahoman