Opponent Preview: Incarnate Word
10/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After its bye week, Stephen F. Austin returns to action Saturday hosting Incarnate Word at Homer Bryce Stadium. The game against the Cardinals marks SFA’s 2015 Homecoming game, kicking at 3 p.m.
The Lumberjacks and Cardinals have met just once previously as SFA defeated Incarnate Word 38-3 in the 2014 home opener in Nacogdoches. All-American Gus Johnson ran all over the Cardinals, racking up 252 yards and four touchdowns while the Lumberjack defense limited UIW to just 236 yards of total offense.
Saturday’s game will also be the 76th Homecoming game for SFA as the Lumberjacks are 39-35-1 (.527) all-time. The ‘Jacks have won four-straight Homecoming games, and five of the last six, including last season’s 27-17 victory over then-eighth-ranked Southeastern Louisiana.
Head coach Clint Conque has traditionally made the most out of his team’s bye weeks during his coaching career, posting a 7-2 record in games following an off week. He’s hoping that record will help reverse a dubious trend as Halloween has proven to be a scary time for the Lumberjacks to play. SFA is 2-8 all-time in games played on October 31st with the last Halloween win coming in a 24-7 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1959.
The game will be the cap of SFA’s 2015 Homecoming events, kicking off at 3 p.m. Fans unable to make it back to Homer Bryce Stadium can watch the game live on ESPN3.com or through the WatchESPN app. Rob Meyers will carry the game live on Q107.7 FM, broadcast online at Q1077.com. Live stats are available through SFAJacks.com with Twitter updates @SFA_Football.
Head Coach Clint Conque’s Press Conference Transcript
On the team’s bye week:
“It was good to take some time off as far as the regular game week routine. We were able to be productive. We had a couple of days working with our back-ups and our younger players, which gives us an edge moving forward for their development. Our frontline guys took a couple days off, outside of the weight rooms and treatments, and I think we used that time productively. We all came back together Thursday and got about an hour-and-a-half practice in then they Friday and Saturday off before we got back into a regular game week routine Sunday. Hopefully we’re refreshed, energized, had a chance to heal up a few bumps and bruises. It was good to get away. We got a little recruiting done as well and hopefully we can move forward here the last third of this season and be productive.”
On the team’s goals for the final four games:
“It’s a huge push for us right now. We’ve won a couple in a row, one on the road and one at home. We’ve got Homecoming this week and certainly the distractions that go with that will be a test to see if we’re mature enough to handle those distractions. We’re just focused on one game at a time. We’ve got Incarnate Word coming in here that’s playing really well. They had an open week the week before us and they came out on point against ACU both sides of the football and are a much improved team from last year. We had some close, tough loses at the beginning of the year and some close, tough wins here in the last couple weeks. Hopefully we can use that momentum and we can move forward in a positive way.”
On Incarnate Word:
“They are a formidable foe that seems to be finding their spark. The quarterback (Trent Brittain) is the catalyst. He can throw it pretty well and obviously he has that escape ability aspect where he can run and extend plays and make plays with his legs. They’re a year older, a year bigger, a year stronger. They’ve added a young man by the name of Myke Tavarres who sat out last year but originally started at the University of Arkansas. He’s a senior but he has been a big play outside linebacker, defensive end – he’s done it all as far as pass rush, coverage, being able to defend the run and the pass. He is an extremely good football player. But I’m really impressed with their core. Their defensive front changes the line of scrimmage,. They get on the edge, and their secondary has played well. They’re playing very well and with confidence, but they have not won on the road yet. They’ve won four at home so I know the want to get that monkey off their back. Most people don’t realize but they were leading UTEP in the third quarter and UTEP had to come from behind to win. They’ve beat Northwestern State, Nicholls and Abilene Christian in conference play, so it’s going to take all of our effort this week to give ourselves a change to win. This is a team that playing well, getting better and seem to be a little bit healthier. Their receivers are making plays, they’ve got an NFL tight-end in Cole Wick who is 6” 7’ 250 and his end line blocking has improved and he’s always been a pass threat to catch the football. There is a lot of diversification in their offense and I think that they have arguably the best punter, kicker combo in the league. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week. People don’t realize we had our hands full against them last year. I know the score isn’t indicative of that but Gus Johnson won that game for us last year. They’re a well-coached team and the core of that team has been together for two to three years now and you’re starting to see the fruits of that labor.”
On the possibility of inclement weather Saturday:
“We had a some Geronimo opportunities last year and that team was mature enough to handle it for the most part. We’ve been lucky to avoid it so far this year, but it may catch up to us. It’s certainly gong to be a challenge this week. It was good to watch everybody else slosh around this past weekend, but there’s a pretty good forecast for rain this Saturday. But both teams will have to play in that environment and typically the teams that make the most plays and avoid the catastrophic mistakes give themselves the best chance to win. We’ll do a couple wet ball drills during the week, get as healthy as we can and put a great plan together and be ready to play on Saturday.”
-SFA-
