Conque’s Comments: SFA Take on Lamar for First Time in Four Years

Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography

Conque’s Comments: SFA Take on Lamar for First Time in Four Years

10/27/2017 11:03:00 AM | Football

SFA head coach Clint Conque talks about last weekend’s 27-10 win over Houston Baptist and previews Saturday’s matchup with Lamar University

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

THE KICKOFF
For the first time in four years the Stephen F. Austin football team will take on Lamar University in a Southland Conference road matchup Saturday, Oct. 28. Kickoff from Provost Umphrey Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the two teams meeting for the first time since Nov. 16, 2013. Separated by just 135 miles in east Texas, the game will be the shortest road trip to date for the Lumberjacks this season, exceeding the Battle of the Piney Woods game at NRG Stadium in Houston by 15 miles. De-spite the two schools' proximity, SFA and Lamar have met just four times in recent history as the Cardinals brought football back in 2010 after a 21-year hiatus.

FOLLOWING THE LUMBERJACKS
Saturday's game at Lamar will be streamed live online at ESPN3, available at ESPN3.com or through the ESPN app. Dan Gresham and Lemont Williams will broadcast the game. Rob Meyers, the voice of the Lumberjacks, will call the game along with color commentator Kevin Langford on Q107.7 FM, available online at Q1077.com as well as through the Lumberjack Sports Network on the TuneIn app. Live stats will be available at LamarCardinals.com, complemented by Twitter updates from @SFA_Football.

ABOUT THE GAME
The visiting 'Jacks will be aiming to get one game above the .500 mark in Southland play with a current 3-3 conference record, while the Cardinals are seeking their first league win of 2017. Saturday's game will be the seventh matchup of the season against opponents from the state of Texas for SFA. The 'Jacks have gone 3-2 against Lone Star State foes but are an impressive 3-1 against those at the FCS level. With victories over Incarnate Word (37-31) and Houston Baptist (27-10) at home and a 20-10 road win at Abilene Christian, SFA's lone FCS game lost against a Texas opponent was at the 92nd Battle of the Piney Woods. Saturday, the 'Jacks have a chance to finish out the season with 4-1 record against in-state FCS competition. It would be the most wins over Lone Star State FCS opponents since 1989 (then known as NCAA Division I-AA), when SFA defeated Lamar, Southwest Texas State (now Texas State), North Texas and Sam Houston State as part of an eight-game win streak en route to a national title game appearance. A victory over Lamar would also mark the first time since 1995 the 'Jacks have claimed four wins over Texas schools in a single season. That year SFA defeated NCAA Division II opponents Angelo State and Henderson State, in addition to Sam Houston State and Southwest Texas (now Texas State). The 'Jacks are looking to pick up their fourth Southland win of the season, it would mark the fourth consecutive year SFA has won at least four conference games and eighth since 2009. After back-to-back wins earlier this season in September, the 'Jacks have a chance to do so once again this weekend following this past Saturday's 27-10 rout of Houston Baptist for Homecoming 2017 inside Homer Bryce Stadium.

Head Coach Clint Conque's Comments

Opening statement
"It was a good, solid team win Saturday for homecoming. It's always good to be at home and see a lot of former players and alumni, and to see the city buzzing. They have great activities on campus. Of course our part is the football game, and I was pleased we were able to get a solid victory and get back on that train. Overall, I thought offensively we played well enough, we minimized the negative plays. I think our running backs had a big day. I think the rotation we had Saturday had our top four running backs getting into the mix. Kijana Amous had a large day, accounted for 40% of our 483 yards of offense. Jake (Blumrick) managed the game well. To be able to run the football as effectively as we did, our plan was to attack the perimeter in the pass game. The O-line and tight ends blocked people up. Jake made a couple of mistakes, forced one in on the interception where it should have come down a level and then earlier in the game on a bootleg. We just didn't hold onto the football, fortunately we got that one back. Certainly offensively we have to continue to improve. Defensively, I thought we played a pretty complete football game. Outside of the first drive where they went 75 yards, and then I think they went 60 yards in a prevent defense on our last drive, I think we held HBU to 103 yards the rest of the game because they only had 238 yards of offense. I thought we did a phenomenal job in the red area again, our third-down efficiency was really good. We were able to create one turnover; our goal is three. We have been able to hit that the past couple of games. We blocked a field goal and forced them into a long one that they missed. We did some good things there. Special teams we had a mixed bag. We had a dropped punt, that's how they got their last three points. We made a nice stand there at the goal line. First-and-six is a pretty tough field to defend. Then we had an exchange issue on the snap on an early field goal. I thought it was a solid team win. A lot of individuals played well, and hopefully we can take some confidence. We did get a couple of guys dinged up, we will have to see how the week progresses there. Now we go on the road for our game down in Beaumont against Lamar.

On how much confidence the win gives Jake Blumrick
"Well you hope a lot, I think that he is earning his wings or stripes every day. I don't think anybody has questioned his ability and I don't think anybody has questioned his toughness. I think what you saw is the game slowed down a little bit on Saturday, because they did bring pressure and he didn't panic. Again, our guys blocked it up front for the most part pretty well, as I said, outside of those two plays in that game and I think there were about 80 of them. We've got to be careful with the football, but I thought he was under control and had a lot more poise for this game. Hopefully that will benefit him because every rep of experience is really important for a young quarterback like that.

On Kijan Amous' performances the last two weeks
"I am really proud of Kijana, I think he probably had 142 yards rushing and a couple of receptions against UCA so he has probably had 350 yards of offense the past couple of weeks. We play running back by committee so other guys get touches as well, so he has certainty become a very dependable force. I am really proud of Kijana. We got him from Navarro (College) coming off of a pretty significant foot injury. He has worked hard to come back from that. He kind of played a pretty complementary role last season, had moments as a junior and then this year he obviously is putting together a pretty solid season for us. That is just a great room right now. Those guys have a lot of confidence. Of course we haven't been able to see Josh McGowan much, but we were able to get him four or five touches to kind of knock the rust off of him. But Kijana is the only senior in that group. You've got Juan Day, the transfer from Arkansas who is a junior, Jamal Shaw who has had some spots this year as well and continues to get better, and then of course you've got Josh McGowan. Kijana is kind of the leader there. He has really emerged; he is playing with a lot of confidence. We just have to make sure we keep him fresh and don't wear him down because he is one of our top receivers too, coming out of the backfield. He is putting up really nice numbers there. Getting a lot of drives started and continuing drives with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. A really nice day for Kijana, one of the bigger days he has had since his high school days. We just keep going there hopefully.

On the progression of the defense over the past few weeks
"This game was so much about confidence and so much about momentum. We got a little fragile after the first drive, but give HBU credit. They have scored on their first drive on just about everybody they have played this year. I think their coach would tell you, its maybe the struggles they have had after the first drive. They have gone down and gotten either a touchdown or a field goal on their first or second drive on just about everybody. With that said, after that happened, our young men have confidence now in what we are doing over there, the competitiveness on the D-line, so we are able to keep quality players fresh there. We are able to rotate five to six linebackers every game. The back end we aren't quite as deep because of some injuries, but they are just playing with a lot of confidence and taking the momentum of the past four or five games. Take out the McNeese game, we are playing as good of defense as anybody in the Southland Conference. I think right now we are third in the conference in scoring defense and if you take out the McNeese game, we would probably have the best scoring defense in the conference. They are just playing with an awful lot of confidence; a lot of guys are making plays. John Franklin really was dominant up front. I though Spencer Choka had one of his best games as a linebacker. Alize Ward has been a pretty consistent for us back there, Marlon Walls, our corners, I think they have a better understanding of what we are trying to do now. Trenton Gordon, every week bless his heart, you hit that freshman wall and he is fighting through it right now. I mean from the first day he showed up at camp he has probably lost twenty pounds, just playing as hard as he is and as many snaps. Trey Ramos (injured) was supposed to be the starter there and started against SMU. They are just playing with a lot of confidence and there is a lot of momentum there. When you play fast good things happen, and you can't play fast unless you know what you are doing. I am really pleased on what we are doing and if we keep getting those kind of defensive performances down the stretch, then obviously it keeps you in every football game. They will be challenged this week with Lamar."

-SFA-