Houston – Two freshman linebackers have been looking good in practice. Everett Daniels and Derrick Matthews have both provided great leverage and are physical players…With a pair of junior college cornerbacks in D.J. Hayden and Chevy Bennett, plus Texas A&M transfer Colton Valencia, there are plenty of new faces to provide competition for spots in the secondary…The offense has gotten off to a slow start but UH coaches say that was to be expected
Rice – Starting free safety Travis Bradshaw has suffered an undisclosed career-ending injury. Bradshaw was second on the team with 76 tackles and had two interceptions last season. Junior Xavier Webb will take Bradshaw’s spot…The Owls are looking to use their 10 returning defensive starters to improve from last year’s defense that only caused 14 turnovers (112th of 120 FBS teams), allowed 51 percent of their opponents third-down plays to be concerted (117th) and produced just 14 sacks…The defense plans to blitz more
SMU – Two defensive starting jobs are still wide open, according to defensive coordinator Tom Mason. At outside linebacker, the Mustangs are still looking at junior Victor Jones, senior Randy McKinnon, redshirt freshman Uchenna Nwabuike and junior transfer Cody Worthen…The left cornerback spot, replacing the graduated Sterling Moore, will likely go to sophomore Chris Parks, sophomore Kenneth Acker or junior Keith Robinson…Inside linebacker Cameron Rogers, expected to replace departed starter Pete Fleps, has missed practice this week with a strained knee. He is expected to return Saturday or Monday.
Tulane – Coach Bob Toldeo has been impressed with backup corner Alex Lauricella. Lauricella had a deflection and interception on consecutive plays Friday…Defensive back Renaldo Thomas was taken to the hospital Wednesday after losing consciousness. It apparently is a recurring problem and forces him to lose eight or nine pounds a day…It looks like freshmen are going to get a chance to contribute at the linebacker position
Tulsa – Tulsa is looking like it will go with a committee of wide receivers this year. Who rises up to the challenge is yet to be seen…6-foot-3, 270-pound true freshman tackle Derrick Luetjen has been impressive, as he has picked up the system well and looks to be a vital backup…Freshman Derek Patterson is listed at free safety in the media guide, but the coaches have moved him to quarterback for the time being…Junior Lowell Rose, a transfer from UCLA, is getting the first shot at the second cornerback spot but is getting pressed by Justin Skillens. Milton Howell and J.D. Ratliff also are fighting for playing time. One freshman is also intriguing Guy – Dwight Dobbins.
UTEP – In UTEP’s scrimmage Wednesday, 10 different receivers caught passes with no one finishing with more than two receptions. There may be no clear leader emerging as a preferred target…The defense, which will be heavy on pass rushers this year, caused six sacks in that scrimmage…Coach Mike Price is going to be the play-caller this year…Nick Lamaison, who enrolled early coming out of junior college in the spring, looks to lead the race to start at quarterback
Texas – Since going to the College World Series, the Longhorns have not advanced past the Regional stage. But that looks to change this year, as it seems that Texas is back. After starting the season 16-3, the Longhorns went on an 18-game winning streak before Stephen F. Austin upset the team 1-0. Texas faced 21 NCAA teams, finishing with a 23-7 record against them.
The Longhorns have been quite the potent team on offense, with three players in double digit home runs and six players with 25 or more RBI. Also, all but one of their regulars is hitting over .300. Taylor Hoagland leads the squad with 14 home runs and adds 34 RBI, 24 steals and nine doubles. Amy Hooke has 12 dingers and 35 RBI. Taylor Thom has 11 doubles, 11 home runs and a team-high 41 RBI. Her 11 two-baggers are tied for the lead with Lexy Bennett, who has a team-leading .455 batting average and 40 RBI. Breja Washington leads the squad with 35 steals.
What might hinder Texas in the postseason is the amount that the Longhorns have relied on pitcher Blair Luna. Luna has been the team’s horse, especially in Big 12 play, as her ERA is up nearly .6 over her overall ERA and her K:BB ratio is much smaller in conference play as well. Luna has an overall record of 27-6 and ERA of 1.27, with 298 K’s compared to 80 walks. The team does have a capable backup in Rachel Fox, who has an 18-1 record overall with a 1.10 ERA, but she has only seen action in seven games since the start of conference play.
Houston – There must be something in the water in Texas, because the Cougars are just one of too many Texas teams that will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. With a shocking semifinal loss to East Carolina in the conference tournament, Houston finished the regular season at 40-16. The Cougars went 7-4 against ranked teams in the regular season.
Houston knows how to swing the bats, with six players hitting .290 or better, led by Holly Anderson, who is hitting at a .340 clip, tied for the team lead with 51 hits and leads the team with seven steals. The big boppers, however, are Melissa Gregson and Brooke Lathan, who lead the team in home runs and RBI. Gregson leads the team in both with 16 round-trippers and 43 runs batted in, while Lathan has 13 dingers and 36 RBI.
You know you had a top-tier pitching staff when a stud transfer, Donna Bourgeois is your number two hurler. Bourgeois, a Louisiana-Lafayette transfer, was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year in 2009 and first-team All-Sun Belt two years straight. She was also named to the All-Region second-team last season. But her 16-6 record, 1.68 ERA and 130 strikeouts are only good enough for second on the team because Amanda Crabtree is just having a spectacular season. The senior has an 18-8 record and a miniscule 0.94 ERA. She has also fanned an impressive 314 batters.
Louisiana-Lafayette – The Cajuns come into the tournament having won their 11th Sun Belt Tournament Championship. The team loaded up in the preseason, playing in two prestigious tournament, going against the likes of Alabama, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arizona and Arizona State. They went 2-3 in those games. The Cajuns come into the NCAA Tournament having won their last 11 games.
None of the regulars are hitting worse than .250. Christi Orgeron (.418) is having a monster season, with 23 home runs and 97 RBI. The crazy part is those 97 RBI are only good enough for fifth-highest in the country. Her teammate, Gabriele Bridges (.380), has knocked 22 balls out of the park and has 76 RBI. Sarah Draheim has 50 RBI on the season. Nerissa Meyers, who is tied with Orgeron for a team-high 73 runs, leads the squad with 21 stolen bases. Katie Smith is second in stolen bases with 20
Ashley Brignac is the team’s ace. She went 30-5 in 38 appearances and holds a team-best 1.24 ERA. She has punched out a total of 228 opponents this year, only walking 64 hitters. The win in the conference title game gave her 30 wins for the second time in her three years at ULL.
Texas State – Texas State softball captured the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament Championship Saturday, ensuring the Bobcats their fifth NCAA Tournament berth. The title is the second in three years for Texas State as it earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The team usually plays a relatively tough schedule, including games against many 0n-state rivals and play them tough. That trend continued this year, as they played Baylor, Houston (beating them once), Texas and Hawaii tough.
The Bobcats aren’t a team that swings for the fences, but they know how to drop balls in the gaps for doubles and singles. The team features five players who have driven in 20 or more RBI, with the high being 29, set by McKenzie Baack. Anna Hernandez is next with 28 and she’s also second on the team in steals with seven. Jenna Emery, who leads the team with six homers, is tied with Haley Lemons, who leads the squad with 12 doubles, with 25 RBI.
Texas States’ two two pitchers, Chandler Hall and Anne Marie Taylor, have started 29 and 24 games, respectively. Taylor has a 17-5 record, with a 1.77 ERA and 146 punchouts. Hall is 15-15 with a 2.75 ERA and 173 K’s.
>The Cougars finished the season at 10-4 and made their fifth straight appearance in a bowl contest in 2009.
Offense – As the nation’s No. 1 team in total offense (563.4 ypg.), passing offense (433.7 ypg.) and scoring offense (42.2 ppg.) in 2009, the Cougars return nine starters from this record-breaking squad, including senior quarterback Case Keenum, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was a finalist for several other national honors.
Keenum, enters his senior season as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and is on the cusp of setting every Houston, Conference USA and NCAA total offense and passing marks. In 2009, Keenum became only the second quarterback in NCAA history to throw for at least 5,000 yards twice (Texas Tech’s Graham
Harrell is the other), tossing for a career-best 5,671 yards and 44 touchdowns. His 5,671 yards were over 1,400 more than the second place finisher and he has amassed 13,741 total yards in his Cougar career. His 12,905 passing yards are about 4,000 less than all-time leader Timmy Chang. Keenum has thrown a touchdown pass in 30 straight games.
Not many teams in America can boast they have back-to-back Freshmen of the Year in their backfield. The Cougars tout sophomore Charles Sims (2009 winner) and junior Bryce Beall (2008 winner) at running back, and both could be considered first-team running backs in Conference USA. Last season Sims burst on to the scene by rushing for 698 yards and nine touchdowns while hauling in 70 passes for 759 yards,
while Beall—once year removed for rushing for 1,247 yards and 13 scores—added 670 yards and seven touchdowns and had 32 catches for an additional 311 yards.
The Cougars became only the fourth team in NCAA history to have three wide receivers with over 1,000 yards receiving. Throw in Keenum’s 5,000- plus yard passing and UH was only the third team to have the 5,000-yard passer, 1,000, 1,000, 1,000-yard receiving quartet. C-USA Newcomer of the Year James Cleveland led the Cougars in receiving with 104 catches for 1,214 yards and 14 touchdowns; this, despite missing two games with injuries. He is joined in the four-receiver set by juniors Tyron Carrier (91 catches, 1,029 yards, seven touchdowns) and Patrick Edwards (85 catches, 1,021 yards, six touchdowns) as well as senior Kierrie Johnson (16 catches, 237 yards).
Defense – Brian Stewart assumes the role of Defensive Coordinator this year and plans to take advantage of the Houston speed and athleticism on defense to put non-stop pressure on opposing offenses with his new 3-4 scheme. Stewart has six returning starters to work with in 2010.
Sophomore Zeke Riser and junior David Hunter return to battle for their spots. With the change in schemes, Riser holds on to one defensive end spot while Hunter shifts outside to man the other end spot. Hunter finished the year ninth on the team in tackles with 57. Of those eight and a half were for loss and four sacks. He also contributed with four pass breakups as well as three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles, both of which were second on the team. Riser had 36 tackles, three and a half for loss, two and a half sacks and two fumble recoveries.
With 259 total tackles in two years as a starter, junior linebacker Marcus McGraw has developed into one of the premier defenders in C-USA. Inserted into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2008, McGraw has started 27 straight games and should add to that streak in 2010. He will man one inside spot while redshirt
freshman George Bamfo is listed at the other. Bamfo should be a nice compliment to veteran in the middle.
Sophomore Phillip Steward is slotted in at one outside spot, and after a trial by fire a year ago he should be a top-line defender this year. Another sophomore, Kelvin King III, is listed as the starter opposite Steward,
making the move this spring from defensive end to linebacker.
Houston has two returning starters in the secondary, senior cornerback Jamal Robinson and junior free safety Nick Saenz. Saenz finished third on the team in tackles with 114 and should be the leader in the
secondary again this season. Robinson had 58 tackles, and a team-high five interceptions. He also added eight passes broken up and five tackles for loss. Heading into 2010, senior Loyce Means appears to have nailed down the other cornerback slot and his experience as a part-time starter over the past two seasons should help.
Recruiting – The Cougars bring in 26 recruits in 2010, highlighted by two quarterbacks and four linebackers. Terrance Broadway comes in from Louisiana as a rivals.com four-star player, as well as the fifth-best dual threat quarterback. In his senior year, he threw for 2,140 yards and 20 touchdowns. The other quarterback comes from Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll. In 2009, David Piland threw for 2,668 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Efram Oliphant and Austin Wilson lead the four-man linebacker group. Each was a three-star recruit by rivals.com and had over 100 tackles as seniors. Oliphant finished his final season with 125 tackles, six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Wilson had 108 tackles (60 solo), 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and two interceptions.
Schedule – Houston opens the year with four of its first five games at home. The first two are against in-state rivals Texas State and UTEP. The UTEPSMU and Memphis. That’s followed by two home games against UCF and Tulsa before finishing with road games at Southern Miss and Texas Tech. In all, nine of Houston’s 12 teams are in the state of Texas.
Michael Wojtychiw 