It was a fun week in the Southland, as Abilene Christian finally notched a win vs Incarnate Word 52-27, and Southeastern Louisiana put a muzzle on the Huskies of HBU 37-3. Central Arkansas’ offense decided to take the week off, but still handled Lamar 22-12. Sam Houston stays undefeated, knocking off Nicholls State 38-21, and McNeese State stuck a fork in the Demons, getting the win 48-27. We are hitting the home stretch and the last four weeks of the season are shaping up to be good ones.
Here are your week 9 “Rev”-elations.
=====
Central Arkansas at Southeastern Louisiana
Central Arkansas is still rolling undefeated through the Southland, coming off of a win against Lamar 22-12. While the Bears’ offense decided to take the week off, their defense stepped up and kept Lamar from getting anything done. Overall this season, UCA has looked to be the only team in conference who can give Sam a good fight, and November 19th should be circled on everyone’s calendars. Southeastern Louisiana is on a roll, and they are looking to sneak into the playoffs as an at-large bid. With the win over Houston Baptist, they are on a three game win streak and sit at 4-1 in Southland Conference play. This is the Southland Conference game of the week, as Southeastern could put a wrench in UCA’s playoff plans. I think Central Arkansas will narrowly pull off the victory 38-31.
=====
Houston Baptist at Lamar
Well the good news for both of these teams is that the season is two-thirds of the way done. Houston Baptist has shown some improvement this year and have been able to hang in during games, but they are on a four game losing streak and sitting near the bottom of the conference. They travel to Lamar, who in the span of two weeks lost their star running back Kade Harrington, and then lost their starting quarterback to a shoulder injury, and it will be interesting to see how they recover. They are 3-2 in conference and while they probably won’t make the playoffs, they can finish in the top half of the conference if they can persevere with a backup quarterback and backup running back. I think they beat the Huskies 28-17, and get their fourth conference win.
=====
Stephen F Austin at Incarnate Word
The Lumberjacks come off of their bye, and we shall see if they managed to recover from Southeastern Louisiana destroying their playoff hopes. At this point, Clint Conque has to be on the hot seat, and how SFA plays the final four games could determine if Conque gets to coach his son through his senior season. SFA travels to San Antonio to take on the Cardinals, who sit at 1-4 in conference and are coming off of a loss at Abilene Christian. Incarnate Word has a decent offense, but their defense is subpar, and SFA should be able to pick it apart. I think the Jacks get back to .500 and beat the Cardinals 42-24.
=====
Nicholls at Northwestern State
Nicholls is having an interesting season, sitting at 3-4 overall and 3-2 in conference. The Colonels defense has been keeping them in games, and they played Sam Houston tough. Nicholls has the opportunity to play spoiler to both Central Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana, and if they win out, they’d finish at 7-4 and could potentially sneak an at-large bid into the playoffs. They travel to Natchitoches to face the hapless Demons, who are still looking for their first win in conference, and their first win against a Division 1 school. Their offense just cannot get it together and their defense is porous. The Colonels should march through the Demons’ defense, and take this 28-7
=====
Texas Southern at Sam Houston
First in total offense and scoring offense, second in passing offense, and pass efficiency, and third in sacks allowed, and no I’m not talking about Texas Southern. That’s Sam Houston this year, and they are just steamrolling through the competition. While their strength of schedule is weak, they are a force to be reckoned with. This week, they take a break from Southland action and take on the Tigers of Texas Southern. TSU is 3-4 right now and 3-3 in the SWAC, and they lost against Houston Baptist in their only other game vs a Southland Conference foe. I think this one gets ugly early and Sam rolls 63-7.
=====
Abilene Christian at McNeese
There was a party at Shotwell Stadium last weekend as ACU finally ended their streak of imperfection and got their first win of the season, taking out Incarnate Word. Now, the Wildcats hope to keep that momentum going as they head to Lake Charles. ACU has the talent to be a top tier team in the Southland, but this season they just seemed to have misfired, and perhaps having a season like this while they are ineligible for the postseason is better than doing it during their first year of eligibility. They now look to be a spoiler to the Cowboys, who are sitting at 3-3 in conference and 4-4 overall. If McNeese can win out their games, they’d sit at 7-4, but would probably still be on the outside looking in for playoffs. This game could be a trap game for McNeese, as the Cowboys draw the Bearkats next weekend in Huntsville, and hopefully they aren’t looking past the Wildcats. I think McNeese wins this one, but I don’t think it’ll be a blowout. Final score here of 35-31.
