By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
LAKE CHARLES, La. —
There is a reason why Stephen F. Austin was the near unanimous pick to repeat as the 2010 Southland Conference champions.
The Lumberjacks received seven of the possible eight first-place votes in the preseason coaches’ poll, which was announced by the league office Wednesday, only because coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.
Ask anyone who voted and the answer is simple, SFA has the most proven returning quarterback and he isn’t too shabby, either.
Jeremy Moses blew up the stat book last season by throwing for a Football Championship Subdivision leading 4,124 yards and 40 touchdowns to guide the Lumberjacks from once cellar dwellers to 2009 Southland Conference co-champions.
“It’s a great honor that we are (picked atop the poll) because that is obviously where everyone wants to be,” SFA head coach J.C. Harper said. “We just want to be there consistently. That would be nice. But I think this year it is because we have a really good quarterback who is a senior and has had quite a few accomplishments at SFA.”
The Lumberjacks are the only team in the SLC with a returning senior quarterback who started last season, so that is why they are the obvious choice as the preseason favorite. There is a lot of turnover at the quarterback spot around the league and that means this could prove to be an interesting season.
When asked what it was going to take for their teams to compete for a Southland Conference championship this year, almost every coach at media day on Wednesday said the same thing, “It comes down to quarterback play.”
McNeese State was selected to finish second, picking up the other first-place vote, which belonged to Harper. The Cowboys have a very talented defense returning, but they lost quarterback Derrick Fourroux, who along with Moses, was the SLC co-player of the year after passing for 2,477 yards and 20 touchdowns.
McNeese currently has redshirt freshman Cody Stroud penciled in as the starting quarterback. But with 14 preseason All-SLC selections returning, including a league-best seven on the first-team, Stroud has the supporting cast to ease his transition into the starting role.
“We think we have some talent,” McNeese State head coach Matt Viator said, “but until they actually get in there, you really don’t know. We have some talented kids that have been in the system, so it’s not like they’re new.”
The two teams picked to finish tied for third in the conference are in the same boat as McNeese State.
Texas State has to find someone to fill the big shoes left by Bradley George, a record-setting four-year starter who helped the program win the SLC championship in 2008.
Sophomore Tim Hawkins from Corpus Christi Carroll High School is the Bobcats’ man for now, but he has seen limited action. Last season, he completed 5 of 9 passes for 36 yards and a score.
“Everybody has asked, ‘What are you going to do at quarterback?’” Texas State head coach Brad Wright said. “Honestly, that is what it boils down to. If we can get a quarterback to step up and eliminate mistakes, we have a bunch of receivers that are coming back, we have running backs and we feel like our offensive line is going to be good and solid.
“If a quarterback comes through for us, offensively we like our chances.”
Southeastern Louisiana is still trying to establish itself as one of the top teams in the SLC since joining the league in 2005. The Lions took a huge step in that direction last season thanks to the play of quarterback Brian Babin, who threw for 2,602 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Southeastern posted its first winning season since 2004 at 6-5 and finished a school-best fourth in the conference at 4-3.
But as is the reoccurring theme, Babin is gone and a new face takes over. As the Lions look to make the leap to title contender, Tyler Beatty has to shoulder the load.
The good news is that Beatty is a senior and he did throw for 483 yards and four touchdowns last season. Southeastern also has eight senior starters coming back on defense, so the Lions could make a run at the championship with some solid quarterback play.
“We have 18 starters coming back and eight are on defense, so I think we put ourselves, athletically, in position to win a championship,” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. “We have two question marks and one is the quarterback position. We have a very fine player in Tyler Beatty. He has all the tools. He has a rifle arm, he can run and he is smart. He just hasn’t had a lot of snaps. If he plays well, we will have a very good year.”
Central Arkansas finally gets the chance to compete for the SLC championship following four years of transition from the Division II level.
The Bears had a championship-caliber team under star quarterback Nathan Brown two years ago, and senior Robbie Park stepped in to guide one of the conference’s top offenses in 2009.
UCA turns the reins over to junior Nathan Dick, a promising 6-4 junior who joined the team last season after transferring from Arkansas, this season.
Dick saw limited action in 2009, but he did start two games for the Razorbacks in 2008, throwing for 454 yards and four touchdowns.
“The quarterback spot is a very important position on anyone’s team,” UCA head coach Clint Conque said. “I have been very impressed with the senior quarterbacks in this league over the past few years from our guys to (former Sam Houston State quarterback) Rhett Bomar, Jeremy at SFA and George at Texas State and Fourroux. Moving forward, Moses is the only returning guy.
“We have been pleased with two guys that have been in our program — Nathan Dick and Wynrick Smothers, who redshirted last season. Dick separated himself in the spring and I think he has the confidence to go out there and play.”
Northwestern State seems to be one of the few teams that has an idea of what it can expect from the quarterback position this season.
Paul Harris took over the starting job in the final four games in 2009 and threw for 978 yards and five touchdowns for the Demons. He is just a sophomore, so it isn’t like he has a ton of experience.
Sam Houston State currently has senior Bryan Randolph as the starter, but he also hasn’t seen much action in the previous two seasons he has been with the Bearkats.
Auburn transfer Tyrik Rollison, a redshirt freshman, enrolled at SHSU in time to hit the field for the start of fall camp next week, so the Bearkat job is still open.
Nicholls probably has the biggest question mark. The Colonels hired Charlie Stubbs to take over the program and he comes from a pass-oriented background which is a huge contrast from the tricky triple option Nicholls has run for years.
Sophomore LaQuintin Caston is the Colonels starter right now, but he only threw for 779 yards last season.
“There are different ways of doing things and we are going to open up the offense and throw the football which is my area of expertise,” Stubbs said. “We are trying to build this program and if we put an exciting product on the field that will held bring in kids who want to be apart of our offense.”
