Last year about this time, Rhett Bomar was scrambling to find a new school to continue his college football career.

After settling on Sam Houston State when he was dismissed from Oklahoma for NCAA rules violations, the sophomore quarterback was forced to sit out the season as part of his punishment. It was a long year for Bomar, and he wanted nothing more than to get back on the field and show what he could do.

But Sunday afternoon at Bowers Stadium, his wait finally came to an end. For the first time in two years, the junior began fall practice once again as a starting quarterback when the Bearkats took to the field.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. It’s been a long journey, and I’ve been here almost a year,” Bomar said after practice. “It went by fast, and I feel comfortable — excited about the season and excited about the group of guys we have. The season is less than a month away and it’s coming fast.”

The last time Bomar was entering the season with a shot at being the starting quarterback he was in a different situation. As a redshirt freshman in 2005, Bomar and the Sooners were making headlines as one of the favorites to win the national championship. Something that happens in Norman, Okla., every year.

But at SHSU, the team is just trying to get back to the top of the Southland Conference.

The Bearkats are looking to win their first conference title since 2004. That season another promising Big 12 transfer (Dustin Long) led the Kats all the way to the national semifinals of the Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs.

Sam Houston has steadily improved in the past two seasons under head coach Todd Whitten. The Bearkats went from the bottom of the league in 2005 to a second-place finish last season. That turnaround was good enough to land them a preseason national ranking, and a top three placing in both SLC preseason polls.

The early predictions have a lot of people pumped about the upcoming season, but Bomar expects bigger things for this program.

“I’m sure everybody is excited, and some of these guys have said this is the most excited it has been around here in a while at this school,” the quarterback said. “People have expectations, but we have expectations of ourselves. They talk about people picking us third, but I’m not excited about that.

“People are excited about being picked near the top, but there are only seven teams so being third is near the bottom half to me. I think that is disrespectful, and we are going to come out and prove those people wrong when we finish first at the end of the year.”

The Bearkats began their mission to add another SLC championship to the trophy case Sunday. It wasn’t the greatest practice, but it was the first of many to come before the season opener Aug. 30 against Angelo State.

The enthusiasm was there, but the guys still need some time to shake out any cobwebs left from the summer layoff.

“They worked really hard today,” Whitten said. “We weren’t very sharp offensively, but that will come. I was pleased with the effort and leadership. About 90 percent of our guys are in good shape. But 10 percent are not so we have to get them up to speed. But I thought is was good overall.”

While a lot of the newcomers were soaking in their first practice as Bearkats, one of the most promising signs were from some of the veterans.

As the years come and go, it is hard for the upperclassmen to get excited about summer camp. But some of the seniors, like safety Byran Richmond, were all smiles and acting like everything was new to them.

“It was just great being back out here, and I was excited about playing on the new surface,” Richmond said. “Man, it felt so good running out there. I thought we had a great day. The returners looked good and some of the new guys look like they are going to contribute big this season.

“I’m just ready to get the pads on so we can really start playing some football.”

The Bearkats will practice every morning this week at 8:30 a.m. The guys were in shorts and helmets Sunday, but will move up to shoulder pads Tuesday. Then on Thursday, the team will start practicing in full gear to get ready for Saturday’s scrimmage.



Camp notes and quotes

Bearkats missing in action — The Bearkats will be without several key players this season who failed to meet NCAA requirements. Starting defensive back Scorpio Babers and running backs Andrew Audelin and Femi Ogundare were three notable names missing from Sunday’s practice.

“They failed to meet NCAA requirements,” Whitten said. “Scorpio is the only starter that we lost. But we have some guys that can fill in for those three. I think we are going to be very athletic at those positions. We are just a little inexperienced right now.”



Several new additions to the roster — Sam Houston State received a few new transfers over the summer. Sophomore Chris Lucas transferred from Troy and adds depth at the wide receiver spot. The Kats also got another defensive end, redshirt freshman Patrick Massey from Colorado State, to help bolster the pass rush. Both guys arrived this summer and are listed on the official roster.

Two more guys just showed up in Huntsville recently. Titus Brothers, a defensive back from Nebraska, arrived last week. Brothers, a senior, saw limited action in three seasons with the Cornhuskers, but did have four tackles as a backup in 2005 including a game-saving stop against Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. The San Antonio product has been cleared to practice but there is still some things that need to be taken care of to finalize his transfer.

With Audelin and Ogundare out, the Bearkats welcomed running back Randal Eldridge, a transfer from Chabot College in Hayward, Calif. Eldridge rushed for 1,277 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in 10 games as a sophomore last season. He also caught 14 passes for 154 yards and another score.

“Lucas and Massey both transferred and have been here all summer,” Whitten said. “Then we have four or five walkons and of course the freshmen.

“We did recently get Titus Brothers. He is here but we still need to do some paperwork. He is allowed to practice while he waits for that to happen and did a good job today. Then we added another running back, Randal Eldridge from Chabot Junior College.”