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sunDaY, septemBer 7, 2014 the huntsville item 1B

by PaUl TIerney

HUnTSvIlleITemSPorTS@gmaIl.com

BATON ROUGE, La. —Sam Houston State beat No. 12LSU in the coin toss Saturday atTiger Stadium, but that wasabout it. The Bearkats spent theentire night having their gameplan thrown back in their faceby an opponent that provedlaughably superior on both sidesof the football.

It didn’t matter where theTigers’ offense started with theball, what adjustments SamHouston made or what calls thereferees made or missed. Thefinal score could likely havebeen whatever LSU wanted it tobe, but it was 56-0 when theclock finally ran out.

Saturday was the first timeSam Houston has been shut outsince the Kats lost to WesternIllinois 31-0 in 2000.

Before the second half kickedoff, the stadium was barely halffull and several writers in thepress box were already stream-ing other games on their laptops,hoping to catch the last bit ofaction from marquee matchupsaround the country.

“We talked all week about

how people didn’t think wecould win,” Bearkats coachK.C. Keeler said after the game.

“Quite honestly, they were prob-ably right in terms of that mind-set. But if you’re going to be a

guy who is afraid to take a chal-lenge or is afraid to do some-thing out of the ordinary, then

you probably shouldn’t be play-ing for me.”

Sam Houston (1-2) gave up584 yards of total offense, 399of which came in the first half.The Bearkats’ quarterbackswere sacked seven times, com-mitted three turnovers and com-pleted only nine of 28 passes.

While preparing for LSU (2-0), Keeler said his plan was tostop the run and force theTigers’ inexperienced quarter-backs — Anthony Jennings andBrandon Harris — to throw thefootball.

Keeler found out quickly thathis game plan was not going towork.

Three of Jennings’ sevencompletions on the night weretouchdown throws, one ofwhich went 94 yards to sopho-more Travin Dural on LSU’sfirst offensive play for thelongest touchdown pass in LSUhistory.

Harris took care of SamHouston’s plans of thwarting theTigers’ rushing attack when hebroke five tackles on his way toa 46-yard touchdown run tomake the score 35-0 at halftime.

lSU 56, Sam HoUSTon STaTe 0

The long wait is overfor America’s pro foot-ball-starved public. As theNational Football Leaguegets back to business, thenew season already has anumber of clear story-lines, as well as numerousothers certain to material-ize.

Are you ready forsome football? Theanswer is about as safe abet as asking WarrenBuffett if he’s eager tomake another big deal.

Here’s a look at whatfans will talk about —and no doubt wager theirhard-earned income on —as the season unfolds.

Can RG3 bounce

back?Robert Griffin III was

a big splash in his rookieseason, but the dash-and-flash didn’t carry over to2013.Perhapsit was hisachingknees.Maybe itwas a dif-ferencewith hiscoaches,or quitepossiblyit was aquirky personality.

Griffin gets a freshstart and new coach inJay Gruden, so hype and

hope are riding high inWashington. The contro-versy over the team’snickname is enough of adistraction, so Griffinneeds to step up andshow his winning formfrom the start.

What of the wild, wild NFC West?

There’s a good chancethe next Super Bowlchamp will come fromthe NFC West — notmuch argument there.Saying with certaintywho it will be is anothermatter.

The Seattle Seahawksare defending champs, socount them in. Then there

are the San Francisco49ers, who are loadedwith talent although a fewoff-field issues raise con-cerns. The ArizonaCardinals are no slouch,and the St. Louis Ramslooked strong until quar-terback Sam Bradford gotsidelined for the year.

Keep an eye on Johnny Football

Some think JohnnyManziel will be a stand-out quarterback once hegets a chance to run anNFL offense, othersbelieve he’ll be a bust.The only certainty is thatthe Eyes of Texas — andthose of just about every-

one else — will focusupon him when takes thefield.

Manziel clearly hasstyle, now he’s got toprove again he’s got sub-stance. Cleveland hasn’thad much to cheer aboutin a long time, but theBrowns are banking onhim to change their for-tunes. Confidence andcharisma are his callingcards.

Who will face the ugly truth?

Pro football is a rough-and-tumble game, there’sno denying that. All onehas to do is check out theweek’s injury report. But

the mere mention of con-cussions keeps theleague’s brass up at night,worrying about theimpact of devastatingblows to players’ headsand the continuouspounding they take.

The good news is theNFL has acknowledgedthe problem. The badnews is that no one hasfashioned an answerabout how to lessen itsimpact.

Where does MichaelSam’s quest lead?

The former defensivestandout at the University

ToM LiNdLey

RG3, Manziel and Sam: NFL has more storylines than a TV soap

See nfl, page 3B

Joshua Yates/the huntsville item

lsu receiver travin Dural (83) leaps high in the air and hauls in an 18-yard touchdown catch during the second quarter as sam houston state cornerback Xavier smith defends on saturday night. theBearkats were shut out for the first time since 2000, losing to the 12th-ranked tigers 56-0.

Overmatched

In front of 100,000-plus, bearkats blanked by 12th-ranked Tigers

Joshua Yates/the huntsville item

With pressure coming from his left, sam houston quarterback Jared Johnson eyes a receiver down the opposite side-line during saturday’s game against lsu. Johnson had a rough night, completing only 8 of 25 passes for 142 yardswith two interceptions thrown.

See blanked, page 4B

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