Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – Something has to give Saturday as the Lamar Cardinals travel to Houston to take on the Houston Baptist Huskies.

The Cardinals and Huskies are locked in a two-way tie for 10th with identical 1-8 (.111) overall records and 0-7 marks in Southland Conference play. Both teams have dropped seven-straight games heading into Saturday’s showdown.

The Cardinals are coming off a strong showing against No. 4 Central Arkansas where LU was down just a touchdown late in the first half before the Bears rattled off 35 straight points. Big Red received a boost off bench from senior quarterback Blake McKenzie who came on in reserve of starter Andrew Allen. McKenzie completed 14 of 23 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.

HBU has faced a great deal of heartache in the past three weeks of the season. After playing SFA to within 17 points, the Huskies returned home to host Northwestern State on Homecoming. HBU was edged out by three, 10-7. To make matters worse, HBU hit the road for Thibodaux, Louisiana, last week and appeared to be taking Nicholls to overtime. That thought was dashed as Nicholls hit a 44-yard touchdown pass to win the game as time expired.

“I know their record is a lot like ours, but the one thing that HBU has done is play everyone really tough this season,” said LU head coach Mike Schultz. “Only one team has been able to find success against their defense this year. The game at Nicholls was tied at 17 and they got beat on the last play of the game, and Nicholls is one of the better teams in this conference. HBU will be ready to go Saturday.”

Despite the fact the records are identical, the two teams have struggled in contrasting ways. The Huskies are 11th in the league total offense, while LU is 11th in the league in total defense. The Cardinals are 11th in the league at stopping the run, but the Huskies’ rushing attack is ranked 10th in the Southland.

A bright spot for the Cardinals all season has been the play of junior Nate Jones in the secondary. A junior college transfer, Jones has become a weapon for the Cardinals. He picked off a pass against Central Arkansas this past Saturday. The pick, which led to a touchdown, was Jones’ fourth in the past three weeks. He has now picked off at least one pass in each of the team’s past three games. Jones is now tied for the league lead (Tremon Smith – UCA) with five interceptions and is tied for fourth nationally with 0.6 interceptions per game and tied for second nationally with five total.

The Cardinals lead the all-time series, 2-1 (.667), and have outscored HBU 144-45 in the three previous meetings, but the Huskies have the momentum in the series. Houston Baptist recorded a 24-17 win last season in Beaumont.