Gulf South Preview: Tech, OBU Hope to Challenge North Alabama
7/12/2010 at 12:00am
Coach Steve Mullins of Arkansas Tech will always remember the long-distance phone call.
A quarterback named Nick Graziano was looking to transfer from the University of Nevada at Reno following a change in the school’s offensive scheme. He was hoping to move to a place where he could play immediately. He was looking for a coach who would let him pass the ball — a lot. Since he was going to be a senior, he also needed a school where he could transfer his engineering credits.
Talk about an engineer.
In his one season as a Wonder Boy, Graziano engineered Tech to a 9-3 record while breaking both the school and the Gulf South Conference single-season passing and total offensive records. The California native passed for 4,313 yards and accounted for 4,768 yards of total offense. He was 333 for 538 passing, completing almost 62 percent of his passes while finishing second nationally in NCAA Division II in total offense and third nationally in passing.
Graziano threw for a school and a state record 38 touchdown passes with only 12 interceptions in Tech’s 12 games.
The Wonder Boys had a 3-2 record after five games, but with Graziano catching fire, they got on a roll that saw them close the regular season with victories over Southern Arkansas, West Georgia, Henderson State, Delta State and Harding.
The 8-2 record was enough to earn Tech a home game in the first round of the Division II playoffs, and the Wonder Boys responded by thrashing North Carolina-Pembroke, 41-13, on a sunny November afternoon in Russellville. The following week, however, Tech fell to conference foe North Alabama, 41-28, on the road. The Wonder Boys finished the season ranked 14th nationally in the D2Football.com poll.
Now, Mullins must rebuild his offense.
Graziano is gone. So are his two favorite receivers, Frantz Simeon and Landon Turner. And there were no surprise phone calls during the off-season.
During the spring, Mullins worked with both redshirt freshman quarterback Rico Keller from New Orleans and junior quarterback James Landry from Belle Rose, La. He’s counting on one of the two Louisiana products to lead the offense this fall.
“Both of our quarterbacks continue to improve,” Mullins said at the end of the spring.
Sophomore wide receiver Roger Jackson from Siloam Springs had five catches for 135 yards in Tech’s spring game. The Wonder Boys should also be solid in the kicking game with junior kicker Jorge Vasquez, a California product.
One thing Tech has going for it is tradition. At the end of last season, Tech stood alone in second in the Gulf South with a 6-2 conference record, trailing only North Alabama and its 7-1 conference mark.
Since moving up to Division II, Tech has been the first Arkansas program to earn three playoff berths, host a playoff game, win a playoff game and win a Gulf South championship outright. Tech has had six consecutive non-losing seasons, its best run since 1967-72, and it’s one of only 10 Division II schools to have won at least 515 games in school history.
But tradition will only take you so far in the Gulf South, which is recognized as the toughest football conference in Division II. That’s why many conference observers think Tech will be in a rebuilding mode this season.
Big Three Take Drop
At least the Wonder Boys were able to break up the dominance of what had become known as the GSC Big Three — Valdosta State from Georgia, Delta State from Mississippi and North Alabama. In 2008, all three of those schools earned national playoff berths. Last year, though, Valdosta State struggled to a 6-4 record (5-3 in conference), while Delta State fell to 5-5 (4-4 in the GSC).
For the first half of the season, it looked as if Ouachita Baptist would be the conference’s breakthrough school. The Tigers roared to a 4-0 start with wins of 52-6 over Texas College, 48-14 over West Georgia, 24-14 over Valdosta State when the Blazers were ranked 16th nationally and 38-14 over Delta State when the Statesmen were ranked ninth nationally. Suddenly, Ouachita found itself ranked No. 14 and on the road against the University of Arkansas at Monticello. A Ouachita field-goal attempt on the game’s last play sailed wide, and the Tigers fell to the Boll Weevils, 34-32. The Baptist bubble had been burst.
It was the start of a three-game skid that also saw losses to Harding and Southern Arkansas. Ouachita recovered to win two of its final three games, finishing 6-4 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
Having finished 7-3 in 2008, Ouachita is coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1980s. This may be Coach Todd Knight’s most talented squad in his 12 years as head coach at his alma mater. The Tigers won’t sneak up on anyone this year since they return 10 defensive starters and seven offensive starters.
If senior quarterback Eli Cranor from Russellville has a good season, the Tigers could make the playoffs for the first time since 1982, when they were in the NAIA. Cranor was solid last year in his first year as a starter. He had signed out of high school with Florida Atlantic and Coach Howard Schnellenberger, but after a redshirt season at Florida Atlantic, Cranor transferred to Ouachita and backed up Lance Parker for two years.
Ouachita placed a school-record nine players on either the first or second All-GSC teams, and five of those players return: linebacker Clayton Goree, tight end Phillip Supernaw, offensive guard Kyle Smith, offensive tackle Cory Godbolt and defensive tackle Bryan Church.
Weevils Wobble, Reddies Reel
Among the six Arkansas schools in the Gulf South, UA-Monticello was perhaps the biggest disappointment last year with records of 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the GSC. Good things were expected from the Boll Weevils in 2009. In 2008, the Weevils had appeared headed to the playoffs after four consecutive conference wins made them 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play. But UAM lost its final two games and missed out on a playoff bid. Quarterback Scott Buisson had been the 2008 Gulf South Conference Player of the Year as just a sophomore and was one of 24 finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II version of the Heisman Trophy.
With part of his supporting cast from a year earlier missing, Buisson struggled at times in 2009. The Boll Weevils quickly eliminating themselves from playoff contention with a 1-4 start. This year, Buisson is joined for his senior season by a quality group of returning starters that includes his top receiver, senior Jywin Ceaser; his top running back, senior Johnny Polite; and his top offensive lineman, tackle Tripp Boatner. A transfer from New Mexico Military Institute, Greg Taylor, also was impressive during spring practice at running back. A new offensive coordinator, Josh Eargle from LSU, is expected to change the scheme a bit to take advantage of the talent available.
All-conference linebacker Carlton Johnson and free safety Augustus Ashley lead the defense. With 30 seniors on the roster, hopes are high in Monticello.
Henderson has fallen below expectations in each of the past two seasons. The Reddies were 5-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play in 2008. They fell to 3-7 overall and 3-5 in the GSC last year. Coach Scott Maxfield expects the Reddies to be much improved this season. On the offensive side of the ball, he was pleased this spring with the efforts of quarterback Nick Hardesty, wide receiver Chris Evering and offensive tackle Cherokee Streetman.
Hardesty transferred to Henderson last year from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and shared playing time with freshman Nathan Nall, who is back this season. Last season as a junior, Hardesty completed 84 of his 152 passes for 1,247 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. Evering, who will also be a senior this season, led the team in receiving last year with 33 catches for 608 yards. Two newcomers who were impressive in spring practice were tight end Sean McGrath and wide receiver Nick Johnson.
Defensively, the Reddies will be led by linebacker Steve Butrick and nose guard Jonathan Mitchell.
SAU, Harding Look Up
Southern Arkansas went 2-6 in conference play and 3-7 overall in 2009 in its first season under Coach Bill Keopple, who came to SAU from Arkansas High School in Texarkana. Keopple, the son of Little Rock Hall High School coaching legend C.W. Keopple, had won high school state championships in 2006 and 2007 in Texarkana. But he’s no stranger to the college game, having spent 19 of his 26 years in coaching at the collegiate level. He was an assistant coach at Arkansas, Central Arkansas, Tulsa and Boise State.
The Muleriders return 38 lettermen, seven offensive starters and six defensive starters.
Southern Arkansas will be led on defense by Cedric Thornton, who made five different All-American teams last year — Football Gazette, Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, D2Football.com and Daktronics. Thornton led Division II with tackles for losses — 23 for 84 yards in losses. He had 80 total tackles while forcing two fumbles and blocking two kicks.
Harding improved from a 2-9 record in 2008 to go 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the GSC last year. In the Bisons’ spring game, sophomore quarterback Chaz Rogers rushed 14 times for 115 yards and scored a touchdown. Redshirt freshmen Ryan Brown and Dre Whittle also had touchdown runs. A deep stable of running backs includes Bo Woods, Kale Gelles, Kyle Young and Sammy Williams. End Jermaine Blanchard is expected to lead the defense.
“Defensively, we feel very solid along our front line and at linebacker,” Coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “We had several players that came in this spring and really solidified things there. We’ve got some questions in the secondary.”
Offensively, Harding is moving from being primarily a passing team to a more balanced attack, even using the option on occasion.
Bowden Back at UNA
North Alabama will be favored to win the Gulf South title again in its second year under Coach Terry Bowden. The Lions went 11-2 last fall. They were 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in Division II going into the final game of the regular season, when they were upset 31-28 by West Alabama in four overtimes. The Lions still received a first-round playoff bye. They defeated Arkansas Tech in the second round and then fell 24-21 to Carson-Newman from Tennessee in the Division II quarterfinals.
Bowden now has a 122-55-2 record as a college coach. During the past 20 years, North Alabama has had the winningest college program in the state with a 71.5 winning percentage, compared with 66.8 percent for Auburn and 65 percent for Alabama during those two decades. Last year marked North Alabama’s fifth straight season with at least 10 wins and its fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs.
Tagged: Gulf South Conference, Nick Graziano, Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, Steve Mullins, Rico Keller, James Landry, Roger Jackson, Jorge Vasquez, Valdosta State, Delta State, North Alabama, Ouachita Baptist, Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils, Southern Arkansas Muleriders, Clayton Goree, Phillip Supernaw, Kyle Smith, Cory Godbolt, Bryan Church, Carloton Johnson, Augustus Ashley, Scott Maxfield, Nick Hardesty, Chris Evering, Cherokee Streetman, Harding Bisons, Chaz Rogers, Ryan Brown, Dre Whittle, Bo Woods, Kale Gelles, Kyle Young, Sammy Williams, Jermaine Blanchard, Ronnie Huckeba, Terry Bowden
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