FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[cush]

My questions about the scac football relate to the whole conference. WHy is it still called the scac? i think they should go back to the  College Athletic Conference or CAC. Why is the HQ still in Georgia and not moved to Texas? Finally, why hasn't Hardin–Simmons University been invited for membership? that would at least get the league to 5 football school's with a possibility 2 current school's could start/re-start programs to get a bid.

[jekelish]

Man, tough turn of events for Austin College - the 'Roos just dropped what looked like a surefire interception and then on the very next play, Rhodes breaks a 36 yard run down to the four yard line. That could be a game changer if they punch it in here.

[Ron Boerger]

My questions about the scac football relate to the whole conference. WHy is it still called the scac? i think they should go back to the  College Athletic Conference or CAC. Why is the HQ still in Georgia and not moved to Texas? Finally, why hasn't Hardin–Simmons University been invited for membership? that would at least get the league to 5 football school's with a possibility 2 current school's could start/re-start programs to get a bid.

There is some logic in keeping a name that's been around for 20 years as opposed to going to a generic name like CAC, and Texas/La are still "South".  As to why the offices are still in GA, probably has something to do with the continuity of the conference leadership (e.g they live there and want to stay there, though that is just a guess).   It was a big deal for the continued future of the SCAC for the front office folks to stay and not bolt to the SAA, and that was a very real possibility. 

I would be very surprised if the conference had NOT made overtures to the Cowboys; that kind of info would not be public unless HSU accepted.    At the same time you have to consider that they have a successful, long-standing relationship with the ASC and  the lack of the football AQ hurts any potential move, even though it seems increasingly unlikely anyone but UMHB will get the ASC bid as long as Coach Fred is around, not to mention the new football palace on-campus.

We can hope that the Centenaries and Schrieners will take a look at what football has brought to Southwestern this season - e.g. not only students but communities that have suddenly discovered a local collegiate entity to cherish and support - and start football too.   It takes money, though, and absent someone willing to come up with a few million in startup costs, not to mention faciility costs, it's a hard thing to do. 

[jekelish]

Not to mention that football is the most expensive sport to fund year in and year out (due to the size of the squad, equipment, the larger coaching staff, etc), as well, so those schools would have to find a way to increase their budgets pretty significantly going forward. That's tough to do in this day and age.

[Ron Boerger]

Interesting day in the SCAC yesterday.

Austin went to Memphis and gave it a good ride against one of the SAA's better teams.  Hopefully this bodes well for the remainder of the year and shows the program is coming back from a disappointing 2012.

As expected, TLU handled Southwestern pretty easily, but the Pirates were able to put up over 400 yards on the Bulldogs, mostly in the second half.  Some of that was probably due to Padron putting some of his second stringers in, some of it from the SW QB settling in after an 0-fer first half.

Trinity didn't have much of a problem with Howard Payne but, like Southwestern, HP was able to get things going in the second half.   The final margin could have been wider had not a 97-yard kick return been called back.   

It's unfortunate Trinity and TLU will have to face off so early in the season; hopefully that is an artifact of the old non-conf scheduling between the two and will change in upcoming seasons.

[scaccommish]

Ron,

You are correct in regards to this year's schedule; beginning in 2014 and moving forward, you'll see all conference games at the back end of the schedule.

[Ron Boerger]

According to the Trinity two deep released today by TLU, the Tigers will be without starting QB Mason Blaschke this weekend.   He did not return to the HPU game last week following a sack early in the third quarter and according to a tweet fractured/dislocated his wrist.  Ouch. 

Junior Robert Broyles will apparently get his first collegiate start. 

[Ron Boerger]

Tail of two halves in San Antonio tonight saw TLU earn their first win in San Antonio since 1976 (which would be the year before I showed up).   Robert Broyles did a fine job in his first start and Trinity rushed out to a 31-14 halftime lead.  Bulldog QB Brent Peavy went crazy in the second half, deftly evading the TU rush on numerous occasions, and led the Bulldogs to a 42-38 lead late in the fourth.  Trinity was driving for the potential winning score when Broyles was sacked and injured, so the third-string QB for Trinity trotted out on 3rd and 25 from about the 35 but was unable to complete a pass on either 3rd or 4th down.   TLU ran out the clock from there as Trinity had used all but one of their timeouts earlier in the half. 

Broyles had a lot of passes dropped by his receivers, especially in the second half.  That, combined with Trinity's overall inability to stop TLU in the second half was the difference.   They did keep TLU out of the end zone on two series; one where they had eight plays inside the TU 5 thanks to a penalty, and another series in the fourth quarter where again the ball was turned over on downs at the one-inch line. 

Officiating was awful both ways but good teams find a way to overcome that sort of thing and TLU did tonight.   Broyles didn't look good going off, Blaschke was spotted wearing a serious cast on his elbow, so it may be Stephen Smith getting the start against Sul Ross next Saturday afternoon. 

[Ralph Turner]

I posted on the Pool B board that I can see TLU going 9-1 this season, 7-1 in-region.

[tigerguy]

Tough loss for Trinity - got to tip my hat to TLU for rallying in the second as I thought they were dead in the water after Trinity exploded in the first half. I've got to say though...I wish we could have seen a full season of Broyles leading this offense. Seriously, throwing for 344 yards and 3 TDs in his first ever start along with 57 yards rushing? That kid can flat out play. I think I counted 5 dropped balls from their receiving crew as well. I will be very interested to see if they can salvage out a tie for the SCAC championship after losing their first two QB's.

Continuing on, TLU's offense looks awesome at times, but they need to work on their consistency. Their OL has some serious size as a unit and they should be taking advantage of that. Peavy at QB can run around all day and his brother at WR makes a dangerous combination.

Looking forward to seeing how Trinity responds next week and I hope this level of play continues on into the future!

[Pat Coleman]

I posted on the Pool B board that I can see TLU going 9-1 this season, 7-1 in-region.

It would be 8-1 in-region.

[Ron Boerger]

Tough loss for Trinity - got to tip my hat to TLU for rallying in the second as I thought they were dead in the water after Trinity exploded in the first half. I've got to say though...I wish we could have seen a full season of Broyles leading this offense. Seriously, throwing for 344 yards and 3 TDs in his first ever start along with 57 yards rushing? That kid can flat out play. I think I counted 5 dropped balls from their receiving crew as well. I will be very interested to see if they can salvage out a tie for the SCAC championship after losing their first two QB's.

Continuing on, TLU's offense looks awesome at times, but they need to work on their consistency. Their OL has some serious size as a unit and they should be taking advantage of that. Peavy at QB can run around all day and his brother at WR makes a dangerous combination.

Looking forward to seeing how Trinity responds next week and I hope this level of play continues on into the future!

Agree with you on Broyles, tigerguy.  When we told the TLU fans around us that he was TU's #2 QB, they were very surprised.   

Re the tie for the SCAC championship, even in the incredibly unlikely event TLU loses to AC (their only remaining SCAC game since they played SW last week) they would win the championship due to the strength of last night's head-to-head victory.    Only one game per SCAC opponent counts, e.g. the Trinity at SW game on Oct 19 is not an official conference game (per the SCAC website).

[RLW]

Has anyone heard how Robert Broyles is doing after being injured in the Trinty vs TLU game? Hope he is OK. He played an excellent game. He will make great starter.

[Ron Boerger]

Has anyone heard how Robert Broyles is doing after being injured in the Trinty vs TLU game? Hope he is OK. He played an excellent game. He will make great starter.

It doesn't look good, RLW, at least as far as him returning any time soon.   This was in the SA Express-News game writeup:

"We're kind of snake bit at this point," Trinity coach Steve Mohr said. "We're going to fight through it and see if we can rally around our third guy. I've never been through losing two guys in two weeks."

[tigerguy]

From what I have gathered he might have torn his ACL, meaning he is done for the season. Don't have much information on the 3rd string QB, Stephen Smith, other than the two throws he had in Saturdays games.

I heard (and this may have been a joke) that they might attempt to play WR Matthew Kennemer at the QB position. He's pretty much played every other position for them so far this year, so why not! I've got to say losing your #1 and #2 quarterbacks in two weeks seems like a curse, and has to be frustrating for the seniors. I'll keep everyone updated if I hear any other info.