Football
Bearcat Football: SBU Goes for Win #5 at Northeastern State
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Oct 13, 2008, 16:38

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcats will look for their fifth win in six games this weekend on the road against Northeastern State University. Should the Bearcats prevail, it will be their fifth win on the season, which is something they’ve done only five times in school history. A win would also also give the Bearcats a record of two games over .500, which happened last at the start of the 2003 season, when SBU began that campaign with three straight wins. SBU has won 5 out of 6 games only once, when they went 5-1 at the beginning of the 1986 season.

THE OPPONENT: Northeastern State is looking for their first win of the 2008 season. They have lost their last three games, however, by a combined total of 8 points, which includes a 6-point overtime loss at East Central. Since then, they’ve lost 37-38 at home to Texas A&M - Commerce, and lost 16-17 last week at Southwestern Oklahoma. Through their first seven contests, the Riverhawks have averaged 18.9 points per game, while yielding 31.3. They have averaged 55 yards rushing and 186.9 yards passing.

TRENDS: Through SBU’s first seven games of the 2008 season, Steve Gachette has averaged 298.1 yards in the air. Johnnie King has been SBU’s leading receiver, with 50 catches (11.9) for 595 yards (99.2 average). Jeff Finnell has gained 537 yards (76.7 average) on the ground, which includes 9 touchdowns on the season. Tyrin Holt is SBU’s leading tackler with 68 (37 solo) followed by Jarred Schumpert, who has 59 take-downs (37 solo). The Bearcats have 28 sacks as a team, led by Clint Carroz with 7.

BROKEN RECORDS: With his three touchdown passes on Saturday against Grand View, Steve Gachette became the career leader in that category at SBU, now with 34 in his two years as a Bearcat. This season, Gachette now has 19 touchdown passes, and which has tied Chris Lowe for the single-season record of 19 (2001). Despite his record-setting pace, Gachette has yet to throw 2 touchdowns to the same player in the same game this season. As a team, the 2008 Bearcats now hold records for most touchdowns in a season (43), most points in a season (308), and most touchdown passes in a season (20). Justin Finch, who has converted 35 of 36 extra points, now holds the record for most PATs in season.

SCORING STREAK: SBU is on track to break their ‘consecutive games without being shutout’ in the last game of this season. Should the Bearcats score in all 11 games in the 2008 campaign, they will have avoided the shutout for 44 straight times against Missouri S&T on November 8, which passes the old mark of 43 set in the 10th game of the 1992 season.

COACH ALLEN ON SATURDAY’S WIN: "Saturday was a great atmosphere to play football. We had a great crowd out there. I want to thank all of the fans in the Coach’s Crew. It was great to see all of the Bearcat Football alumni there on Saturday, especially the members of the 1983 team. I think we played well. We would like to have had better tempo during the game, but a win is a win. In the 2nd half, it was good again to get some experience for our younger players. I liked that we played lots of players in front of the big Homecoming Crowd."

Game Notes