After a brutal early season stretch of games that saw the Stetson football team square off with the two undefeated squads, and two other road games against big, physical groups, the Hatters return to Spec Martin Memorial Stadium on Saturday with an eye toward ending their four-game losing streak.
In addition to the game against a Campbell (3-3, 1-2) squad that owns a recent victory over one of the teams (Drake) that Stetson lost to, the Hatters are partnering with Florida Hospital to raise awareness in the battle against breast cancer. The Pink Army game will kickoff at 1 p.m. Tickets for the contest are still available through the Stetson Athletics Ticket Office, with prices starting as low as $20.
The game between the Hatters (1-4, 0-3) will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Tyler Murray, Evan Weston and Brianne Welch calling the action. Fans can also tune in to the Stetson Radio Network – WSBB AM 1230 and 1490 in Volusia County and CBS Radio AM 810 in Orlando – to listen to the call of the game by Luke Mauro, Pete Blais and Aaron Berlin.
Florida Hospital, which is the Official Healthcare Partner of Stetson Athletics, will have a full slate of activities going on both inside and outside Spec Martin as a part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They will have people on hand to help schedule mammograms and will have a photo booth set up for fans to enjoy.
Pregame ceremonies will include a pair Stetson football mothers, Karen Washington and Laura Coggin, being recognized as honorary game captains. They are just two of the loved ones of Stetson football players who have been impacted by breast cancer.
“I think this gives a perspective of where football lies in life,” Hatters coach Roger Hughes said. “We are really blessed to play this game. Any time that we can draw awareness, through our play, and make people understand that there is a very human side to all of these kids who are playing, it is positive.
“We have all been touched by cancer and many of us have been touched even closer by breast cancer. Hopefully, honoring those mothers as honorary captains before the game can show people that we have the right perspective and that our thoughts and prayers and with them as they go through their struggles with it. While football is big, there is obviously something bigger out there.”
The Pink Army part of the day will be about encouraging women to get checked regularly because the fight against breast cancer is winnable, if the disease is detected early enough. It is easy to schedule a mammogram, just visit JointhePinkArmy.com and sign up.
On the field, the Hatters and Camels will renew a rivalry that has produced two of the most exciting games of the last two seasons. In 2013, the Hatters led 18-7 late in the fourth quarter, but Campbell rallied on the strength of a kickoff return for a touchdown and another late score to take a 19-18 victory.
Last year, in Buies Creek, it was the Hatters who scored late in the game when Ryan Tentler connected with Rob Coggin for a 37-yard TD pass on fourth down, to give Stetson a 28-24 lead. The Hatters' defense then made that advantage standup when Ryan Powers intercepted a Camels pass at the goal line on a deflection by Donald Payne.
Of course, the biggest news to come from the game at Campbell last year was the NCAA record-tying 30 tackles Payne posted in the game. Over two seasons he has recorded 45 tackles against the Camels. He currently ranks ninth among all active players in NCAA football with 357 career tackles.
“Offenses would be crazy to not know where he is and to not try to run away from him,” Hughes said of his All-American, who enters the game with a Pioneer Football League leading 59 tackles on the year.
The Campbell offense is fourth in the PFL, averaging 368.2 yards per game, but the Camels are a different team than they were a year ago. Campbell is averaging a league-leading 186.2 yards per game on the ground and are led by junior De'Shawn Jones, who averages 106.5 yards per game.
The key to their success on the ground is a big offensive line and some slight of hand.
“They are 300-pounds across the line on offense and equally big on defense,” Hughes said. “Campbell doesn't make a lot of mistakes, they do a good job on offense of using a lot of formations, and a lot of those are unbalanced. What they try to do is cover an eligible receiver, hoping that you try to cover the guy who can't go out in order to deceive you into covering the wrong guy.
“Our big thing on defense will be in getting aligned correctly, understanding who is eligible and who is not, and being able to adjust to the numerous formations that they have.”
Another part of the key for the Stetson defense will be in forcing the Camels quarterback, redshirt senior Kameron Bryant, to stay in the pocket and throw the ball. Bryant has rushed for 181 yards and has thrown for 1,013, but also has thrown nine interceptions.
“Their quarterback loves to run with the ball,” Hughes said. “He is not one that will slide – he will take it and he wants to make yards. We have to make sure that we contain him in the pocket and not let him extend plays. Our coverage has to be good enough so that he doesn't feel comfortable getting rid of the ball but, when he pulls it down, we have to make sure he runs where we want him to run so that we can make the tackle.”
In addition to controlling the top ground game in the league, the Hatters have to figure out how to move the ball effectively against the top overall defense in the league. The Camels are allowing just 16.3 points per game while surrendering 261 yards.
To have success against the Camels, or any of the teams remaining on the schedule this fall, the Hatters have to avoid the mistakes that have continued to thwart their offensive efforts. Chief among the issues are the penalties that regularly have put the team behind the chains on offense.
There are also the turnovers that have caused the team problems. Only one team in the PFL has turned the ball over more often than the Hatters, who are minus four in turnover ratio, and that is Campbell. The Camels are minus 13 on the year, having turned the ball over 15 times while gaining just two.
“It is frustrating, offensively, when you turn the ball over or when you aren't able to move the ball to get the field position you need,” Hughes said. “It is frustrating on special teams when we aren't generating the returns we need to get that hidden yardage. We are turning it over there as well.
“We are all frustrated with the penalties, and that is crucial. Right now we are just not executing offensively at a high enough level to overcome those 10 and 15-yard penalties, but I don't know of any offense that does. We have to eliminate those and make sure we take care of our own business.”
Part of the issue on the offensive side of the ball for Stetson this year has been the large number of front-line players who have been missing from the field. The Hatters have slowly started to get some of those injured players back on the field, but others are still working their way back.
Offensive lineman Sean Gannon saw his first action of the year last week and can expect his workload to increase, but the Hatters will still be without the services of running back Cole Mazza, who is at least another week or two away from a return to action.
There is, however, a possibility that others who have been missing might see action. Fullback Mike Yonker, who has been out since the opener, is the most likely to see playing time this week as he works to come back from a knee injury.
“Having Mike helps as blocker, but he also helps from a leadership standpoint,” Hughes said. “The other kids like him, he is a very intense and tough kid. I think he makes the kids around him better just because of his toughness. When he gets knocked down, he pops right back up, and I think others on the team know that and admire that. Hopefully, they gain some inspiration from it.”
There are others who have returned to practice this week, but their return to game status may still be a week away as they work to get game ready.
“We are cautiously optimistic on those other guys. I think Yonker probably has the best chance of getting in there. We are slowly working those guys back into the mix.”
Stetson Notebook
Possession Analysis
With so much talent missing on the offensive side of the ball, the Hatters have had a hard time putting together scoring drives this year. Of 72 total offensive possessions on the season, the Hatters have scored on just 13, or 18.0 percent.
The Hatters have gone three (or fewer) plays and out on 30 possessions, or 41.6 percent, and have gained less than 20 yards on 43 non-scoring possessions, or 59.7 percent.
“The thing we have to do is stay positive and keep believing that if we continue to do the things we are coached to do, and as we clean things up, the production will come,” Hughes said.
On the other side, Stetson's opponents have had 73 total possessions on the year and have scored on 27 of those opportunities, or 37.0 percent. The Hatters have forced 31 three (or fewer) and out possessions, or 42.4 percent, Stetson opponents have gained less than 20 yards on 32 non-scoring drives, or 43.8 percent.
“We gave up 41 points last week and most people would say that is a bad defensive effort,” Hughes said. “There are two sides to the coin. Yes, they have been put in bad situations, but your job on defense it to stop them, or at least hold them to field goals. Yes, we can put our defense in better situations, but we can also elevate our game to meet the challenge a little better than we have.”
Sending a Message
On the stat sheet each week, the interceptions always go in a column next to the quarterback's name. Hatters' starter Ryan Tentler has been picked seven times this year, part of 11 interceptions the team has thrown, but Hughes said not all of those picks can be blamed on the passer.
But, both passers and pass catchers have been getting a not-so-subtle reminder in practice when a pass is not thrown to the proper spot and when a catchable pass is not pulled in.
“We have made a bit point this week about improving the quarterback's accuracy,” Hughes said. “It is not just about hitting the receiver, it is about hitting a certain part of the receiver. We are trying to give much smaller targets to hit and, if they don't hit those targets in practice, we are repeating the play and giving a little reminder with five pushups.
“By the same token, if the receiver drops the ball, we are doing five pushups. It is a little thing, but it is amazing how that little bit of extra work can be a great motivator.”
Running Back By Committee
With Cole Mazza on the sideline, the Hatters have been on the search for a player to step up and carry the running game. Among the players who have gotten carries are A.J. Washington, Jerami Singleton, PJ Franklin as well as freshmen Arkee Brown and Chance Jackson. That search will continue this week.
“We have some other individuals who are being given a chance to step up,” Hughes said. “If we are continually seeing a lack of performance in certain spots, then we are going to give other kids a chance to see what they can do. We can't tolerate a lack of performance in certain positions.”
Singleton is expected to get the start again this week, but he is by no means assured of getting the bulk of the rush attempts.
“It has been a little bit of running back by committee because no one has stepped forward and shown us the ability to consistently make the right reads and are pressing the landmarks they have to in order to make the offensive go and, frankly, breaking tackles. Until we find the person who can consistently do that there is going to be a little bit of juggling going on there just to see who has the hot hand.”
Blue Collar Workers
While the Stetson defense is known mostly by the exploits of leading tackler Donald Payne, the Hatters have some unsung heroes who are doing good work in the shadows.
Two of the guys who stood out last week were linebacker Adam Vinson and defensive tackle Matt Mines. Vinson had a career-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops, with two tackles for loss and a sack while Mines had three tackles, two for loss with a sack.
“Adam Vinson was our defensive player of the week,” Hughes said. “He has really, despite injuries – bumps and bruises – gotten better, and Matt Mines is the same way. Matt is going through the same things with his shoulder as Sean Gannon is with his knee. He had surgery in the off season and he is having to recover after babying the one shoulder and allowed his other shoulder to get sore. Despite that, he has played through it and is getting better.”
Keys to Victory
Like every week, the Hatters' keys to victory start with winning the turnover battle. Last week Stetson turned the ball over five times at Jacksonville and also surrendered a long punt return, which resulted in points.
“We can't turn the ball over,” Hughes said. “I know it is cliché, but we had a pick six last week and that gave us no chance to play defense. We had another interception that we responded to and got an interception back, and we also gave up a long punt return. We can't create short fields for our opponent; that is the number one thing. We can't beat ourselves.”
The second key is making sure the defense is in the correct position in order to not lose leverage or containment on the Campbell offense.
“We have to be really sharp in making our checks and recognizing their formations. If we allow their subtle differences in formations to affect us, they will continue to do it. We have to stop that and make them one dimensional so that they have to do what they don't want to do, and that is throw the football.”
Hughes said it will be important, not only for the Hatters' special teams to win the field position battle, but for that group to set up easy scores.
“Our special teams have to create short fields for our offense,” Hughes said. “That has to happen. We want to be able to set up two or three scores with our special teams. We have to make sure that we set up long fields for them and make them have to drive it 70 or 80 yards because the percentage of scoring goes way down every time you add 10 yards to distance they have to go. That is the number one thing we have to do.”
Because of the size and speed of the Campbell defensive line, the key for the Hatters on offense is to have success on the perimeter.
“We have to block better on the perimeter. Our running backs have to have more trust, the guys running bubble screens have to have more trust on the perimeter and we have to get more separation on the pass game. We have to win on the perimeter.
“Up front they are big and no one has had success against them. They are big and quick and move well, so we have to make sure we win on the perimeter and try to make those big guys run around. We have to maintain the ball for enough time that we can gain some momentum.”
Special Events
Besides all of the activities surrounding the Pink Army event, there will be several other activities and events on Saturday.
The first 250 fans in the stadium on Saturday will receive a rally towel, compliments of Fifth-Third Bank.
The first 1,000 fans in the gates will receive a free commemorative poster featuring defensive end Davion Belk. The back of the poster has game information, including rosters for both teams as well as a coupon for free Crazy Bread at Little Caesar's. Copies of the latest issue of Hatters Extra magazine will also be available at all stadium entrances.
While on the subject of Little Caesar's, two students and one fan will be chosen at Hatter Village to kick at halftime for a chance to win pizza for the rest of the year.
Seminole Powersports will also try to give away a Yetti Cooler to one lucky student. Stetson students can register for their chance by registering here: bit.ly/yetikick .
