Can't
get to the game? Don't worry, we've got ya covered.
FHSU in season slide
10/21/2011
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Senior linebacker Alex Whitehill has seen the Fort Hays State University football team have a midseason slide in each of his five years with the program. In 2007, Whitehill's redshirt year, FHSU opened 3-1, but finished 4-7.
In 2008, Fort Hays started 2-1, including a win against then-ranked Washburn University, before it lost eight straight games and went 2-9. In 2009, a 4-1 start yielded a 2-4 finish. Last season, FHSU enjoyed its first 3-0 start since 1983, but then lost its next eight games and finished 3-8.
This fall, the Tigers opened 2-3 and have lost their last two contests at home, a 38-17 defeat to Pittsburg State University, now ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II, and a 35-7 loss to University of Central Missouri, receiving votes in the national poll. But Whitehill sees a difference compared to the last four seasons.
"It might seem really weird, but this is my fifth year here," he said in the team's weekly news' conference Wednesday.
"We are kind of in a little slide, in a little lull, but this feels different than in the past. In the past, it's been Week 3, we lose a game and guys are done.
"It's terrible to say that, but they lose it and it felt like, 'What are we doing out here?,' " Whitehill added. "At this point, it's Week 8 and we've got two wins, but we are still out there going, 'Hey, we have got four games left to win.' It's different. We have been in a lot of these games."
On Saturday, the Tigers (2-5) will look to end their slide when they travel to University of Central Oklahoma (1-6) for the season's final non-conference game. Kickoff is 2 p.m. in Edmond, Okla. Fort Hays, which lost 30-28 to Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University in a Week 3 non-conference game, has not finished winless in non-conference play since a 1-10 season in 2006. The Tigers have struggled in all facets, especially offensively, in the last two weeks.
FHSU ranks eighth or worse in the conference in scoring offense, total offense, total defense and scoring defense. The Tigers stand 109th or worse in the country in all four statistics.
"We are just going to try to keep them going in practice, keep them excited, keep them enthusiastic," first-year coach Chris Brown said. "That's all we can do, make sure that they are practicing hard and executing during practice. ... I thought (Tuesday and Wednesday), we had pretty good practices, and I think that if the kids keep doing that, these kids will improve. You've just got to keep upbeat."
Two of the biggest problems have been finding motivation and gelling as a unit. Brown has asked his team to play with more fire in several contests, including a Week 2 loss to Truman State (Mo.) University and last week against University of Central Missouri.
"I have people ask me sometimes, 'Are you ready for the game?," junior center John "Hawk" Rouse said. "It's like Wednesday or Thursday or something like that, and I will tell them, 'Almost, I am almost ready.' Everybody has got their own way of getting prepared, and I think there were too many people last week who were not ready. I don't know what it takes for some guys, if they have to be getting ready on Monday or Friday night. I just don't know. A lot of guys just didn't do it."
Defensively, the team has had to adjust to its fourth defensive coordinator in as many years and has struggled to form together. Last week, FHSU did force three turnovers, but allowed 613 total yards. Whitehill has seen an improvement and said the calls are "coming smoother" for a defense that currently starts only four players that have started at least nine games in their Tiger careers.
"You have got two weeks, three weeks of camp, and that's not an easy thing to do," Whitehill, Division II's leader with 112 tackles, said. "It's a lot to do with that. You don't get those bonds built that you do with guys you have played with for awhile. If someone messes up or doesn't do something right, you are less likely to be like, 'Hey, no problem, no big deal, let's get it going.' Guys are more prone to get mad and snap and not handle it the way it probably should have been handled."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |