College Notebook: Javelinas hanging on to postseason lives

After Saturday’s loss to Abilene Christian the playoff picture for the Javelinas has become murky. They are currently eighth in the Super Region 4 rankings and only the top six go to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Lone Star Conference and South Division championships are still up for grabs heading into the final week of the regular season. Tarleton State is currently in first place in the conference and division with just one loss, to the Javelinas. If Tarleton State defeats West Texas A&M they will the LSC title outright. If TSU loses they will tie for the conference championship with the winner of the Abilene Christian-Midwestern State game and the Javelinas if they defeat Angelo State. If TSU loses the South Division championship has the potential for a 4-way tie with Tarleton State, West Texas A&M, ACU-MSU winner and the Javelinas all tied at 3-2.

They are Special

The Javelina special teams had their best game of the season at Abilene Christian. Senior punter Cody Smith had four punts for an average of 45.5 yards per kick. He booted a season long 60-yarder in the first quarter, had two punts downed inside the 20-yard line and allowed only four yards of returns on his kicks.

The Hoggie punt block unit had its best game in recent history blocking three ACU punts. In the first quarter, Mardrick Johnson broke free and blocked a Mark Sprague punt. Corey Robertson picked up the ball and scored from 22 yards out. In the third quarter, Mitchell Swan blocked a Sprague punt, unfortunately the Wildcats recovered the ball and advanced it for a first down. In the fourth quarter Connell Davis blocked a third punt setting up a Javelina touchdown.

Spreading It Around

The trio of wide receivers; E.J. LeBlanc, Ryan Lincoln and Sherman Batiste, were very good against Abilene Christian.

LeBlanc had his best game in a Javelina uniform with a career high nine catches for 101 yards. He scored on a 15-yard pass in the second quarter, his third touchdown of the season. He also had two kick returns, including a 36-yarder giving him a team high 148 all-purpose yards in the game. He is averaging 63.1 all-purpose yards per game this year.

Lincoln had five catches for 100 yards, including a 58-yarder that set up LeBlanc’s first half touchdown. It was the third time this season and sixth time in his career that he has gained at least 100 yards in a game. He leads the team with 47 catches for 727 yards this season. Three more receptions this year would make him the sixth player in school history with at least 50 receptions in a year. With 17 more receiving yards he will move into the Hoggie top 10 for most receiving yards in a season. For his career he has 134 catches for 1,972 yards. He will move into fourth place all-time with two catches against Angelo State and can become the fifth player in school history with 2,000 receiving yards.

Batiste had his most productive game of the season as he had five catches for 91 yards. While neither was a career high, he did catch two touchdown passes which was a career high and gave him four TD receptions on the season. This was his third game of the season with at least 90 yards receiving. He has 32 catches for 438 yards in his red-shirt freshman season.

Nothing in Between

For the previous 24 games, the Javelinas were 17-7 which is a 70.8 winning percentage. During that time period, the Hoggies have not had a loss of fewer than 20 points, an almost unbelievable statistic.

The last time the Javelinas lost by less than 20 points came on October 13, 2007 at home against East Central. The Tigers knocked off the Hoggies 21-17 in a game that saw the Javelinas drive inside the ECU 30-yard line on three occasions in the fourth quarter and come away with no points.

On Saturday, that streak finally ended with the Javs’ 12-point loss to the ACU Wildcats.

Still Leading the Way

Javelina junior running back Fred Winborn entered last week as the leading rusher in the LSC after his school-record 263-yard performance against Eastern New Mexico. He was held in check at Abilene by #1 rushing defense in the nation.

Winborn had 47 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Twice, the ACU defense stopped him in the backfield just as he received the ball resulting in 11 yards lost.

For the season, Hollywood leads the Hoggies with 885 yards rushing. His 88.5 yards per game average has him tied with Daryl Richardson on Abilene Christian and Jason Palmer of Central Oklahoma are both tied with Winborn heading into the final regular season game of the season. If Winborn would gain 115 yards against Angelo State he would become the first Javelina running back since Larry Williams in 2003 to gain 1,000 yards in a season.

The Glove

Javelina junior safety DeIra Glover has quietly become one of the top defensive players in the LSC this year. On Saturday, he had his second double digit tackle game of the season.

Glover led the Hoggies with 11 tackles, seven solo, and a half tackle for loss. He leads the team with 73 tackles this year which is a career high. He has three tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and two interceptions this year. He has returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns.

Climbing the Charts

Senior quarterback Billy Garza has sprinkled his name liberally throughout the Javelina record book in his two seasons.

On Saturday, Garza posted his fourth 300-yard game of the season and ninth in his career. He has as many 300-yard passing games in his career as all the other quarterbacks in school history combined.

Garza is 192-of-319 for 2,378 yards passing this year. He owns the top two pass completion seasons in school history and needs only 173 more yards to have the top two yardage totals. He and Daniel Taylor are the only two players in school history with at least 2,000 yards passing in two different seasons.

For his career, Garza is 401-of-689 for 5,165 yards, 39 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He needs 14 completions to become the school record holder. He is fourth in passing yards and sixth in touchdowns all time. He is also fifth with 5,476 yards of total offense.

Scoring Threats

A year ago the Javelinas scored the vast majority of their touchdowns through the air (27 passing, 16 rushing). This year those numbers have been reversed thanks to the power running of Connell Davis and the elusiveness of Fred Winborn.

Winborn leads the team with 13 touchdowns this year, including 11 on the ground. Davis has scored 10 touchdowns with eight coming on the ground. The team has scored 24 times on the ground and 16 times through the air. The Javelinas have also scored two defensive touchdowns and one on special teams.

Running Wild in the Top 25

The Javelinas entered the season ranked #24 by D2Football.com and they were among the teams receiving votes in the AFCA poll with 33 points. After the first week, the team moved up to #11 in D2Football.com and #18 in the AFCA poll.

Week 2 had the Javelinas cracking the top 10 for the first time since 2004.

The Javelinas were ranked in the top 10 for six straights weeks before falling out on October 19. This week the team moved up to #9 in the AFCA poll and #9 in the D2football.com poll.

To The Nines

Historically, years ending in the number nine have been good ones for the Javelinas. They won the national championship in 1959 (12-1), 1969 (11-1) and 1979 (12-1). Additionally, the team went 10-1 in 1989, 6-1-3 in 1939 and 8-2 in 1949. Overall, in years ending in nine the Javelinas are 75-19-4.

The Javelinas have also made the playoffs in four of the last five years that ended in nine. A playoff appearance this year would be the team’s first since 2004 when they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Going the Right Way

Head coach Bo Atterberry has pushed his career record over .500 this year. He started his coaching career 1-7, but has gone 17-7 since the ninth week of the 2007 season. He had a career best eight game winning streak snapped earlier this year.

As a team, the Javelinas started 7-0 for the first time since 2004. This was the 11th time that Javelina team started the year 7-0.

Entering this week, Atterberry is still leading the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year online voting for NCAA Division II coaches.

Senior Night

This Saturday night the Javelinas will be playing their final home regular season game of the season.

The following players will be appearing in their final regular season game at Javelina Stadium: wide receiver Logan Morris, wide receiver E.J. LeBlanc, quarterback Billy Garza, running back Joe Williams, punter Cody Smith, corner back Eric John, safety Stuart Moffitt, rover John Reeves, linebacker Jeff Edwards, linebacker Arlen Childress, left tackle Jorge Guerra, left guard Markeith Wesley, offensive lineman Matthew Short, offensive lineman Michael Mosmeyer, defensive tackle Jimmy Saddler-McQueen, defensive tackle Jason Garcia and defensive tackle Bo Jones.

Regional Rankings

The Javelinas are eighth in the fifth NCAA Division II Regional Rankings. They trail Central Washington, Northwest Missouri State, Tarleton State, Abilene Christian, Missouri Western State, Central Missouri and Midwestern State.