The SHSU Bearkat (1-1) football team will travel to Waco this weekend to face the struggling Baylor Bears (1-2). With a record of 2-14 against I-A opponents, and coming off a tough loss to Montana last week, the Kats will now go up against a Big 12 team that started the season rough but looking to it around.Last week a negative turnover ratio was the stem of problems contributing to the loss. The Kats turned the ball over three more times than their opponent, allowing the Grizzlies to gain momentum after a close first half and ultimately overcome the Kats.”We are not going to win if we turn the ball over four times again,” said head coach Ron Randleman. “The defense played at a very high level last week. We have to do the same things right and not do the wrong things again.”Against Montana the Bearkat defense was successful in keeping the Grizzly offense to a minimum. Despite the 200 yards rushing, they were able to shut down the passing attack and hold the Montana offense to only 10 first downs.Quarterbacks junior Travis Tobaben and freshman Wade Pate combined for over two hundred yards in the air. The offense totaled 18 first downs and ended up with more total yardage than their opponent but was stagnated by turnovers and dropped balls.The last time the two teams met was back in 1990 when the Kats lost a close one 13-9. The Kats have been at the IIA level now for 17 years and they have a 2-14 record against IA teams.”We don’t get a chance to play IA teams that often, let alone a Big 12 team,” said Randleman. “They are suffering from other situations and their depth is not where other Big 12 teams are, but they have a speedy defense and a terrific running back.”Randleman said that he probably did not have one player that was seriously recruited by Baylor, although some could have. He felt that in order to win this weekend his team would need to play extremely well and have some fans out in Waco for support. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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