Bryan Bennett and Southeastern Louisiana State won the school’s first-ever Southland Conference Championship by burying Nicholls State 52-27 at Strawberry Stadium Thursday night.
Trailing 16-14 at halftime, Bennett engineered six scoring drives in the 3rd quarter on the way to a school-record 702 yards of offense. The Lions are 9-2 on the year, a perfect 7-0 in league play, and they are guaranteed a spot in the FCS playoffs, maybe even as one of the top 8 seeds with a first-round bye. The playoff bracket will be announced Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on ESPNU.
Crespi critter: Bryan Bennett zooms for a big gain against Lamar earlier in the year. A stellar junior season has made him one of the favorites for the Walter Payton Award after leading Southeastern Louisiana State to a league championship (Randy Bergeron, SELU athletics photo).
Earlier in November the former Duck was named to the Walter Payton Watch List, the award given annually to the best player in the FCS. The Sports Network announced 16 semi-finalists on November 12, including quarterback Vernon Davis of Eastern Washington. Bennett, a junior in his first year starting at SELA, earned his way on to the list with 2610 yards passing, 18 tds and 934 rushing, 14 tds.
According to the SELA athletics website, “Ballots for the award will be sent to a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries following the regular season. The top three vote-getters will be invited to The Sports Network FCS Awards Presentation to be held Dec. 16 in Philadelphia.”
Thursday night in the win over the Colonels he was 16-25 for 273 yards and 2 tds, and led all rushers with 13 carries for 120 yards and a score.
His coach, Ron Roberts is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award after resurrecting a program that gave up football from 1986-2002, and finished last in the conference for two straight years before he arrived in 2012. He led them to a 5-6 mark last year, 5-2 in league play.
Meanwhile, several latitudes to the north, Jeremiah Masoli is preparing to suit up for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup. Hamilton faces Saskatchewan on Sunday night in the 101st edition of the CFL Championship Game, and Masoli is the Ti-Cats #3 quarterback behind Henry Burris and Dan Leflevour.
The game is a national holiday in the Great White North, a week of parades, festivals, a true rivalry of East versus West.
Masoli’s team worked out Thursday outdoors at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan in forbidding conditions. It was -21 degrees on a snow-covered field. One assistant coach’s playbook binder shattered in the cold and several of the players suffered frostbite. The team is practicing indoors on Friday.
The game is scheduled for a U.S. broadcast 3:30 p.m. Pacific on NBCSN.
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