THE HOME FOR LU SPORTS TALK

In last season's eighth game is when Kyle Gillam's season nearly came to a premature end. His left knee throbbed as he writhed in pain on the turf floor of the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. An MRI in Beaumont revealed a partially-torn knee ligament. But Gillam, a center, continued to play, making him the only offensive lineman to start all 11 games at one position last season. "I toughed it out and played the rest of the year," said Gillam, who described his injured knee as feeling wobbly through the end of the season. Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/lamar/article/Center-Gillam-a-key-part-of-Lamar-offense-2148496.php#ixzz1WctJzp9B

BEAUMONT - The most-often asked question during Lamar University's preseason football camp has been who will be the starting quarterback. The cloudy issue is that, although the Cardinals' season opener is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Provost Umphrey Stadium, the question remains unanswered. Clearly, however, regardless of who head coach Ray Woodard names as his starting quarterback for Saturday's game against Texas College, the job will be in capable hands. "It could come down to a game-time decision, but we'll know more later this week," said Todd Whitten, Lamar's offensive coordinator before departing for the Tuesday funeral of Woodard's father in Corrigan. "All of…

Lamar football Scrimmage schedule August 13 — 7:30 p.m. 20 — 9 a.m. 27 — 9 a.m. Practice schedule August 4 — 7:30 p.m. 5 — 7:30 p.m. 6 — 9 a.m. 8 — 7:30 p.m. 9 — 7:30 p.m. 10 — 7:30 p.m. 11 — 7:30 p.m. 12 — 8 a.m. 15 — 8 a.m. (practice fields), 7:30 p.m. ... ... ... For the full schedule: http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/inthecards/2011/08/03/lamar-football-practice-schedule/

With all the excitement surrounding Cardinals' football this fall, Lamar athletics has teamed up with H.E.B. and Giglio Distributing to award Lamar football's best tailgater. Each home game, prior to kickoff, the Lamar video department will be scouring the tailgating areas in search of the game's most spirited tailgater. A winner will be chosen by a committee of athletic staff members based on several key components including enthusiasm, originality and creativity. The winner will be announced during the game on The Education First Scoreboard, and will receive a $400 gift certificate to HEB. "During our first season of football we had so many groups doing some reall…

Even with 21 starters back from last season, the Lamar University football team underwent several offseason changes. Most notable were the additions of quarterback Jeremy Johnson and left tackle Anthony Oden, transfers from Top 25-ranked teams. But several other changes could give the Cardinals (5-6 last season) a slightly different look when the season starts Saturday at home against Texas College, an NAIA school in Tyler. Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/lamar/article/Newcomers-could-play-key-roles-for-Lamar-football-2144190.php#ixzz1WIrps97i

Was just informed Coach lost his father this evening. Prayers to him and his family.

I will be changing my avatar this week to an action shot of J.J. to show my support. I ask you to find your favorite card in action and lets kick off the first week of the season like true fans. On a side note if anyone knows J.J. my little boy Alex would love an autogragh.

Post Scrimmage Interviews: LINK: Post Scrimmage Interviews It will be interesting to see how much Johnson has improved after taking almost all the snaps with the first team this week.

Poll Question: Who will start the most games at the QB position for the Cardinals this year? ARTICLE: Jeremy Johnson will get snaps with the No. 1 offense when the Lamar University football team opens practice at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, coach Ray Woodard said. Kelly graduate Doug Prewitt will be the No. 1 quarterback ahead of Andre Bevil and Johnson, but all three will share snaps with the starting unit. “You can’t put a guy, a so-called No. 1, with the third unit all the time and expect him to perform to the level of the guy with the first line protecting him the whole time,” Woodard said Tuesday. “We’re going to have to give them all a fair shot.” Johnson…

Good Afternoon BRI Nation, Fred Davis here, and considering football season has officially arrived, Sports Talk with Fred Davis is moving to Friday nights at 6 pm on KSET 1300 or http://www.mykset.com - starting TONIGHT!!! So, we're looking for correspondents who are going to the games or at the games to call in and give us quick, concise breakdowns... Hell, talk a little trash if you want, we don't care, just keep it clean... This is to give folks on the way to the game a chance to listen and either chime in themselves or get an idea of what's going down - in case they don't know already. Also, I'll be at the Lamar scrimmage tomorrow and I'll have another breakdown o…

This poll is on the front page but I also wanted to give people something to talk about here. What SLC game are you looking forward to most? Tell us why.

Nickname for the 2011 Cardinals... Angry Birds. I can see the T-shirts now... "ANGRY BIRDS" in a knock-off of the real font surrounding Big Red. Anyone agree? Disagree?

BEAUMONT - With just over a week of training camp remaining until Lamar's 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3 season opener against Texas College from Provost Umphrey Stadium, the Cardinals' offensive line is preparing to be one of the stronger units on the football team. With an influx of new talent, and a year of playing time for the returning players, the offensive line is deeper and more experienced than at this time last season when Lamar was preparing to play for the first time in 21 seasons. Offensive line coach Nathan Reeves is working with 18 offensive linemen and seven tight ends during the preseason. While not all 25 players will see game action this season, Reeves knows t…

@NickCanizales

College athletes make mistakes, just like others their age. But when those blunders leave them looking for somewhere new to play right away, they often turn to smaller schools, like Lamar University. "It's always on an individual basis," Lamar football coach Ray Woodard said of taking in players who were dismissed from larger universities. As an example, Lamar beefed up its offensive line last week when the school signed former University of Arkansas lineman Anthony Oden. Oden, 21, was dismissed last month by Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino after Oden's second arrest in one year on charges of driving while intoxicated, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.…

We spoke to the Band Director yesterday after their first band practice of the 2011 season. LU will field a band of 175 including dancers, that's up from around 120 last year. We can't wait for the season to start and to see the even larger Mighty Cardinal Marching Band on the field. Go Cardinals!

http://setxhomepage.com/sports/sports The August 23rd Sports cast talks about walk-ons and Oden. The August 24th Sports cast talks about the LU defense and the televised games for Lamar.

For Offense: 70% of our snaps will be out of the pistol formation. Pistol formation explained by Doug Prewitt http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/inthecards/2011/08/19/video-explaining-the-pistol-formation/ More on the pistol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol_offense http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/327539/Pistol_four_wide.jpg

BEAUMONT - With two preseason intrasquad scrimmages under their belts and one to go, Lamar University's linebackers appear on target to be game ready by their Sept 3 season opener against Texas College in Provost Umphrey Stadium. "Basically, it's a matter of playing ourselves into shape right now," said Craig McGallion, the Cardinals' co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. "We're definitely going to have a stronger unit this season, but the heat has been tough on the guys, especially the bigger ones. Still, they're taking strides forward day by day." If the Cardinals were to take the field today against Texas College, sophomore James Washington would be the…

http://www.gppgolf.com/link.cfm/id/171

Just for fun here is my take on a two deep roster for LU's Offense, I'll do a defensive one tomorrow or someone can try their hand at it. I broke some of the positions down farther (speed v. power RB) WR-split end: JJ Hayes Kevin Smith/Kendrick Prejean WR-Flanker: Marcus Jackson Barry Ford WR-Slot: Josh Powdrill Van Lawrence Franks (small and speedy) Power RB: Depauldrick Garrett Cody Hussey Speed RB: Mike Venson (JJ could be here if not at QB) Octavious Logan Blocking TE: Billy Chavis Kevin Davis Receiving TE: Jacob Hannah Payden McVey LT: Anthony Oden Emone Bailey LG: Daniel Campbell Taylor Davis C: Kyle Gilliam…

All Pregames: http://www.lamarcardinals.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082211aab.html Sept 3rd: Sept 17th:

"While conceding that Calgary and Alberta weren’t exactly great teams, Lamar basketball coach Pat Knight couldn’t contain his enthusiasm over the way his Cardinals played on their Canadian Tour in sweeping three games by the average score of 103-70. “Our guys played well. They guarded the hell out of them,” Knight said. “All six of our guards got in the passing lanes and played the ball tough. I wish I’d had guys at Texas Tech that play as hard as Devon Lamb (14.3 points, 10.0 rebounds). From watching tape, I thought these guys were pretty selfish last year, but they played as a team. Mike James (26 points per game, 29-of-55 shooting) was terrific. These last two weeks we…

In this scrimmage we have to see more productivity out of the guy fighting for the starting QB position. The three combined to complete 2-of-13 passes for 13 yards in last weeks scrimmage, that is beyond pathetic. We are running out of time an we really need one of these three to step it up, I'm hoping tomorrows scrimmage will shed some light on who is the best guy for the job.

Oregon Head Coach say this young man is homesick and is a red-shirt freshman so he might look at a FCS school because he wouldn't have to sit out a year. He is from Temple, Texas. Lache Seastrunk, 5'9, 190 lbs RB Played for head coach Bryce Monsen at Temple High School of the 5A Region II District 12 League … District 12-5A Newcomer of the Year in 2007-08 … Two-time U.S. Army All-American Player of the Week … Finished his high school career with 4,127 yards and 52 touchdowns … APSE Class 5A second-team all-state selection in 2009 … As a senior, rushed for 1,174 yards and 15 touchdowns … As a junior, rushed 171 times for 1,541 yards and 14 touchdowns … As a sophomore…