Mean Green look to keep momentum going against Incarnate Word
The Mean Green opened the 2018 college football season with a 46-23 win against the rival Southern Methodist Mustangs. Quarterback Mason Fine threw for 444 passing yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdown passes went to Jalen Guyton and the other went to Nic Smith.
The Mean Green play the University of the Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 at Apogee Stadium.
Last year these two teams did not face one another. In fact, this is the first time in program history for these two teams to face off in the field. The Mean Green ended the season with a 9-5 record and a trip to the New Orleans Bowl. The Cardinals were 1-10 last year with their only win coming against Lamar 33-24.
Incarnate Word lost its season opener 62-30 to New Mexico, but the Mean Green aren’t treating the Cardinals differently than they would any team.
“I know there are some things we have to improve on and get better on throughout this week to have success this weekend, but I like where our mentality is at,” Mean Green head coach Seth Littrell said.
Incarnate Word’s new head coach Eric Morris used to work with Littrell at Texas Tech. This is the second week in a row that Littrell is playing a team whose head coach worked with him at Texas Tech.
“[Morris was an] unbelievable player, tough, competitive, and a good friend,” Littrell said.
Despite Fine’s stellar performance against Southern Methodist — which earned him C-USA Offensive Player of the Week — Fine said there are things he and the Mean Green can improve on.
“[We need to keep] learning from our mistakes and keep preparing the right way,” Fine said. “We pride ourselves on being the most prepared team and the hardest working team.”
The Cardinals offense and Mean Green defense will be locked in a battle this Saturday. Incarnate Word put up more than 500 yards of offense against New Mexico with quarterback Jon Copeland throwing for 328 yards and running backs Ra’Quanne Dickens and Ameer King both averaging more than 10 yards per carry.
On the flip side, the Mean Green defense was able to shut down Southern Methodist through three quarters. The Mean Green defense held the Mustangs to two out of 10 third-down conversions and added a pick-six by defensive back Kemon Hall. Linebacker Brandon Garner had six tackles and a sack, and linebacker E.J. Ejiya had two sacks.
The Mean Green offense put on a display, and wide receiver Rico Bussey had a connection with Fine as the two linked up for nine receptions and 109 yards.
“We just work at it, that’s all it is –— just a bunch of work — and it’s a reflection of our work,” Bussey said. “This is our second year, we’ve already played a whole season together and the whole offseason we worked.”
The Incarnate Word defense had some stellar play from inside linebacker West Lambert who tallied 10 tackles, two of those being a tackle for loss. Fellow linebacker Silas Stewart had nine tackles and one tackle for loss.
The Cardinals defense allowed nearly 700 yards to the New Mexico offense. The Cardinals allowed 361 yards through the air and 319 yards on the ground last week.
The home crowd cheered on the Mean Green this past week with a record-breaking 29,519 fans packing Apogee stadium.
Featured Image: Courtesy DRC
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