HOUSTON — Second-year Lamar football coach Mike Schultz has looked at two forecasts regarding the upcoming season.

The first one isn’t very promising, but Schultz hardly appeared bothered by it during Thursday’s Southland Conference Media Day at the Hilton Houston Post Oak. Lamar is predicted to finish 10th in the 11-team conference for the second year in a row.

“We’re fine with that,” Schultz said. “That’s probably where we deserve to be.”

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The second forecast is more weather-related. Given what Lamar (2-9, 1-8 Southland last year) went through shortly after Tropical Storm Harvey hammered Jefferson County, Schultz keeps a constant eye for what storms might come.

“That’s something we’ll possibly talk about a little later,” Schultz said.

The second season under Schultz could also be the calm he and the Cardinals are looking for after lots of talk about a program heading in the wrong direction since it rebooted eight years ago. The Sam Houston State graduate echoed a sentiment first-year Southeastern Louisiana coach Frank Scelfo echoed about the Southland landscape.

“The one thing he didn’t know about was the league and the competition,” Schultz said. “I feel him on that. I was in his position last year.”

Lamar struggled with 57 new faces on Schultz’s first team and didn’t win a Southland game until the next-to-last week of the season, a 23-16 feat at Houston Baptist. The Cards began that season going to North Texas and suffering a 59-14 loss to the eventual Conference USA runners-up, just three days after the flood from Harvey crested in Jefferson County.

This season, unlike many Southland teams who are playing big-name opponents to start the season, Lamar will open at home against Kentucky Christian, an NAIA program.

It could be the game the Cards need to build confidence for their “big-money” game the next weekend at Texas Tech.

“Let’s hope so,” Schultz said. “We have hopes of going into the game and competing.”

That’s referring to playing Kentucky Christian.

“I’m an old-school guy,” the 60-year-old continued. “The first team is Kentucky Christian. Nothing else matters.”

 

Colbert’s still No. 1, for now

Schultz remains steadfast on senior Darrel Colbert Jr. returning as the starting quarterback.

The SMU transfer from last season was not selected to appear at Media Day, but he is trying to stave off Old Dominion transfer and Rockwall-Heath graduate Jordan Hoy and Port Neches-Groves redshirt Adam Morse in the race. Colbert, a Houston Lamar High product, completed only 53.6 percent of his passes for 863 yards and eight touchdowns with seven interceptions, sharing time with then-senior Andrew Allen.

“Darrel came out of practice further along than he was a year ago,” Schultz said. “Darrel just needs to keep working. If he’ll come in on his own, watch film and study film,” he’ll be OK.”

Hoy, a 6-1, 197 junior, has played in three games at Old Dominon after transferring from Fullerton College, where he was the Southern California Football Association player of the year. Morse redshirted last season after completing 53.2 percent of his passes for 653 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions as a true freshman.

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Brooks right at home as LB

Chaston Brooks feels comfortable being a linebacker at Lamar.

Brooks broke up four passes and even finished with 56 tackles as a defensive back two years ago. Last season, then co-defensive coordinator Melvin Smith helped the 6-foot-1, 236-pounder with the adjustment to linebacker, and he ended up with 78 tackles, including eight sacks, and his first career interception.

“I can’t be any more comfortable,” Brooks said. “I feel like I’ve been playing linebacker for about 10 years now.”

Lamar is turning to Brooks’ leadership to bounce back from allowing opponents to total 458.3 yards per game. Teams leaned just a little more toward the run against Lamar, rushing for 253.5 yards an outing.

“We’re going to start paying more attention to detail and being more consistent,” Brooks said.

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Bowery: Wanza ‘a special talent’

In a program that has produced two of the Southland’s all-time leading rushers in Kade Harrington and Burton Murchison, Bowery sees something great in true sophomore Myles Wanza.

“He’s a special talent,” said Bowery, a senior from Union Grove. “If you’ve ever seen him run or seen him in anything, he’s a very shifty dude. He takes a lot of pride in the way he works. He’ll lift [weights] an hour before we lift, and when we get ready to leave, you’ll see him running hills.”

Wanza, who played at Humble Summer Creek, averaged 4.6 yards per carry and finished with 365 yards and two touchdowns in nine games.

“His work ethic is undeniable. No one can ever take credit for him. As offensive linemen, we don’t have to give him much. We’re going to give him everything we can, but he’s a very special talent. So is our other running back, (junior) Derrion Randle.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter:@ICMurrellPANews