Lindenwood Lions Season Review

This past football season was unlike any other in recent history for the Lions.

“We found our identity and ran with it,” head coach Patrick Ross said.

The team left the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to join the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Lions will play as a Division 2 program in the Mid America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) in 2012. 
“I doubt anyone thought we could win eight football games,” Ross said.

The Lions went 8-3 and beat some impressive teams in the process.

 College teams often face bad schools for the first game—not LU—it battled Northern Colorado on the road. NC is a Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school. FCS is the second ranking of Division 1. The Lions pulled off the upset, 22-20 with a game winning field goal by sophomore kicker James Neal.

After a  record of 3-0, the Lions lost two straight road games against Missouri of Science & Technology and South Dakota—another Division 1 FCS program.

LU then went on the road to face Texas A&M Kingsville. Kingsville is a powerhouse in Division 2 with multiple championships and years of playoff dominance. A goal-line stand sealed a Lions upset victory, 41-35.  “That’s a good sign when your team steps up in those big games and gets it done,” Ross said.

The momentum from that game propelled LU to a three-game win streak.

Then the most anticipated matchup on the schedule awaited the Lions—Central Missouri. UCM is the first MIAA school LU has faced. It was a 47-28 victory for UCM. The Mules scored 28 points in the third quarter to seal it.

The Lions finished the season on the road against another MIAA school, Central Oklahoma. LU won 48-14.

Those eight wins came with a new quarterback, a backup running back carrying the load and a new number 1 wideout.

Replacing former quarterback Phillip Staback was not going to be easy. He led the Lions to an NAIA championship appearance in 2009, the first quarterback to do so. However, junior transfer quarterback John Uribe did an admirable job. Uribe threw for 2204 yards with 19 touchdowns and a 60 percent completion rate. “It wasn’t my best year that I ever had,” Uribe said. “Overall season was good.” Uribe played at Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, California. In 2010, he passed for 2554 yards and 23 touchdowns. 

Uribe had to lead the offense for most of the season without Denodus O’Bryant, LU’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader. O’Bryant missed two of LU’s three losses due to injury. That left Therman McGowan, a transfer junior running back, to carry the load. McGowan had 126 carries for 709 yards and nine touchdowns. O’Bryant had 50 carries for 368 yards and four touchdowns.“I’m glad we had Therman,” assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Craig Schuler said. “We were pretty good running the ball.” The Lions ran for 1,454 yards and 25 touchdowns on 355 carries.

On the receiving side, junior Andrew Helmick led the Lions with 56 catches for 901 yards and 12 touchdowns. Helmick cemented himself as the number 1 wideout. No other receiver had over 500 yards and 40 catches. Freshman receiver Alex Robinson was second with 34 catches 412 yards and four touchdowns.

The team had a new defensive coordinator: Doug Melvin. He worked the same position at Ball State University, a Football Bowl Subdivision school. “Coach Melvin’s defense was complex and it was hard to grasp the concept of it,” said senior linebacker Chris Howard. But once you did, it causes you to know every position on the field.”

“I love playing for him,” said transfer senior linebacker Christian Golder.

The LU defense was strong early on, but when it got to the tougher part of the schedule, it had some struggles. The biggest moment for the defense came when it stopped the Kingsville offense on a goal-line stand on the last play of the game.

Junior cornerback Justin Broome led the team with 4 interceptions on the year and Howard topped all defenders with 88 tackles.

“We prepared to win every game, but we lost three,” Golder said.

With the Lions playing all 11 games against MIAA opponents in 2012, 32 seniors will be leading them, 13 of them projected starters. Schuler said next year’s offense could be the best ever in the eight years he and Ross have been here.