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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Campus abuzz over coming season

    This Thursday the Lions football team will enter Strawberry Stadium a more competitive team. In just one year, head coach Ron Roberts has turned the team around and created a buzz due to his coaching style and molding quality players.
    “They’re all going to play. They’re all good enough to play,” Roberts said.
    The home opener against Southeast Missouri at 7 p.m. will display the hard work the team has put in during the summer, fall camp and practice.
    “We’re very excited for Thursday, to get a chance to welcome Southeast Missouri here and show our fans how far we’ve progressed,” said Roberts. “Our guys have had a great camp, our guys in the off season did an outstanding job in the weight room, and we’ve got some new comers getting ready to introduce to our fan base.”
    During Lion Football Media Day last Saturday, Roberts opened up about his hopes for the upcoming season. Finishing last season 5-6 overall is not good enough for this season as the Lions expect to win.
    “We feel going into the season that we’re better across the board than we were at this time last year,” Roberts said. “So obviously that’s encouraging, but our aspirations are a lot higher than finishing 5 and 2 and 5 and 6 overall.”
    New transfer quarterback Bryan Bennett, a junior out of Oregon State, adds depth with his strong arm and mental toughness.  During the final preseason scrimmage game, Bennett completed 9-of-14 throws for 52 yards. Senior linebacker Cqulin Hubert was credited with five tackles, as was freshman defensive back Trenon Trosclair, who Roberts was pleasantly surprised by saying he’s “picked things up quickly.”
    Hubert has also been named to the 2014 Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list, and according to Roberts, has shown much improvement.
    “He’s been a pleasant surprise at fall camp,” said Roberts. “He’s played exceptionally and consistent. I think the light bulb kicked on about his game and how he’s supposed to play, and next year he’ll be an NFL prospect. We’ve got some of that across the board [as well].”
    Another player on the 2014 Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list is senior defensive back Todd Washington. Washington, a Lutcher native, was an honorable mention All-Southland Conference selection as a junior last year. This summer he spent lots of time working on getting in shape mentally and physically, mentally so the team can avoid a meltdown on the field due to miscommunication.
    “I’ve been in the weight room working very hard trying to get into the best shape of my life,” Washington said. “I’ve just been doing weights, conditioning and running. I’ve been in the film room a lot too, kind of getting the mental aspect of the game so we can avoid all mental errors, because most of the time when we give up touchdowns or points it’s because of a mental error. It’s not an athletic thing.”
    At the Lion’s final fall practice Saturday evening was New York Giants Executive Scout Jeramiah Davis to watch what Roberts has brewing here in Hammond.
    “I see some potential here,” Davis said.
    Overall Roberts has one theme for the season, and that is to create competition on the field among his players. The general team tone has been one of excitement and teamwork, which will be showed on the field on a week to week basis.
    “I think we’ve made a huge step on a maturity standpoint and a mentality standpoint,” Roberts said. “Then, we carried that into fall camp. We continue to get better on a daily basis. That’s what it’s all about, as long as we continue that we’re going to be in great shape.”

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