Rhett Bomar, former OU quarterback, Sam Houston State

Disclaimer: This site is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by Sam Houston State, nor Rhett Bomar, nor anyone associated with the Sam Houston State football team

Bomar ready to solidify status at Sam Houston
This year, Sam Houston State's Rhett Bomar is another face in the crowd. The spotlight has been a little diffused. And that's the way everybody likes it. Read more

Bearkats in a blowout

— Things went a little smoother Saturday and the Bearkats got the big win they were looking for heading into a tough stretch with back-to-back road games.
Sam Houston State scored on four of its first five possessions and overcame a rocky defensive start to cruise to a 48-10 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.
A week after holding on for dear life in a 17-14 win over Angelo State, the Bearkats failed to score on only three drives Saturday, tallying 491 yards of total offense to improve to 2-0 on the season.
“It’s good to get off to a good start and kind of build your confidence. Tonight we did that,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “We kind of got on a roll there. We still had a few dropped balls, and that’s got to be a concern. When we get down in that scoring area, we have to be able to convert.”
SHSU jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter when quarterback Rhett Bomar hit tight end Blake Martin for a 7-yard touchdown then ran one in from 12 yards out.
But the Boll Weevils found room to run and marched 82 yards to start the second quarter. UAM ran the ball on all nine plays before quarterback Scott Buisson capped off the drive with a 17-yard score on a busted option play to cut the lead to 14-10.
The Bearkats defense allowed 268 yards of total offense in the first half, but settled in and shut the Boll Weevils out in the second. The Kats only allowed 100 total yards after halftime. SHSU also got three turnovers, two of which were turned into touchdowns and the other a missed 40-yard field goal.
“The first half, they put two 12-play drives together and I think they scored on one,” said SHSU safety Byran Richmond, who finished the game with a game-high 13 tackles and a forced and recovered fumble. “But our philosophy is bend don’t break. And I know we need to pick it up after those long drives and regroup.
“I think after one of those 12-play drives we had a three and out. We made adjustments at halftime and changed our philosophy to shutting them out in the second and we did that.”
The Bearkats scored 10 unanswered points to close out the first half. With 9:02 left before the break, SHSU got three big pass plays from Bomar, one to Martin for 16 yards, another to Darnell Jones for 24 before hitting Jake Lebens for 27 more to get inside the UAM 10.
The Boll Weevils defense stiffened around the goal line and the Kats had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Taylor Wilkins.
SHSU got its first big break of the game on UAM’s ensuing possession when Richmond jarred the ball loose from wide receiver Jywin Ceasar and recovered it at the Boll Weevils’ 44.
Five plays later, running back Chris Poullard took it in from 5 yards out to give the Bearkats a 24-10 lead at the break.
It was the kind of offensive start SHSU needed, and it carried over into the second half. The Bearkats weren’t able to find the end zone after scoring 17 points in the first half last week. They erupted for 24 points after intermission Saturday, including a 56-yard touchdown pass from Bomar to Jones on the second play after the break.
“This was kind of what everybody was expecting last week, but it didn’t happen,” Martin said. “We opened up the playbook more this week and took a lot shots down field and it happened for us. It was just great. I think last week was good for everybody. I think it was a good thing for some of the kids on the team to see if you don’t come prepared, you can be beat by anybody or it can be a close game.”
Bomar finished the game 17-of-26 passing for 237 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball five times for 22 more yards and another score. Jones was the leading receiver with five grabs for 104 yards, while Martin had three for 26 and two touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Justin Wells also had a big night with five catches for 69 yards, while Trey Payne added three receptions for 35 yards.
The Bearkats spread the ball around on the ground with Poullard, Isaiah Sneed and TyMagic Robinson combining for 199 yards rushing. Poullard had 11 carries for 54 yards, Sneed 13 for 87 and Robinson eight for 57, including a 21-yard score.
Saturday night’s explosive win came at the right time with SHSU hitting the road to face North Dakota State, which is ranked No. 4 in the Sports Network Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll, next week. After that, the Bearkats travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State.
Those are the only two games left on the schedule before Southland Conference action begins Oct. 6 with a home game against Central Arkansas.
“We have a lot of new guys, including myself, who hadn’t played in a while before last game,” Bomar said. “I guess we all had to shake the rust off a little bit. But we were close last week and we knew it. It should have been worse, and we struggled on offense. But we wanted to come out tonight and dominate coming into these big games we got coming up in the next few weeks.
“I thought we were clicking on al cylinders and were comfortable out there. Everything was flowing right.”
Bearkat football notes

Tailgating and football — Before Saturday’s game, plenty of students packed Bearkat Alley for some pregame tailgating. Along with misting stations available for those battling the oppressive heat, free food was handed out and there was also a Moonwalk for the kiddos.
By the time kickoff rolled around, everybody made their way inside Bowers Stadium to see their favorite team in action.

Too hot out — There was a smaller crowd of 8,748 on hand for Saturday’s 48-10 Bearkat victory. Last week, Bowers Stadium drew a rowdy crowd of 10,517 ready to see the first game of the season.
Unlike last week’s game that came down to the wire and saw the Kats squeak out a 17-13 victory over Angelo State, many fans left at halftime Saturday with the game well in hand. The rest were treated to the Bearkats scoring 24 second-half points.

Comic relief — Trailing 41-10 with 4:12 left in the third quarter and facing a third and 14 on the Bearkats 45-yard line, Arkansas-Monticello quarterback Scott Buisson was forced out of the pocket and had to throw the ball away. Buisson did connect on that throw, but it was the Boll Weevil mascot who was on the receiving end of the pass.
The green Boll Weevil got drilled in the face, causing him to stumble backward. The SHSU student section got a good chuckle out of it.

Staying fresh — The Bearkats had trouble keeping their players in the game because of cramping last week against Angelo State. The SHSU coaching staff took extra precautions this week, getting the players plenty of fluids before the game.
The result? None of the Bearkats had to come out of Saturday’s game prematurely.

The start of something good? — For the first time since 2001, the Bearkats started out the season with a record of 2-0. The last two times Sam Houston State started out the season with two victories (1991 and 2001), the Bearkats went on to win the Southland Conference championship.

Quarterback Rhett Bomar passed for 204 yards and one touchdown and ran for 24 more and another score to lead Sam Houston State to a 17-13 non-conference victory over Angelo State in the season opener at Bowers Stadium Thursday night.

Bomar completed 16 of 24 passes including a 64-yard touchdown throw to Justin Wells for the first score of the game with 9:47 to play in the first quarter.

After a Taylor Wilkins field goal with 43 seconds left in the opening quarter, Bomar ran for an eight yard tally to complete a 93-yard, 11 play drive to put SHSU up 17-0.

It wasn't the kind of start they were hoping for. In fact, it was downright ugly.

But when the final seconds ticked off the clock Thursday night at Bowers Stadium, there was a collective sign of relief because Sam Houston State dodged a blue and yellow bullet.

Angelo State gave the Bearkats all they could handle before two huge defensive stops late in the fourth quarter helped secure a 17-13 victory.

“Anytime you win a college football game, you have to feel good about that,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “What I don't feel good about is the way we played. I thought we played hard, and I thought we did some good stuff. We have tons of work to do in the kicking game. It almost cost us the game.

“We have to make fewer critical penalties, and we had chances to make some big plays in the passing game but had some dropped balls. We have a lot of work to do.”

On a muggy August night, 17th-ranked SHSU didn't look like a Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 team. The Bearkat offense, which scored all of its points in the first half, looked sluggish despite racking up 400 total yards.

Instead of being explosive, it looked like the Bearkats were taking a more conservative approach, running the ball 42 times and passing just 26.

Quarterback Rhett Bomar threw an interception on his second attempt of the night, but settled down and completed his next 10 passes, including a 64-yard scoring strike to Justin Wells, a junior from Huntsville.

Bomar hit Wells about 25 yards down the right side, then the speedy receiver broke a tackle with a nifty spin move and raced to the end zone.

In his first game since 2005, Bomar finished the day 16-of-24 passing for 204 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball eight times for 24 yards and another score even though he was dealing with cramps that caused him to miss a few plays in the third quarter.

“It's tough. It's different going out there in that position. It's been 18 or 19 months since I played ball,” Bomar said of his performance. “You can simulate all you want in practice, but it's not the same.

“Coming out there and the second pass you throw an interception, you have to come back from that. That wasn't too good. But stuff like that happens and I responded.”

Bearkat running back Chris Poullard had a big game on the ground in his first career start. The sophomore from Killeen carried the ball 22 times for 131 yards.

The Bearkats moved the ball at times, but just couldn't get on the scoreboard. There were also a couple of dropped passes by Catron Houston that could have moved the chains, one on the Kats' second offensive play of the night that likely would have been a touchdown.

Poullard was the Kats' top receiver, catching five pass for 71 yards. Tight end Blake Martin, who was also dealing with cramps, and wide receiver Darnell Jones contributed by combining for eight grabs for 88 yards.

“Coach Whitten was telling us all week to make big plays,” Poullard said. “We put good drives together; we had one that was 10 or 11 plays. But when we got down (the field) we couldn't finish. But we have some time to work on that and by the second game we will be ready. We are going to make those big plays.”

It was a silly mistake on special teams that turned things around for the Rams. The defense held ASU to only six points, but the Rams scored their only touchdown when SHSU's Trey Payne fumbled a punt return that Sam Tindol ran back 33 yards to make it 17-7 with less than two minutes to go in the second quarter.

The Rams kept putting on the pressure, but the Bearkats came up with stops when they needed it most.

Angelo State had two big pass plays that each went for more than 40 yards in the second half, only to come away with one field goal. The second came midway through the fourth quarter when Tindol got past cornerback Wonseleh Brewer for a 41-yard completion down to the SHSU 15.

The Kats dug in and forced the Rams to turn the ball over on downs at the 9.

SHSU failed to move the ball on the ensuing possession, but sophomore punter Michael Capparelli uncorked a monster 56-yard punt, that aided with a personal foul call, backed ASU down to its own 10. Defensive end Chris Brown came up with a key sack on first down, and linebacker Nolen Bucek broke up a pass on fourth down to seal it.

“We got the defense together. Me, (Byran Richmond), everybody on the sideline and knew we had to make a stop,” Brown said about the final stand. “We didn't play our best today, but we came up with the plays when we needed to. When we saw the field position, coach told us before we came out that it was time to eat, and we were hungry.”

Malcolm Kelly @ BIg 12 Media day says Rhett Bomar, "will play in the NFL, no doubt in my mind."

SHSU Spring Game

The anticipated appearance of Bomar in Bowers Stadium may have fallen short of expectations, though paper and ink can't exhibit the extreme athleticism or excellent eye for the game that the talented quarterback possesses.

Playing on the losing White team, the 6 ft. 2 in. quarterback completed 21 of 37 passes for 323 yards, including two interceptions with one sack.

Yet Bomar's numbers fail to tell the story of effective scrambles, laser passes and across-the-body throws that served as a picture of the pure athleticism No. 7 brings to the field.

April 5, 2007
Joe Schad ESPN.com
Former OU QB gets new start at Sam Houston State

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Rhett Bomar is standing in his bedroom, a room so small that it barely contains his bed and two dressers.

The room is all but barren.

On one wood dresser rests the most valuable player trophy he claimed while quarterbacking Oklahoma to victory at the Holiday Bowl two seasons ago. On one white wall is a plaque, featuring a picture of Bomar wearing a crimson and cream No. 7 Sooners jersey.

"I'm proud of my time there," Bomar explains. "I'm not going to throw it away or anything like that."

But Bomar isn't proud of everything that happened while he fulfilled a lifelong dream as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma. When the school learned last summer that he had been overpaid more than $7,000 by a car dealership in Norman, it quickly discarded him. What's left is memories and regret.

Bomar reaches into the closet in his bedroom, as his two roommates watch "SportsCenter" in the living room. He pulls out the jersey he wore at the Holiday Bowl.

"They said we could keep this," Bomar said. "I'm glad I did. But I won't be wearing it anytime soon."

Instead, after sitting out a season for taking "extra benefits" as determined by Oklahoma and the NCAA, Bomar is hoping to resurrect his career at Sam Houston State, a member of the former Division I-AA.

"It's different," Bomar says with a grin. "We may have a few long bus trips instead of plane rides. Stuff like that."

How Bomar ended up at Sam Houston State is simple, according to him. And for the first time, he's attempted to explain it on camera, in an interview to be seen on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Oklahoma ruled that Bomar and guard J.D. Quinn -- who also was dismissed and has since enrolled at Montana -- were logging time at the Big Red Sports/Imports dealership even when they weren't there. The NCAA ruled a third unnamed player was also overpaid.

Bomar says when he arrived at Oklahoma at a true freshman in the summer of 2004, a school administrator mentioned the dealership as an employment opportunity.

"When I got to Norman, a few of us went over there to see about a job," Bomar said. "Someone in the athletic department said it was an option. They basically guided us to go there."

How was the job outlined to Bomar?

"Basic duties," Bomar said. "You know, move the cars around. Do specific details with the cars. I did that a lot, you know. I worked there in the summer all the time. People might not think, but we actually did work. It was the other stuff that got us in trouble."

How often did he go to Big Red?

"There were certain times we were not there," Bomar said. "The majority of the time we were there. It started out, we went there all the time, and things like that, and then one thing leads to another, you know, and you get in trouble."

Why did this happen? Did Bomar, who was raised in suburban Dallas, the son of two schoolteachers, need the money?

"You don't have time for a job," Bomar said. "Football is basically a full-time job at big-time schools and everything like that. Things happen. And things are easy. And you do it. Ultimately, it was my decision. And I got caught up in it. My actions, you know, are there. They are clear what happened. And so, I mean, I'll take full blame."

Bomar says that it was when he was on the verge of becoming a starter, in the summer of 2005, that he was told by former Big Red manager Brad McRae not to worry about coming around anymore.

"I started out as a normal employee," Bomar said. "I did the right things the first summer. It was the second summer I just stopped going. I was paid in cash and checks. People thought it was just checks, but it was definitely both. Cash and checks."

Bomar says a former Big Red employee told him not to worry about the payments. According to Oklahoma's documents published after open-record requests, coach Bob Stoops said he once quizzed former Big Red manager Brad McRae about the employment of his players at the dealership. ESPN called McRae several times, but he could not be reached for comment.

"It wasn't our idea, but it's our fault," Bomar said, who has paid half of the more than $7,000 to the charity of his choice, the March of Dimes, as mandated by the NCAA.

On April 14, Oklahoma will meet with the NCAA's committee on infractions and attempt to explain why its self-imposed penalties -- the dismissals, the reduction of two scholarships, the removal of an assistant from the road during a recruiting period and disassociation from McRae -- should be satisfactory punishment.

The NCAA's enforcement staff says Oklahoma failed to adequately monitor the employment of the players at the dealership, a contention the school will fight.

"We didn't have a scheme," Bomar said. "We [Bomar and Quinn] were in class and in practice at the same time. The scheme was basically not to be there. And Big Red knew. Brad McRae knew about it. It was basically, 'Don't worry about coming.'"

When Bomar was dismissed by Oklahoma, Stoops did not mince words.

"In the end, players need to be accountable," Stoops said. "We cannot spend every minute with them. They're 19 and 20 years old. They're plenty old enough that they understand the rules. They know what's right and what's wrong."

Even before the car-dealership concerns became public, Bomar was cited twice for underage alcohol consumption. Although Bomar says the dealership fallout has aided his maturity, he contends a lifestyle overhaul was not necessary.

"My lifestyle? I still do the same things," said Bomar, who turned 21 a month before being dismissed. "I haven't really changed that much. I'm not going to go out and party every night and drink. I like hanging out with my friends. When football is around, I don't really do much except play football, anyway. I'm sure a lot of people have a bad opinion of me. If they knew me, they'd know I'm not a bad person."

Bomar said that quarterbacks at big-time programs should not necessarily be held to a higher standard than any other player or student.

"You should be held to a higher standard on the field," Bomar said. "But I don't know about around town. Off the field, I don't know we should be held to a higher standard. I don't know what people expected of me. I just wanted to play football."

Bomar's advice to a younger player faced with a similar job scenario?

"Don't make the same mistake I made, because it's not worth it in the end," Bomar said. "I know that for a fact. Just do what you're supposed to do and then leave. Don't get caught up with the wrong people. Don't listen. Don't let somebody tell you that this is what you can do. Just do your job and get out of there."

One of Bomar's biggest regrets was leaving Norman without personally saying goodbye to any of his teammates. Stoops informed him of the school's decision the day before fall practices began, and he needed to find a new school quickly.

"It was unexpected to say the least," Bomar said. "This had been my dream since I was a little kid. I had played as a redshirt freshman and I was going to play for four years. That's everybody's goal, you know, to go somewhere and start for four years. That's your perfect scenario. Then all of the sudden -- boom! -- you can't play there anymore. It's a big change. It's a big detour in your life."

After considering a few Division I-A schools, including Houston, Bomar settled on Sam Houston State. He hoped selecting a lower-division school would prompt the NCAA to show leniency in its ruling. Bomar hoped to return at the end of last season but was never cleared.

"I think the toughest part was probably him just having to watch our football games on Saturdays," said Brett Hicks, a Sam Houston quarterback and Bomar's roommate. "To come here and stand on the sidelines and watch our games, when he couldn't be out there."

Bomar said he couldn't bring himself to watch more than a few minutes of any Oklahoma game. The Sooners, projected by some a preseason national championship favorite with Bomar at quarterback, went on to win the Big 12 with converted wide receiver Paul Thompson calling the plays.

"I'm not going to sit here and be bitter about it and just hate everybody up there," Bomar said. "I had good relationships up there. I still have friends that I talk to. And there are good people up there. I really have no emotions at all. I just think this is a fresh start."

Bomar's fresh start is somewhat jarring. After routinely playing games before crowds of 80,000, he'll be in a home stadium that can hold 14,000 but usually seats less than 10,000. Bomar completed 14 of 15 passes with three touchdowns at Sam Houston's first scrimmage of the spring.

There were less than 50 fans in the stands.

Bearkats coach Todd Whitten notes that here, each player is given only two pairs of cleats, which should be enough, but pales in comparison to a place like Oklahoma. A bus trip for a road game at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La. -- 358 miles -- could last as long as six hours.

But Bomar said he believes he's found a family at Sam Houston that supports him.

"People that are 18, 19 and 20 years old oftentimes will disappoint you," Whitten said. "And when they do, certainly there is going to be some form of punishment that's going to happen. But ... also I think as coaches we need to be in the business of sometimes, it's OK to have a second chance. Maybe not always, but a lot of times. Young people deserve a second chance."

Not surprisingly, Whitten said Bomar is the most talented quarterback he's ever been around. He even compared his practice intensity to that of Brett Favre. Whitten will design his entire offense around Bomar and has visited with coaches at the University of Texas to implement more designed runs for a quarterback once coveted by the Longhorns as well as Miami and Florida State.

Bomar says he doesn't think about Oklahoma now, that he let it all go the moment he walked out of that individual meeting with Stoops and phoned his parents. Still, he hasn't removed all the items that would logically provoke flashbacks.

In Bomar's drawers are crimson and cream warm-ups, fleeces, sweatshirts and sweatpants. During last semester, he was occasionally spotted on the Sam Houston campus wearing Oklahoma sweats.

"I wore them because I liked them," Bomar said. "But now, you won't see me wearing them around where a lot of people can see me. I won't support that anymore."

A long way from Norman -- in scale and in scope -- Bomar will attempt to prove that his physical abilities are still intact. He plans to play his final two seasons at Sam Houston before trying to make the NFL.

"I still have my dreams and I can still experience them," Bomar said. "I've just got to take a little different route than I expected."

March 31, 2007

Transfer quarterback Rhett Bomar completed 14 of 15 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns and running backs Tymagic Robinson and Olufemi Ogundare each had long scoring runs to highlight an hour and 15 minute scrimmage, the first game condition work for Sam Houston State during the Bearkats 2007 spring football drills.

Bomar threw touchdown passes of 48 yards to junior wide receiver Justin Wells, 45 yards to senior tight end Blake Martin, and 41 yards to Ogundare, a transfer from Eastern Michigan University.

Ogundare also scored on a 41-yard touchdown run. Robinson, a redshirt freshman, had touchdown runs of 29 and two yards.

"We've got a lot of young guys playing hard right now. I was pleased with today's first scrimmage,"SHSU head coach Todd Whitten. "Chris Brown, a transfer from the University of Texas, has been very impressive at defensive end and we have a lot of young players in the secondary who are coming on. We need to work on getting pressure on the quarterback defensively. That's a major goal this spring. We appear to me more athletic than we've been my first two seasons here. I think we're on schedule."

Sam Houston State spring training with conclude Saturday, April 21, with the annual Orange-White spring training game. The Bearkats will workout Monday and Wednesday, then break for Easter