Analysis

SCOUTING REPORT: Fort Lewis Skyhawks

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A few finishes could’ve changed the Skyhawks’ whole season.

Fort Lewis College posted a 3-8 record in 2014. The record included a highlight 23-22 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo, the eventual Division II national champions. FLC also notched a 28-20 win over Colorado Mesa. But the Skyhawks also were the victims of close losses to Western New Mexico (24-17), Western State (27-26) and Adams State (34-30).

In his third season, John L. Smith hopes to continue the turnaround. The former big-time coach — he’s been the head coach at Louisville, Michigan State and Arkansas —took over in 2013 and the Skyhawks didn’t win a game. Since then, they are 7-15.

On Thursday, Fort Lewis will face its stiffest test of the season right of the gates. The Skyhawks open up in Bozeman against No. 11 Montana State, the preseason favorite by the league’s coaches to win the Big Sky Conference. A sellout crowd is expected as MSU hosts its annual “Gold Rush”.

 

QUICK HITS

Location: Durango, Colorado

Nickname: Skyhawks

Founded: 1911. Fort Lewis College is a former military fort turned into an Indian boarding school that is now a state public school with program-level accreditations for Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, and Marketing; Athletic Training; Chemistry; Engineering Physics; Music; and Teacher Education. The college offers 30 bachelor’s degrees through its four academic units. The college offers tuition-free education for qualified Native Americans. FLC is one of six Native American-serving non-tribal colleges in the United States.

Enrollment: The school has 3,864 total students and an unknown endowment.

Stadium: Ray Dennison Field holds 6,000 fans. The stadium is named in honor of former Fort Lewis A&M Aggies football player Ray Dennison, who died on September 26, 1955, 30 hours after suffering a head injury on a kickoff against Trinidad State Junior College. FLC averaged 1,585 fans for five home games last season.

 

THE TEAM (2-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, 3-8 overall in 2014)

Fort Lewis head coach John L. Smith.

Fort Lewis head coach John L. Smith.

The Coach: John L. Smith. Smith’s coaching odyssey has included seven head coaching stops — six seasons at Idaho, three seasons Utah State, five seasons Louisville, four seasons Michigan State, an off-season at Weber State and one season at Arkansas as he enters his third season at Fort Lewis. Smith is 136-93 in his career. His teams have won six conference championships — two each in Conference USA (Louisville), the Big West (Utah State) and the Big Sky (Idaho) — and he’s led 12 of his 19 teams to the postseason. He is one of 19 coaches in college football history to take three different schools to a bowl game.

 

WHAT TO WATCH — THE OFFENSE

Jordan Doyle, quarterback, 6-2, 227, senior — The former Iowa State quarterback (redshirted in Ames in 2011) is a dual-threat capable of making big plays with his feet and his arm. Last season, he rushed for 428 yards and scored a team-high six touchdowns. He threw for 1,509 yards and 10 more touchdowns despite playing in just eight games. His senior season will be his third as a starter; in 2013, he threw for 995 yards and rushed for 218 yards, missing the final month of the season with a hand injury.

PJ Hall, running back, 5-6, 181, sophomore — The diminutive slash back gained momentum as the season progressed last season, peaking with a 28-carry, 174-yard outburst in FLC’s 23-22 upset of eventual Division II national champion Colorado State-Pueblo. The following week, he piled up 160yards against Colorado School of Mines and 166 yards and a touchdown the following week on an impressive 38 carries against Colorado Mesa. Fort Lewis fell to Mines, 56-14, and beat Mesa, 28-20. After the 38-carry game, Hall managed just 10 touches the rest of the season. He finished his freshman year with 704 yards and two touchdowns in just eight starts.

Juquelle Thompson, wide receiver, 6-0, 156, senior — The senior should see an elevated role as FLC graduates three of its top four pass catchers from last season. The slight yet speedy receiver averaged nearly 90 all-purpose yards per game. He caught 17 passes for 236 yards and a team-best five touchdowns, which served as a large percentage of the 14 passing touchdowns the Skyhawks notched last season. The former City College of San Francisco track star was also one of the RMAC’s top kick returners, earning second-team all-league and third-team All-America honors by averaging 25.7 yards per kick return. He returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown against Colorado Mesa.

 

THE DEFENSE

Ryan Ross, outside linebacker, 5-11, 231, senior — Ross is the leader of a defense that returns nine starters from a season ago. As a junior, he notched five double-digit tackle games as he piled up a team-high 98 tackles. Of his 98 stops, 55 were unassisted and 7.5 were behind the line of scrimmage. In Fort Lewis’ signature win over CSU-Pueblo, Ross notched 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. He also had double-digit tackles against Black Hills State, New Mexico Highlands, Western New Mexico and Adams State.

Sioane Folaumoeloa, defensive end, 6-0, 232, senior — The Salt Lake City product is the only Skyhawk to earn preseason accolades of any sort. Folaumoeloa was named to the RMAC preseason all-conference team as the Skyhawks were picked to finish eighth in the 10-team league. Last season, his first with FLC after transferring from College of the Canyons, Folaumoeloa piled up 51 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks for a defense that finished third in the league against the run, allowing 156.3 yards per game. He also was a key cog in a pass rush that was almost non-existent otherwise, notching a league-low 14 sacks as a team.

Shane Nelson, outside linebacker, 6-0, 196, junior — The linebackers in Fort Lewis’ 4-2-5 defense are expected to make many plays before the offensive player reaches the second level, hence why the two most productive tacklers on the team are the two players manning those spots. Last season, the undersized sophomore proved to be productive, notching at least seven tackles in six of his 11 starts and 60 tackles all told. He notched four tackles for loss and had interceptions against Adams state and Western State.

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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