The best decades in Lumberjack history

1980's

1980: 4-6-0 Charlie Simmons
1981: 1-10-0 Charlie Simmons (19-44-1; .305; Conf. 15-27-0; .357)
1982: 6-5-0 Jim Hess
1983: 7-4-0 Jim Hess
1984: 7-3-1 Jim Hess
1985: 9-2-0 Jim Hess Conference Champions
1986: 5-6-0 Jim Hess
1987: 3-7-1 Jim Hess
1988: 10-3-0 Jim Hess (47-30-2; .608; Conf. 20-18-1; .526)
1989: 12-2-1 Lynn Graves Conference Champions; National Championship Game

64-47-3; 6 Winning Seasons; 2 Conference Championships; 1 NC Game

1990's

1990: 1-10-0 Lynn Graves
1991: 2-8-1 Lynn Graves (15-20-2; .432; Conf. 7-10-2; .421)
1992: 3-8-0 John Pearce
1993: 8-4-0 John Pearce
1994: 6-3-2 John Pearce
1995: 11-2-0 John Pearce
1996: 7-4-0 John Pearce
1997: 8-3-0 John Pearce
1998: 3-8-0 John Pearce (46-32-2; .588; Conf. 24-20-1; .544)
1999: 8-3-0 Mike Santiago Conference Champions

57-53-3; 6 Winning Seasons; 1 Conference Championship

The 2010 decade is still in play with 3 seasons remaining.

Currently...

2010: 9-3-0 J.C. Harper Conference Champions
2011: 6-5-0 J.C. Harper
2012: 5-6-0 J.C. Harper
2013: 3-9-0 J.C. Harper (37-45-0; .451; Conf. 24-25-0; .490)
2014: 8-6-0 Clint Conque
2015: 4-7-0 Clint Conque
2016: 5-6-0 Clint Conque
2017: ?-?-0 Clint Conque
2018:
2019:
40-42-0; 3 Winning Seasons; 1 Conference Championship

Hess had some tough teams in the 80's. That was a good era of SFA football.

What the heck happened in 88-90?

3-7 to 12-2 to 1-10? Talk about some freaking whiplash.

Ya. I remember the whiplash!!!! Ugly.

TallTexan said:

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What the heck happened in 88-90?

3-7 to 12-2 to 1-10? Talk about some freaking whiplash.

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I attended that '89 1-AA championship game vs. Georgia Southern in Statesboro, GA. We had the better team and should have won. That was arguably the best SFA football team ever.

At least you guys didn't have to suffer through the Charlie Simmons era. The best thing that happened then was a streaker at Parents Weekend.

Graves to Pierce years for me and a 6-26-1 record. (90-93)

Yes that 1989 Team was special

1989: 12-2-1; 5-0-1 Southland Conference Champions

@ Jackson State 41-28 W
@ Boise State 12-23 L
Nicholls State 24-7 W
@ Lamar 44-20 W
Texas State 32-21 W
@ North Texas 35-16 W
@ McNeese State 42-14 W
@ Eastern Washington 42-36 W
Sam Houston State 45-7 W
Northeast Louisiana 66-45 W
@ Northwestern State 17-17 T
Grambling State 59-56 W
Southwestern Missouri State 55-25 W
@ Furman 21-19 W
@ Georgia Southern 34-37 L

SFA Records
Most Plays in a Season (1,117) 1989
Most Yards in a Season (7,324) 1989
Most Points in a Season (569) 1989
Most TDs in a Season (76) 1989
Most Victories in a Season (12) 1989
Most First Downs in a Season (324) 1989

Notable Players

QB: Todd Hammel (1990 NFL Draft; 12th Round Tampa Bay Bucs)
ATT:577;CMP:316;YDS:5,364;TD:48 (1989)

Most Passing Attempts in a Season (696)
Net Yards Gained in a Season (5,294)
Yards Per Game in a Season (352.9)
TDs in a Game (8) vs. Louisiana-Monroe
TDs in a Season (48)

K: Chuck Rawlison
Most Field Goals in a Career (57) (1988-91)
Most Field Goals in a Season (22) (1988)
Most Field Goals in a Game (5) (1988)
58 yard field goal against Sam Houston State (1991) 9 Fields Goals in all 50+ Yards

RB: Larry Centers (5th Round NFL Draft)
ATT:315;YDS:1,440;TD:11;All Purpose Yards:2,388 (1989)

Most Rushing Attempts in a Season (315) 1989
Most Rushing Attempts in a Career (709) (1986-89)

DT: Roderick Stansell
Most QB Sacks in a Season (18.0) 1989

LB: David Temple
Most Tackles in a Career (492) 1988-91

S: David Whitmore (4th Round NFL Draft)
INT:6;PBU:14 (1989)

WR: Pat Jackson
YDS:1,020;TD:14 (1989)

Roderick Stansell

John Ford

RB: Anthony Landry (10th Round NFL Draft)

And a big amazing OL

Charlie Simmons was one of the nicest guys one could ever meet but those were very lean years in football
(mid 70's).

As for the 89 team, remember the home playoff game vs Grambling....SFA had to go most of the length of the field in the final couple of minutes to pull that one out...which included a big 4th and long at one point.

Chuck Rawlinson was quite likely the best kicker SFA has ever had...hit a couple of mammoth FGs vs GS in Championship game.

Larry Centers Cardinal Highlights

Those Cardinals teams were SOOO bad (except the one playoff win against Dallas). Larry was one of the few bright spots.

Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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Charlie Simmons was one of the nicest guys one could ever meet but those were very lean years in football
(mid 70's).

As for the 89 team, remember the home playoff game vs Grambling....SFA had to go most of the length of the field in the final couple of minutes to pull that one out...which included a big 4th and long at one point.

Chuck Rawlinson was quite likely the best kicker SFA has ever had...hit a couple of mammoth FGs vs GS in Championship game.

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You are right about that Grambling game. No defense by either team all day. It was wild, especially the finish. The Furman game was played in a snowstorm, as I recall. And Larry Centers went on to a 14-year NFL career, rushing for over 2,000 yards and gaining almost 7,000 yards receiving out of the backfield.

What was the crowd like during the 89 season out of curiousity? The title game was packed, but the playoff highlights I've dug up shows a pretty empty Homer Bryce Stadium.

I went to the SW Missouri St game. School was out if I remember correctly. I would have put the crowd at 6000. It was a very vocal crowd but small.

BigJack85 said:

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I went to the SW Missouri St game. School was out if I remember correctly. I would have put the crowd at 6000. It was a very vocal crowd but small.

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I was there, too. My memory is foggy (I can barely remember what I ate for dinner last night), but your estimate is probably about right. For what it's worth, I remember that SW MIssouri (now Missouri State) brought their sizable band.

Ahhh, SFA memories....

SFA_03 said:

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What was the crowd like during the 89 season out of curiousity? The title game was packed, but the playoff highlights I've dug up shows a pretty empty Homer Bryce Stadium.

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There were only about 100 SFA fans at the title game. We were slightly outnumbered. I can vividly remember the Georgia Southern "three yards and a cloud of dust" offense that was hard to stop.

25,725 fans at the Title Game, so yes I would say SFA fans were a little outnumbered

SFA #3 in the nation that day.

Continuing with SFA greats, lets look a little further up the line into the 1990s with

Jeremiah Trotter AKA the Axe Man!

2X All-American linebacker from Hooks, Texas

23,617 Fans at Homer Bryce Stadium

1995 SFA vs. McNeese State

I wish there was video of this game.
And it really bums me out that we lost.

I was there...the thing I remember most was some of our male cheerleaders and some of theirs got into a fight on the sideline...

Bring back the toe punch

SFAXE93 said:

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Bring back the toe punch

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Going back even farther, who remembers the drop kick? No holder required!

Had we won the 89 championship we would have had to forfeit it

Tall Texan:

Here's a rundown (I was there and it was a rocky ride indeed)

1987: 3-7-1 Jim Hess -- Tod Hammel hurt for most of season, so no decent QB, which mean no offense; incredible defense, but they could not put enough points on the board to win.

1988: 10-3-0 Jim Hess (47-30-2; .608; Conf. 20-18-1; .526) - Best defense in the school's history....Hammel starts to flourish, Larry Centers emerges as offensive weapon,

1989: 12-2-1 Lynn Graves Conference Champions; National Championship Game - Graves inherits explosive offense with new BYU-style system...scored almost at will...Grambling game may be the wildest game I've every seen...tragic loss in nat'l championship game in a game where SFA was better team, but Ga. Southern had the deck stacked against SFA...note: only college in the nation (including FBS) to have entire backfield drafted in NFL.

1990: 1-10 Lynn Graves -- massive loss of offensive weapons to graduation too much to overcome, plus Graves losing control of program (which lead to his firing next year)...

There have been some very good SFA teams since, but to this day the '88-89 teams are the best in the school's history....

(Thanks to inept Ath. Dept. staff (nothing intentionally illegal, just stupid) SFA slapped by NCAA with penalties, forcing them to declare '89 season null and void...no matter, what happened on the field happened in good faith...)

Thanks!

pitt2812 said:

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1989: 12-2-1 Lynn Graves Conference Champions; National Championship Game - Graves inherits explosive offense with new BYU-style system...scored almost at will...Grambling game may be the wildest game I've every seen...tragic loss in nat'l championship game in a game where SFA was better team, but Ga. Southern had the deck stacked against SFA...note: only college in the nation (including FBS) to have entire backfield drafted in NFL.

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I was at that game at Georgia Southern. You are right. SFA had the better team, but GSU ran the triple option and won at the end. I also agree that the Grambling game was one of the best and craziest football games I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch.