Football looks to bounce back against Demons
10/24/2008 1:00:00 AM | Football
Sam Houston State Bearkats (2-3, SLC 0-2)) vs. Northwestern State Demons (4-3, SLC 1-1)
Saturday, October 25 2008 -- 2 p.m. -- Turpin Stadium -- Natchitoches, LA
| Sam Houston Bearkats Location: Huntsville, TX Enrollment: 16,688 Stadium: Bowers Capacity: 14,000 / RealGrass Pro Colors: Orange & white Head Coach: Todd Whitten Alma Mater: SFA, 1987 4th year at Sam Houston (18-19) 10th year as head coach (63-42) 2008 Schedule A. 28 East Central ..................W 58-14 S. 13 Prairie View A&M ..........Canceled S. 20 at Kansas ...................... L 14-38 S. 27 at Gardner-Webb ............W 49-33 O. 11 at Central Arkansas ........L 46-48 O. 18 McNeese ........................L 17-28 O. 25 at Northwestern St. ........2 p.m. N. 1 Stephen F. Austin ............2 p.m. N. 8 at Nicholls St. ...................1 p.m. N. 15 Southeastern LA ............6 p.m. N. 22 TX St-San Marcos .........2 p.m. |
Northwestern State Demons 2008 Schedule |
THE GAME ON RADIO
Sam Houston State's contest Saturday will be broadcast live on KSAM 101.7 FM in Huntsville. The broadcast, with Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkinson, can also be heard on the internet at www.gobearkats.com.
BEARKATS VS. THE DEMONS
Sam Houston and Northwestern State meet for the 21st time in football Saturday. The Demons lead the all-time series with 17 victories to 13 for the Kats. Northwestern State and Sam Houston both were members of the Gulf Star Conference from 1984 to 1986, then joined the Southland in 1987. In their 21 seasons in the Southland, the Demons have won 11 times, the Kats 10. Sam Houston is 4-12-1 in Natchitoches, LA, including an 18-11 loss in the 1958 Christmas Bowl.
BEARKATS VS. LOUISIANA
Sam Houston State holds a 22-60-4 record playing football in the Pelican State. The Kats won their last game in Louisiana, defeating Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond 20-16 last season.
SAM HOUSTON 0-2 IN SOUTHLAND ACTION
The Bearkats lost their first two Southland Conference games, falling at Central Arkansas 48-46 two weeks ago and losing to McNeese 28-17 last Saturday at SHSU Homecoming. Sam Houston was in a similar position in 2007, bouncing back from the 0-2 start to close the season with five consecutive wins and tie for the runner-up position in the final SLC standings.
SAM HOUSTON STATE BEARKATS
SHSU defeated East Central Oklahoma (NCAA Division II) 58-14 in its opener Aug. 28. Scoring on each of its eight possessions in the first half, Sam Houston built a 52-0 halftime lead and did not play its starters in the second half.
After the Sept. 13 match-up with Prairie View was canceled due to Hurricane Ike, the Bearkats held their own with #19 Kansas in front of a crowd of 51,767. The Kats fell 38-14 to the defending Orange Bowl champions. SHSU trailed 14-7 with a minute left before intermission and cut the Jayhawk margin to 28-14 in the third quarter.
The contest marked only the second time in Southland Conference football history an SLC team lost to an NCAA Division I Bowl Championship Series Top 25 team by less than a four-touchdown margin. Northwestern State fell to #21 Missouri 35-14 in 1998
In its only meeting this year with an NCAA Division I FCS non-conference foe, Sam Houston defeated Gardner-Webb 49-33 in a road game in Boiling Springs, NC (the farthest East SHSU has played football).
Rhett Bomar earned Southland and National FCS "Offensive Player of the Week" honors. He passed for a season high 340 yards including five TDs (tying a school record). He also ran for a score to become only the second player in Sam Houston history to be responsible for six TDs in one game. Dustin Long threw for five TDs and ran for another against McNeese in the 2004 championship season.
In the Southland Conference opener, the Bearkats lost to Central Arkansas in an offensive thriller at Conway, AR. The two teams combined for 988 yards total offense.
Last weekend, McNeese State held Sam Houston to a season low 269 yards total offense in a 28-17 loss.
FOURTH YEAR UNDER COACH WHITTEN
Todd Whitten and his staff begin their fourth season at Sam Houston State, seeking to build on back-to-back winning seasons and Southland Conference runner-up finishes. Thirty-eight lettermen return from last year's 7-4 squad including six starters on offense and and six on defense. Six All-Southland Conference Bearkats return. Defensive end Chris Brown was a first team selection. Kicker Taylor Wilkins and linebacker Nolan Bucek were named to the second team. Quarterback Rhett Bomar, offensive lineman Hunter Schmidt and defensive lineman Eric Mikolajchak were honorable mention All-Southland.
THE BEARKAT OFFENSE
Sam Houston State ranks No. 11 in scoring offense (36.8), No. 7 in passing offense (300.2) and No. 21 in total offense (415.4) in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Quarterback Rhett Bomar stands No. 4 nationally in NCAA FCS football individual total offense (316.6).
The senior has passed for 1,476 yards and 15 TDs and rushed for 107 yards and three scores. Saturday he threw an 80-yard touchdown to Chris Lucas, his longest pass as a Bearkat.
Bomar led the Southland and ranked No. 8 nationally in total offense (290.6 yards per game) last year.
The QB has thrown TD passes to five different receivers.
Transfer running back James Aston leads the Kats in both rushing and receiving. With two 100-yard games this season, Aston has carried 51 times for 363 yards, 4 TDs. He has caught 24 balls for 192 yards and three scores. His long run has been 49 yards.
Justin Wells leads team in receiving yards with 361 on 22 catches. He caught a 46-yard scoring pass at Kansas and a 40-yard tally in Gardner-Webb. The Huntsville High School product is the 19th player in Sam Houston's 93 football seasons to total more than 1,000 yards receiving. Wells has 78 career catches for 1,194 yards and seven scores.
Catron Houston became the 20th Bearkat receiver to crack the 1,000-yard plateau against McNeese. The senior has grabbed 80 passes for 1,026 yards since transferring to SHSU from Texas Tech. He led the team in receiving last year with 46 catches for 597 yards). This season Houston has 22 catches for 322 yards and four TDs.
Seniors Aaron Saunders (6-7, 314), Nick Grimes (5-11, 278) and Jordan Bowersox (6-2, 277); junior Hunter Schmidt (6-3, 304) and redshirt freshman Travis Watson (6-2, 295) lead the way for the Bearkat offense in the front line.
RHETT BOMAR IN THE SHSU RECORD BOOKS
Rhett Bomar has become the eighth Sam Houston State quarterback to gain 4,000 or more yards total offense. Bomar ranks among the top 10 in several SHSU quarterback stat categories.
He has moved up to No. 8 in career passing at Sam Houston with 3,685 yards.
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
Defensive end Chris Brown, an honorable mention All-America selection last year as a sophomore, is again a candidate for national honors. Brown has 29 tackles with four quarterback sacks and a pass breakup. Brown totaled three sacks in the Gardner-Webb victory, one short of the Sam Houston school record set by NFL star (Cardinals) Michael Bankston in 1991.Brown accounted for five of the Bearkats' 13 sacks in 2007 as he earned first team All-Southland conference honors.
Defensive tackle Eric Mikolajchak also earned All-Southland Conference honors last year. Recruited as an offensive lineman, the senior moved to defense as a sophomore and has totaled 87 tackles including 11 for losses in his three years as a starter.
At linebacker, Nolan Bucek led the Southland in tackles (88) in 2007 and Luke McCall added 72 stops as linebackers last year. The pair have totaled 36 and 19 tackles, respectively, in 2008.
Cornerbacks Wonseleh Brewer and Stanley Garrett return as starters in the secondary.
Safety Billy Skinner has 42 tackles and defensive lineman Frank Simon has added 29 stops this year.
BEARKAT OFFENSIVE SUCCESS
In the past nine seasons, Sam Houston has led the Southland Conference in passing four times and total offense three seasons. Three Bearkat quarterbacks have earned Southland "Player of the Year" honors and been finalists for the Walter Payton Award as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision offensive player of the year -- Chris Chaloupka (1999), Josh McCown (2001) and Dustin Long (2004).
