Homecoming features Southland opener Saturday at 2 p.m.
10/6/2009 8:30:00 AM | Athletics
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Nicholls is Sam Houston's foe for the 76th annual Homecoming game in Huntsville Saturday at 2 p.m. at Bowers Stadium.
Sam Houston State stands 14-9 on Homecoming day since the Bearkats moved into Bowers Stadium in 1986. The Kats are 34-40-1 at Homecoming. Their first Homecoming foe was Texas A&I in 1931. Saturday marks the fifth time Nicholls has been SHSU Homecoming opponent. The Bearkats are 4-0 against the Colonels in those contests.
The Nicholls Colonels bring a 1-3 non-conference record to Bowers Stadium. Nicholls defeated Duquesne 14-7 and have road losses to NCAA FBS teams Air Force and Louisiana Tech. The Colonels fell to NCAA FCS No. 22 ranked Jacksonville State 60-10 in their last contest.
Sam Houston holds a slim lead in the all-time series with the Colonels. The Bearkats have 12 victories, Nicholls 11 and there has been one tie. SHSU is 7-3 against Nicholls in Huntsville. The Kats have won the last three meetings including a 47-37 road victory last year.
Saturday marks the opening of Southland Conference football action. Since joining the league in 1987, Sam Houston is 7-14-1 in Southland openers. Three of the seven times the Kats won their opening league contest, Sam Houston has gone on to win the Southland title. The Kats have finished among the top three teams in the race five times of the seven times they won the league opener.
The Kats are picked to finish sixth in the 2009 race according to the vote of the league's head coaches in the annual Southland preseason poll. Defending league champion Texas State is the league favorite with McNeese picked second, followed by Northwestern State, Central Arkansas, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana.
Sam Houston completed the non-conference portion of the 2009 football schedule with a 41-0 shutout of Saint Joseph's of Indiana Saturday. The Pumas are members of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Football Conference. The victory evened the Bearkats' record at 2-2.
The Kats opened the season with a pair of thrillers with NCAA Division I FCS foes that both went to the final gun. Sam Houston lost its opener 35-28 to Western Illinois after failing to force overtime with an incomplete pass into the end zone from the WIU three-yard-line on the games final play.
In the Bearkats' second game, Joseph and Madkins hooked up for a 51-yard pass to set up freshman Miquel Antonio's game-winning field goal as Sam Houston earned a 48-45 victory over North Dakota State.
Conference USA member Tulsa handed the Kats a 56-3 loss in Sam Houston's only road game.
The Bearkats rank No. 19 in the nation in total offense, averaging 401.5 yards per game.
Quarterback Blake Joseph ranks No. 14 nationally in NCAA Div. I FCS total offense with 271.8 yards per game. The senior from Bryan who transferred to Sam Houston this August from the University of Houston has passed for 953 yards and four touchdowns. He has rushed for 134 net yards and two more scores.
His 482 yards passing in the North Dakota State victory was the fourth-most for a Bearkat quarterback. With 51 yards rushing, Joseph produced 533 yards of total offense in the contest against the Bison, only the third time a Bearkat quarterback has eclipsed the 500-yard mark in one game.
Senior 6-5 wide receiver Jason Madkins ranks No. 5 nationally in receiving yards per game with 433 yards on 15 catches. The senior from Mart caught six balls for 239 yards against North Dakota State, just three yards short of the SHSU single game record.
The Bearkat backfield features two running backs who have career totals of more than 1,000 yards rushing.
Senior James Aston leads the Bearkats this year with 58 carries for 294 yards and five touchdowns. He is the 28th Bearkat runner to top the 1,000 yard mark with 1,121 career yards. Chris Poullard has 43 carries for 170 yards and two touchdowns this season to up his career mark to 1,262 yards.
With only two starters from the 2008 season back on defense and seven freshmen and three sophomores listed in the two-deep, Sam Houston's defense has struggled at times this fall.
Sam Houston ranks No. 97 nationally in total defense, giving up 403.8 yards per game.
The defense had its best showing of the season in the 41-0 shutout of Saint Joseph's. The Bearkats limited the Pumas to only 126 yards total offense. Trey Wilder and Edward Decambre each interception a pass and freshman Darnell Taylor recovered a fumble.
Senior linebacker Luke McCall leads Sam Houston in total tackles with 27 including four for losses. Defensive end Chris Brown leads the Bearkats in quarterback sacks with three. Brown ranks fifth in career sacks at Sam Houston with 15.
Advance tickets may be purchased on line at www.gobearkats.com or at the athletic ticket office at the Ron Mafrige Field House south of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is 936 294-1729.
KSAM 101.7 FM broadcasts all Sam Houston football games. Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkinson will be the voices of the Bearkats. The broadcast also can be heard anywhere in the world on the web at www.gobearkats.com.
