Bearkats versus Lions Game Notes
11/12/2013 12:41:00 PM | Football
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TITLE ON LINE
Sam Houston will be fighting to keep its Southland Conference title hopes alive Saturday when the Bearkats travel to Hammond, La., to face Southeastern Louisiana. The Lions stand atop the 2013 standings with a perfect 5-0 record. Sam Houston and McNeese are tied for second place with 4-1 marks.
The Bearkats started the season seeking to become only the fifth team in Southland history to earn league championships three years in a row. Lamar (1964-65-66), Arkansas State (1968-69-70), Louisiana Tech (1971-72-73-74) and McNeese State (2001-02-03) are the only teams to pull off the feat in the Southland's 50 yeards of football.
Sam Houston won its 2011 title with a 7-0 record. In 2012 the Kats were co-champions with Central Arkansas with a 6-1 slate. SHSU has won five Southland titles overall in their 26 years in the league. Sam Houston won championships in 1991, 2001 and 2004.
CONSECUTIVE NCAA FINALS APPEARANCES
Sam Houston State is one of only eight football programs to appear in consecutive NCAA Division I Football Championship Games. The list of seven other universities reaching the finals in back-to-back seasons during the tournament's 34-year history includes Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Youngstown State, Marshall, Montana, Appalachian State and North Dakota State.
BEARKATS VERSUS LIONS SERIES
Sam Houston leads the all-time series with Southeastern Louisiana 10 victories to four. The Bearkats stand 6-2 with the Lions in games in Hammond, La. The Kats have won the last three meetings by scores of 57-7 in 2010 in Huntsville, 38-9 in 2011 in Hammond and 70-0 last year at Bowers. The Lions' last win over SHSU was in Hammond in 2009 (37-21).
BEARKATS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bearkats stand No. 4 in the current Sports Network FCS poll and No. 8 in this week's NCAA Coaches poll.Sam Houston has been ranked among the FCS top 25 for 35 consecutive weeks. The team debuted in the national poll Sept. 9, 2011. During an 11-0 regular season in 2011, the Kats rose to No. 1 at the end of the regular season.SHSU has ranked among the FCS top 10 for 31 consecutive polls. Sam Houston has finished each of the past two seasons No. 2 in the final rankings in both polls.
RUNNING BACK TIMOTHY FLANDERS
All-America running back, Walter Payton Award candidate and two-time Southland "Player of the Year" Timothy Flanders is the first Southland Conference running back to gain more than 5,000 rushing yards and score more than 400 points.
He holds 31 Sam Houston school records and nine Southland Conference marks. He has rushed 920 times for 5,282 yards and 63 touchdowns. He stands No. 8 in FCS career rushing TDs (63), No. 10 in FCS career points (402) and No. 16 in FCS career rushing yards (5,282)
Flanders has posted 29 100-yard rushing performances.
QUARTERBACK BRIAN BELL
Brian Bell is Sam Houston's all-time winningest quarterback, leading SHSU to 38 victories in 48 starts since 2010. He stands No. 2 in the FCS in passing efficiency (174.6), No. 4 in yards per completion (16.04) and No. 8 in both passing touchdowns (23) and points responsible for (18.0 per game).
The senior from China Spring is the program's all-time leader in passing (7,993 yards), total offense (9,274 yards) and TD passes (75). He stands No. 9 in Southland career passing yards (passing Kerry Joseph of McNeese last week) and No. 5 in league touchdown throws.
Bell is only the second quarterback in school history to gain 1,000 career yards rushing. The first was David Kubiak (1,528 in 1967-70). Bell now stands No. 31 in SHSU career rushing with 1,281 yards. He has 21 rushing TDs to his credit.
WILD BEARKAT RICHARD SINCERE
Richard Sincere, the senior wide receiver who also runs the "Wild Bearkat" formation and returns kicks, stands No. 4 in Sam Houston all-purpose yards with a total of 3,529. He also ranks No. 8 in SHSU career rushing (2,216) and No. 21 in Bearkat career receiving (1,075).
The Galveston Ball product joins Tony January as the only Bearkats to gain more than 1,000 career yards both rushing and receiving. From 1978 to 1982, January gained 2,376 rushing and 1,328 receiving.
Sincere has six rushes for more than 40 yards (including a long of 65 yards for a touchdown in the 2012 victory over McNeese). He has three touchdown catches of more than 60 yards (the longest, 77 yards from Brian Bell in the 2011 Lamar victory).
With a total of 380 rushes, receptions and returns for 3,529 yards, Sincere is averaging 9.3 yards per carry, catch or runback.
TORRANCE WILLIAMS TOPS IN SOUTHLAND & FCS
Torrance Williams leads both the Southland Conference and the FCS national statistics in punt returns with an 18.4 average. He also is ranked No. 9 nationally in receiving touchdowns (10) and No. 27 in all-purpose yards (130.4 per game).
Williams already has broken the SHSU season record for punt return yards (423) and ranks No. 14 in SHSU career all-purpose yards (2,607) and No. 9 in career receiving (1,1,565 yards).
KESHAWN HILL IN KAT 1,000 YARD RUSHING CLUB
Junior running back and kick return specialist Keshawn Hill brings the number of Kats in 1,000-yard stat clubs on this year's team to five. He has career totals of 1,205 yards rushing and 1,855 all-purpose yards.
CORNERBACK BOOKIE SNEED
Cornerback Bookie Sneed picked off his ninth career interception in the SFA victory. The senior ranks seventh in SHSU career interceptions. He holds a school record with his 92-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter of the 2012 SFA victory.
Dax Swanson set the SHSU school career record with 14 between 2009 and 2012.
PICK SIX
Five times this year, Bearkat defenders have returned interceptions for touchdowns. Michael Wade is the latest with a "pick six", returning an interception 48 yards for a score in the regular season home finale against Nicholls State. DeAntrey Loche scored on a 42-yard game-turning interception in the victory over then No. 2 Eastern Washington and a 45-yard return versus SFA at Reliant that proved to be the game-winning tally. Shelby Davis and Tristen Eche scored in the Houston Baptist victory on plays of 48 and 32 yards, respectively.
DEFENSIVE END ANDREW WEAVER
Senior Andrew Weaver leads Sam Houston in quarterback sacks with six this season. He has totaled 34 stops including seven for losses. Weaver was selected to the Associated Press FCS All-America third team in 2012. He was an All-Southland second team honoree.
WINNING ON THE ROAD
Sam Houston State must travel to play Southeastern Louisiana and Central Arkansas on the road to complete the 2013 season. The Bearkats have performed well away from Bowers Stadium the past four years. Since quarterback Brian Bell took over as the Bearkats' starter in the third game of the 2010 season, Sam Houston stands 16-9 in football games outside of Huntsville. Three of the 9 losses were to FBS foes (Texas A&M in 2011 and 2012 and Baylor in 2011). The Kats are 13-6 at opponent's home fields and 3-3 at neautral sites in that time span.
FCS'S LONGEST CURRENT HOME WINNING STREAK
The Kats own a 21-game home winning streak at Bowers Stadium, the longest in school history and, currently, in the FCS. The streak started with a win over Texas State after losing to McNeese in 2010. Sam Houston's 21-game streak now stands as the 12th longest in FCS history. Georgia Southern holds the record with 39 consecutive home wins from 1997 to 2001.
Bowers Stadium opened in 1986. The Bearkats won their first 13 games in the facility and now hold a 102-42-1 record at Bowers. Sam Houston has posted unbeaten seasons at home in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2011 and 2012.
