SHSU-UIW Football Game Notes
9/18/2013 2:10:00 PM | Football
INCARNATE WORD VISITS BOWERS STADIUM
Sam Houston plays host to future Southland Conference football opponent Incarnate Word Saturday in the second contest of a four-game home stand at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium. The Bearkats and UIW are meeting for the second time. Sam Houston won 54-7 last year in Huntsville in the 2012 season opener.
FCS'S LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAK
The Kats own a 16-game home winning streak at Bowers Stadium, the longest in school history and, currently, in FCS. The streak started with a win over Texas State after losing to McNeese in 2010.
SHOWDOWN WITH EASTERN WASHINGTON SEPT. 28
Eastern Washington and Sam Houston, the two teams that met in the NCAA semifinals last year in Cheney, Wa., face off in a rematch Saturday, Sept. 28, at Bowers. The game s the most anticipated FCS matchup of the 2013 season. The Kats advanced to the FCS finals with a 45-42 win last year. EWU upset No. 25 Oregon State in the first week of the college season.
BEARKATS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bearkats stand No. 5 in both the current 2013 Sports Network and NCAA Coaches polls. Sam Houston has finished each of the past two seasons No 2 in the final rankings in both polls.. The Bearkats have been ranked among the FCS top 25 for 27 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 23 consecutive polls.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
Sam Houston is seeking to become only the fifth team in Southland Conference 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 (2001-02-03) are the only teams to pull off the feat in the Southland's 50 years of football. SHSU won in 2011 title with a 7-0 record and in 2012 with a 6-1 slate. The Bearkats have five Southland titles overall in their 26 years in the legue. SHSU also 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.
SOUTHLAND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Walter Payton Award candidate Timothy Flanders earned Southland offensive honors after scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 170 yards against Texas A&M. Linebacker Tanner Brock received the league's weekly defensive honor after leading the team in tackles and posting two sacks in the victory over Texas Southern.
TOP SCORING & RUSHING OFFENSE IN FCS IN 2013
Sam Houston State ranks as the top rushing and scoring offense in FCS competition this fall. The Bearkats are averaging 309.7 yards and 52.3 points per game.
RUNNING BACK TIMOTHY FLANDERS
All-America running back, Walter Payton Award candidate and two-time Southland "Player of the Year" Timothy Flanders holds 31 Sam Houston school records and seven Southland Conference marks. The Midwest City, Okla., product stands as Sam Houston's all-time rushing leader with 805 carries for 4,563 yards and 57 touchdowns.
Flanders needs 132 more yards to become the all-time leading rusher in Southland Conference history. Claude Mathis of Southwest Texas (4,694 yards in 1994-97) currently holds that mark. Flanders owns the league's career marks for rushing TDs (57) and total touchdowns (61). He stands as the FCS active career rushing leader and is 437 yards away from becoming the 21st FCS back to total 5,000 career yards on the ground. His 57 rushing TDs rank 14th in the all-time FCS record book.
FLANDERS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER
An amazing apspect of Flanders' career marks is the large amount of games where he has given way to his backups with the contest's outcome already in hand. Flanders has not had a carry in the final quarter in 13 of the Kats' last 32 games. In his three-year career, he has sat for a total of 23 quarters, the equipvalent of nearly six games. When Flanders has played in the fourth quarter of close games. He has been very good. Impressive final period performances in victories include 9-for-67 at New Mexico, 10-for-60 vs. Stony Brook and 9-for-82 in the semifinals with Montana in 2011. In the 2012 semis at Eastern Washington, Flanders was 9-for-82 in the fourth.
QUARTERBACK BRIAN BELL
Brian Bell is Sam Houston's all-time winningest quarterback, leading SHSU to 32 victories as a starter since 2010. The senior from China Spring is the program's all-time leader in passing and total offense with 6,513 yards in the air and 7,471 yards rushing and passing combined. Bell's 58 career touchdown passes also is an SHSU school mark. Bell is 487 yards away from becoming the 12th quarterback in Southland Conference history to throw for 6,000 or more career yards.
WILD BEARKAT RICHARD SINCERE
Richard Sincere is within striking distance of two offensive milestones. The senior wide receiver who also runs the "Wild Bearkat" and returns kicks for SHSU needs 45 yards to become the 8th Sam Houston player to roll up 3,000 or more all-purpose yards. His combined career total for rushing, receiving and returns is 2,955. The Galveston Ball product also is 55 yards away from becoming the 10th Bearkat back to rush for 2,000 or more yards. His current rushing total is 1,945 yards.
TORRANCE WILLIAMS TOPS IN SOUTHLAND
Torrance Williams leads the Southland Conference and ranks No. 2 in FCS nationally in punt returns with 198 yards in three games. The speedy Waco Connally product has totaled 1,656 all-purpose yards in his career.
SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER CHANCE NELSON
Wide receiver Chance Nelson became a deep threat for the Kats as a freshman in 2012 after transferring from Texas A&M. He caught 35 passes for 671 yards and nine TDs last year including a 70-yard strike against Southeastern Louisiana and a 61-yard TD at Texas Southern.
BEARKAT OFFENSIVE LINE
The biggest offensive question mark coming into the 2013 season was in the offensive line where sophomore Donald Jackson III and senior Matt Boyles were the only returning veterans with starting experience. The young line has surrendered only one sack (a two-yard loss against A&M) in three games and paving the way for an offense that is averaging 434 yards per contest.
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
Sam Houston's defense has ranked as one of the best in FCS the past two years, leading the nation in rushing defense in 2011 and ranking 16th nationally in turnover margin last year. But the Bearkats had to replace six All-Southland performers including the league's Defensive Player of the Year Darnell Taylor. The defense has responded to the challenge, producing seven turnovers in three games.
CORNERBACK BOOKIE SNEED
Cornerback Bookie Sneed snapped a Sam Houston record that had stood since 1968 with his 92-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter of the 2012 SFA victory. Paul Wenzel returned an interception 90 yards against Sul Ross for the Kat mark that stood for 44 years. Sneed picked off four interceptions last year and eight in his career. He is tied for eighth in career interceptions at SHSU.
LINEBACKING CORPS LEADING DEFENSE
Three-year letterman Jesse Beauchamp earned honorable mention All-Southland honors and was the team's second-leading tackler in 2012 with 94 stops. Seniors Eric Fieilo and Tanner Brock led the team in tackles. Fieilo has 22 stops including two for losses and picked off a Johnny Manziel pass for an interception in the A&M game. Brock, a transfer from TCU, has 19 stops this year including two sacks against Texas Southern.
DEFENSIVE END ANDREW WEAVER
Andrew Weaver was selected to the Associated Press FCS All-America third team in 2012. He was an All-Southland second team honoree as well. Weaver had two sacks at Montana State and one in the NCAA title game . In 2011, he returned an interceptions for 23 yards in the SFA win. Weaver transferred to Sam Houston from Texas A&M.
NINE ALL-SOUTHLAND BEARKATS RETURN
Nine All-Southland Conference performers return from the 2012 squad including first team selections running back Timothy Flanders and wide receiver/wildkat back Richard Sincere.
Second team all-conference Kats returning include quarterback Brian Bell, defensive lineman Gary Lorance and defensive back Bookie Sneed.Receiving All-Southland honorable mention in 2012 were running back Keshawn Hill, offensive linemen Donald Jackson, defensive lineman Jarrett Brown and linebacker Jesse Beauchamp.
