Kats take on the Bison Friday at 7 p.m.
12/14/2014 8:31:00 AM | Football
Sam Houston State will travel to the Fargodome this Friday night to take on three-time FCS national champion North Dakota State in the FCS semifinals.
Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. Central Time. The Bison are the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. No. 1 seed New Hampshire will host No. 5 Illinois State Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Bearkats' game will be televised Friday nationally on ESPN2.
The contest marks a rematch of the 2011 and 2012 season national championship games in Frisco, Texas (actually played in January of 2012 and 2013). The Bison won 17-6 on January 7, 2012 and 39-13 on Januuary 5, 2013. Both games attracted record sellout crowds of more than 21,000 to the championship game in Frisco.
The Bearkats are making their second appearance in the Fargodome. The first time Sam Houston visited, the Bisons won 41-38 in a thriller.
NDSU quarterback Steve Walker connected with Kole Heckondorf for the winning TD with seven seconds left. The score came 19 seconds after the Bearkats went up 38-34 on a seven-yard scoring pass from Rhett Bomar to Darnell Jones. The Bison drove 54 yards for the winning tally after a short Sam Houston kickoff.
Bomar finished the night 36-of-61 passing for 358 yards and four touchdowns. He added 103 yards on the ground. Sam Houston out-gained North Dakota State 496 to 414 in total offense.
Two years after Sam Houston's visit to Fargo, the Bearkats picked up their only win in their four meetings with the Bison in another offensive show. Miguel Antonio kicked a 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining to provide the winning points.
Led by quarterback Blake Joseph, Sam Houston rolled to 620 yards of total offense. Joseph threw for 482 yards and two touchdowns.
With a 34-31 road victory over No. 5 Villanova Saturday, Sam Houston has advanced to the FCS semifinals for the third time in four years and the fourth time in program history.
The Kats are 2-1 in their three previous semifinal appearances. Sam Houston lost to Montana 34-13 in Missoula in 2004. SHSU defeated Montana 31-18 in Huntsville and Eastern Washington 45-42 in Cheney to advance to the national championship game in both 2011 and 2012.
Sam Houston, New Hampshire and North Dakota State stand as the only programs to earn berths in FCS post-season play each of the past four seasons. The Bearkats reached the NCAA National Championship game in Frisco in 2011 and 2012 (one of only eight universities to play in the finals in consecutive seasons) and reached the second round last year.
With this year's FCS appearance, Sam Houston becomes only the second team in Southland Conference history to earn four consecutive playoff berths. McNeese made five consecutive post-season appearances in 1991 through 1995 and four from 2000 to 2003.
