Bearkats return to the Fargodome
12/18/2014 9:15:00 AM | Football
As Sam Houston prepares for Friday night's showdown with No. 2 North Dakota State, much has been said this week about the intimidation factor of playing before a capacity crowd of 19,000 in the Fargodome.
The three-time defending national champion Bison are 12-0 at home during the FCS playoffs.
But the Bearkats only need to look back at Sam Houston's own football history to realize visiting teams can achieve in the Fargodome. In SHSU's only other visit to the facility in 2007 the Kats were seconds away from defeating the Bison on their home turf.
Led by Oklahoma transfer quarterback Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston rallied from a 34-21 deficit at the end of the third quarter to take a 38-34 lead with 26 seconds left in the game.
A short kickoff gave the Bison good field position. NDSU quarterback Steve Walker drove his offense 54 yards in 19 seconds, hitting Kole Heckondorf for the winning 27-yard touchdown pass in the 41-38 victory.
But the 2007 Bearkats showed Sam Houston could compete toe-to-toe with the Bison in in Fargodome.
Bomar completed 36-of-61 passes for 358 yards and four touchdowns in the game. He added 103 yards on the ground. The Kats out-gained North Dakota State 496 to 414 in total offense.
“North Dakota State had a lot of good athletes and it was a hostile environment, but we kept coming at them,” Bomar said after the contest.
Flash forward to 2014 and first-year Sam Houston head coach K. C. Keeler says his 11-4 Bearkats are looking forward to the challenge of playing in the Fargodome.
“The kids excited about opportunity,” Keeler said. “The fans at the Fargodome are passionate and, with Sam Houston's history with North Dakota State, they know a lot about us. We're a hand signal team. We don't verbalize anything so it shouldn't be a major transition.”
Keeler, who is making his 11th appearance as a head coach in an NCAA post-season final four game, has had past experience playing against a top-ranked team in a noisy indoor arena.
“At Delaware in 2007, when Joe Flacco was our quarterback, we went to play Northern Iowa, the number one team in the country, at their place,” Keeler said. “I remember how loud that was. You can't simulate it in practice or explain to the kids how loud it is. But we won to advance to the national championship game.
“This week we've tried to make sure the kids know they aren't going to be able to verbalize anything. We're looking forward to a great game.”
Unseeded coming into the playoffs, Sam Houston already has knocked off three FCS top 10 teams in post-season play. The Kats defeated No. 9 Southeastern Louisiana 21-17 in Huntsville then went on the road to defeat No. 3 Jacksonville State 37-26 and No. 5 Villanova 34-31.
“Including our final regular season game against Central Arkansas to earn the Southland title, we've been behind in each of the last four victories,” Keeler said. “The kids have shown a lot of character to fight back each time.”
Kickoff Friday is at 7:10 p.m. The game will be telecast live on ESPN2. KSAM 101.7 FM will broadcast the contest on radio in the Walker County area
