Kats vs. Thunderwolves Football Game Notes
9/11/2014 8:45:00 AM | Football
NCAA DIVISION II POWER VISITS BOWERS FOR 2014 BEARKAT FAMILY WEEKEND
Three-time Rocky Mountain Conference champion Colorado State-Pueblo visits Elliott T. Bowers Stadium Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for Sam Houston's 28th Bearkat Family Weekend game.
The Thunderwolves have been an NCAA Division II playoff participant in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Colorado State-Pueblo currently is ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II.
Last year, the Thunderwolves rolled 11-0 through the regular season before falling to Grand Valley State in the opening round of the playoffs. Sixteen starters return from that squad.
SAM HOUSTON ON BEARKAT FAMILY WEEKEND
Sam Houston owns a 24-4 record in Bearkat Family Weekend contests. The event started in 1984 and has been played annually (except in 2005 and 2008 when the games were canceled due to Hurricanes Rita and Ike, respectively). The Kats have won six straight Family Weekend games since losing to McNeese State in 2006.
LONGEST CURRENT FCS HOME WINNING STREAK
The Kats own a 23-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 streak stands as the 11th longest in FCS history. A victory Saturday moves the Kats into a tie for 10th with Montana (24). 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 103-42-1 record at Bowers. Sam Houston has posted unbeaten seasons at home in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
SAM HOUSTON BRINGS NO. 9 FCS OFFENSE TO SATURDAY'S GAME
The Bearkats rank No. 9 in FCS total offense with 477.7 yards per game. The Bearkats stand No. 10 nationally in passing with 289.7 yards per game.
TWO-TIME NATIONAL FINALISTS OWN THREE-YEAR PLAYOFF RUN
Sam Houston is one of only three teams to earn FCS post-season playoff berths each of the past three seasons (joining North Dakota State and New Hampshire). The Bearkats reached the Championship Game in Frisco with playoff runs in both 2011 and 2012. Last year, the Kats lost by one point to Southeastern Louisiana in the second round of the playoffs.
BEARKATS IN THE NATIONAL FCS RANKINGS
The Kats' rankings of No. 15 in the NCAA Coaches Poll and No. 15 in The Sports Network standings mark the 42nd consecutive poll for the Bearkats to be in the FCS Top 25. In 2011, after a three-year drought, SHSU cracked the Top 25 again on Sept. 9 and have held a spot in the poll ever since, rising as high as No. 1 at the end of an 11-0, 2011 regular season.
SAM HOUSTON VERSUS NCAA DIVISION II
Since moving up to the FCS level, Sam Houston owns a 14-4 record in non-conference action against NCAA Division II teams. The four losses were to A&M-Kingsville (1996, 1998), Angelo State (1997) and Tarleton State (2003).
KEY FIGURES IN BEARKAT OFFENSE
Sophomore Jared Johnson earned the starting role as SHSU's quarterback during preseason camp. Johnson was the back-up to All-Southland Conference quarterback Brian Bell last year. Bell finished his career as Sam Houston's all-time passing and total offense leader in 2013. Johnson is averaging 281.7 passing yards per game with five TD passes.
Senior Keshawn Hill is a preseason All-Southland selection at running back. The back-up to All-America Timothy Flanders the past two seasons, Hill has carried 37 times for 193 yards and two scores. His 79-yard TD run at Eastern Washington is his longest career rush. Hill ranks No. 17 in SHSU career all-purpose yards (2,272) and No. 24 in career rushing (1,589 yards).
Transfers Jalen Overstreet from Texas and Donavan Williams from ASA College have bolstered the running game. Williams has carried 24 times for 128 yards and a TD. Overstreet has gained 100 yards on 16 carries.
The Kats also feature a talented receiving corps. Redshirt freshman Yedidiah Louis has 17 catches for 206 yards including a 48-yard catch-and-run at LSU. LaDarius Brown, a transfer from TCU, has 10 catches for 126 yards.
Sam Houston's tight ends can be factors in both the running and passing games with their size and mobility. Shane Young caught three passes at EWU including one for a touchdown. Donald Jackson III, Zachary Stevens and Brandon DeWitt all were starters in the offensive line last year. Young and Jackson both are preseason All-Southland selections. DeWitt was a freshman All-America selection in 2013.
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
Only three starters return on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. However 19 players who played in reserve roles plus several top newcomers have stepped in for the Bearkats.
Safety Michael Wade is a preseason All-Southland selection after an outstanding junior season. Wade is the team's top returning tackler with 105 stops and two interceptions last year. He leads the squad through three games this year with 18 stops.
The other two returning starters are senior safety Desmond Fite and defensive tackle Sione Latu. Fite totaled 63 tackles in 2013. Latu posted 30 stops including five tackles for losses.
Gary Lorance, a 6-0, 285-pound defensive tackle who anchored the line for the 2011 and 2012 championship teams, returns after missing last season with an injury. He earned All-Southland honors as a sophomore and junior and is a 2014 preseason second team selection.
Mouf Adebo, a sophomore defensive end, earned freshman All-America mention last year. He led the Kats in tackles for losses with 11. Defensive lineman P. J. Hall has been hampered by a broken hand but is playing an important role up front.
Junior Tristan Eche and sophomore Myke Chatman are the Kat's linebackers. Eche has 16 stops including three for losses. Chatman has 14 tackles. Both own a sack.
Transfer cornerback Trenier Orr from Cincinnati returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown in the Eastern Washington game and stands fourth on the squad in tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS CAN BE A BEARKAT STRENGTH THIS FALL
Australian punter Lachlan Edwards ranks second in the Southland Conference with a 43.5 punting average on 22 boots in three games. He has five punts of 50 or more yards. Seven of his punts have been fair caught.
All-Southland Conference kicker Luc Swimberghe kicked field goals of 30, 32 and 38 yards in the Alabama State victory. The sophomore was the team's leading scorer with 97 points last year. Trent Williams returns as Sam Houston's deep snaps specialist.
PLENTY OF NEW FACES ON THE 2014 BEARKAT FOOTBALL SQUAD
In Sam Houston's season opener at Eastern Washington, there were 18 players in the starting lineup who did not start in the spring game. Only seven starters return from the 2013 team.
Sixty-one of the members of the 95-player roster in preseason camp were returning players from the 2013 playoff squad. That number included 44 returning lettermen, 12 red-shirt freshmen and five squadmen. Thirteen true freshman who signed in February also were present.
Eleven transfers from FBS programs have joined the team including LaDarius Brown (WR-TCU), Derrick Edwards (WR-Texas Tech), Kiante' Griffin (LB-Baylor), Josh Hunt (LB-Wake Forest), Jacobi Hunter (DT-California), Dwight Jackson (DE-Cincinnati), Jarrell Oliver (RB-Utah), Trenier Orr (CB-Cincinnati), Jalen Overstreet (RB-Texas), Ernest Payton (CB-Missouri) and Xavier Smith (CB-Missouri).
