Sam Houston vs. Abilene Christian Game Notes
10/14/2015 10:23:00 AM | Football
QUICK NOTES
• The last time Sam Houston played football in Abilene, Texas, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States. The Bearkats won 10-6 over Abilene Christian on Nov. 3, 1984 in the pair's final meeting as Lone Star Conference rivals. The all-time series was renewed last year in Huntsville with Sam Houston winning 38-21. The Wildcats lead the series 12 victories to eight. During their Lone Star Conference rivalry, ACU won five of the eight games the pair played in Abilene.
• Sam Houston leads all Texas Division I football teams in victories during the last four seasons (since 2011). The Kats have won 48 games followed by Baylor 45; Texas A&M , TCU and Houston 39; Texas 33; Texas Tech and Rice 29, Lamar, Texas State and UTSA 24 and SFA 23.
• The Bearkat offense ranks No. 1 in the nation in scoring (49.4 points per game) and No. 2 in FCS in total offense (590.0 yards a contest). James Madison is the only squad with more yardage (614.5). The Kats also stand No. 5 nationally in passing offense (341.2) and No. 11 in rushing (248.8).
• After starting the year with losses to Texas Tech (59-45) and Lamar (49-46), Sam Houston owns a three-game winning streak. The Bearkats have outscored their last three foes 156 to 49.
• The Bearkats trailed at half in three of their first four games (31-42 at Texas Tech, 14-31 vs. Lamar and 3-14 against SFA). Sam Houston has out-scored their opponents 119-52 in the final 30 minutes of their five games this year.
• The Bearkats are one of only three teams that have earned FCS playoff berths each of the last four years (the other two are North Dakota State and New Hampshire).
• Australian punter Lachlan Edwards earned FCS All-America and All-Southland Conference honors last year after leading the league and ranking No. 15 nationally with a 43.1 average. Edwards stands as Sam Houston's all-time punting leader with an average of 43.59 yards per punt.
• Two Kats have earned Southland “Player of the Week” honors in 2015. Running back Donavan Williams earned offensive honors after rushing for 99 yards and four touchdowns at Texas Tech. Only six other Sam Houston players have scored four or more touchdowns in one game. Gerald Thomas won the special teams award after the victory over Stephen F. Austin in Houston.
• With 12 catches for 103 yards and a TD at Texas Tech, wide receiver Davion Davis from Hutto totaled the most catches ever by a Kat freshman in one game. The total was one short of the school record of 13 catches held by Jason Mathenia and Torrance Williams.
• Four of Sam Houston's all-time top single game total offense performances have come in the past two seasons including 823 yards vs. HBU in 2014 and 709 this year against the Huskies. The Kats also totaled 685 yards of offense in their 2014 home opener against Alabama State and 637 yards in the 2015 contest in Lubbock against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
DUAL QUARTERBACKS LEADING FCS'S TOP SCORING OFFENSE
Junior Jared Johnson and sophomore Jeremiah Briscoe are sharing quarterback duties this season. Head coach K.C. Keeler normally likes to go with one signal-caller but feels the two QBs each bring something special to a Bearkat offense that ranks No. 1 in the nation in scoring.
Johnson started all 16 games during last year's championship campaign, setting a school record for the most yards passing by a sophomore (3,054) and the second highest single season total offense production in program history (4,053 yards). He now ranks No. 3 behind Brian Bell (2010-13) and Rhett Bomar (2007-08) in career total offense (5,348 yards).
Briscoe, a sophomore transfer from UAB, ranks No. 10 nationally and No. 2 in the Southland in completion percentage with a .660 mark. Johnson has completed 67 of 101 passes for 842 yards while Briscoe is 58 of 88 for 830 yards. Both have thrown six touchdown passes.
Johnson started the first four games. Briscoe got his first start in the Incarnate Word victory.
PUNT RETURN SUCCESS
Sam Houston special teams set a school record with 195 yards and two touchdowns on punt returns in the 34-28 victory over Stephen F. Austin Oct. 3. The Bearkats rank No. 19 nationally and No. 2 in the Southland in punt returns with an average of 15.53 yards per return. The Kats stand as one of only four FCS programs with two punt return scores this season.
DEFENSE'S BIG PLAYS SPARKING SCORING
Big plays by the Bearkat defensive have set up scoring sprees in two of the team's last three wins. Interceptions by Tyrel Stokes, Sammy Webb IV and Trenier Orr powered the team to a 28-0 third quarter on the way to a 63-14 victory over Houston Baptist. Midway through the second quarter the score was tied 14-14. Stokes returned his interception 25-yards for a score.
Sam Houston got a quick start in the 59-7 victory over Incarnate Word with three TDS in less than a two-minute span in the first quarter thanks to its defense. After a 66-yard Jared Johnson to Cory Avery scoring pass, interceptions by P. J. Hall and Mikell Everette set up short, quick scoring drives. In the second quarter, Collins Okotcha returned the Kats' third interception of the night for a 60-yard score. Sam Houston led at half 52-0.
RUNNING BACKS PILING UP YARDAGE
Senior running backs Donavan Williams and Jalen Overstreet, sophomore Cory Avery and freshman Remus Bulmer alternate in the Bearkat backfield. Each player is averaging more than 4.0 yards per carry and Williams, Avery and Overstreet all have scored multiple touchdowns.
Overstreet and Williams both came to Sam Houston last year as transfers (from Texas and ASA Junior College, respectively). The pair both are approaching membership in Sam Houston's 1,000-yard career rushing club (which now numbers 34). Overstreet has 968 career yards. Williams, who ranks No. 9 in FCS in scoring with 48 points on five TDs this fall, has totaled 899 yards.
Avery is a transfer from Kansas where he rushed for 631 yards and five TDs as a freshman last year. Bulmer rushed for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns at Ridge Point High School in Missouri City.
WIDE RECEIVERS CRACKING THE RECORD BOOKS
Three wide receivers are piling up impressive career totals in the Sam Houston record book.
Senior LaDarius Brown climbed to No. 19 in Sam Houston career receiving annals with four catches for 115 yards and a pair of 35-yard touchdowns in the victory over UIW. Brown, a transfer from TCU, has caught 68 passes for 1,189 yards and 11 scores in the past two seasons.Sophomore Yedidiah Louis stands No. 22 with 95 catches for 1,141 yards and two TDs. A New Orleans native who moved to the Dallas area after Hurricane Katrina, he walked on at Sam Houston after playing at Richardson Berkner High School.
Senior Gerald Thomas moved up to the No. 25 spot in the 1,000-yard receiving club with six catches for 63 yards versus UIW. His 164 yards on eight receptions in the HBU victory included an 86-yard touchdown, the ninth longest passing play in Kat annals. Thomas has caught 66 passes for 1,042 career yards and 10 scores since transferring from the University of Colorado. Thomas made 18 receptions for 171 yards as a true freshman at Colorado in 2012.
SAM HOUSTON BACK IN THE TOP 10
Sam Houston stands No. 9 in the STATS FCS media poll. Since Sept. 9, 2011, the Bearkats have been ranked among the top 25 FCS teams 55 times in 62 weekly polls (including 37 times in the top 10). Sam Houston was No. 1 in the nation in the final regular season poll of the 2011 season and stood No. 1 in the STATS rankings the Monday following the Kats' 59-45 loss to Texas Tech.
KICKING SPECIALIST SETS CAREER RECORD
Preseason FCS All-America and All-Southland selection Luc Swimberghe now is Sam Houston's leader in career successful point-after kicks. His eighth PAT in the 59-7 victory over Incarnate Word upped his three-year total to 172. The old record was 171 set by Miguel Antonio in 2010-12.
Swimberghe has other records in his sights. His 265 points on 31 career field goals and 172 PATs rank him No. 2 in Sam Houston kick scoring (behind Antonio's 324 points) and No. 3 in all-time Kat scoring (behind Timothy Flanders' 420 points). The junior ranks No. 5 in career field goals.
DEFENSIVE END P. J. HALL MAKING BIG PLAYS
Sophomore P. J. Hall, last year's Southland Conference “Defensive Player of the Year” and a third place finisher in the 2014 voting for the Jerry Rice award as FCS “Freshman of the Year,” has moved into sixth place in career tackles for losses (33) and eighth in Sam Houston's all-time sack standings (14). Last year Hall totaled 30 tackles for losses, one short of the school record. He also tied the school mark for blocked punts in a single season (5).
