Sam Houston vs. Northwestern State Game Notes
11/11/2015 6:04:00 AM | Football
38TH MEETING OF THE BEARKATS & THE DEMONS
Sam Houston and Northwestern State meet for the 38th time Saturday. The Demons hold a 20-17 edge in the series. The Bearkats are 12-5 against Northwestern State in Huntsville. The Demons handed Sam Houston its only loss (31-27 in Natchitoches) in the Kats' 2014 Southland Conference championship campaign.
The Bearkats hold a 12-5 edge over the Demons in games played in Huntsville. Sam Houston won 44-10 in 2013, 43-17 in 2011 and 34-30 in 2009 in the last three meetings between the two teams at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m.
GAME ON ESPN3
Randy McIlvoy (play-by-play) and Shea Walker (analyst) will call Saturday's game on ESPN3. The telecast may be seen on ESPN College Extra, DirecTV 789, AT&T Uverse 615 and Verizon Flos 322. Additional coverage is available via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
RADIO
Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkinson broadcast the game on KSAM 101.7 FM in the Walker County area.
LETTERWINNERS DAY
Saturday's final regular season home football game at Sam Houston's Elliott T. Bowers Stadium is “Letterwinners' Day” with former Bearkats from all 17 sports being honored
Former letterwinners who return for the football game will receive a free up-grade to a chair back seat with their Letterwinners Pass. Additional chair back seats may be purchased for guests at $15 per seat. Letterwinners must present their Sam Houston letterwinners pass to receive the complimentary update and to purchase guest tickets.
A highlight of the weekend will be the annual Hall of Honor dinner on Friday night at the Lowman Student Center, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Roshunda Betts (track and field), Wayne Daigle (softball), Jennie Sewell (track and field) and Shayla Teague (basketball) are this year's inductees for the Sam Houston Women's Letter Association Hall of Honor. Billy Anderson (football), Donald Cole (basketball), Ron Randleman (football) and Trey Woods (football) join Randleman as the inductees for the Sam Houston Lettermen's Association Hall of Honor.
SENIOR DAY
Sam Houston State University's 25 senior football players will be honored Saturday in a special pre-game ceremony at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium The Bearkat's seniors are Eric Agbaroji, Dedrick Brooks, LaDarius Brown, Roclan Drain, Tristan Eche, Lachlan Edwards, Mikell Everette, Ridgeway Frank, Steven Hicks, Kiel Heidman , Josh Hunt, Donald Jackson III, Kevin Jackson, Braeden King, Don King, Josh Lyons, Andre Moseley, Chance Nelson, Trenier Orr, Contereze Pierce, Josh Reynolds, Beau Smith, Zach Stevens, Gerald Thomas and Stephen Williams.
QUARTERBACK CLIMBS IN THE RECORD BOOK
Junior quarterback Jared Johnson continues to climb in the Bearkat football record book.
The South Grand Prairie product has passed All-American Dustin Long from Sam Houston's 2004 championship squad in career passing. Johnson now ranks fourth with 4,758 yards. Brian Bell set the school career passing mark of 8,655 yards in 2010 through 2013.
Johnson now ranks second in career total offense, passing Rhett Bomar this week. Johnson's mark of 6,282 yards now stands behind only Bell's 10,184 yards.
Averaging 180.2 yards per game passing, Johnson ranks second in the Southland Conference. He is third in total offense with a 223.9 per game mark. Nationally Johnson is 19th in FCS passing efficiency (147.2) and 31st in completion percentage (.612).
Johnson earned league offensive “player of the week” honors for the second time in his career after tying a Sam Houston school record with five TD passes in a 49-21 victory at Abilene Christian. He ranks second in the Southland in passing yards (177.8).
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).
P. J. HALL CONTINUES DEFENSIVE SUCCESS
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,” is making his presence known with a string of impressive performances in the last four weeks.
Hall now stands as Sam Houston's tackle leader this season with 41 stops including 11 tackles for losses of 43 yards. He also leads the team with six quarterback sacks for 26 yards. His stats include an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal.
Only in his second season as a Bearkat, Hall has tied All-American Michael Bankston for second place in Sam Houston career tackles for losses with 41. Bankston, who played in the NFL for the Cardinals, racked up his 41 TFLs from 1988 to 1991.
Hall stands one sack behind Bankston in third place with 18 in his career. Andre Finley, who earned All-Southland honors in 1986-89, holds both career marks with 49 tackles for losses and 36 quarterback sacks.
Last year Hall totaled 30 tackles for losses, one short of the school record. He also tied the school mark for blocked kicks in a single season (5).
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STATISTICS LEADERS
As a team, Sam Houston leads the Southland in scoring offense (42.3), passing offense (279.7), total offense (530.4), pass efficiency (147.5), points after touchdowns (50) and first downs (27.1)
Quarterback Jared Johnson ranks second in passing yards per game (180.2), third in total offense (223.9) and fifth in pass efficiency (153.7)
LaDarius Brown is second in the league in receiving yards per game (68.1). Gerald Thomas (58.3) and Yedidiah Louis (54.5) stand seventh and eighth, respectively. Louis is ranked eighth in pass receptions per game (4.6).
CONSECUTIVE 100-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES
A Sam Houston running back has carried for more than 100 yards in each of the past three Bearkat games. Sophomore Cory Avery carried 24 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over A&M-Commerce two weeks ago and 22 times for 107 yards at McNeese last week.
Avery is a transfer from Kansas where he rushed for 631 yards and five TDs as a freshman last year. Sam Houston rankes No. 10 in the nation and No. 2 in the Southland Conference with 259.6 yards on the ground each game.
Jalen Overstreet became the 35th member of Sam Houston's 1,000-yard career rushing club with a career best 28 carries for 202 yards in the 37-7 win over Nicholls. He just missed a second century mark with 23 carries for 99 yards and a score versus A&M-Commerce.
In his 24 games as a Bearkat since transferring to the Huntsville campus from the University of Texas in Austin, the Tatum High School product has rushed for 1,296 yards.
WIDE RECEIVERS MOVING UP CAREER LADDER
Three wide receivers are piling up impressive career totals in the Sam Houston record book.
LaDarius Brown is No. 2 in the Southland in receiving yards per game (68.1 average). The senior has 34 catches for 545 yards and five scores this fall. Brown has climbed to No. 14 in Sam Houston career receiving annals with 1,352 yards. His standout performances this season include four catches for 115 yards and a pair of 35-yard touchdowns in the victory over UIW and six grabs for 108 yards including a 64-yard score at ACU.
Sophomore Yedidiah Louis stands No. 18 in the all-time standings with 1,352 career yards. Louis is No. 4 in the league in receiving yards per game (62.3 average). 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.
Gerald Thomas moved up to the No. 21 spot in the 1,000-yard receiving club with a total of 1,179 yards. His 164 yards on eight receptions in the HBU victory included an 86-yard touchdown, the ninth longest passing play in Kat annals. The senior ranks No. 6 in Southland Conference receiving yards per game (57.4). Thomas is a transfer from the University of Colorado. Thomas made 18 receptions for 171 yards as a true freshman at Colorado in 2012.
OTHER NOTES FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
• Sam Houston leads all Texas Division I football teams in victories during the last four seasons (since 2011). The Kats have won 51 games followed by Baylor 48; Houston 43; TCU 42; Texas A&M 39; Texas 34; Texas Tech and Rice 30; Texas State and SFA 25; UTSA and Lamar 24.
• The Bearkat offense ranks No. 2 nationally in total yards (530.4) and first downs (244), No. 5 in scoring (42.3), No. 9 in third down conversion percentage (.480), No. 10 in rushing (250.8) and No. 17 in both passing yardage (279.7) and efficiency (147.5)
• 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 43.44 yards per punt.
• Four of Sam Houston's all-time top single game total offense performances have come in the past two seasons: i 823 yards vs. HBU in 2014, 709 this year against the Huskies, 685 in the 2014 home opener against Alabama State and 637 yards in the 2015 in Lubbock against Texas Tech.
