Sam Houston-Central Arkansas Game Notes
11/18/2015 8:49:00 AM | Football
SAM HOUSTON VERSUS CENTRAL ARKANSAS NOTES
A probable berth in the 2015 FCS playoffs and the runner-up spot in the Southland Conference race are at stake when Sam Houston visits Central Arkansas Saturday in Conway.
The Bearkats join North Dakota State and New Hampshire as the only FCS programs to have earned playoff berths each of the past four seasons. The Kats must have a victory Saturday to keep that streak alive.
Should Sam Houston prevail and earn the FCS berth, the Bearkats would become only the second Southland Conference member to advance to the playoffs five consecutive seasons. McNeese State made five straight appearances from 1991 to 1995. The Cowboys equaled Sam Houston's feat of four straight playoff berths from 2000 to 2003.
The Bearkats and the Cowboys rank first and second in all-time playoff victories. Sam Houston owns a 13-8 record in FCS post-season play while McNeese is 11-15. Sam Houston has advanced to the national championship game twice (2011 and 2012) and the semi-finals three of the last four years. McNeese reached the FCS finals in 1997.
Sam Houston and Central Arkansas meet for the 10th time Saturday. The Bears hold a 5-4 edge in the series. The Bearkats have won only once in their four trips to Conway (in 2010 when freshman quarterback Brian Bell led the Kats to a 20-13 win).
Central Arkansas defeated Sam Houston 49-31 in a wild game in the Bearkats' most recent visit to Conway in 2013. The Bears jumped out to a 21-3 first quarter lead and were up 42-10 at intermission. Quarterback Brian Bell lead a second half rally that saw Sam Houston cut the Bears' margin to 42-31 with 14:04 to play.
With Sam Houston rated No. 10 in the STATS FCS poll and Central Arkansas No. 25 in the NCAA Coaches poll, Saturday's game marks the 38th time that the Bearkats and their foe have entered a game both ranked among the nation's top 25. SHSU is 19-18 in those games.
LAST YEAR'S GAME VERSUS THE BEARS
Keshawn Hill rushed for 242 yards including TD runs of 13 and 15 yards as Sam Houston earned its third Southland football championship in four years with a 38-31 over Central Arkansas on Nov. 22 last year in Huntsville.
With the score tied 21-21 late in the second quarter, a field goal block by P. J. Hall set up a 32-yard field goal by Luc Swimberghe to give the Kats a 24-21 lead seven seconds before halftime.
Sam Houston never trailed again, building a 38-21 lead in the third period. UCA struck back for 10 points to cut the margin to a touchdown with 3:03 to play. But the offense ran out the final minutes to clinch the title and raise a trophy.
QUARTERBACK CONTINUES MOVE UP IN RECORD BOOKS
Junior quarterback Jared Johnson continues to climb in the Bearkat football record book.
The South Grand Prairie product has climbed to third in Sam Houston career passing with 5,033 yards. He is 531 yards away from passing Rhett Bomar to move into second place. Brian Bell set the school career passing mark of 8,655 yards in 2010 through 2013.
Johnson now ranks second in career total offense with a mark of 6,591 yards. He now stands behind only Bell's 10,184 yards.
The junior quarterback ranks second in the Southland Conference with 189.7 yards per game in the air. He stands third in total offense (232.4) and pass efficiency (154.0)
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).
OFFENSIVE RECORDS
Five of Sam Houston's all-time top single game total offense performances have come in the past two seasons: 823 yards vs. HBU in 2014, 709 this year against the Huskies, 688 versus Northwestern State last Saturday, 685 in the 2014 home opener against Alabama State and 637 yards in the 2015 in Lubbock against Texas Tech.
The Bearkats also set a record for most first downs in one game (36) Saturday against the Demons
FOUR CONSECUTIVE 100-YARD RUSHING GAMES
A Sam Houston running back has carried for more than 100 yards in each of the past four Bearkat games. Sophomore Cory Avery accounted for three of those performances. Saturday, he produced the team's top individual total this season with 197 yards on 15 carries including TD runs of 78 and 27 yards. He also carried 24 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over A&M-Commerce and 22 times for 107 yards at McNeese.
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 25 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 1,369 yards.
P. J. HALL COMING ON STRONG
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 picked up another sack Saturday in the victory over Northwestern State. Only in his second season as a Bearkat, he ranks second in both career tackles for losses (42) and sacks (19).
Andre Finley, who earned All-Southland honors in 1986-89, holds both career marks with 49 tackles for losses and 36 quarterback sacks.
For the 2015 season, Hall stands as the team's leader in tackles with 45 stops. That includes 12 tackles for losses of 54 yards and seven quarterback sacks. He also has an interception, two pass break-ups, both a fumble force and recovery and a blocked kick.
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).
BIG PLAYS ON DEFENSE THIS SEASON
Darion Flowers returned an interception 90 yards for a first quarter touchdown at McNeese. The runback is the second longest in school history behind a 92-yard return for a score by Bookie Sneed in a 2012 victory over Stephen F. Austin in Houston. Paul Wenzel also has a 90-yard interception for a score in a 1968 Sam Houston game with Sul Ross.
Big plays by the Bearkat defense have set up scoring sprees in 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.
In the 37-7 win over Nicholls, a first quarter interception by Torian Williams set up a two-play, 20-yard scoring drive in a 23-0 opening period for the Kats. In the third quarter, a forced fumble and recovery by P. J. Hall sparked a two-play 15-yard drive that gave the Kats a 37-0 lead. Williams also set up a short TD drive vs. Northwestern State with a fumble recovery at the Demon 20-yard line.
In ten games this year, the defense has forced 47 three-and-out series ending with a punt. The turnovers caused by the Bearkat defense have resulted in 84 points.
The Sam Houston defense has posted 77 tackles for 238 yards in yards. That includes 19 quarterback sacks.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STAT RANKINGS
As a team, Sam Houston leads the Southland in scoring offense (44.0), passing offense (280.1), total offense (544.2), pass efficiency (149.5), points after touchdowns (58) and first downs (280)
Quarterback Jared Johnson ranks second in passing yards per game (189.7), third in total offense (232.4) and pass efficiency (150.1)
LaDarius Brown is second in the league in receiving yards per game (68.1) and fifth in catches per game (4.2). Yedidiah Louis stands sixth in receptions per game (4.1) and ranks ninth in receiving yards per contest (56.1). Gerald Thomas is ranked seventh in the league in receiving yards per game (59.9) and fifth in the Southland in punt return average (9.5).
Cory Avery is third in the Southland in rushing (87.2) and fourth all-purpose yards (105.9). Jalen Overstreet is the league's eighth-leading rusher with 71.1 yards per contest. Lachlan Edwards is the conference's fourth-ranked punter (41.8).
WIDE RECEIVERS ROLLING UP THE NUMBERS
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. 16 in the all-time standings with 1,308 career yards. 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. 18 spot in the 1,000-yard receiving club with a total of 1,253 yards. His 164 yards on eight receptions in the HBU victory included an 86-yard touchdown, the ninth longest passing play in Kat annals. Thomas is a transfer from the University of Colorado. Thomas made 18 receptions for 171 yards as a true freshman at Colorado in 2012.
SENIOR PUNTER ALL-TIME LEADER
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 43.05 yards per punt.
