SamHouston versus Colgate Game Notes
12/9/2015 8:15:00 AM | Football
PARKING INFORMATION FOR SATURDAY
For the fourth time in the past five seasons and the sixth time overall in Sam Houston's NCAA Division I Football Championships history, the Bearkats are in the FCS quarterfinals.
Sam Houston will play host to Patriot League champion Colgate at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Kats own a 4-1 record in their quarterfinal appearances, losing at Montana in 2001, winning on the road at Eastern Washington (2004), Montana State (2012) and Villanova (2014) and defeating Montana State in their only home quarterfinal contest (2011).
After a pair of come-from-behind victories in the 2015 playoffs, the Bearkats now stand 15-8 all-time in FCS post-season play (the best record among Southland Conference teams). Sam Houston has advanced to the national championship game twice (2011 and 2012) and the semi-finals three of the last four years.
Sam Houston, North Dakota State and New Hampshire stand as the only three teams to participate in each of the past five FCS playoffs.
This year marks Sam Houston's ninth post-season playoff appearance (1986, 1991, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015).
PLAYOFF VICTORY IN McNEESE REMATCH
For the second week in a row, sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe came off the bench to lead the Bearkats to victory. Briscoe passed for 211 yards and a score in a 42-39 opening round victory over Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds led by 13 points in the third quarter.
With the Kats trailing by 10 points early in the second period Saturday at McNeese, Briscoe threw for 313 yards and three scores in a 34-29 Bearkat win. The victory occurred exactly four weeks after previously unbeaten McNeese State defeated Sam Houston 27-10 in Lake Charles to clinch the Southland Conference title.
NUMBER ONE OFFENSE IN FCS
The Bearkats rank No. 1 nationally in total offense (543.3) and first downs (362), third in scoring (42.9), ninth in rushing offense (263.7), 11th in third down conversions (.463), 13th in passing offense (279.6) and16th in punt returns (12.80)
NORTH DAKOTA STATE & SAM HOUSTON DOMINATE FCS SINCE 2011
Four-time defending national champion North Dakota State and two-time national finalist Sam Houston sport the best records in the past five NCAA Division I Football National Championship playoffs. The Bison own a 17-0 post-season record during the past five seasons while the Bearkats stand 12-4. New Hampshire, the only other program to compete in each of the last five FCS playoff events stands 5-5 since 2011.
TEXAS' WINNINGEST DIVISION I TEAM SINCE 2011
Sam Houston leads all Texas Division I football teams in victories during the last five seasons (since 2011). The Kats have won 55 games followed by Baylor 49; Houston 46; TCU 44; Texas A&M 42 Texas 36; Texas Tech 32; Rice 31 and Lamar 27.
OPENING ROUND VICTORY OVER T-BIRDS
With two running backs, the starting quarterback and two offensive tackles sidelined and having seen a 14-point lead turn into a 13-point deficit, Sam Houston turned to its reserve players to power the Bearkats to the game's last 16 points in a 42-39 FCS playoff opening round victory over No. 16 Southern Utah (the Big Sky Conference champion) Saturday, Nov. 28, in Huntsville.
Jeremiah Briscoe took over on the final series of the second quarter to pass for 211 yards including a 55-yard pass to Yedidiah Louis for the game's winning tally with 3:44 left to play.
Ridgeway Frank (a sixth-year senior) and Remus Bulmer (a freshman) came off the bench to mark only the tenth time in Sam Houston's 100 seasons of football two backs rushed for 100 or more yards in the same game. Frank carried 29 times for 137 yards including two scores. Bulmer added 111 yards on 16 carries.
With Sam Houston leading 19-12, Southern Utah scored four consecutive touchdowns to take a 39-26 lead just two minutes into the third quarter. Frank's one-yard touchdown with seven minutes left in the third and a safety on a tackle by Adrian Conteras with 8:36 left in the game accounted for the other points in the Bearkat comeback.
All-Southland defensive end P. J. Hall was a beast on defense chalking up four tackles for losses including a quarterback sack, blocking two extra point attempts and intercepting a pass. One of the blocked PATs was returned for a defensive two-point conversion by Alfonzo McMillian (only the third such plays in Bearkat annals).
BEARKAT PLAYOFF RECORDS FALL
Sam Houston NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff records continue to fall.
P. J. Hall, sophomore defensive end, now holds three Bearkat post-season records. His two PAT blocks in this year's Southern Utah victory stand a playoff record. His two sacks at McNeese ties the school playoff mark. Hall also holds the career record for playoff tackles for loss with 17 in six games the past two seasons.
Kicker Tre Hohnstein's 47-yard field goal in Lake Charles Saturday is both a career best and a Sam Houston NCAA post-season mark. Gerald Thomas' 31-yard punt return against Southern Utah was a playoff record.
LaDarius Brown and Yedidiah Louis stand as the program's two top individuals in pass receiving. Brown is the career leader in pass receiving yards with 23 catches for 492 yards. Louis owns the school mark in post-season play with 31 catches for 387 yards. Brown's five TD receptions (which include catches of 66 yards vs. Villanova last year and 54 yards at McNeese) is the school mark. The pair (along with Chance Nelson and Jason Mathenia) are tied for the SHSU record for most TD catches in one game with two. Brown caught a pair of scoring throws at both Jacksonville State and Villanova last year. Louis had TD catches of 22 and 28 yards at McNeese.
SOUTHLAND OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Junior quarterback Jared Johnson is the 2015 Southland Conference “Offensive Player of the Year.” The first team all-league quarterback is the fourth Bearkat to earn the award in Sam Houston's 29 years in the league. Previous Kats to be voted the award include quarterback Chris Chaloupka (1999), running back D. D. Terry (2006) and wide receiver/ Wild Kat Richard Sincere (2011).
The South Grand Prairie product ranks second in Sam Houston career total offense (6,942 yards), third in all-time passing (5,342) and 24th in career rushing (1,600). This season Johnson as thrown for 2,206 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 469 yards and five more scores.
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).
TWO QUARTERBACK SYSTEM
Since preseason camp, Sam Houston has featured a two-quarterback system in which both junior starter Jared Johnson and sophomore Jeremiah Briscoe have shared time with the first unit.
Johnson has been the starter in all but the Incarnate Word game, but Briscoe (a transfer from UAB) has used his strong passing arm in 10 games, throwing for 1,395 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.
Briscoe has thrown for more than 100 yards in seven games. He has come off the bench to lead the team from behind to both playoff victories with 211 yards and a score versus Southern Utah and 313 yards and three touchdowns at McNeese State. Often the pair have alternated plays during the same drive. Briscoe passed for 361 yards and three TDs in six games as a red-shirt freshman at UAB in 2014 before the university dropped the football program.
SOUTHLAND OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR
Donald Jackson III, a three-time all-conference selection as an offensive tackle, is the 2015 Southland Conference “Offensive Lineman of the Year.”
A starter in each game this year, Jackson has been a key part of a Sam Houston offense that ranks number two nationally in total offense. The senior from Kilgore, Texas, is a four-year starter for the Bearkats and earned All-America honors last year.
ALL SOUTHLAND BEARKATS
Special award winners Donald Jackson III and Jared Johnson are two of Sam Houston's five first-team all-league honorees. Also voted to the first team are running back Corey Avery from Dallas, defensive end P. J. Hall of Seguin and cornerback Trenier Orr from Orlando, Florida.
Second team selections from Sam Houston include wide receivers Gerald Thomas from The Colony and Yedidiah Louis from New Orleans, La.; cornerback Mikell Everette from Kent, Washington and punter Lachlan Edwards from Hastings, Victoria in Australia. Louis also was named second team all-purpose player.
Honorable mention selections include linemen Zach Stevens and Bridge Blount, defensive linemen James DeLaRosa and Jacobi Hunter and linebacker Myke Chatman.
RUNNING BACKS OVER 100 FOR SEVEN STRAIGHT GAMES
A Sam Houston running back has carried for more than 100 yards in each of the past seven games. Sophomore Corey Avery accounted for five of those performances with 30 carries for 147 yards and a score at McNeese, 13 carries for 109 yards at UCA, 197 yards on 15 carries including TD runs of 78 and 27 yards versus Northwestern State. 24 carries for 125 yards and three touchdowns against A&M-Commerce and 22 rushes for 107 yards at McNeese. His season total of 1,205 yards on 155 carries leads Southland Conference rushers. That total marks the 12th time in 100 seasons of SHSU football a running back has posted more than 1,000 rushing yards. Avery is a transfer from Kansas where he rushed for 631 yards and five TDs as a freshman last year.
Sixth-year senior Ridgeway Frank and freshman Remus Bulmer became the 10th backfield duo to post 100-yard rushing performances in the same game Saturday in the win over Southern Utah.. Frank rushed 29 times for 137 yards while Bulmer added 111 yards on 16 carries.
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. Since transferring from Texas, the Tatum High School product has rushed for 1,482 yards to rank 29th in SHSU rushing.
HALL IN TOP 15 FOR NATIONAL AWARD
Sophomore P. J. Hall was 15th in the STATS FCS “Defensive Player of the Year” voting this fall. In 2014 he was Southland Conference “Freshman of the Year” and third place finisher in STATS FCS “Freshman of the Year” voting. Hall has made his presence known with a string of impressive performances during the second half of the season. He has recorded an interception, fumble recovery, sack, kick block or tackle for loss in each of the last seven games.
Hall is the Bearkats' leader in total tackles (58 with 39 solo stops), tackles for loss (20 for 82 yards), sacks (10 for 56 yards) and blocked kicks (4). He also has two interceptions, 10 pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and a caused fumble to his credit.
Only in his second season, Hall now holds the SHSU career mark (50) for tackles for losses and is second in career sacks with 22. Andre Finley, who earned All-Southland honors in 1986-89, holds the mark for sacks with 36.
OTHER BEARKAT DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Other big names in the Sam Houston defense this year include junior linebacker Myke Chatman (54 tackles, eight for loss), cornerback Adrian Contreras (53 tackles and a safety), linebacker A. J. Davis (53 stops with two sacks) and Mikell Everette (team leader in interceptions with three).
Sam Houston has totaled 107 tackles for 321 yards in losses in 13 games. The Bearkats have created 29 turnovers with 17 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries. The defensive unit also has picked up a pair of safeties and had a defensive two point conversion after a blocked extra point.
The defense has provided points on three interceptions for touchdown with cornerback Darion Flowers' 90-yard return at McNeese, linebacker Collins Okotcha's 60-yard run-back versus Incarnate Word and Tyrel Stokes' 25-yard return against Houston Baptist.
In 13 games this year, the defense has forced 59 three-and-out series ending with a punt.
SAM HOUSTON'S WIDE RECEIVERS
Three wide receivers are piling up impressive career totals in the Sam Houston record book.
Yedidiah Louis stands No. 10 in the all-time standings with 1,575 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.
LaDarius Brown has climbed to No. 12 in Sam Houston career receiving annals with 1,549 yards. The TCU transfer's standout performances this season include four catches for 115 yards and a pair of 35-yard touchdowns in the victory over Incarnate Word and six grabs for 108 yards including a 64-yard score at Abilene Christian.
Gerald Thomas moved up to the No. 13 spot in the career receiving club with 1,479 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.
