Sam Houston vs. Texas Tech Game Notes
9/1/2015 8:40:00 AM | Football
10OTH SEASON
Sam Houston begins its 100th season of football Saturday at Lubbock on the same day the Bearkats' opponent, Texas Tech, plays its 1,000th football game.
Since the university's first game on Oct. 6, 1912, versus Rice, Sam Houston has played 979 games, appearing in contests not only in Texas but traveling to 21 other states covering all four corners of the country from Arizona to Pennsylvania, Washington to Florida.
The Bearkats have competed and won championships in four leagues - the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Lone Star Conference, Gulf Star Conference and Southland Conference.
FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST TELECAST
Fox Sports Southwest will telecast Saturday's game. The announcers are Mike Morgan (play-by-play), Gary Reasons (analyst) and Steffi Sorensen (sidelines).
Since the 2011 season, Sam Houston football games have been televised 39 times regionally and/or nationally. The Bearkats are 25-14 in those telecasts.
Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkinson and will call the game locally on KSAM 101.7 FM. The broadcast also will be streamed live on the internet at www.gobearkats.com .
FBS OPPONENTS
Saturday marks Sam Houston's 30th game against an FBS opponent since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA Division I level as an FCS competitor in 1986.
The Bearkats are playing Texas Tech for the second time. The Red Raiders defated Sam Houston 80-21 at Jones AT&T Stadium on September 17, 2005 in Lubbock.
Sam Houston's victories over FBS opponents came over Louisiana-Lafayette (21-14 in 2000), Louisiana-Monroe (20-9 in 2001) and New Mexico (48-45 in overtime in 2011). Both the 2001 and 2011 Bearkats followed up the FBS victories by winning the Southland Conference championship.
Last year's crowd of 100,330, the first contest at LSU's enlarged Tiger Stadium, is the largest ever to watch the Kats play football.
SAM HOUSTON BULLET POINTS
• Sam Houston leads all Texas Division I football teams in victories during the last four seasons (since 2011). The Kats have won 45 games followed by Baylor 40; TCU, Houston & Texas A&M 34; Texas 31; Rice 26; Texas Tech 25; Texas State & UTSA 23; SFA & North Texas 22; SMU & Lamar 21.
• 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).
• With three FCS Playoff final four finishes in the four consecutive NCAA playoff trips including National Championship appearances in 2011 and 2012, Sam Houston stands behind only four-time FCS champion North Dakota State among the subdivision's premier programs.
• The Bearkats have won 26 of their last 31 Southland Conference games in the last four years.
• K. C. Keeler is the only head football coach to take three different programs to the final four of the NCAA playoffs. Standing 33-11 in post-season games (14-4 in FCS playoffs), he holds the highest number of playoff wins by any current FCS head coach.
• The Kats' 45 returning lettermen have combined to total 378 starts. Nine starters return on offense, 10 on defense and both specialists are back.
• The 2014 Bearkats rank as only the ninth team in FCS history to surpass 7,000 yards total offense in a season. The offense record Sam Houston's second highest season rushing total (3,866 yards) and third best passing total (3,287 yards).
• Sam Houston returns 5,830 yards of total offense (2,543 rushing, 3,287 passing) including players who had a hand in 45 touchdowns.
• Quarterback Jared Johnson set a Sam Houston record for most yards passing by a sophomore with 3,054 yards for 21 touchdowns. Johnson also rushed for 999 yards and six scores to post 4,053 yards total offense (the second highest season total in Bearkat history)
• Offensive tackle Donald Jackson III has earned first team All-Southland honors two years in a row and was selected to three FCS All-America squads (including the AP team) in 2014
• P. J. Hall, the Southland's “Freshman of the Year” in 2014, was the highest ranked defensive player in the voting for last year's Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman of the Year). He finished third. Hall totaled 29 tackles for loss, one short of the school season record
• Cornerback Trenier Orr joined Hall as a first team All-Southland Conference defender in 2014. Orr was co-leader for the team with four interceptions including a 55-yard touchdown at Eastern Washington.
• Junior linebacker Myke Chatman was a second-team All-Southland honoree after ranked third on the team in tackles with 95 stops.
• Linemen Mouf Adebo and Jacobi Hunter and cornerback Mikel Everette were honorable mention All-Southland selections last year.
• Australian punter Lachlan Edwards earned FCS All-America and All-Southland Conference honors after leading the league and ranking No. 6 nationally with a 44.4 average.
• Luc Swimberghe earned FCS All-America and All-Southland honors as the Bearkats' kicker. In two years the junior stands as No. 2 in Sam Houston annals in career PATs (140) and third in kick scoring (218 points).
• Donavan Williams, Jalen Overstreet and Ridgeway Frank all return as running backs and are joined by Kansas transfer Cory Avery to give the Bearkats a talented and deep ground attack.
BEARKATS ARE SOUTHLAND PRESEASON FAVORITES
Sam Houston is the pick of the Southland Conference head football coaches to repeat as league champions. The Bearkats received eight first-place votes and 98 points total in the coaches' poll. Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State and Central Arkansas each received one of the remaining three first place votes.
Southeastern Louisiana is second in the poll, receiving 86 points. McNeese State was voted third followed by Stephen F. Austin, Northwestern State, Central Arkansas, Abilene Christian, Lamar, Incarnate Word, Nicholls and Houston Baptist.
Sam Houston leads the Southland Conference with 13 players on the 2015 preseason football All-Conference squad. Sevens Bearkats were named as all-league first team and six were on the second team. The preseason all-conference squad is selected by vote of the Southland's head coaches.
Freshman of the year P. J. Hall highlights a talented list of 20 defensive players and 14 offensive players who return from last season's all-conference squads. Joining Hall as first-team preseason all-conference are junior quarterback Jared Johnson, senior offensive lineman Donald Jackson III, junior placekicker Luc Swimberghe, junior linebacker Myke Chatman, senior defensive back Trenier Orr and senior punter Lachlan Edwards.
Earning second-team honors were junior running back Jalen Overstreet, senior wide receiver LaDarius Brown, sophomore wide receiver Yedidiah Louis, junior offensive lineman Brandon DeWitt, junior defensive lineman Mouf Abedo and senior defensive back Mikell Everette.
LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN
In a story book season, the 2014 Sam Houston football coaching staff and players never lost faith in themselves as the Bearkats bounced back from a 1-3 start to reach the NCAA FCS playoff final four and earn another Southland Conference championship.
The Kats finished the season with an 11-5 record, a victory total previous SHSU teams have equaled or bettered only twice in 99 years of Bearkat football.
Along the way, Sam Houston rolled up five wins over FCS top 25 teams. Three came in the playoffs over No. 3 Jacksonville State, No. 5 Villanova and No. 9 Southeastern Louisiana. The Bearkats also defeated McNeese when the Cowboys were No. 4 on Oct. 11 and No. 23 SFA Nov. 1 at the 89th “Battle of the Piney Woods” at NRG Stadium, the home of the NFL Houston Texans.
The 34-31 road victory at Villanova advanced to the FCS semifinals for the third time in four years and the fourth time in program history. With the 2014 FCS appearances, Sam Houston became only the second team in Southland Conference history to earn four consecutive playoff berths.
Sam Houston now holds the Southland Conference's top FCS playoff record with a 13-8 mark in postseason play. Five of Sam Houston's 13 playoff wins have come on the road.
Sam Houston's eight-game winning streak going into the semifinals stands as the longest since a 16-game string from the close of the 2010 season to the National Championship Game in Frisco at the end of the 2011 campaign.
Five Bearkats were selected to FCS All-America squads. Donald Jackson III was named to the Associated Press, BeyondSportsNetwork and CollegeSportsMadness teams. Hall was selected to both the Sports Network and BeyondSportsNetwork squads. Derreck Edwards was a Sports Network selection. Trenier Orr and Luc Swimberghe were picked on the BeyondSportsNetwork honor team.
