Sam Houston vs. HBU Football Game Notes
9/23/2015 3:31:00 PM | Football
SAM HOUSTON VERSUS HOUSTON BAPTIST
6 p.m. Saturday September 26
Elliott T. Bowers Staidum
TELEVISION
AT&T Uverse - Channel 648
Direct TV - Channel 608
Suddenlink in Huntsville - Channel 132
Watch online at http://www.foxsports.com/foxsportsgo/
View telecast by downloading the FOX Sports Go app
RADIO
KSAM 101.7 FM in Walker County
On the internet at www.gobearkats.com
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER TURN-AROUND
On Sept. 13, 2014, after a 47-21 loss to eventual NCAA Division II national champion in Huntsville, Sam Houston stood 1-3 for the season. After an open date, the Bearkats began a turn-around that saw the team win 10 of their next 11 games to earn the Southland Conference championship and reach the FCS semi-final game.
A year and a week later, Sam Houston stands 0-2 after a 49-46 loss at home to Lamar needing to begin another turn-around with a victory versus Houston Baptist.
BEARKAT FAMILY WEEKEND
Saturday is "Bearkat Family Weekend" at Bowers Stadium. The Kats own a record of 24 victories and only five losses on "Bearkat Family Weekend." Twice the game has been canceled due to storms (Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008). A 47-21 loss to Colorado State-Pueblo last year ended a six-game "Bearkat Family Weekend" winning streak
LAST WEEK VERSUS LAMAR
Running back Kade Harrington rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 83 yards and a score to lead Lamar to a 49-46 victory over No. 3-ranked Sam Houston in the Bearkats' home opener last Saturday.
A 77-yard TD pass from quarterback Carson Earp to Harrington started a 21-0 second quarter to break a 14-14 tie. Down 35-14 at halftime, Sam Houston rallied for 32 points in the second half.
Bearkat quarterback Jared Johnson threw a 55-yard scoring strike to Gerald Thomas with 7:51 to play then capped an 81-yard drive with a 16-yard TD run to cut the margin to 42-39 with 4:59 left.
Harrington broke for a 73-yard TD three plays later for what proved to be the winning points with 3:21 to play. Johnson completed a 70-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown but the attempt for an on-side kick with 58 seconds remaining failed.
The loss was only the second in 28 games since 2010 for the Bearkats at Bowers Stadium.
Johnson ended the night with 13 rushes for 120 yards and 235 yards in the air for 355 yards total offense. The junior signal-caller rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more.
SAM HOUSTON NOTES
• 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 42; Texas A&M & TCU 37; Houston 36; Texas 32; Rice & Texas Tech 28; Texas State 24; UTSA & Lamar 23; SFA, North Texas & SMU 22.
• 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).
• Saturday's loss to Lamar marked only the sixth Southland Conference loss for Sam Houston in their last 32 league games.
• The Bearkat offense ranks second nationally in total yards per game (598.5), fifth in scoring (45.5), seventh in passing offense (343.0) and 12th in rushing offense (255.5). Sam Houston leads the Southland Conference in rushing, passing and total offense and is second in scoring offense.
• Houston Baptist's inaugural football contest came against Sam Houston on August 31, 2013, at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville. The Bearkats defeated the Huskies 76-0 in Houston in 2014.
• K. C. Keeler is the only head football coach to take three different programs to the semifinals 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.
• Senior running back Donavan Williams earned Southland Conference “Offensive Player of the Week” 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.
• 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.
• The 2014 Bearkats rank as only the ninth team in FCS history to surpass 7,000 yards total offense in a season. Sam Houston's rushing total (3,866 yards) was the second highest season total ever and the team's passing yardage (3,287) ranks third highest in the Kats' 99 previous years of football.
• 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.
• Jared Johnson has moved ahead of Josh McCown (current Cleveland Browns quarterback) into 11th place in Sam Houston's career passing standings. Johnson has thrown for 3,515 yards. He also now stands fifth in career total offense (4,819 yards) and 30th in career rushing (1,304).
• 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 last year's Jerry Rice Award voting (FCS Freshman of the Year). He finished third. Hall totaled 30 tackles for loss, one short of the school season record. He tied a school mark with five kick blocks.
• 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. Edwards stands as Sam Houston's all-time punting leader with an average of 43.59 yards per punt.
• Luc Swimberghe earned FCS All-America and All-Southland honors as the Bearkats' kicker. The junior stands No. 2 in Sam Houston annals in career PATs (151) and third in kick scoring (235 points). He is 11 points away from moving into the No. 4 spot in SHSU overall career scoring.
TURNOVERS COST BEARKATS IN OPENER AT TEXAS TECH
Turnovers overshadowed an offensive explosion by Sam Houston in the Bearkats' season opener, a 59-45 football loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock Saturday September. 5.
The Kats rolled up 637 yards total offense, the third highest output in school history. But four turnovers including three in the Red Raiders' end of the field spoiled the team's chances of victory.
Texas Tech came up with big plays when needed. Luc Swimberghe's 48-yard field goal cut the Red Raider margin to 21-17 with 7:30 left in the first half. But Jakeem Grant returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. Sam Houston climbed within striking distance again, trailing only 35-31 with 0:52 left in the half. Texas Tech struck quickly again, driving 67 yards in four plays for a 29-yard touchdown pass 14 seconds before intermission. Then, three plays into the third quarter J. J. Gaines returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown. The Red Raiders out-scored Sam Houston 17-0 in the period.
With seven players with at least one carry, Sam Houston rushed 46 times for 317 yards. Ten receivers made catches as the Bearkats threw for 320 yards. Texas Tech rolled up 611 yards total offense including 437 in the air.
The 637 yards are the most ever by a Sam Houston offense against an FBS opponent and stand behind 823 yards vs. Houston Baptist and 685 yards against Alabama State last year as the third highest single game total in school history.
LAST YEAR AT HOUSTON BAPTIST
School records fell and Sam Houston clinched a tie for the Southland Conference championship with a 76-0 victory over Houston Baptist on November 15 in the two team's meeting last year.
The Bearkats set school records with 601 yards rushing and 823 yards total offense. For only the second time in Sam Houston history, three running backs rushed for more than 100 yards. Donavan Williams rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns, Corey Idlebird totaled 138 yards and two scores and Jalen Overstreet added 130 yards and two scores. Williams scored on runs of 80, 24 and 56 yards while Overstreet tallied on scampers of 38 and 48. The 76 points stands as the fifth highest single game score for Sam Houston football.
INCREDIBLE FINISH IN 2014
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 semifinals 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.
SAM HOUSTON AT BOWERS STADIUM
During Sam Houston's 100th season of football the Bearkats are playing their 30th year at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Sam Houston owns a 115-44-1 record on the turf at Bowers. The Bearkats have gone 27-2 in their last 29 appearances at home.
Known as Bearkat Stadium when the facility opened on Sept 13, 1986, with a 23-6 victory over Montana State, the named was changed in 1989 to honor Dr. Elliott T. Bowers upon his retirement as Sam Houston State University president.
The Kats won their first 13 games at Bowers and have posted undefeated home seasons in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
