Bearkats Back At Bowers To Host Texas Southern
10/27/2016 7:45:00 PM | Football
Game 8
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 6 p.m. CT • Huntsville, Texas • Bowers Stadium (12,593)
No. 1 Sam Houston State (7-0, 6-0 SLC) vs Texas Southern (3-4, 3-3 SWAC)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsFB on Twitter • Complete SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The top-ranked Sam Houston State Bearkats will step out of conference play this weekend when it returns home to host Texas Southern at Bowers Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's game will be aired live on ESPN3 with Tom Franklin and Ken Moore on the broadcast call. Danielle Martin will be reporting from the sidelines.
Fans can also listen along on KSAM 101.7 with Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkison, and get live in-game updates via Twitter by following @BearkatsFB.
THE SERIES
This will be the 16th meeting between the Bearkats and Tigers with Sam Houston holding a 10-5 edge in the all-time series. Sam Houston has won the last three meetings with Texas Southern last having won in 1996 when they clipped the Kats 26-20 in Huntsville. That is Texas Southern's lone win in Huntsville with Sam holding a 6-1 advantage in home contests.
THE LAST MEETING
(Sept. 14, 2013) Sam Houston State 55, Texas Southern 17 - Box Score
Timothy Flanders rushed for 108 yards and two scores to become the Southland Conference's all-time touchdown in a 55-17 win over Texas Southern.
Flanders surpassed Brent Grimes of Central Arkansas for the Southland Conference all-time touchdown record (59) with a two-yard run to give the Bearkats their first score of the game. Flanders' two scores set the new conference touchdown record at 61.
There was no score after a quart of play, but the Kats exploded for 27 points in the second period and never looked back. Five Bearkats rushed for a score and Sam Houston finished with 457 yards of offense to just 237 for the Tigers.
LAST WEEK'S LEFTOVERS
- With Saturday's win, Sam Houston moved to 7-0 on the season, making it just the fourth time in program history the team has started off a year with at least seven victories. The last time came in 2011 when the team won its first 15 games on a run to the FCS Championship game. Sam Houston also started off 8-0 in 1964, and went 10-0 in 1956.
- Jeremiah Briscoe continues to put up stellar numbers this season, and Saturday at Nicholls was no different. The junior threw for 419 yards and three scores against the Colonels, his third 400-yard passing game of the season. No other quarterback in Sam Houston history has ever had three 400-yard passing games in a career, much less a season. He also now has 29 touchdown passes for the year and needs just one more to become just the fourth Bearkat quarterback with 30 touchdown passes in a single season.
- Corey Avery picked up 36 yards against the Colonels, giving him 2,005 rushing yards as a Bearkat. He is just the 12th Bearkat rushes to go over 2,000 yards for a career.
- Briscoe found 11 different receivers in the win, marking the fourth time this season in just seven games in which the Kats have had 11 different receivers haul in a pass.
- Seven of those passes went to Davion Davis, who finished with a career-best 121 yards receiving.
- The Kats held the Colonels to just 129 yards and no points in the opening half. It is the second straight game Sam Houston has shut its opponent out in the first half, allowing just 189 total yards in the first half of games against Nicholls and Abilene Christian
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE NO. 1?
Following its 48-21 win over Abilene Christian on Oct. 15 and North Dakota State's loss to South Dakota State, the Bearkats were voted as the new No. 1 team in the nation in the STATS FCS poll and picked up seven more first-place votes after their win over Nicholls. The Kats were last voted No. 1 in the poll on Sept. 7, 2015 and now own a 5-1 all-time record when playing as the nation's No. 1-ranked team. Sam Houston has previously attained No. 1 in 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Kats were also voted to the top spot in the NCAA Coaches' Poll, taking 23 of the first-place votes.
LEAD FROM THE FRONT
In seven games played this season, the Bearkats have yet to trail an opponent, scoring first and maintaining that lead. So far, the Bearkats have only surrendered a lead at any point just once when UIW came back to tie things at 21-21 in the second quarter after Sam led 21-7. But the Kats responded with 14 points to end the half and never saw things knotted again. In fact, Sam has only saw a tie on the board for 41:28 of the 420 minutes played this season.
DON'T BLINK
It is strongly suggested that you have your eyes on the field at the start of each Bearkat game, because if you don't, then you're probably going to miss a lot. The Kats have dominated the first half of games this season, outscoring its opponents 122-24 in the first quarter and 227-51 in the first half. On Saturday against Nicholls the Bearkats racked up 318 yards of offense on 48 plays in the first half, while holding the Colonels to just 129 total yards in building up a 24-0 lead at the break.
STEWART AMONG TOP FRESHMAN RECEIVERS IN COUNTRY
Freshman wide receiver Nathan Stewart is making an immediate impact on the Bearkat receivers corps and is ranking among the top freshman receivers in the country. In addition to ranking 15th in the country with 19.4 yards per catch among all players, he is also third in the nation among freshmen with 484 yards and his six touchdown catches is best among all freshmen at the FCS.
HOME SWEET BOWERS
The Kats have seen their fair share of success at Bowers Stadium, and enter Saturday against Texas Southern having won their last 15 non-conference games against Division I opponents at their home stadium with the first of those wins coming against North Dakota State in 2009.
LOOKING FOR A SOUTHLAND FIRST
The Southland Conference has been around since 1964, which makes it tough to find firsts in the league; however, the Kats are gunning to become the first team to ever lead the league in both rushing and passing in the same season. Sam Houston currently leads in both categories, passing for 371.0 yards per game with the next closest being Stephen F. Austin at 300.2, while on the rushing side the Kats' 221.1 yards per game is the best with Central Arkansas next in line with a 219.3 average.
SAM vs THE SWAC
Sam Houston State is 15-7 all-time against the Southwestern Athletic Conference with 15 of those games coming against Texas Southern. The Kats have been dominant of late against the SWAC, having won the last six meetings against SWAC opponents with the last loss coming 20 years ago in 1996 when Texas Southern picked up a 26-20 win in Huntsville.
KATS CAPTURE 500TH PROGRAM WIN
The Bearkats picked up the program's 500th all-time win on Sept. 17 at Lamar, with the program now standing at 504-460-36 all-time entering Saturday against Texas Southern. The Bearkats also captured their 200th NCAA Division I victory in its win at UIW and played their 1,000th game in team history against Abilene Christian on Oct. 15.
KEELER REACHES 200-WIN PLATEAU
Head coach K.C. Keeler captured his 200th career victory on Oct. 1 against SFA. The third-year Sam Houston head man is 203-86-1 and is in his 23rd year of coaching. Only 75 other coaches have ever reached the milestone and just 14 are currently active coaches. He has put up 12 10-win seasons entering 2016 and with three more wins this Bearkat squad would give him his 13th season of reaching double-digit wins. He is the ninth-fastest coach to reach the 200-win mark in the history of college football, and also the 12th youngest to reach the plateau.
BRISCOE NAMED TO FCS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Sam Houston quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe was added to the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year watch list after his performance vs Stephen F. Austin. The junior from Houston's Stratford High School currently ranks first in the nation in touchdown passes (29), second in passing yards per game (357.0) and fifth in completion percentage (.682).
LOOKING FOR THE 'LAST 10 PERCENT' IN 2016
Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler believes his program has what it takes to win the national championship this season. In fact, the third-year man believes his program is just 10 percent away from the program's first national title. The Bearkats advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship game in 2011 and 2012, falling both times to five-time defending champion North Dakota State.
Sam Houston is one of only three FCS teams to earn NCAA playoff berths each of the last five seasons and is only one of eight football programs to appear in consecutive NCAA Division I Football Championship games in the event's 36-year history. In total, 11 of Sam Houston's 16 post-season victories have come over Top-10 ranked opponents. The Kats defeated five Top 10 opponents to reach the FCS semifinals in 2014 and 2015.
