Kats Set For Final Road Test Of Regular Season
11/10/2016 11:30:00 AM | Football
Game 10
Saturday, Nov. 12 • Natchitoches, La. • 6 p.m. • Turpin Stadium (15,971)
No. 1 Sam Houston State (9-0, 7-0 SLC) at Northwestern State (1-8, 0-7 SLC)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsFB on Twitter • Complete SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The top-ranked Sam Houston State Bearkats will go for their 10th win of the season on Saturday when they battle Northwestern State at Turpin Stadium in the final road game of the regular season.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's game will be aired live on ESPN3 with Lyn Rollins and Rene Nadeau on the broadcast call.
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 39th all-time meeting between the Bearkats and Demons, and the 21st time the teams have met in Natchitoches. Sam Houston has won four of the last five meetings, and seven of the last 10 in the series and are now just two straight wins away from evening up the all-time series. The Kats have averaged 49.5 points per game in their last four wins over Northwestern State.
THE LAST MEETING
(Nov. 13, 2015) Sam Houston State 59, Northwestern State 21 - Box Score
Corey Avery rushed for 197 yards on 15 carries, scoring touchdowns of 78 and 27 yards to lead Sam Houston to a 59-21 Southland Conference victory over Northwestern State Saturday at Bowers Stadium.
The Bearkats rolled up 668 yards of total offense as they upped their season record to 7-3 and their Southland mark to 7-2.
Quarterback Jared Johnson completed 21 of 32 passes for 275 yards and three scores. Gerald Thomas caught six of those throws for 75 yards and a score. Yedidiah Louis had five receptions for 69 yards including two touchdown catches.
LAST WEEK'S LEFTOVERS
- Nathan Stewart hauled in 12 catches for 268 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys. The 12 catches tied him for third most in a single game in Bearkat history, but the yardage was not only tops in SHSU lore but also in the history of the Southland. The previous SLC record was held by Ronald Bonner of Jacksonville State, who had 247 in 1997. The previous Sam Houston record was held by Jonathon Cooper who hauled in 242 yards in a game in 2001.
- P.J. Hall had another big game defensively for the Kats, continuing to add to his career totals. The junior defensive end finished with seven tackles on the night, including five for a loss. Four of those were sacks, setting a new career high and tying the Sam Houston school record for a single game. Michael Bankston and Will Henry are the only other two Bearkats to register four sacks in a single game.
- The Bearkats finished with 630 yards of total offense against McNeese, marking the fourth time this season the Kats have gone over the 600-yard mark in a game. They set a season high with 668 yards in the season opener against Oklahoma Panhandle State and have only finished one game with less than 500 yards.
- Jeremiah Briscoe became the fifth quarterback in program lore to pass for 3,000 yards in a season, completing a 15-yard first-down reception to Stewart midway through the second quarter. Briscoe surpassed 5,000 career yards in the third quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass, becoming just the fourth Sam Houston quarterback to reach the milestone.
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 6-1 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 No. 1 in the NCAA Coaches' Poll, taking 22 of the first-place votes in the latest poll.
FCS SELECTION COMMITTEE UNVEILS RANKINGS
The NCAA Division I FCS selection committee unveiled its first look at its top teams last week with the Sam Houston State Bearkats coming in at No. 2. It is the first of three weekly Top 10 rankings, following a similar model being utilized at the FBS level, leading up to Selection Sunday on November 20. Currently, the committee has Jacksonville State in the No. 1 spot while Eastern Washington checks in at No. 3 and North Dakota State at No. 4.
WITH A WIN vs THE DEMONS ...
Sam Houston will go for its 10th win of the season on Saturday at Northwestern State. It would be the eighth 10-win season in Bearkat history and the fifth time since 2011.
A win over the Demons and a loss by Central Arkansas to Nicholls this week would clinch at least a share of the Southland Conference title for the Kats; wins by both Sam Houston and UCA would set up a winner-take-all showdown for the outright league title on the final Saturday of the regular season at Bowers Stadium.
LEAD FROM THE FRONT
In nine 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 50 minutes and 32 seconds of the 540 total 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 goint to miss a lot. The Kats have dominated the first half of games this season, outscoring its opponents 136-24 in the first quarter and 255-60 in the first half. On Saturday against McNeese the Bearkats racked up 324 yards of offense on 37 plays in the first half, while holding the Cowboys to just 171 total yards in building up a 28-9 lead at the break.
MORE LEFTOVERS FROM SATURDAY
With three receptions, Yedidiah Louis moved into sole possession of second in Sam Houston history with 187 career receptions and into seventh in Southland Conference history in the same category. He needs just one more touchdown reception to tie Jason Mathenia for sixth all-time at Sam Houston.
Jaylen Harris picked up another 161 kick return yards on Saturday and continues to lead the Southland with an average of 27.0 yards per return. One of his returns went for 52 yards to set up a Bearkat score, his seventh kick return this year of better than 40 yards.
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 25th in the country with 18.5 yards per catch among all players, he is second in the nation among freshmen with 500 yards and his six touchdown catches is tied for the best among all freshmen in FCS.
KATS GAINING, SCORING AT RECORD PACE
This year's Bearkat offense is operating at a record pace. Currently the Kats are averaging 54.3 points and 596.2 yards per game, both marks that are the best at the FCS. Sam Houston led the nation in total offense in 2015 with 531.7 yards per game, but just over midway through the regular season is eyeing the possibility of becoming the first FCS team since the 1984 Mississippi Valley squad (FCS record 640.1 ypg) to average better than 600 yards per contest.
SHSU avg Southland Record NCAA Record
Yards Per Game 596.2 ypg 572.0 ypg (SFA, 2013) 640.1 ypg (MVSU, 1984)
Points Per Game 54.3 ppg 41.1 ppg (SHSU, 2013 & 2015) 60.9 ppg (MVSU, 1984)
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 the league in passing with 372.0 yards per game with the next closest being Stephen F. Austin at 299.4, while on the rushing side the Kats' 220.0 yards per game is behind only Central Arkansas' 227.9 average.
SWIMBERGHE KICKING WAY UP SCORING LISTS
Luc Swimberghe connected on all eight of his PAT against McNeese, adding to his total as the all-time leader in points scored among kickers with 343 at SHSU. He currently ranks fifth all-time among all Southland Conference players with only three kickers ahead of him on that list. Jose Larios of McNeese holds the Southland record with 356 kicking points for his career.
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 507-460-36 all-time entering Saturday McNeese. 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 205-86-1 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.
SAM HOUSTON WITH THREE ON NATIONAL WATCH LISTS
As the No. 1 team in the nation, it's no surprise the Bearkats are seeing individuals on the national radar for postseason honors. So far, three Kats have been named to STATS FCS watch lists after Nathan Stewart was named to the Jerry Rice Award (National Top Freshman) watch list on Tuesdsay.
Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe was added to the Walter Payton (National 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 (40), third in passing yards per game (369.8) and sixth in completion percentage (.683).
Additionally, defensive end P.J. Hall's exploits have him on the radar for the Buck Buchanan (National Defensive Player of the Year) watch list. The junior ranks 15th in the nation with 7.5 sacks and is sixth with 14 tackles for loss after his four-sack, five-TFL performance against McNeese.
Most recently Stewart found his way onto the Jerry Rice Award watch list, doing so after his 12-catch, 268-yard and three-touchdown performance against the Cowboys. He currently leads all freshmen in the nation with 768 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
