SLC Title On The Line On Saturday At Bowers
11/17/2016 2:00:00 PM | Football
Game 11
Saturday, Nov. 19 • Huntsville, Texas • 2:30 p.m. • Bowers Stadium (12,975)
No. 1 Sam Houston State (10-0, 8-0 SLC) vs Central Arkansas (9-1, 8-0 SLC)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsFB on Twitter • Complete SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – It will be winner-take-all for the Southland Conference title on Saturday when the No. 1 Sam Houston State Bearkats look to complete a perfect regular season and capture their seventh league title against No. 11 Central Arkansas on Bowers Stadium.
The Bearkats and Bears have each ran the table thus far in league play, setting up Saturday's showdown. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and Saturday's game will be aired live on ESPN3 with Randy McIlvoy and Shea Walker on the broadcast call. Tatum Everett will patrol the game 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.
PLAYOFF TICKET INFO
In anticipation of Sam Houston State football advancing to the FCS Playoffs and hosting at Bowers Stadium, season ticket holders and active Bearkat Champion donors (priority deadline of Friday, November 18) may now request FCS Playoff Series Packages.
These packages reserve your seats for all FCS playoff games hosted by Sam Houston at Bowers Stadium. Seating locations remain the same as regular season seats for season ticket holders and are allocated by priority points for Bearkat Champion donors.
To request, season ticket holders may login to their account on www.gobearkats.com or call (936) 294-1729, while Bearkat Champions may call (936) 294-2362. If you are not a current season ticket holder or Bearkat Champion donor, you may take advantage of this opportunity as well by contributing to the Bearkat Champions Fund, which directly supports over 400 Bearkat student-athletes. For more information, call (936) 294-2362.
FCS Playoff Series Packages and general playoff tickets for games hosted at Bowers Stadium will go on public sale Sunday, November 20th at noon.
LETTERWINNERS DAY
When top-ranked Sam Houston hosts eleventh-ranked Central Arkansas on Saturday, it will also mark Letterwinners Day at Bowers Stadium. All letterwinners – former Sam Houston student-athletes – receive a free upgrade from a general admission ticket to reserved chairback seat.
Reserved chairback seats will be available at a $15 charge, down from its usual $30, for guests.
Sam Houston athletics will also be hosting a “SH Letterwinners Tent” for $10 in the northeast corner of Bowers Stadium, which will include free non-alcoholic beverages and a cash bar (beer & wine). The tent opens with gates 1 ½ hours prior to kickoff.
All game and tent tickets must be purchased by Friday, Nov. 18 and individuals must have a game ticket to Bowers Stadium to access the “SH Letterwinners Tent.” For questions, please call (936) 294-2362.
THE SERIES vs CENTRAL ARKANSAS
The series could not be more even between the Bearkats and Bears entering its 11th all-time meeting. Each team has won five of the previous 10 games of the series with each team owning a 3-2 record on its home field. The Bears picked up wins at Bowers in their first two seasons in the Southland – 2006 and 2007 – but Sam has defended its home turf in each of UCA's last three trips to Huntsville dating back to 2009.
THE LAST MEETING
(Nov. 21, 2015) Sam Houston State 42, Central Arkansas 13 - Box Score
Corey Avery produced his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game and Jared Johnson passed for 279 yards to lead Sam Houston to a 42-13 victory over Central Arkansas in the final regular season game for both squads Saturday.
Avery rushed for 109 yards on 13 carries, scoring on runs of 45 and three yards. Johnson completed 15 of 30 passes including TD throws of 50 yards to Gerald Thomas and three yards to LaDarius Brown. Jalen Overstreet added 75 rushing yards on 11 carries including scoring runs of 13 and 30 yards.
Thomas led Bearkat receivers with five catches for 134 yards including a long of 59. Yedidiah Louis had three receptions from 50 yards and Brown grabbed three passes for 45 yards.
Sam Houston completed the regular season with an 8-3 record while the Bears dropped to 7-4 for the year. The two teams tied for second place in the Southland Conference final standings, both with 7-2 league marks.
LAST WEEK'S LEFTOVERS
With its 10th win of the season on Saturday, the Bearkats reached the double-digit victory plateau for the third straight season and fifth of the last six seasons. In its 101-year history, Sam Houston has won at least 10 games eight times (1956, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016).
Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe moved past Stephen F. Austin's Jeremy Moses with his five touchdown passes, giving him 45 for the season which is second all-time in a single season in Southland Conference history. Only SFA's Todd Hammel has thrown more, tossing 48 touchdowns in 1989. Briscoe also now has 3,665 yards passing for the year which is second only to Dustin Long's 2004 total in Sam Houston history and his 5,548 career yards is just 16 shy of Rhett Bomar for second all-time.
Wide receiver Yedidiah Louis' career-high 11 receptions total gives him 56 for the season, which is now tied for 10th all-time in a single season at Sam and he is now just two receptions shy of becoming just the second receiver in program history with 200 career receptions. He is also just 11 yards shy of catching Jonathon Cooper for third all-time in career receiving yards. The 11 receptions for Yedidiah Louis also rank tied for second-most by a Southland Conference receiver this season. The mark only trails freshman Nathan Stewart's 12 against Stephen F. Austin.
The win kept Sam Houston State undefeated at 10-0 on the season. The Bearkats are joined by The Citadel (10-0) as the only two undefeated teams remaining in the FCS.
HONORING THE 1985, 1986 SQUADS
During first and second quarter breaks, Sam Houston State will honor the 1985 and 1986 Bearkat football squads at midfield. The 1985 squad turned in an 8-3 campaign including a 4-1 Gulf Star Conference record in route to a league championship.
The '86 team, also under the direction of head coach Ron Randleman, produced a Gulf Star title in the first year the Kats competed at the NCAA Division I Championship subdivision level. The squad finished 9-3 including a 3-1 record in league play while advancing to the NCAA First Round.
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 hauled in 108 first-place votes in the latest poll after their win over Northwestern State. The Kats were last voted No. 1 in the poll on Sept. 7, 2015 and now own a 8-1 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 second look at its top teams last week with the Sam Houston State Bearkats coming in at No. 5. It was the second 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 North Dakota State in the No. 1 spot while Eastern Washington checks in at No. 2, Jacksonville State at No. 3 and James Madison at No. 4.
WITH A WIN vs THE BEARS ...
The Bearkats victory on Saturday against Northwestern State guaranteed another top-two finish in the Southland Conference. It will be the third straight season Sam Houston has finished either first or second in the league and the fifth time in the last six years. A win Saturday against Central Arkansas would give Sam Houston its seventh Southland Conference title and fourth in the last six years.
LEAD FROM THE FRONT
It took 10 games this season, but the Bearkats finally found themselves down on the scoreboard for the first time this season on Saturday at Northwestern State. Prior to the Demons' 13-7 advantage less than five minutes into the game, Sam Houston had yet to trail an opponent, scoring first and maintaining that lead. Saturday was only the second time this season the Bearkats have surrendered a lead at any point, joining UIW who 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 been tied or behind for 56 minutes and 51 seconds of the 600 total minutes played this season with 52 minutes and 54 seconds of those being a 0-0 tie.
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 156-37 in the first quarter and 296-73 in the first half. On Saturday at Northwestern State, the Bearkats racked up 412 yards of offense on 54 plays in the first half, while holding the Demons to just 205 total yards in building up a 41-13 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 11th in the country among all players with 19.3 yards per catch among all players, he is first in the nation among freshmen with 866 yards and 11 touchdown catches with his touchdown total also ranking tied for seventh among all players in FCS.
MORE LEFTOVERS FROM SATURDAY vs NORTHWESTERN STATE
Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler has moved up to third all-time among coaches in the Southland Conference for winning percentage at .780 (32-9). The third-year head coach has also ascended into the top 10 for victories by a league coach, ranking seventh, and is the only coach with fewer than five years in the conference on the list.
Running back Remus Bulmer's 101-yard rushing performance on Saturday marked the third time this season the sophomore has met the 100-yard plateau and first since gaining 119 yards on the ground against Stephen F. Austin. His three games with greater than 100 yards ranks second in the Southland Conference to only De'Mard Llorens' (Northwestern State) four. The back also moved just 257 yards from reaching 1,000 for the season.
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 592.4 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.
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 six of seven PATs against Northwestern State, adding to his total as the all-time leader in points scored among kickers with 349 at SHSU. He currently ranks fourth all-time among all Southland Conference players with only two kickers ahead of him on that list. Jose Larios of McNeese holds the SLC 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 508-460-36 all-time entering Saturday vs Central Arkansas. 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 206-86-1 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 now put up 13 10-win seasons and 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 last week.
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 (45), second in passing yards per game (366.5) and fifth in completion percentage (.676).
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 tied for 14th in the nation with 8.5 sacks and is tied for seventh with 19 tackles for loss.
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 McNeese. He currently leads all freshmen in the nation with 866 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
BEARKAT DID-YOU-KNOWS
DYK: Of Jeremiah Briscoe's 377 pass attempts this season, only 108 have come in the second half of a game, including only 36 in the fourth quarter.
DYK: Of Sam Houston's 74 touchdown drives this season, 45 have lasted less than 2 minutes.
DYK: 15 Bearkats have hauled in a pass reception this year, including 11 who have caught a TD.
DYK: The Bearkat offense has run 767 plays this season with 75 going for 20 yards or more.
DYK: The Bearkat defense has had at least four tackles for loss in each game this season.
DYK: Jaylen Harris has seven kick returns of more than 40 yards this season.
DYK: Darion Flowers has had a hand in a takeaway in four of five games played, forcing a fumble vs Abilene Christian and picking off passes against Texas Southern, McNeese and Northwestern State.
