By The Numbers: Records Fall Against Cowboys
11/6/2016 9:08:00 PM | Football
Each week this season, we'll take a look at the numbers you need to know following Sam Houston State football's most recent matchup. On Saturday, the top-ranked Sam Houston State football team improved to 9-0 with a 56-43 victory over McNeese.
- Freshman 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.
- Sam Houston 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. The Kats currently lead all of FCS with 596.2 total yards and 54.3 points per game.
- Sam Houston quarterback 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.
- 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.
- 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.
