Kats move up in polls following bye week
9/12/2016 12:12:00 PM | Football
Coming off the bye week, Sam Houston State football will enter Week 3 of the season ranked third nationally in the Athlon Sports FCS Power Poll, announced Monday.
The Bearkats trail only North Dakota State and Richmond, which each posted strong offensive outputs in Week 2 victories. Sam Houston (1-0) spent its week away from competition but focused on a visit to Lamar and facing a Cardinals squad that upset the Kats at home a season ago.
Sam Houston moved up one spot in the weekly poll after coming in a fourth a week ago. The Kats surpassed then-third ranked Northern Iowa who fell 20-14 to Montana. The loss sent UNI down to No. 7 while Eastern Washington moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 following a 50-44 overtime loss to North Dakota State. Jacksonville State comes in at No. 5 and Montana is No. 6.
Sam Houston also pulled in a third-place ranking from STATS FCS, the publication announced Monday. The Kats moved ahead one spot following the bye week.
The Bearkats checked in a No. 4 in the HERO Sports poll, up two spots from a week ago. In that ranking, the Kats trail only North Dakota State, Richmond and Chattanooga, who moved ahead four spots this week.
The Kats Saturday tilt against Lamar is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff with the game being broadcast on ESPN3. Sam Houston racked up 668 yards of total offense in a 59-21 opening weekend win against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Saturday's matchup will be the first of six straight Southland Conference games for the Bearkats including the first of four away from Bowers Stadium. The Cardinals (0-2) are the only league foe on this year's schedule that Kats did not produce a win against in 2015.
