Kats set to host UIW on Saturday
11/2/2017 3:22:00 PM | Football
Game 9
Saturday, Nov. 4 • Huntsville • 1:00 p.m. • Bowers Stadium (12,593)
No. 5 Sam Houston State (7-1, 5-1 SLC) vs UIW (1-7, 1-5 SLC)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsFB on Twitter • Complete SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE – Following a crucial road win last weekend Louisiana, the No. 5 Sam Houston State Bearkats will be back at Bowers Stadium on Saturday to host UIW in a game presented by Villas on Sycamore.
With three more games remaining in the regular season the Kats still find themselves one game back of league-leading Central Arkansas in the Southland standings. Sam Houston stayed in that position with a 33-23 win over red-hot Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday while the Bears blasted McNeese 47-17 on The Stripes to strengthen its hold on first place.
Still, with a 7-1 overall mark and a No. 5 national ranking, the Bearkats are still in line for a playoff berth and a possible first-round bye. The NCAA will announce its first top-10 ranking on Thursday night at halftime of the Idaho vs Troy game on ESPNU, with a second top-10 ranking revealed next Thursday and Selection Sunday set for Nov. 19 at 10 a.m.
The Kats still lead the nation in scoring at 43.9 points per game after putting up 33 behind a strong running game against the Lions. That number could grow on Saturday against a Cardinal defense that ranks last in the SLC in points allowed, giving up at least 37 in each of its seven losses.
Saturday will mark the third straight game against a nationally-ranked opponent for the Cardinals, with No. 4 Central Arkansas waiting in the wings a week later. They are coming off a 38-31 loss at home to Nicholls in a game that saw UIW outscore the Colonels 17-7 in the second half to make it a ballgame.
Derrick Mitchell and Phillip Baptiste are the only Cardinals to rank in the SLC top 10 in any of the major offensive categories with Mitchell's 68.3 rushing yards per game ranking seventh and Baptiste's 48.4 receiving yards per game ranking ninth.
COVERAGE
Saturday's game will be aired live on ESPN3 with Tom Franklin on play-by-play and John Harris providing color analysis. Fans can also listen live on KSAM 101.7 FM with Kooter Roberson and E.P. Garth in the booth, and Brian Adams patrolling the sidelines.
Live stats are available to fans, in addition to live updates being provided by following @BearkatsFB on Twitter.
THE SERIES
Sam Houston is 5-0 all-time against UIW, playing them each season since 2012. In those five games the Bearkats have exploded offensively, averaging better than 53 points a game. Saturday will be the fourth time the Cardinals have visited Huntsville with the Bearkats surpassing the 50-point mark in each of the first three meetings.
WITH A BEARKAT WIN ...
- K.C. Keeler would win his 216th career game. He is currently tied for 17th all-time among FCS head coaches with Wofford's Mike Ayers. One spot ahead of them on the all-time list is former SHSU head coach Ron Randleman, who sits 16th with 218 career wins.
- Sam Houston would win its 76th game since the beginning of the 2011 season. The Kats and North Dakota State are the only two teams in the FCS with 70 victories since the beginning of the 2011 campaign.
- Sam would extend its win streak at Bowers Stadium to 17 games, setting a new mark for the second longest home win streak in school history. The streak is the longest current streak in the FCS with the last loss at Bowers coming to Lamar on Sept. 19, 2015 by a 49-46 score. Since the start of 2011, the Kats have been nearly perfect on the Bowers Stadium turf, having won 43 of their last 45 games in front of their home crowd overall. The current school record for consecutive home victories is 23 in a row that stretched from 2010 to 2014.
- The Kats would move to 6-0 against UIW since the series began in 2012. Currently at 5-0 against UIW all-time, it is the most wins against one team without a loss or tie in the series in Bearkat football history. They are also 5-0-1 all-time against East Central.
- In 5 wins over UIW, Sam Houston has scored an average of 53.6 ppg. They have scored 30 or more points in 17 straight games at Bowers Stadium, and 40 or more in each of their last 12 in front of the home crowd.
LEFTOVER KATNIP FROM 33-23 WIN OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA ...
- The Kats avoided dropping consecutive road games for just the second time under Keeler. The last time the Kats lost consecutive road games was early in the 2014 season at Eastern Washington and LSU. They have not lost consecutive road games in Southland Conference play since finishing out the 2013 regular season with losses at Southeastern Louisiana and Central Arkansas.
- Nathan Stewart hauled in a 45-yard pass from Jeremiah Briscoe on the Kats' first drive of the game, a catch now giving him 2,001 receiving yards for his career and 997 yards this season. He is just the eighth player in Bearkat history to reach the 2,000-yard mark and did so in just 21 games, making him the fastest Bearkat in history to reach the mark, just ahead of Jarrod Fuller who did it in 22 games from 2003-04. He needs just three more yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark this year, which would make him the first player in Bearkat history with multiple back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
- Corey Avery's 129 yards on the ground gave him 2,876 yards as he now holds sole possession of second place all-time at SHSU. It was his second 100-yard game of the season and he finished with season-high 167 all-purpose yards and a pair of scores. He trails only Timothy Flanders' 5,644 yards which is both the most in Sam Houston and Southland Conference history. He also has 33 career rushing touchdowns and with 3 more he would move into sole possession of second place at SHSU, only behind Flanders' 66.
- Sam Houston held the Lions to just 202 yards on the ground in its win at Southeastern. The Lions came in ranked second in the FCS with 321.0 yards per game on the ground and were riding a 5-game win streak in which they had scored at least 49 points and topped more than 500 yards in offense each time.
- Sam Houston racked up a season-high 10.0 tackles for loss against the Cardinals. They have gone 35 consecutive games with at least 3.0 TFLs. It was the most TFLs in a game for the Kats since getting 12.0 at HBU in 2016.
