Kats go for fourth straight at Lamar
10/17/2018 4:40:00 PM | Football
Game 7
Saturday, Oct. 20 • Beaumont • 3:05 p.m. • Provost Umphrey Stadium (16,000)
No. 14 Sam Houston State (4-2, 3-1 Southland) at Lamar (2-4, 1-3 Southland)
Live Stats • ESPN+ • @BearkatsFB on Twitter • SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE – The No. 14 Sam Houston State Bearkats have surged in recent weeks and will go in search of their fourth straight victory on Saturday when they travel to Lamar to battle the Cardinals at Provost Umphrey Stadium.
The game will be aired on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Sam Levitt and Lemont Williams on the call. The game will also be simulcast on MyTX in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area.
Fans can also hear the game on the airwaves on KSAM 101.7 FM with Kooter Roberson, E.P. Garth and Brian Adams on the sidelines.
For those unable to to make it to Beaumont, Bearkat Athletics will host a watch party at The Big E-Z Crawfish and Oyster Bar, located at 2707 Sam Houston Ave. in Huntsville.
THE SERIES
The Bearkats own a 28-10-1 all-time advantage in the series with the Cardinals, including winning seven of eight meetings since Lamar restarted its football program in 2010. Sam Houston has won all four of its trips to Beaumont since the program was resurrected, not scoring less than 38 in any of those games.
WITH A BEARKAT WIN ...
- K.C. Keeler would win his 225th career game. He is currently 15th all-time among FCS head coaches, 5 wins ahead of former Wofford coach Mike Ayers and former SHSU coach Ron Randleman. He is 4 wins behind former Ohio State and Youngstown State head coach Jim Tressell for 14th all-time among coaches who spent at least 10 years at FCS schools. His 225 victories are the third most among active coaches in the FCS.
- Keeler would also win his 51st game as head coach of the Bearkats and would move into a tie for 10th in the all-time top 10 among Southland Conference coaches with former Arkansas State head men Bill Davidson and Larry Lacewell. His 51st win would also move him into fourth among SHSU head coaches, three wins back of J.W. Jones for third place.
- Sam Houston would move to 4-1 in Southland Conference play and stay no worse than a game behind McNeese for the top spot in the Southland Conference standings. The Kats would also move to 5-0 in games vs the Cardinals played in Beaumont since LU restarted the program in 2010.
LEFTOVERS FROM A 42-28 WIN AT NORTHWESTERN STATE ...
- The Bearkat defense allowed 278 yards to the Demon offense in the first half, but the second half was a different story. The Kats buckled down in the final two quarters and allowed just 154 yards to the Demons, with 70 coming on their final drive with the Kats already up by two touchdowns.
- The victory was the fourth straight for SHSU over Northwestern State, marking the first time in the Kats have ever beaten the Demons in four straight years in a series that dates back to 1929 that the Kats now lead 21-20. It also marked the first time in the history of the series that the Kats have won in consecutive trips to Natchitoches, having also won there in 2016.
- Kyran Jackson was named the SLC Offensive Player of the Week after going for 152 yards and a score on the ground, in addition to 116 yards receiving. He is the first Bearkat in program history to have 100+ rushing and 100+ receiving yards in a single game, and the first SLC player to do so since McNeese's Toddrick Pendland achieved the feat in the Cowboys' road upset over then No. 2 Appalachian State in 2009. Jackson is one of just two players in the FCS to reach the feat this year, joined by Terrence Stephens Jr. of Robert Morris who also did it on Saturday (Oct 13) against Duquesne.
- Davion Davis hauled in four touchdown grabs from Ty Brock in the game, tying his single-game career high of four touchdown grabs that he set in 2017 against the Demons in Huntsville. He leads the SLC with eight touchdown catches this year and now has 38 for his career, one short of Cordell Roberson's (SFA) all-time Southland Conference record of 39 career touchdown catches. His 43 total touchdowns (receiving, rushing, returning) for his career are the third most at SHSU, two short of Corey Avery's 45 and 27 shy of the all-time leader, running back Timothy Flanders' mark of 70.
- Davis also had 66 receiving yards against the Demons and joined teammate Nathan Stewart as the second Bearkat this season to surpass the 3,000-yard mark for career receiving yards. He is just the fifth SLC player in history to go over the mark, four of which are Bearkats.
- Derick Roberson added 3.0 sacks to his ledger in the first half, taking over the lead for the most sacks in the FCS with a career-high 8.0. In all, the Kats finished with 5 sacks as a team, marking the third straight game the SHSU defense has picked up at least five sacks.
- Jackson now holds both the longest rush and the longest pass play from scrimmage this year for the Kats, racing 28 yards for a score in the third quarter and hauling in a 56-yard pass in the fourth.
- K.C. Keeler won his 50th game as head coach of the Bearkats. He joins Ron Randleman, Paul Pierce, J.W. Jones and T.F. Wilson as the only coaches in SHSU history with at least 50 wins.
- The Kats had 11 explosive offensive plays (20+ yards) in the win over the Demons, four of which were rushes. In the five previous games, SHSU had just 14 plays of 20 or more yards, with 13 being passes.
