Kats ready to host No. 13 UCA
9/27/2018 2:43:00 PM | Football
Game 4
Saturday, Sept. 29 • Huntsville • 3:05 p.m. • Bowers Stadium (12,975)
No. 21 Sam Houston State (1-2, 0-1 Southland) vs No. 13 Central Arkansas (2-1, 1-0 Southland)
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HUNTSVILLE – The No. 21 Sam Houston State Bearkats can make a big move on Saturday when they host No. 13 Central Arkansas at Bowers Stadium in a game sponsored by Bill Fick Ford.
The game will be aired on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Randy McIlvoy and Shea Walker on the call. Fans can also listen on KSAM 101.7 FM with Kooter Roberson, E.P. Garth and Brian Adams bringing the action over the airwaves.
THE SERIES
Sam Houston and Central Arkansas are tied, 6-6, in the all-time series that dates only back to the Bears joining the league in 2006. Neither team has ever won more than three games in a row in the series with SHSU's most-recent three-game win streak coming to an end in last year's 41-30 upset in Conway.
LEFTOVERS FROM A 27-7 LOSS AT NICHOLLS ...
- When he came out for the final two series of the game on Saturday, it was the first time redshirt freshman quarterback Ty Brock had seen the field in nearly two years. He was one of the top quarterback recruits in the country coming out of College Station HS after the 2016 season, but played only 3 quarters of football in high school due to suffering separate injuries to each leg. That included missing his entire junior year and the majority of his senior year.
- The Kats were 10-for-10 in red zone scoring chances through their first two games, but were not as efficient against the Colonels, going 1-for-3 in red zone tries on Saturday.
- The Kats trailed just 13-7 late in the third quarter when it mounted a 10-play, 86-yard drive that included three connections from Mike Dare to Nathan Stewart for 47 yards. However, the drive ended when Dare was picked off by Ahmani Martin at the 1-yard line in what would be the Kats' final red zone penetration of the night.
- Once again Sam Houston did a solid job on third down, holding Nicholls to 5 conversions in 14 tries. On the season the Kats have allowed just 12 conversions on 43 third-down tries (27.9 percent), which leads the Southland and ranks 14th in all of FCS.
- Davion Davis brought in seven catches for a season-high 91 yards and a touchdown in the game, giving him 2,806 receiving yards for his career leaving him just six catches shy of 200 for his career. With six more grabs this year he would become just the third Bearkat and the eighth player in the Southland Conference to reach the 200-catch mark for a career.
- Once again, the Bearkat defense did its part to keep Sam Houston in things, and held the Colonels to 197 yards passing for the game. Through three game the Kats have yet to give up 200 yards passing and lead the SLC with just 170.3 yards passing allowed per game. It is the first time since taking on McNeese, Northwestern State and Central Arkansas in 2015 that the team has held its opponents under 200 yards passing in three straight games.
- The scoring output was not what the Bearkats have become accustomed to. In fact, the seven points against the Colonels was the lowest score by a Sam Houston State team against an FCS opponent in the regular season since a 42-3 loss at Stephen F. Austin in 2009, the final year before the Battle of the Piney Woods moved to NRG Stadium in Houston.
WITH A BEARKAT WIN …
- K.C. Keeler would win his 222nd career game. He is currently 16th all-time among FCS head coaches, three wins ahead of former Wofford coach Mike Ayers and former SHSU coach Ron Randleman. With his next win he would be one win shy of former Wagner head coach Walt Hameline who is 15th with 223 wins from 1981-2014.
- Sam Houston would re-take the lead in the series with the Bears. The teams currently are tied 6-6 since UCA joined the league for the 2006 season.
- Sam Houston would avoid losing three games in a row for the first time since 2010 when they dropped games to Stephen F. Austin, Northwestern State and McNeese. That 2010 season was also the last time the Bearkats started off a Southland schedule 0-2.
- Sam Houston would avoid losing three straight games at Bowers Stadium in the same season since 2008 when they fell to Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State to end the season before also falling to Western Illinois at home to open up 2009.
