2021 Bearkat Football Preview: Quarterbacks

The reigning FCS national champion Sam Houston Bearkats open up fall camp on August 4 in advance of the season opener on September 2 at Northern Arizona.

This is the first of an 8-part series leading up to the season opener from Bearkat Athletics, taking a look at the 2021 Kats, position by position.

QUARTERBACKS
Returners: Eric Schmid, Keegan Shoemaker, Trapper Pannell, Gunner Capps, Tristan Brady, Matthew Southern
Newcomers: None

HUNTSVILLE – Throughout the offseason leading into the Spring 2021 campaign, Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler said often that he thought with a healthy Eric Schmid at quarterback the Bearkats could contend for a national title.

Now, heading into the 2021 season, that statement has become fact.

After piecing together his 2019 season and fighting off a number of injuries as a redshirt sophomore, Schmid was handed the full-time reins to the Bearkat offense last season and did what no quarterback in program history had done before – lead Sam Houston to a national title.

He did it in spectacular fashion at times, such as his six-touchdown effort in an early-season win over No. 7 Nicholls that put the Kats squarely in the discussion among top teams in the FCS last year.

He also did it in dramatic fashion, such as his 47-yard connection to Ife Adeyi on third and 10 in the fourth quarter of the Kats' FCS playoff win over North Dakota State.

And he did it in inspiring fashion. None moreso than by leading the Kats 65 yards on 15 plays on the final drive of the season, ending in a 10-yard touchdown strike to Adeyi with 13 seconds to take down South Dakota State in the title game.

Along the way Schmid picked up a number of individual honors, including being named the Southland Conference Player of the Year and an all-American from multiple publications.

The dual-threat from The Woodlands, who still has two years of eligibility remaining, accounted for 28 total touchdowns in 10 games last year and helped the Kats into the end zone nine times in the playoffs while turning the ball over just twice.

This year the eyes of the FCS will be squarely on Schmid and Huntsville, but the quarterback room is one that also brings quality depth to this season's roster. Even with Schmid clearly in charge of the offense entering camp, the Kats will have an interesting battle to watch behind him between sophomore transfer Keegan Shoemaker, second-year freshman Trapper Pannell and redshirt freshman Gunner Capps.

Shoemaker joined the Kats after the fall 2020 semester and due to transfer requirements was ineligible during the Spring 2021 title run; however, the Lafayette transfer who was named the 2019 Patriot League Rookie of the Year was a standout in practice throughout the spring season.

A Prosper native, Shoemaker has already proven to be successful at the FCS level and started 11 of the Leopards 12 games of the 2019 season where he led the Patriot League in total offense (241.1 yards per game).

Meanwhile, Pannell was one of the Kats' prizes of the 2019 signing class and saw a small bit of action as a true freshman, getting into a pair of games last year.

An athletic dual-threat from Kerrville, Pannell accounted for over 3,300 yards of offense and 47 touchdowns as a senior at Tivy High School.

Meanwhile, Capps is entering his third year with the Kats and could challenge Shoemaker and Pannell for time. He saw some action early in his career as a true freshman in 2019 and put together a stellar prep career at Carthage High School where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 Class 4A Division I state title.

2021 Bearkat Football Preview: Quarterbacks

Players Mentioned

Ife Adeyi

Tristan Brady

Gunner Capps

Trapper Pannell

Eric Schmid

Keegan Shoemaker

Matthew Southern

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