Game 9 • Huntsville • Bowers Stadium
Sam Houston (0-8, 0-5 CUSA) vs Kennesaw State (2-5)
Saturday, November 4 • 12:00 PM

TV: ESPN+ (Tom Franklin, John Harris)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams)
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
PURCHASE TICKETS
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • Kennesaw State
Series vs the Owls: SHSU leads 1-0 • Full Series History
 
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkat football team will look to make its mark on the weekend's homecoming festivities when it hosts Kennesaw State at noon on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.

It will be the second all-time meeting between the schools with the last coming in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FCS Playoffs in Huntsville when the Kats picked up a 34-27 victory. 
 
Saturday's contest will be a preview of things to come between the schools with KSU currently in its first year of transition to the FBS level, while Sam Houston is in its second transition season. The Owls will join the Kats in Conference USA for the 2024 season, becoming the league's 10^th member.

Kickoff of Saturday's contest is set for noon at Bowers Stadium. It will be aired on ESPN+ with Tom Franklin and John Harris on the call. The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network and on the Bearkat Athletics app with Carlos Zimmermann and Brian Adams on the call from the radio booth.
 
GETTING STARTED
- The Kats are still searching for their first win as a member of the FBS. The Kats' last win over an FBS team came in 2011 when they knocked off New Mexico in Albuquerque on their way to a 14-1 season and a berth in the first of 3 FCS Championship Games
 
- After scoring just 10 total points in the first 3 games of the year, the Kats have averaged 23.6 ppg since entering CUSA play
 
- Much of that success has come thanks to the passing game with SHSU ranking second in CUSA with an average of 274.6 yards per game through the air in 5 league games 
 
- Despite being winless in 8 tries in 2023, the Kats have either led or been within 1 score of its opponent in the fourth quarter in 6 of its 8 games entering this week vs Kennesaw State
 
- The game vs the Owls is the first Saturday home game for the Kats in 2023. The Kats played their first three games of the year on Saturdays, but all on the road, before starting a stretch of 5 consecutive games on Wednesdays or Thursdays to open CUSA
 
THE LAST TIME THE KATS FACED KENNESAW STATE
Sam Houston 34, Kennesaw State 27
Bowers Stadium - Huntsville - 12/9/2017
The Kats stopped KSU on 4th-and-5 at SHSU's 15-yard line with 1:24 remaining, locking up a 34-27 win in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FCS Playoffs to push SHSU to its third semifinals in 4 seasons. 
 
SHSU racked up 482 yards of offense for the game, but had to hold off a Kennesaw team who entered the game leading the nation in rushing. The Owls piled up 352 yards on the ground including a team-high 120 yards from Shaqil Terry on just five carries.
 
Meanwhile, for Sam Houston, Corey Avery rushed for 129 yards and a score for the Kats on 21 carries. The senior went over the 1,000-yard mark and joined Timothy Flanders as the only Bearkats with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons in their careers.
 
Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe completed 20 of his 29 passes for 313 yards and 3 scores, including a pair to fellow senior Yedidiah Louis who had a game-high 123 yards receiving. Briscoe's 4,714 yards passing sets a new single-season record at Sam Houston, surpassing his record set in 2016.
 
LEFTOVERS FROM A 37-34 LOSS TO UTEP
- The Kats led 24-13, but UTEP scored 21 unanswered points before eventually hitting a field goal with 3 seconds remaining in the game to deny SHSU its first-ever FBS win
 
- Keegan Shoemaker finished with 202 yards passing and a pair of scores, marking his fifth consecutive game with multiple touchdown passes
 
- John Gentry scored on both a rush and a reception for the first multi-touchdown game of his collegiate career. His 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter is the longest rush by a Bearkat running back in 2023
 
- Da'Marcus Crosby turned in a huge game on defense with 10 stops and his second interception of the season. The 10 stops marked a season high
 
- Trevor Williams picked up seven total stops of his own, giving him 352 tackles for his career. He is just the fourth Bearkat in program history with 350 career tackles and needs just two more to leapfrog Pete Garner and take sole possession of third place all-time at SHSU
 
- The Kats held a 21-13 advantage at the half, marking the second time this season they have held a lead at the break. The 34 total points are the most scored by SHSU at home since putting up 49 against UIW in the second round of the 2021 FCS playoffs

QUICK HITTERS
- The Kats have played in a pair of OT games this year marking the first time the Kats have played in multiple OT games in a single season since 2008 when they went 2-1 in 3 total OT games vs Stephen F. Austin (W), Southeastern Louisiana (L) and Texas State (L)
 
- Noah Smith has been a Swiss army knife for the Kats throughout his career and the numbers are adding up. In fact, the redshirt junior needs just 108 more rushing yards to his career tally to join Richard Sincere as the only Kats with 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in a career
 
- Smith has been Keegan Shoemaker's favorite target this year and has averaged a league-high 9.4 receptions per game since the start of CUSA play. He also ranks fifth with 81.6 receiving yards and sixth with 98.6 all-purpose yards per game
 
- Sam Houston will need a win over the Owls to avoid dropping to 0-4 at Bowers Stadium in 2023. Since the stadium opened in 1986 the Kats have never fallen to 0-4 at home.
 
- The last time the Kats lost 4 in a row at home was in 1977 when the program still played at Pritchett Field. That year the Kats did not register a home win, going 1-10 overall and 0-6 on its home turf 
 
- Trevor Williams had his streak of games with double-digit tackles snapped with 7 stops against UTEP, but the senior has still racked up 92 tackles through 8 games, which has already surpassed his previous career high of 88 stops which he set in 10 games of the 2020 FCS championship season. He is only 8 tackles away from becoming the first Kat with 100 tackles in a season since Justin Johnson had 117 in 2017
 
MORE BEARKAT BYTES
- Sam Houston had just 2 combined penetrations inside the opponent red zone in games vs BYU, Air Force and Houston, but have 17 in the 5 games since, coming away with points 16 times. The lone time the Kats did not score in CUSA play when entering the red zone was the final series of the game at Liberty
 
- The Kats expected to have an elite duo of dual-threat receivers this season in Noah Smith and Ife Adeyi, but lost Adeyi to injury early in the game at Houston. Since then, Smith has picked up the slack with 65 touches (47 rec, 18 rush) in the past 5 games, accounting for 493 all-purpose yards and 6 touchdowns. His efforts have shot him up the SHSU all-time charts, including moving into the top 10 in career receptions with his 9-catch effort vs FIU
 
- Transfer John Gentry has had to carry the load in the backfield for the Kats this year and has 57 more carries than any other Bearkat running back this year. A large chunk of his 76 carries this year came vs Jax State when he toted the rock 30 times, the most by any Kat runner since Donovan Williams had 33 carries in a 170-yard effort at Central Arkansas in 2019
 
- Trapper Pannell made history for the Bearkats on Sept. 23 against Houston when he scored the program's first touchdown as a member of the FBS. Coincidentally, he also scored the last touchdown as a member of the FCS against Southern Utah last season
 
- In the era of the transfer portal, NIL and COVID, it's rare to find a successful player stick around for 7 years with the same program. But that is the case for Sam Houston's Markel Perry, who is in his 7th season - all with the Bearkats. He joined the program as a true freshman linebacker in 2017, playing in his first career game in a top-10 FCS matchup at Baylor's McLane Stadium vs Richmond after the game was relocated due to Hurricane Harvey. He was injured in that game, eventually taking a redshirt. Following his redshirt freshman season in 2018, he went on to turn in 38.5 TFLs from 2019 to 2021 and elected to stay in Huntsville for SHSU's FBS transition, despite not being bowl eligible. He had 3 TFLs in the 2022 season opener at Texas A&M before suffering a season-ending injury, opening the door for him to return for 2023.  He ranks fourth all-time at SHSU in TFLs and eighth all-time in sacks
 
- Perry is 1 of 4 players within CUSA to be in his seventh year with a squad. Coincidentally, next year's CUSA addition - Kennesaw State - also has a player, Isaac Foster, who is in his seventh year with the same program. Foster and Perry are the last remaining members of the 2017 SHSU and KSU teams who faced off in the FCS Quarterfinals at Bowers Stadium, although neither player saw action in the game
 
- The 2023 season is a year of firsts for the Kats, including 5 first-time opponents - BYU, Air Force, Liberty, NM State and FIU. Sam Houston has previously faced each of its final 5 opponents of the year, starting last week vs UTEP; however, SHSU only has a combined 8 previous meetings vs those teams, including 1 game apiece against Kennesaw State, WKU and Middle Tennessee