Game 7 Preview: vs WKU
10/15/2024 10:15:00 AM | Football
Game 7 • Huntsville • Bowers StadiumÂ
Sam Houston (5-1, 2-0 CUSA) vs WKU (4-2, 2-0 CUSA)Â
Wednesday, October 16 • 6:00 PM CTÂ
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TV: ESPN2 (Lowell Galindo, Fozzy Whittaker)Â
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Jason Barfield); Sirius XM 971Â
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on XÂ
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • WKUÂ
Series vs the Hilltoppers: Series tied 1-1Â
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HUNTSVILLE – Coming off its first bye week of the season, the Sam Houston Bearkats will return to Bowers Stadium host WKU in a clash between two of the midseason favorites in Conference USA on Wednesday. Â
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Kickoff of Wednesday's contest is set for 6:00 p.m. CT at Bowers Stadium. It will be aired on ESPN2 with Lowell Galindo and Fozzy Whittaker on the call. The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network, the Bearkat Athletics app and Sirius XM 971 with Carlos Zimmermann and Jason Barfield on the call from the radio booth.Â
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BATTLE OF CUSA FRONTRUNNERS SET FOR BOWERS STADIUM STAGEÂ
- The Bearkats have won 8 of their last 10 games overall after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023Â
- Sam Houston is the first FBS program to start a season 0-6 and win at least 5 of its first 6 games the following year since Georgia Southern in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles went 0-9 to start the 2017 season and started 7-1 in 2018 on their way to a 10-3 year and a win in the Camelia BowlÂ
- Sam Houston is playing the second of 4 consecutive midweek games. In all, the Kats will play 5 non-Saturday games. The 5 non-Saturday games are tied with Jax State for the most in the nation Â
- Sam Houston is averaging 35.4 points per game in its 5 wins. Each win is over a G5 team Â
- Sam Houston has averaged 282.0 yards per game on the ground in its last 4 games and is the first team in CUSA to rush for 250+ yards in 4 straight games since FAU did so during the 2018 seasonÂ
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- The Kats have outrushed their opponents in each of their 5 wins, holding their opponent under 100 yards in 4 of those games. In the 5 victories, the Kats are averaging 261.2 yards on the ground to just 78.2 for their opponentsÂ
- In the win over UTEP, DJ McKinney had his breakout game with 138 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He is the third different Bearkat in as many games to lead the Bearkats in rushing Â
- The Bearkats need 1 more victory for bowl eligibility in their first season following the 2-year transition to the FBS. Should the Kats become bowl eligible, they would become the fourth consecutive program to make the transition up and become bowl eligible within the first 2 seasons of being at the FBS (Jax State 2023, James Madison 2023, Liberty 2018)Â Â
SERIES HISTORY Â
- The Bearkats and Hilltoppers have met twice previously, with each team winning on its home field Â
- The first time the teams met came in 2004 when Dustin Long threw for 327 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Kats downed No. 3 WKU in the first round of the NCAA 1-AA playoffs Â
- The win was the final win at Bowers Stadium for then Bearkat head coach Ron Randleman, who retired following the conclusion of the season after the Bearkats were eliminated in the semifinals of the playoffs at Montana. Randleman is still the all-time winningest coach at Sam Houston, retiring with 219 career victories Â
SAM HOUSTON >> WKU CONNECTIONSÂ
- A number of Hilltoppers hail from the Lone Star State, including star defensive back Upton Stout. The redshirt junior prepped at North Shore HS in the Houston area, where he was teammates with Bearkat running back John Gentry. While there, the pair helped lead the Mustangs to back-to-back Texas Class 6A Division I state titles as juniors and seniors Â
QUICK HITTERS AFTER THE WIN at UTEPÂ
- The Kats have had their fair share of successful drives in 2024, putting together 31 scoring drives thru 6 games with 13 (.419) of those drives being of 10+ plays. In comparison, in 12 total games of the 2023 season the Kats had just 39 total scoring drives with only 12 (.307) being of 10 or more plays Â
- Qua'Vez Humprheys established himself as one of the Kats' top offensive threats early in the season, but did not have a touch in either win vs NM State or Texas State; however, the junior responded with 2 grabs and a touchdown in the win at UTEP. This season he has 13 total touches (12 rec; 1 rush) with 12 of those 13 touches being for 10+ yards. The lone touch that went for less than 10 yards was a 7-yard touchdown grab vs HawaiiÂ
- The Kats finished with 293 yards on the ground vs UTEP and now has 1,128 yards of rushing in its last 4 gamesÂ
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- The Kats have a 100-yard rusher in each of the last 4 games with 3 different players - Jay Ducker, Hunter Watson and DJ McKinney - each being the team's leading rusher at least onceÂ
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- Ife Adeyi has now caught a pass in 30 consecutive games, while teammate Noah Smith has caught a pass in 25 straight. The duo joins Utah's Brant Kuithe and Money Parks as the only duos in the nation to each have catch streaks of 25+ gamesÂ
- Sam Houston stuffed the Miners' only 4th-down try and has now stopped 6 of 12 4th-down tries by its opponents this year. The Kats' .778 percentage on 4th down is the best in CUSA and 12th in the countryÂ
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- The Kats had a season-high 4 takeaways at UTEP, picking off a pair of passes and recovering 2 fumbles. Sam Houston has now had 12 consecutive games with at least 1 takeawayÂ
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- Caleb Weaver and Jaylon Jimmerson each had interceptions. For Jimmerson, it was his first of the year, but for Weaver it was his third of the season and fifth of his career. In total Weaver now has 14 passes defended in his career with 13 coming in the past 2 seasonsÂ
- Jadon Cardell was named the CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week after the Kats' win at UTEP. He averaged just 40.0 yards per punt on 6 boots, but his day included a season-long 53-yard punt and each of his first 3 punts of the game pinned the Miners inside their own 10-yard line
