Game 6 • El Paso • Sun Bowl
Sam Houston (4-1, 1-0 CUSA) at UTEP (0-4, 0-1 CUSA)
Thursday, October 3 • 8:00 PM CT
TV: CBS Sports Network (Alex Del Barrio, Taylor McHargue)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM 971
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • UTEP
Series vs the Miners: UTEP leads 4-0
EL PASO – The Sam Houston Bearkats will jump back into Conference USA play with its first midweek game of the season on Thursday when they take on UTEP.
Kickoff of Thursday's contest is set for 8:00 p.m. CT at the Sun Bowl. It will be aired on CBS Sports Network with Alex Del Barrio and Taylor McHargue 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 Brian Adams on the call from the radio booth.
KATS LOOKING TO MOVE TO 2-0 IN CUSA WITH TRIP TO SUN BOWL
- The Bearkats are coming off the largest comeback in school history, erasing a 22-0 deficit in the first quarter with a 40-39 win over Texas State on Saturday at NRG Stadium
- The Bearkats have won 7 of their last 9 games overall after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023
- Sam Houston is the first FBS program to start a season 0-5 and win at least 4 of its first 5 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 Bowl
- Sam Houston is averaging 34.0 points per game in its 4 wins. Each win is over a G5 team
- The Kats have outrushed their opponents in each of their 4 wins, holding their opponent under 100 yards on the ground each time. In those 4 victories, the Kats are averaging 253.3 yards on the ground to just 68.0 for their opponents
- Quarterback Hunter Watson and kicker Christian Pavon were named the CUSA Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week on Monday after their efforts vs Texas State. It is the second time this season the pair has earned those nods in the same week, also doing so after the Kats' Week 1 win at Rice
- Sam Houston will be wearing its second set of throwback decals on their helmets for the second straight week on Thursday, with Bearkats in arching white script with a white stripe down the middle of the orange hats. The arching script mark originally was worn from 1989-93 on a navy blue helmet before Sam Houston moved to orange helmets in 1994. The mark remained on the side of the hats through the 1996 season, while the orange headwear carries on to today
SERIES HISTORY
- Sam Houston and UTEP will be meeting for the fourth time, including the third time in El Paso
- Thursday will be the Kats' first trip to the Sun Bowl since 2003 when the Miners blasted the Kats by a 59-14 margin
- That day the Kats had 6 turnovers and allowed a blocked punt in what was their second straight game vs a 1-A opponent
SAM HOUSTON >> UTEP CONNECTIONS
- Despite being a pair of schools from the Lone Star State, the roster and/or staff connections between the Miners and Bearkats are few
- The Miners sport 4 players from Kilgore College - Maurice Westmoreland, KD Johnson, Oscar Moore, Marcus Vinson - which is where Bearkat receiver Michael Phoenix II spent the past 2 season as well
- UTEP linebacker Alex Szczesniak was a teammate with Bearkats Hunter Watson and Luke Eckartdt last season at Iowa Western CC where the Rievers claimed the 2023 NJCAA national championship
QUICK HITTERS FROM THE WIN vs TEXAS STATE
- The Kats finished with 298 yards on the ground and now has 835 yards of rushing in its last 3 games. It is the first time since 2021 the Bearkats have rushed for 200+ yards in 3 consecutive games
- Hunter Watson finished with 105 yards on the ground, his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. He is the first Kat quarterback in program history to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games. He also ranks first among QBs in CUSA and ninth among QBs in the nation with an average of 67.6 yards per game
- Jay Ducker rushed 14 times for 69 yards and 3 scores vs the Bobcats, pushing him over 2,000 collegiate rushing yards spanning stops at NIU, Memphis and Sam Houston. Meanwhile, his 3 touchdown runs are the most by a Bearkat in a game since Eric Schmid ran in 4 scores vs Lamar in the Spring 2021 season
- The Kats won their second consecutive game when passing for less than 100 yards, aided by 5 players who rushed for at least 31 yards in the game
- Ife Adeyi has now caught a pass in 29 consecutive games, while teammate Noah Smith has caught a pass in 24 straight. Should each have a grab on Thursday vs UTEP, the pair would join Utah's Brant Kuithe and Money Parks as the only duos in the nation to each have catch streaks of 25+ games
- Sam Houston stuffed a pair of 4th-down tries by the Bobcats on Saturday and has now stopped 5 of 11 4th-down tries by its opponents this year
- The Kats have had 11 consecutive games with at least 1 takeaway
- The Kats will be without starting linebacker Trey Fields for the first half of Thursday's game due to an upheld targeting call in the second half of the game vs Texas State
