KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State gave Sam Houston fits for four quarters, but an opening in overtime lifted the Bearkats to a 23-17 victory at Fifth Third Stadium on Saturday. 

After the Owls (1-9, 1-5 CUSA) scored on their final drive of regulation to force overtime, they missed a field goal to put the Kats (8-2, 5-1) in position to win. Quarterback Hunter Watson did not leave the game to chance with the contest on the online and sprinted his way to a 10-yard touchdown and a Sam Houston victory.  

It was Sam Houston's first overtime win on the road since a 48-45 victory at New Mexico in 2011. 

Watson finished with 62 yards rushing and 179 through the air. Simeon Evans had five grabs for 64 yards, and Jay Ducker added 111 yards and a score on the ground. 

The game was mostly defense, but Sam Houston began to show flashes late in the first half. 

The Bearkats finally started to get rolling offensively late in the first half. Watson rolled out to the right and found Qua'Vez Humphrey for a 44-yard pitch-and-catch deep into Owl territory.  

Sam Houston ran into a wall inside the 10 to face a third-and-goal from the 7-yard line. Watson was unable to escape some pressure and went down to force a 29-yard field goal by Christian Pavon to tie it at 3 with less than two minutes to go in the half. 

The second half was kinder to the Kats. Sam Houston took the kickoff and methodically moved the ball downfield with short out routes gaining six to seven yards a play. 

Watson put the ball on the ground and scrambled for a 25-yard touchdown run, weaving his way through the Kennesaw secondary to give Sam Houston a 10-3 lead. 

Disaster struck right before the end of the third quarter when Watson was intercepted on a tipped pass around the SHSU 7. Two plays later the Owls punched it in to tie it. 

But Sam Houston saw something to exploit. The Kats answered with some clutch plays by wide receiver Evans on third down to retake the lead. 

On third and 11, and then again on 3rd and 15, Evans had two grabs for 47 yards to set up Ducker's go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth. 

But the Owls were able to sneak one in with less than a minute to play to send the game into overtime. 

The Bearkats head to Jax State to face the Gamecocks on Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network. 

POSTGAME NOTES 
- The win was the Kats' first win in overtime since a 34-31 win over Central Arkansas in 2018 
- It was the first overtime win for the Kats on the road since a 45-42 win at New Mexico in the 2011 season 
- The Kats are now 4-9 all-time in overtime games 
- Sam Houston's defense held the Owls to just 248 yards of total offense, the third time this season SHSU's defensive unit has held a team under 250 yards this season  
- Simeon finished with five catches for 64 yards, including a 47 yards on the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. Two of his three catches on the drive were third-down conversions as he hauled in a passes for 13 and 32 yards on third downs to set up the go-ahead score by Jay Ducker 
- Ducker finished with 111 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. It was his second 100-yard rushing game as a Bearkat and the first by any Kat since Hunter Watson had 105 yards on the ground vs Texas State 
- Watson added 62 yards on the ground and two scores, his third 2-score game of the year 
- He also completed 22 of his 32 passes in the game, a season high in completions by both Watson and the Kats in 2024. Sam Houston had not had more than 19 completions in a game prior to Saturday  
- David Fisher picked off his second pass of the season in the first quarter, extending the Kats' streak to 16 in a row with a takeaway 
- Noah Smith had a pair of receptions to extend his streak to 28 straight games with a catch 
- Hunter Watson connected with Qua'Vez Humphreys for a 44-yard pass play in the second quarter, the Kats' longest pass play since a 50-yard touchdown catch by Michael Phoenix II in the Kats' game vs WKU 
- The Kats went 75 yards on 13 plays to open the second half, punching it in with a 25-yard touchdown run by Hunter Watson. It marked the second straight game the Kats were held without a touchdown in the opening half, but took their first drive of the third quarter and punched it in the end zone 
- The first score by Watson was his first rushing TD since scoring twice in the Kats' win over Texas State. The 25-yard score was his second longest scoring run of the year, only bettered by his 46-yard score vs NM State 
- When KSU got in the end zone with 3:01 left in the third quarter, it marked the first touchdown allowed by the Bearkat defense since the first play of the fourth quarter of SHSU's win at FIU