Game 5 • Houston • NRG Stadium
Sam Houston (3-1, 1-0 CUSA) vs Texas State (2-1, 0-0 SBC)
Saturday, September 28 • 2:00 PM
TV: ESPN+ (Randy McIlvoy, John Harris)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM 984
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • Texas State
Series vs the Bobcats: Texas State leads 50-37-5
HOUSTON – One week after moving to 1-0 in Conference USA play, the Sam Houston Bearkats will step out of conference one final time this year when it travels back to NRG Stadium on Saturday to take on Texas State.
Kickoff of Saturday's contest is set for 2:00 p.m. at NRG Stadium. It will be aired on ESPN+ with Randy McIlvoy and John Harris on the call. The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network, the Bearkat Athletics app and Sirius XM 984 with Carlos Zimmermann and Brian Adams on the call from the radio booth.
OLD SCHOOL KATFIGHT TO BE RENEWED AT NRG STADIUM
- Sam Houston is 18-27-1 all-time in games played in the City of Houston, including 1-0 this year after opening the year with a win at Rice
- The Kats have drawn home attendances of 15,134 and 13,059 in the last 2 weeks, both crowds which rank in the top 5 all-time at SHSU. The total of 28,193 in consecutive weeks is the most in Bearkat history for consecutive home games
- Sam Houston is averaging 32.0 points per game in its 3 wins, all over G5 teams
- Sam Houston will be wearing another set of throwback decals on their helmets on Saturday, 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 Texas State will be meeting for the 93rd time in series history on Saturday in Houston
- Saturday will be the first time the Bearkats and Bobcats will meet on the gridiron since 2011 when both were members of the Southland Conference; Texas State made the jump to the FBS for the 2012 season
- When the series ended after the 2011 season, Texas State was Sam Houston's most-played opponent in program history with 92 meetings; the Kats have since played Piney Woods rival Stephen F. Austin 10 times, making the series with the Lumberjacks as the Kats' most-played series with 96 meetings
- This will not be the first time the Bearkats and Bobcats have met in Houston. The team has 1 other meeting in the Bayou City with that game coming in 1982 when the Bobcats (then Southwest Texas) came away with a 52-21 win in the Astrodome
SAM HOUSTON >> TEXAS STATE CONNECTIONS
- There are plenty of connections between the rosters, mainly on the defensive side of the ball. Bearkat linebacker Issiah Nixon is one of those as he played his first 2 seasons for the Bobcats before transferring to Sam Houston for the 2023 season
- Texas State's Kam Washington will also be suiting up against his former team. The defensive lineman was a Bearkat in 2022, Sam Houston's first year of transition to the FBS. That season he was named the WAC Freshman of the Year
- Washington was reunited in San Marcos with Mike O'Guin, the current defensive line coach for the Bobcats. Prior to joining the TXST staff in 2023, he coached the defensive line in Huntsville in both 2021 and 2022
QUICK HITTERS FROM THE WIN vs NM STATE
- The Kats finished with 280 yards on the ground and now has 537 yards of rushing in its last 2 games. It is the first time since 2021 the Bearkats have rushed for 200+ yards in consecutive games
- Sam Houston is now averaging 238.3 yards per game on the ground in its 3 wins
- Hunter Watson finished with 116 yards rushing, including a pair of touchdowns. He is only the second Bearkat quarterback since 2013 to have a 100-yard rushing game, the other being backup Trapper Pannell in the 2022 season finale vs Southern Utah, concluding the Kats' first transitional season to the FBS
- Watson is second in rushing among quarterbacks in CUSA with an average of 58.3 yards per game on the ground. Only Tyler Huff (Jax State) is averaging more, ranking second overall in the league with 67.3 rushing yards per game
- Ife Adeyi has now caught a pass in 28 consecutive games, while teammate Noah Smith has caught a pass in 23 straight
- The Kats' defense held NMSU to just 152 yards of offense, including 74 in the air and 78 on the ground. It is the first time since the 2013 season opener vs HBU the Kats have held an opponent under 100 rushing and passing yards in the same game, holding the Huskies to 45 passing and 45 rushing yards in that game
- Isaiah Cash and Caleb Weaver each had interceptions vs NM State marking the 10th straight game in which the Sam Houston defense has had caused a turnover
