HOUSTON — Sam Houston was seconds from picking up its first win of the season only to have it elude the Bearkats in the closing seconds of a 29-27 loss to Jax State on Thursday evening at Shell Energy Stadium.
Quarterback
Hunter Watson tossed three touchdown passes, two to wide receiver
Chris Reed including what appeared to be game winner in the final minute, as the Bearkats (0-6) came up short in earning their first win of the season. The team fell to 0-3 in Conference USA play despite the fact it had one of its most balanced offensive attacks of the season.
Sam Houston took its first lead since the opening loss to Western Kentucky when
Alton McCaskill ripped off a 34-yard run to move the ball deep inside Gamecock territory midway through the third quarter. An offsides flag gave the Bearkats a free play, and Watson capitalized on it by tossing his second touchdown pass of the evening, a 20-yard floater to the front left corner of the end zone to Reed, to make it 21-17.
Jax State scored nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter to retake the lead only to see Sam Houston come up with a big stop on fourth and short to set up Watson's and Reed's second touchdown hookup of the game. Watson found his favorite target open in the right back corner of the end zone to put Sam Houston on top 27-26.
Jax State (3-3, 2-0) got the ball back with 47 seconds to go and was able to scratch its way into field goal range. Kicker Garrison Rippa got just enough leg into to split the uprights for a walk-off 52-yard field goal to seal the victory.
Watson finished with 136 yards passing and 52 more on the ground. McCaskill had 87 yards on the ground, and Reed had three catches for 63 yards.
The Bearkats went three and out on their first drive of the game, and Jax State took full advantage of a short field following the punt. A personal foul penalty helped set up a Caden Creel seven-yard keeper for the first score of the evening to make it 7-0 with just under nine minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Emon Allen blocked a punt, but the drive stalled out around midfield late in the first quarter. The Gamecocks took back over and managed a field goal to begin the second.
Special teams came through clutch again when the Bearkats pinned the Gamecocks inside their own 1-yard line and recovered a fumble on the next play. Running back Coco Brown punched it in to trim the lead to 10-7.
After another Jax State touchdown, Watson used his feet to claw the Kats back into the game. He broke free down the right sideline for a 37-yard run then gained 20 more following a 14-yard burst by Brown.
Watson capped the drive with a four-yard scoring strike to
Qua'Vez Humphreys to cut the lead back to 3 heading into the half. It was Sam Houston's first touchdown pass of the season inside the red zone.
The Kats return to action Wednesday when UTEP comes to Houston for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
