Game 1 • at WKU 
Bowling Green, Ky. • Houchens-Smith Stadium (22,113) 
Sam Houston (0-0, 0-0 CUSA) at WKU (0-0, 0-0 CUSA) 
Saturday, August 23 • 6:00 PM CT 
 
TV: CBS Sports Network (Chris Lewis, Robert Turpin, Lauren Green) 
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM; KSHU 90.5 FM 

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X 
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • WKU 
Series vs the Hilltoppers: WKU leads 2-1 
 
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Sam Houston Bearkats will kick off a new era of football with the start of the 2025 season on Saturday when Phil Longo leads the team onto the field for the season opener at WKU. 
 
Saturday's season opener will also serve as the opener for Conference USA for both teams, the first time the Kats have opened with a league game since the Spring 2021 season.  

Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. CT at Houchens-Smith Stadium. It will be aired on CBS Sports Network with Chris Lewis and Robert Turpin in the booth and Lauren Green on the sidelines.  

The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network and the Bearkat Athletics app with Carlos Zimmermann and Brian Adams on the call from the radio booth. The BSN broadcast can also be heard online on GoBearkats.com, the Bearkat Sports app and Sirius XM. Additionally, the game will return to the airwaves in 2025 locally on KSHU 90.5 FM. 

The broadcast will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the kickoff show, hosted by Jason Barfield. 
 
2025 SEASON AND LONGO ERA TO KICK OFF IN BOWLING GREEN 
- Longo takes over the helm of the Bearkat program for 2025, becoming the 16th head coach in Sam Houston history. He will be looking to become the eighth SHSU head man to post a winning record in his first season in charge 
 
- Longo is not unfamiliar with Huntsville, having served as the Kats' offensive coordinator from 2014-16 and helping direct quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe to the 2016 Walter Payton Award after breaking Willie Totten's FCS record of 56 touchdown passes in a single season which had stood since 1986 
 
- The Bearkats have won 13 of their last 17 games after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023 

- Sam Houston will be opening the season with a league contest for the 10th time in program history, the last coming during the COVID-altered 2021 spring season when the Kats started the spring with a home game vs Southeastern Louisiana  

- Sam Houston will open 2025 vs the Hilltoppers, who are led by head coach Tyson Helton. Oddly enough, Sam Houston closed 2024 by taking down Georgia Southern in the New Orleans Bowl, a team coach by Helton's older brother, Clay 
 
- Sam Houston is 5-5 all-time in the month of August, all coming since 1996. The first August game played by the Kats was 8/31/1996 at Houston with the Cougars pulling out a 43-25 win at Robertson Stadium 
 
- The August 23 start to the 2025 season equals the earliest game the Kats have ever played, last opening the 2014 season at Eastern Washington on August 23 
 
- This will also be the second time in program history the Kats have had multiple games in the month of August, with the last time coming in 2014 when they opened at Eastern Washington on 8/23 and then hosted Alabama State on 8/29  

SERIES HISTORY 
- The Bearkats and Hilltoppers have met three times previously, with WKU holding a 2-1 edge after wins in each of the last two seasons since the Kats joined CUSA in 2023 
 
- The first time the teams met came in 2004 when Dustin Long threw for 327 yards and five touchdowns as the Kats downed then No. 3 WKU in the first round of the NCAA 1-AA playoffs 

- 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  

SAM HOUSTON > WKU CONNECTIONS 
- Bearkat strength and conditioning coach Blair Vaughan will experience a homecoming of sorts in Bowling Green. He played both linebacker and running back for the Hilltoppers from 2012-16 and was a part of WKU's first AP Top 25 finish in 2015. During that time he helped lead the Toppers to consecutive CUSA titles in 2015 and 2016 as well as three consecutive bowl wins 
 
TEAM NOTES 
- Sam Houston has reached postseason play in 10 of the last 12 seasons in which it was eligible at the FBS and FCS levels  

- Sam Houston's 10 wins in 2024 was its first winning season at the FBS level and 14th in the last 15 seasons overall. The Kats only season with a losing record since 2009 came in 2023, its first full year at the FBS level. The Kats finished their run at the FCS level with 13 consecutive winning seasons  

- The Kats' 10 wins were the most of any team in Conference USA in 2024, and they were the only CUSA team to register a bowl victory 
 
- The 2024 Kats put together 6-0 records when leading at the half and in 1-score games 
 
- The Kats won games vs FIU and LA Tech despite scoring just 19 total points. The 10 points vs FIU and the 9 points vs LA Tech were the lowest winning scores in single games in the nation this season 
 
- Since 2000 there have been 22 programs to make the transition from the FCS/1-AA level with the Kats being one of three programs in that span to post a season of 10+ wins within the first two years of move up. They are joined by App State (11-2 in 2015) and James Madison (11-2 in 2023) in that category with the Kats and Mountaineers each claiming bowl wins in their second year 
 
OFFENSE/DEFENSE NOTES 
- Hunter Watson went over 100 yards rushing from the QB spot three times last season, becoming the first Bearkat QB in program history to have three 100-yard rushing games in the same season 
 
- Watson's 647 yards rushing yards last year were the most rushing yards for a Bearkat QB since Jared Johnson set the program's QB rushing record with 999 yards in 2014. He needs 353 more yards on the ground to become the fourth Bearkat quarterback in program history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards 
 
- The Kats threw for just 2,186 yards last season, a mark which will surely increase in Longo's renewed air-raid style. But Sam Houston will be tossing it around to a number of new faces with only a total of 39 catches and 635 combined receiving yards back from 2024. The bulk of that comes from returners Qua'Vez Humphreys (20-385-4) and Michael Phoenix II (15-219-3) who each turned in their share of explosive performances in 2024 
 
- Sam Houston will have a fully new backfield with no running back having returned with a carry for the Kats in 2024. But despite not having any running backs return from 2024, the Kats have revamped the room with a slew of quality backs including three with significant FBS experience - Alton McCaskill, Elijah Green and Shane Porter. Combined, those three backs have 492 carries at the FBS level with 2,550 yards and 18 total touchdowns 

- The Kats enter 2025 with a streak of 19 total games with a takeaway after closing 2024 with a season-high 5 (including 4 INTs) in its New Orleans Bowl win over Georgia Southern 
 
- Sam Houston held four opponents (NM State, FIU, Jax State and Liberty) under 100 yards in the air in 2025. They were one of five teams nationally to have four games last year with less than 100 passing yards allowed. The Kats were joined by Tulane (5), Notre Dame (4) and WKU (4) in that category