Game 2 • vs UNLV
Houston • Shell Energy Stadium (22,000)
Sam Houston (0-1, 0-1 CUSA) vs UNLV (1-0, 0-0 MWC)
Friday, August 29 • 8:30 PM CT
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turpin, Tiffany Blackmon)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM; KSHU 90.5 FM
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • UNLV
Series vs the Rebels: First Meeting
HOUSTON – After opening the 2025 season and the Phil Longo era with a league contest at WKU, the Sam Houston Bearkats will play host on Friday to UNLV in the season's home opener and first game of the year at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
Kickoff for Friday's is set for 8:30 p.m. CT at in downtown Houston. It will be aired on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz and Robert Turpin in the booth and Tiffany Blackmon 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, all Bearkat Football games have returned to the airwaves in 2025, aired locally on KSHU 90.5 FM.
The broadcast will begin at 8:00 p.m. with the kickoff show, hosted by Jason Barfield.
KATS TO KICK OFF 2025 HOME SLATE BY HOSTING UNLV AT SHELL ENERGY STADIUM
- The game is the first of 5 the Kats will play at Shell Energy Stadium in 2025 as Bowers Stadium in Huntsville undergoes a major renovation ahead of the 2026 season. But playing in the Bayou City is nothing new to SHSU as they have played 47 games there all-time
- This will be the 15th straight season (excluding the COVID-altered 2020 season) the Kats have played a game in Houston and the first time in Shell Energy Stadium since playing Texas Southern in 2012
- The game is the first of consecutive Mountain West Conference opponents for the Bearkats with SHSU set to travel to Hawai'i the following week for a game with the Rainbow Warriors
- The Bearkats enter Friday having won 13 of their last 18 games after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023
- Sam Houston is 5-6 all-time in the month of August, all coming since 1996, after last week's defeat at WKU. 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
- This is the second time in program history the Kats have had multiple games in the month of August, with the last time also coming in 2014 when they opened at Eastern Washington on 8/23 and then hosted Alabama State on 8/30
SERIES HISTORY
- The Bearkat and Rebels have never met on the gridiron
- The game is the first of a home-and-home series between the programs with the Bearkats scheduled to return the game on Sept 17, 2033 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
- Sam Houston is 2-4 vs current members of the Mountain West Conference, having previously played Boise State (0-2), New Mexico (1-1), Air Force (0-1) and Hawai'i (1-0)
TEAM NOTES ENTERING 2025
- 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
- Despite leading the Kats in both passing and rushing in 2024, quarterback Hunter Watson did not have a game with 300+ yards of total offense last year. He hit that mark for the first time in his college career at WKU with 209 yards in the air and 91 more on the ground
- Watson needs 262 more yards on the ground to become the fourth Bearkat quarterback in program history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards. Jared Johnson holds the record for rushing yards as a QB at Sam Houston with 1,601
- The Kats had a handful of explosive plays at WKU, including a 55-yard rush by Watson and a 52-yard rush by newcomer Alton McCaskill, marking the first time the Kats have had multiple runs of 50+ yards in a single game since Zach Hrbacek had touchdown runs of 60 and 80 yards at Tarleton in 2022
- The run game was a big factor for the Bearkat offense on Saturday at WKU with McCaskill giving folks a glimpse of what he is capable of with 72 yards on 11 carries and a score. The bulk of that came on the opening drive of the third quarter when he toted the ball 3 times for 69 yards, capping the drive with a punishing 2-yard dive into the end zone. The drive included a 52-yard run, the longest of his collegiate career while his score marked the first time he has reached the end zone since 2021 when he had 16 touchdowns as a freshman at Houston
- No play was bigger for the Bearkat defense at WKU than their stop on the Hilltoppers' first drive of the second half. That drive ended when Alonzo Edwards Jr. dislodged the ball on a swing pass, forcing a fumble which was picked up by JaMair Diaz and returned 43 yards for a score that put the Bearkats ahead 24-20. It was the first fumble recovery for a touchdown for Sam Houston since 2022 and Edwards' first forced fumble of his career
