Game 4 • at No. 8 Texas
Austin, Texas • DKR Memorial Stadium (100,119)
Sam Houston (0-3, 0-1 CUSA) at No. 8 Texas (2-1, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, September 20 • 7:00 PM
TV: SEC Network+ (Clay Matvick, Chase Daniel, Tori Petry)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM; KSHU 90.5 FM
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • Texas
Series vs the Longhorns: TEXAS leads 1-0
AUSTIN – Coming off an early-season bye week, the Sam Houston Bearkats will test their mettle against one of the nation's best on Saturday when they take on No. 8 Texas at DKR Memorial Stadium in the capital city of the Lone Star State.
Kickoff for Saturday's game on is set for 7:00 p.m. and will air on SEC Network+. Clay Matvick and Chase Daniel will call the action in the booth with Tori Petry on the sidelines.
The game can also 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 6300 p.m. with the kickoff show, hosted by Jason Barfield.
KATS TO BATTLE NO. 8 TEXAS ON THE FORTY ACRES
- Texas checked in as ranked No. 8 in the latest AP poll, the Longhorns are the first ranked opponent the Bearkats have played since fully joining the FBS for the 2023 season
- The game will be the eighth in Bearkat history against a ranked FBS opponent and the first since taking on No. 6 Texas A&M to open the 2022 season, a year which was the first of the Kats' 2-year transition to the FBS. Of the Kats 8 all-time games vs ranked FBS opponents, 4 opponents have been ranked within the top 10 and only 1 (LSU, 2014) was from outside the state of Texas
- Sam Houston will be looking to avoid starting 0-4 for the second time in three seasons. Prior to its 0-8 start in 2023, the Kats had not started at least 0-4 since 1977 season with 7 straight defeats
- The game is the second of only 2 games in the month of September for the Bearkats. The return of Weekday CUSA play in the month of October begins for SHSU on October 2 at NM State, the first of 4 straight midweek games which concludes with a game at Louisiana Tech on Halloween night
- The Bearkats are 1 of 38 teams in the country and 1 of 4 in CUSA to not lose a fumble in 2025, helping contribute to a +2 turnover margin entering Saturday's contest in Austin
- Emon Allen had a 66-yard pick-6 in the Kats' game at Hawaii, joining JaMair Diaz as Bearkat defenders to reach the end zone this year. It already marks the third straight year the Kats' defense has had at least 2 scores in a season, with the 2021 season being the last time that side of the ball had 3 TDs to its credit
- The Bearkats have already shown explosiveness on the offensive side of the football in 2025 with 4 plays of 50+ yards. Of those, 3 have come on the ground, already marking the first time the Kats have had 3+ runs of 50+ yards in a season since 2021
SAM HOUSTON vs THE LONGHORNS
- The Longhorns lead the all-time series with the Bearkats, winning 56-3 in the only previous meeting between the teams
- The Bearkats are 0-15 all-time vs current members of the SEC, having only ever faced Texas, Texas A&M and LSU. The Kats are 0-3 vs the Aggies as members of the SEC and 0-1 vs LSU. This is the first time SHSU has faced UT with the Longhorns as members of the SEC
NOTES & QUICK HITTERS
- Playing in-state opponents is nothing new for the Bearkats, however, Saturday's game at Texas will be the sixth game for the Kats vs in-state opponents since fully joining the FBS in 2023. The Kats enter Saturday having won three in a row vs Texas teams, having defeated Rice, Texas State and UTEP in 2024
- Hunter Watson needs 245 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 were held to just 79 yards on the ground at Hawaii, the first time this season they have not crossed the century mark. In 16 total games over the past two seasons the Bearkats have now rushed for at least 100 yards 13 times
