Liberty
Game 5 Preview: at Liberty
10/6/2026 1:30:00 PM | Football
Game 5 • at LibertyÂ
Lynchburg, Va. • Williams Stadium (25,000)Â
Sam Houston (1-3, 0-0 CUSA) at Liberty (4-1, 1-0 CUSA)Â
Thursday, October 8 • 6:00 PM CTÂ
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TV: ESPNU (Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker)Â
RADIO: BSN (Jason Barfield, Brian Adams); KSHU 90.5 FMÂ
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on XÂ
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • LibertyÂ
Series vs the Flame: Series tied 1-1Â
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LYNCHBURG, Va. – Sam Houston begins another season of Weekday CUSA action on Thursday night when it travels to Liberty for a matchup with the Flames.Â
Kickoff for Thursday's game is set for 6:00 p.m. CT and will air on ESPNU. Tiffany Greene and Jay Walker will have the call from Williams Stadium.Â
The game can also be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network and the Bearkat Athletics app with Jason Barfield 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 locally on KSHU 90.5 FM.Â
KATS HIT THE ROAD TO OPEN CUSA PLAY AT LIBERTYÂ
- Sam Houston opens its fourth season of CUSA play with a 9-16 record in league games since joining the conference in 2023, including a 4-7 mark on the road. The Kats are 1-2 in CUSA openers and will be seeking their first road victory in a league opener after losses at Jax State in 2023 and NM State in 2025Â Â
- Sam Houston is 29-20 in games following an open date since 1986 but has gone 1-5 in those contests since joining CUSA in 2023. The Kats dropped each of their three games after a bye in 2025, with the lone post-bye victory during their FBS era coming at Kennesaw State in 2024Â Â
- Thursday's matchup features two head coaches calling plays for offenses built around different strengths. Phil Longo directs Sam Houston's Air Raid attack, which leads CUSA and ranks 15th nationally with 308.0 passing yards per game. Liberty's Jamey Chadwell assumed play-calling duties this season in the Flames' run-heavy spread-option offense, which leads CUSA and ranks 31st nationally with 208.2 rushing yards per gameÂ
- Sam Houston ranks third nationally in year-to-year improvement in total defense through Oct. 3, allowing 148.0 fewer yards per game than in 2025. The Kats have limited opponents to 335.5 yards per game through four contests after allowing 483.5 last season, with only FIU (166.8 fewer ypg) and Duke (162.5 fewer ypg) showing larger improvementsÂ
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- Landyn Locke is one of just nine FBS quarterbacks with at least three games of 300 or more passing yards this season, reaching the mark against Troy (335), Tulsa (316) and Nicholls (322). Oregon State's Braden Atkinson leads the nation with 5 such performances, while Locke joins Ryan Browne (Purdue), Jaden Craig (TCU), Ethan Grunkemeyer (Virginia Tech), Kevin Jennings (SMU), Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) and Julian Sayin (Ohio State) with three apieceÂ
- Sam Houston has remained within striking distance throughout the opening half of each game this season, outscoring its opponents 73-45 before halftime. The Kats led at the break vs both Tulsa and Nicholls, were tied at Troy and trailed No. 11 Texas Tech by just seven points in Lubbock Â
SAM HOUSTON vs THE FLAMESÂ
- Thursday marks the third all-time meeting between Sam Houston and Liberty, with each matchup taking place after the Kats joined CUSA for the 2023 season. The series is currently tied at 1-1Â Â
- Sam Houston will be making its first trip to Lynchburg since that 2023 season when they put a scare into a Liberty team which won the CUSA title and eventually earned a berth in the Fiesta Bowl Â
- The Kats lost that game, 21-16, but nearly pulled off the impossible. Sam Houston trailed by five and took over at its own 1-yard line with 3:36 to play, marching 96 yards on 15 plays; however, Liberty was able to withstand three straight shots at the end zone from the 3-yard line from the Kats to preserve the winÂ
THE LAST TIMEÂ
- Sam Houston stopped Liberty on a 2-point conversion with 1:10 to play to hold on for a 20-18 win over the Flames at Bowers Stadium in the 2024 regular-season finale  Â
- Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter broke around the right side of the defense for a 33-yard touchdown run with 70 seconds to play to pull the Flames within two points, but Huntsville native Briceon Hayes picked off the 2-point conversion in the end zone and the Kats' recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the deal Â
- The game kept the Kats' hopes alive for a berth in the CUSA Championship game, but a win by WKU a day later over Jax State kept Sam Houston from a chance at the title Â
- The win over the Flames was the final game played at Bowers Stadium until this season's home opener against Tulsa due to renovations at the Kats' home field in Huntsville. Sam Houston played the entirety of its 6-game home schedule in 2025 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston Â
- Sam Houston scored on its first drive of the game and held that lead for the entirety of the evening behind 202 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Hunter Watson and 96 yards on the ground from Jay Ducker. Watson completed 19 of his 33 passes, finding Simeon Evans six times for 83 yards and each of the Kats' two touchdownsÂ
- Defensively, the Kats were everywhere, with Trey Fields and Isaiah Cash each leading the team with eight stops apiece. Cash and former Liberty defensive back Jaylon Jimmerson each picked off Flames' QB Kaidon Salter in the game, with the Bearkats' defenders adding nine pass breakups and getting home for a pair of sacksÂ
- Jimmerson would go on to pick off a pair of passes in the New Orleans Bowl, including a pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage to earn MVP honors of the game in the win over Georgia Southern Â
PREGAME NOTESÂ
- The Kats' defense has seven takeaways over its last two games after having none in the first two. Sam Houston forced three turnovers vs Nicholls before collecting four vs No. 11 Texas TechÂ
- Alton McCaskill enters the game with 18 career rushing touchdowns, the most among CUSA running backs. McCaskill also ranks second among the league's active backs with 1,572 career yards, trailing only Liberty's Kanye Udoh with 1,920Â
- Landyn Locke needs 67 passing yards to reach 2,000 for his SHSU career. He would be the 26th passer in the program's 114-year history to reach 2,000 career passing yardsÂ
- Sam Houston has generated 75.5 percent of its total offense through the air this season, throwing for 1,232 of its 1,632 total yards through four games. The Kats are averaging 308.0 passing yards and 100.0 rushing yards per gameÂ
- Nearly half of Sam Houston's touchdowns this season have come from outside the red zone, with seven of its 15 scores covering more than 20 yards. All seven have come through the air and covered at least 31 yards, with five different receivers accounting for those scoresÂ
- Sam Houston has controlled the ball for more than 35 minutes in each of its last two games, posting possession times of 35:31 against Nicholls and 35:06 at Texas Tech. The Kats held a combined possession advantage of 21:14 across those contestsÂ
- After being held without a rushing touchdown in its first two games, Sam Houston produced three against Nicholls with Landan Brown, Alton McCaskill and Brett Holloway each reaching the end zone. The Kats finished with 233 yards on 43 carries, averaging 5.4 yards per attemptÂ
- Sam Houston has generated six takeaways over its last two games after going without one in its first two contests. The Kats followed two interceptions against Nicholls with three interceptions and a fumble recovery at Texas Tech and are tied with Liberty for the CUSA lead with five picks entering Thursday's matchupÂ
- Sam Houston leads CUSA and ranks eighth nationally in passing defense, allowing just 145.3 yards per game through 4 contests. Opponents have completed only 53 of 111 passes (47.7 percent) for 581 yards against the Kats, averaging 5.2 yards per attemptÂ
- Sam Houston leads CUSA and ranks 13th nationally in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 15 of 56 attempts (26.8 percent) through 4 games. Thursday's opponent, Liberty, ranks second in CUSA and 18th nationally at 28.3 percentÂ
- Sam Houston's production behind the line of scrimmage has come from throughout the defense, with 16 players recording at least a half-tackle for loss and 9 contributing at least a half-sack through four games. Brian Bates Jr., Brody Henderson and Josh Alexander-Felton share the team lead with 3.0 TFLs apiece, while Elijah Groves leads the Kats with 2.5 sacksÂ
-Â Sam Houston held each of its first three opponents below 400 yards of total offense for the first time to begin a season since 2021. The Bearkats limited Troy to 342 yards, Tulsa to 367 and Nicholls to just 163, allowing an average of 290.7 yards per game during that stretch. The run came to an end when Sam Houston encountered No. 11 Texas Tech on the road in its fourth game of the season
