Tulsa
Game 2 Preview: vs Tulsa
9/10/2026 1:50:00 PM | Football
Game 2 • vs TulsaÂ
Huntsville • Bowers Stadium (14,500)Â
Sam Houston (0-1, 0-0 CUSA) vs Tulsa (1-0, 0-0 American)Â
Saturday, September 12 • 6:00 PMÂ
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TV: ESPN+ (Jason Metko, John Harris, Kendra Sheehan)Â
RADIO: BSN (Jason Barfield, Brian Adams); KSHU 90.5 FMÂ
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on XÂ
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • TulsaÂ
Series vs the Golden Hurricane: TULSA leads 1-0Â
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HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will return to Bowers Stadium for the first time since 2024 on Saturday when they host the Golden Hurricane.Â
Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 6:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN+. Jason Metko and John Harris will call the action in the booth, while Kendra Sheehan will patrol the sidelines.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
SAM HOUSTON vs THE GOLDEN HURRICANEÂ
- Saturday will mark the second time the Bearkats and Golden Hurricane have met on the gridiron with Tulsa having taken a 56-3 win in the third game of the 2009 season  Â
- This is the first of a home-and-home series between Tulsa and SHSU. The Kats are scheduled to return the game on August 30, 2031 with a trip to Tulsa Â
- Tulsa racked up 516 yards and allowed the Kats just 241, scoring all 56 points in the first three quarters en route to a 56-3 win in 2009. Tulsa was quarterbacked by current Texas State head coach GJ Kinne in that game. Kinne completed 12 of his 15 pass attempts for 264 yards and 4 TDsÂ
KATS TO HOST TULSA IN RETURN TO BOWERS STADIUMÂ
- Sam Houston recorded 4 sacks and 8 TFLs in the season opener at Troy. Elijah Groves led the way with 1.5 sacks while 10 players picked up at least 0.5 TFLs Â
- Landyn Locke distributed the ball to nine different receivers against Troy. Grady O'Neill led the way with seven grabs for 86 yards and was one of three Kats to catch a TD pass from LockeÂ
- It will be a stretch of 647 days without a game at Bowers Stadium. The last time the Kats played on the Bowers turf was Nov. 29 2024, when the Bearkats closed the regular season with a 20-18 victory over Liberty. The Kats went a combined 6-4 in 10 games at Bowers Stadium during the 2023 and 2024 seasons before playing all 12 games away from Huntsville in 2025 Â
- The Bearkats held Troy to 342 yards of total offense, their lowest total allowed in a game since the 2024 season and a dramatic improvement from the 483.6 yards per game Sam Houston allowed in 2025. Troy managed just 165 passing yards, while its 177 rushing yards accounted for more than half of its total productionÂ
- Sam Houston's offense showed significant passing production in its first outing of 2026, piling up 373 total yards against the Trojans, including 335 through the air. The Bearkats had just 1 game with more than 300 passing yards during the 2025 season, while Landyn Locke's 335 yards marked the highest single-game total by a Sam Houston quarterback since Eric Schmid threw for 359 yards vs Montana State in the 2021 FCS playoffs Â
-Â Saturday will mark Sam Houston's first home game against an American Athletic Conference opponent. The Bearkats are 1-0 against members of the American since moving to the FBS, earning a 34-14 victory at Rice in the 2024 season openerÂ
OFFENSIVE QUICK HITTERSÂ
- Sam Houston produced 15 passing first downs against Troy, accounting for 15 of its 22 total first downsÂ
- The Kats showed some big-play ability through the air. Sam Houston averaged 11.2 yards per completion, with 5 different receivers recording a catch of at least 19 yards. O'Neill had the longest reception at 37 yards, while Chris Reed's 31-yard touchdown gave the Kats a chance to pull within three with 1:03 remainingÂ
- The Bearkats put together three scoring drives of 75 or more yards in the season opener at Troy, going 83 yards for their first touchdown, 75 yards for their second and 85 yards for their third. Sam Houston had only had 10 scoring drives of 75+ yards in all of 2025 and has not had three such drives in a single game since doing so in a 41-21 win at UTEP in 2024Â
- Landyn Locke became the first Sam Houston quarterback since Jeremiah Briscoe in 2016 to pass for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in a season opener. Locke finished 30-of-46 for 335 yards and three touchdowns in the Kats' 24-21 loss at Troy, while Briscoe threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-21 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State to open the 2016 seasonÂ
DEFENSIVE QUICK HITTERSÂ
-Â The Bearkats brought pressure in the opener, finishing with four sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Sam Houston got 1.5 sacks from Elijah Groves in his debut, while the defense also registered 6 pass breakupsÂ
- Sam Houston's defense held Troy to 177 rushing yards on 40 attempts, an average of 4.4 yards per carry. That comes after a 2025 season when the Bearkats' 2025 run defense allowed 5.4 yards per carryÂ
- The Bearkats limited Troy to 165 passing yards, with the Trojans completing 18 of 30 attempts. That's the least by a Bearkat opponent in a season opener since BYU threw for just 145 to open the 2023 seasonÂ
