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Game 7 Preview: vs. WKU


Elijah Sohn pregame against Hawaii 2024

Leighton Chamblee



Football






Game 7 • Huntsville • Bowers Stadium
Sam Houston (5-1, 2-0 CUSA) vs. WKU (4-2, 2-0 CUSA)
Wednesday, October 16 • 6:00 PM CT


TV:
ESPN2 (Lowell Galindo, Fozzy Whittaker)

RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Jason Barfield); Sirius XM971

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X

GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • WKU

Series vs. the Hilltoppers: Series tied 1-1



HUNTSVILLE – After the first bye week of the season, the Sam Houston Bearkats return to Bowers Stadium host WKU on Wednesday in a matchup between two of the midseason favorites in Conference USA.


Kickoff for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 6:00 PM CT at Bowers Stadium. It airs on ESPN2 with Lowell Galindo and Fozzy Whittaker on the call. The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network, the Bearkat Athletics app and Sirius XM 971, with Carlos Zimmermann and Jason Barfield talking on the phone from the radio booth.



BATTLE OF CUSA LEADERS ARE SET FOR THE BOWERS STADIUM STAGE
– The Bearkats have won a total of 8 of their last 10 games after beginning their venture in FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023

– Sam Houston becomes the first FBS program to start a season 0-6 and win at least 5 of its first 6 games the following year since Georgia Southern in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles went 0-9 to start the 2017 season and started 7-1 in 2018 en route to a 10-3 year and a victory in the Camelia Bowl

– Sam Houston plays the second of four consecutive midweek games. In total, the Kats will play five non-Saturday games. The five non-Saturday games are tied for the most against Jax State in the country
– Sam Houston is averaging 35.4 points per game in his 5 wins. Every win is about a G5 team

– Sam Houston has averaged 282.0 yards per game on the ground in the last 4 games and is the first team in CUSA to rush for over 250 yards in 4 consecutive games since FAU did so during the 2018 season


-The Kats have outscored their opponents in each of their 5 wins, holding their opponent under 100 yards in 4 of those games. In the 5 wins, the Kats are averaging 261.2 yards on the ground, compared to just 78.2 yards for their opponents

– In the win over UTEP, DJ McKinney had his breakout game with 138 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He is the third different Bearkat in as many games to lead the Bearkats in rushing

– The Bearkats need 1 more win to qualify for bowling in their first season after the 2-year transition to the FBS. Should the Kats become bowl eligible, they would become the fourth straight program to make the move and become bowl eligible within their first two seasons in the FBS (Jax State 2023, James Madison 2023, Liberty 2018)

SERIES HISTORY
– The Bearkats and Hilltoppers have met twice before, with each team winning on its home field

– The first time the teams met was in 2004 when Dustin Long threw for 327 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Kats defeated No. 3 WKU in the first round of the NCAA 1-AA playoffs

– The victory was the last at Bowers Stadium for then-Bearkat head coach Ron Randleman, who retired at the end of the season after the Bearkats were eliminated in the semifinals of the Montana playoffs. Randleman remains the all-time winningest coach at Sam Houston, retiring with 219 career wins

SAM HOUSTON >> WKU CONNECTIONS
– A number of Hilltoppers hail from the Lone Star State, including star defenseman Upton Stout. The redshirt junior prepped at North Shore HS in the Houston area, where he was teammates as Bearkat running back Johannes Gentry. While there, the pair helped the Mustangs to back-to-back Texas Class 6A Division I state titles as juniors and seniors.

FAST HITTERS AFTER THE WIN AT UTEP
– The Kats have had their fair share of successful drives in 2024, putting together 31 scoring drives in six games, with 13 (.419) of those drives consisting of more than 10 plays. By comparison, through the 12 games of the 2023 season, the Kats had just 39 total scores, of which only 12 (.307) consisted of 10 or more plays.

– Qua’Vez Humprheys established himself as one of the Kats’ top offensive threats early in the season, but didn’t have any impact in the win against NM State or Texas State; however, the junior responded with 2 grabs and a touchdown in the win over UTEP. This season he has 13 total touches (12 rec; 1 rush), with 12 of those 13 touches being for 10+ yards. The only touch that went less than 10 yards was a 7-yard touchdown grab against Hawaii

– The Kats finished with 293 yards on the ground vs. UTEP and now have 1,128 yards rushing in the last 4 games


– The Kats have a 100-yard rusher in each of the last 4 games with 3 different players – Jay Ducker, Hunter Watson And DJ McKinney – the team’s leading rusher at least once each


As Adeyi has now caught a pass while being a teammate in 30 consecutive games Noah Smith has caught a pass in 25 consecutive years. The duo joins Utah’s Brant Kuithe and Money Parks as the only duo in the country to each have a catch streak of more than 25 games

– Sam Houston stopped the Miners’ only 4th-down attempt and has now stopped 6 of his opponents’ 12 4th-down attempts this year. The Kats’ .778 percentage at 4th is the best in CUSA and 12th in the nation


– The Kats had four takeaways on the season at UTEP, catching a pair of passes and recovering two fumbles. Sam Houston has now played 12 consecutive games with at least 1 takeaway


Caleb Weaver And Jaylon Jimmerson each had interceptions. For Jimmerson it was his first of the year, but for Weaver it was his third of the season and fifth of his career. In total, Weaver has now defended 14 passes in his career, including 13 in the last two seasons

Jadon Cardell was named CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week following the Kats’ win over UTEP. He averaged just 40.0 yards per punt on 6 boots, but his day included a season-long punt of 53 yards and each of his first 3 punts of the game pinned the Miners inside their own 10-yard line.