HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats outgained the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Saturday, but struggled to put points on the scoreboard as ACU left Bowers Stadium with a 17-10 win in Sam Houston’s home finale.
Nathan Stewart had 140 yards receiving and a touchdown, and Ty Brock threw for 316 yards, but the Bearkats (5-5, 4-4 SLC) were just 1-for-3 inside the red zone and rushed for just 59 yards against ACU (6-4, 5-3 SLC). The Kats finished with more yards of total offense (375-361), but converted just 13 first downs while the Wildcats finished with 28 and nearly 10 more minutes of possession time.
The loss drops the Kats out of contention for a possible share of the conference crown with one game to play in the 2018 season.
Sam Houston trailed 7-3 at the half, but took the lead early in the third quarter when Brock found Stewart for an 88-yard touchdown pass that pushed them ahead 10-7; however, that lead was short lived as ACU responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive on the very next drive and re-took the lead on a 13-yard touchdown grab by Cody Ennis from quarterback Luke Anthony that gave them the lead for good.
The Kats had a chance to cut into the lead the next time they touched the ball after a 54-yard grab by Dewaylon Ingram set SHSU up deep inside Wildcat territory. But despite eventually getting a 1st-and-goal try from the four, the Kats came up empty on four straight plays and eventually turned the ball over.
From there ACU would march 74 yards on 14 plays to get a 41-yard field goal to go up 17-10, and did not allow the Kats past the ACU 43-yard line the remainder of the way.
Hunter Brown led four Bearkat defenders with double-digit tackles with 15 stops, while Adrian Contreras turned in a career-high 14 tackles and picked off a pass in the first quarter that set up a 40-yard field goal by Tre Honshtein for the first SHSU points of the game.
NOTABLES
- Nathan Stewart’s 88-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter was tied for the sixth-longest in SHSU history and the longest reception by a Bearkat since 2006.
- With Stewart’s 140 yards receiving, he now needs just 37 more receiving yards next week at HBU to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He is the only Bearkat with multiple 1,000-yard seasons in a career and, according to research, would become just the fourth player in FCS history to post 1,000-yard seasons in each of his first three seasons.
QUOTABLES
Keeler’s opening statement …
“This is our third special uniform game that we’ve had against us. Seems like everyone likes to do that – and we should be used to that. It’s a big deal coming here and beating us. Congratulations to Abilene Christian on how hard they played, they played a really good football game. I have no problem with how hard we’re practicing, I have no problem with how hard we’re playing. We’re just making so many critical mistakes. We had a number of penalties on big plays offensively. Defensively we blew a coverage or two at critical time, we can’t do that. The margin of error due to some of the injuries we’ve had is sort of small, where possibly years before it wasn’t like that. They played a good game. I told my kids I’m happy with how hard we played, we just can’t make some of the mistakes we’re making. We’re now fighting for a winning season, and whoever thought we would be fighting for a winning season? The reality is every team in this league has gotten better and we’ve taken a step back I think just because of graduation and because of all the injuries.”
Keeler on how the offensive line injuries have affected the team’s strategy …
“We go into the game wondering who can and who can’t play half the time. Because some guys might feel better during practice, but we aren’t quite sure how they’re going to feel on Saturday. We have three or four guys that are kind of holding on by a string, just trying to see if they can get through a game. The fact that we lost two of the best tackles in the country, it’s really caused our offense not to be what it once was.”
Keeler on what it will take to go get a win at HBU and secure a winning season …
As we talked in the locker room, we’re good enough to win. That’s the takeaway – we have to play better. We haven't played well enough to win and that’s the takeaway. You can play hard, you can give great effort in practice, but the bottom line is you win or lose. We have to play a lot cleaner, and we’re just not playing clean enough.
Nathan Stewart on building the connection with Ty Brock …
“I go into every game very confident just because of the preparation I put in throughout the week. This is for the seniors so when I go out I try to give an extra 10 percent and everything I can for the guys that I kind of grew up with. I kind of feel like I’m a part of that senior class because I’ve been playing with those guys for so long.”
Stewart on the 88-yard touchdown pass …
“We went to Aces and coach told us that we were going to take a shot. Ty and I had an eye connection so I just went out there and ran my route. Ty had faith in me, he threw it, and I got the touchdown.”
Adrian Contreras on the defensive mindset heading into the last game of the season …
“It is the same as every game; we want to be the best on the field every time we set on the field. We want to dominate our opponent every time that we are on the field. I don’t think that has ever changed and I don’t like that it will ever change.”
Contreras on how crucial it is to get over the 500 record on the season …
“Obviously, we don’t play to lose. We want to win. I never thought we would be in the position where we would be fighting for a winning record because of the work we have put in. We have done so much together to be successful. It is challenging to be in the position that we are, but at this point we have nothing to lose. We are just going to go out and give it our all and have fun doing it.”