The Sam Houston State Bearkats arrive in Austin to face off against the No.8 Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium looking for their first win of the season underneath first-year head coach Phil Longo, a tall task trying to upset the Longhorns.
Longo’s first season as a head coach has gotten off to a rough start. The Bearkats head to Austin with an 0-3 record after losing to Western Kentucky, UNLV, and Hawaii. In each game, the Sam Houston State defense allowed at least 37 points
while the offense failed to tally more than 24 points in any of the three contests.
Longo was announced as the head coach for Sam Houston State in December of 2024 after spending time at Ole Miss, North Carolina, and Wisconsin as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at each school. Longo also had a brief stint as a Bearkat coach about ten years ago, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2014-16.
The biggest struggle for the Bearkats, like most teams with a first-year head coach, has been the roster turnover from last season. A year after going 10-3, Sam Houston State has a brand new head coach and 55 new players, including 33 that arrived in June.
Longo explained how challenging the roster turnover has been.
“The camp in August was the first time in 37 years of my career where there was a much greater focus on just getting to know our players. We had to get to know them, and we had to create some sort of unity and continuity in camp,” Longo said on Tuesday.
Offense
In addition to getting to know his roster, fall camp included the installation of a new offensive and defensive scheme. Longo brings a more balanced wrinkle of the air raid style offense known as the “Don’t Blink” to Sam Houston State. His scheme places an emphasis on the ability to run the ball and matching play calls to personnel.
Three games into the season, that implementation has been unsuccessful as the Bearkat offense has struggled to rack up points or move the ball consistently. Averaging 21.7 points and 320.7 yards per game, the offense ranks 82nd and 104th nationally, respectively. Third downs have also been a struggle for the Sam Houston State offense – the Bearkats have converted 13.5 percent of their third downs, the lowest conversion rate in the FBS.
The offensive struggles can be partly attributed to injuries at the quarterback position. In three games, the Bearkats have had three different signal callers take snaps. Unexpected injuries to redshirt senior Hunter Watson and redshirt freshman Mabrey Mettauer have upended the entire quarterback room, a position that was slated to be a strength before the season.
Coming off a bye week, Longo said that each quarterback will be healthy against Texas, meaning the Longhorn defense will face a combination of Watson and Mettauer as the Bearkats rotate at the position.
Watson started 12 games last season for Sam Houston State and racked up 1,811 passing yards on 62.4 percent completion along with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also contributed 657 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 168 carries. Watson is a capable runner with experience who was hurt in Week 2 and missed the following week.
Filling in Watson’s place was Mettauer, a former Wisconsin Badger who followed Longo to Sam Houston State. A highly touted four-star recruit out of The Woodlands, Mettauer went 12-of-18 passing for 91 yards and an interception in his first career start last week before exiting in the fourth quarter.
As uncertainty around the quarterback position has grown, Longo has relied more on the ground attack, averaging 32.3 carrier per game. Similar to the quarterback position, an injury has derailed the running back room as lead back Alton McCaskill was injured in the season opener after 11 rushes for 72 yards and a touchdown, including a 52-yard scamper.
Redshirt senior Elijah Green, a veteran with stops at UNC and Indiana, has picked up the load on the ground and in the air along with redshirt sophomore Landan Brown, another pass catching back that also has a 50-plus yard run to his name so far this season.
Green and Brown will take carries, but provide the most damage catching the ball. Green is the leading overall receiver for the Bearkats with 11 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown while Brown is third on the team with seven catches.
At the wide receiver spot, junior Aviyon Smith-Mack and senior Grady O’Neill have been the most reliable options. Transfers from LIU and Indiana, respectively, the duo has tallied 14 catches for 116 yards this season. The Bearkats are still looking for new players to shine at the wide receiver spot, including returners in Qua’Vez Humphreys and Michael Phoenix II.
The tight end room has seen three players contribute, but has yet to establish itself as a weapon. Freshman Dylan Burl had three catches against Western Kentucky, redshirt sophomore Lotten Rayfield has two catches including a 36-yarder, and redshirt senior Austin Smith has reeled in one pass.
The offensive line brings the most experience of any offensive position group. Redshirt junior Rhett Larson and senior James Dawn II return after each player started 13 games last season, while redshirt sophomore Kolt Dietriech saw action in every game including six starts. The offensive line group was one of the best in Conference USA last season, allowing just 15 sacks in 13 games last year.
Heading into Austin, the Bearkats are still searching for playmakers on the offensive end. A combination of roster turnover, a new offensive system, and some key injuries have severely hampered the output in the first three games. With a week to heal and work out execution issues, expect a few wrinkles from the Sam Houston State offense.
Even with a bye week, Longo understands the challenge that the Texas defense poses.
“Getting the ball out quickly against Texas is going to be a huge factor for everybody they play this year. Making quick decisions and quick triggers at quarterback is just pivotal. I don’t know if anyone is going to have an easy time exposing if there is a hole or a weakness,” he said.
Defense
The Bearkats defense has struggled early on this season. Running a 3-3-5 scheme, Sam Houston State ranks 121st in point per game, 107th in yards per game, and 111th in third down defense. While not totally unexpected given the lack of returning production, things have not gone well on the defensive end.
The overall performance has been exacerbated by a poor pass defense. Giving up 314.7 yards per game in the air, the Bearkat pass defense ranks 128th in the country. If any chance of an upset is possible on Saturday, the pass defense will need to perform significantly better.
The team’s leading tackler comes from the secondary in senior transfer CJ Brown. Listed at 5’10, 190 pounds, Brown arrived in Huntsville having spent time at Bowling Green and NIU. He’s accumulated 21 tackles, three break ups, and a forced fumble.
Graduate student Alonzo Edwards Jr. is another key player for the Bearkat secondary. Also in his first season at Sam Houston State, Edwards has already proven to be a willing tackler, racking up eight tackles, two tackles for loss, and a forced fumble in the season opener.
Similarly, fifth-year senior Emon Allen has also been active from his spot in the secondary. Allen, a graduate of Vista Ridge High School in Austin, is the son of former Longhorn Taje Allen and has made a name for himself this season. Second on the team in tackles, Allen has intercepted two passes and forced a fumble.
The linebacker position brings a combination of production and experience to the defense. Transfer JaMair Diaz shined last season as an All-American at D2 Glenville State and has continued to play well – 13 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and a 43-yard fumble recovery.
Longo commented on Diaz’s improvements early this season, “The work ethic is outstanding. Anytime you have somebody with his twitch, with his passion for the game, and with his work ethic, it’s almost impossible not to see improvement.”
Rounding out the linebacker group are graduate transfer Antavious Fish and fifth-year senior CJ Johnson. Each with 17 tackles, the duo provides a veteran presence for the Bearkats defense.
Up front, Sam Houston State was tasked with replacing its entire starting defensive line. West Virginia transfer Zeiqui Lawton was a noteworthy addition this past offseason and has started all three games, but the current star up front is graduate transfer Christopher Eaton, who is tied for the most tackles for loss and sacks on the team.
The final piece of the puzzle up front is redshirt junior Chauncey Chidi. Originally from Ghana, Chidi attended high school in Texas before spending three years at Central Missouri. He’s tallied 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack.
Overall, the Bearkat defense has posed little resistance to opposing offenses. Expect Texas to target the secondary frequently as the Longhorns look to work out issues in the passing game against a pass defense that has been abysmal at best.
Special Teams
Handling the punting duties is freshman Curtis Gerrand, a Melbourne, Australia, who switched to punting in June of 2023, training Prokick Australia, the renowned punting academy that develops former Austrian rules football players. Gerrand has averaged 43.4 yards per punt and had 10-of-14 punts fair caught.
The place-kicking responsibilities fall on graduate student RJ Lopez, a transfer who handled kickoff duties at UCLA for three seasons before going 6-of-11 on field goals in his final season as a Bruin. He redshirted last season at Purdue and has connected on 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) of field goals this season.
Lopez has experience, but struggles with accuracy from distance — so far this season, just 1-of-3 chances from 30-plus yards have been successful.
Allen handles punt returns while New Mexico Military Institute transfer wide receiver Malik Phillips returns kicks.
Summary
Sam Houston State is still learning about their identity this season. Last season, the Bearkats broke through with a 10-3 record, but with the departures of former head coach KC Keeler to Temple and so many players in the offseason, the new coaching staff has been left piecing the roster together.
Given the sheer number of new faces and struggles that come from implementing two new schemes, the growing pains for the Bearkat program this season are expected. While the talent discrepancy is vast, don’t expect Sam Houston State to roll over against Texas. Longo explained how his team is thinking about the matchup on Saturday.
“This is a game that players are excited about because it gives them an opportunity,” Longo said. “The dream for all of these college players is to play in the NFL. This an opportunity to walk the walk. Don’t tell me that you want to play in the league, show me. Our guys are up to the challenge.”
The Longhorns are 41.5-point favorites according to FanDuel.
