2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	6–5 (5–4 Southland)
Head coach	K. C. Keeler (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Clayton Carlin (2nd season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bowers Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Southland Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Nicholls +^		7	–	2					9	–	4
Incarnate Word +^		6	–	2					6	–	5
Lamar ^		6	–	3					7	–	5
Abilene Christian		5	–	4					6	–	5
Central Arkansas		5	–	4					6	–	5
McNeese State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Sam Houston State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Northwestern State		4	–	5					5	–	6
Southeastern Louisiana		4	–	5					4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin		2	–	7					2	–	8
Houston Baptist		0	–	9					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll

The 2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fifth-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–4 in Southland play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place.

Preseason

Preseason All-Conference Teams

On July 12, 2018, the Southland announced their Preseason All-Conference Teams, with the Bearkats having seven players at nine positions selected.^[1]

Preseason Poll

On July 19, 2018, the Southland announced their preseason poll, with the Bearkats selected as the favorites to win the conference.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Sam Houston State	187 (10)
2	Nicholls State	173 (6)
3	Central Arkansas	170 (5)
4	McNeese State	159 (1)
5	Southeastern Louisiana	119
6	Stephen F. Austin	90
7	Abilene Christian	89
8	Northwestern State	86
9	Incarnate Word	53
10	Lamar	52
11	Houston Baptist	32

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[3]	Davion Davis	WR	SR
	Nathan Steward	WR	JR
Buck Buchanan Award[4]	Chris Stewart	DE	SR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Prairie View A&M*	No. 4	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	W 41–32	9,571
September 15	6:00 p.m.	North Dakota*	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntville, TX	ESPN3	L 23–24	5,373
September 22	3:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Nicholls State	No. 11	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ESPN+	L 7–27	5,025
September 29	3:00 p.m.	No. 13 Central Arkansas	No. 21	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 34–31 OT	7,598
October 6	1:00 p.m.	vs. Stephen F. Austin	No. 17	NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Battle of the Piney Woods)	ESPN3	W 54–21	26,548
October 13	6:00 p.m.	at Northwestern State	No. 15	Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, LA	CST/ESPN3	W 42–28	5,125
October 20	3:00 p.m.	at Lamar	No. 14	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX	ESPN+	L 23–41	7,227
October 27	1:00 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana	No. 23	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ELVN	W 28–25	10,098
November 3	2:00 p.m.	at Incarnate Word	No. 21	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX	ESPN3	L 26–43	5,643
November 10	2:30 pm	Abilene Christian		Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ELVN/SLC Digital	L 10–17	6,914
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at Houston Baptist		Husky Stadium Houston, TX	SLC Digital	W 42–20	2,002
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[5][6][7]

Game summaries

Prairie View A&M

Prairie View A&M at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 9 14 0 9 32 • No. 4 Bearkats 10 17 7 7 41 Date: September 8 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:35 Game attendance: 9,571 Game weather: Temperature: 73 °F (23 °C) • Weather: Overcast • Wind: SW 2 Referee: Eddie Kelley TV announcers (ESPN+): Randy McIlvoy, Shea Walker, Matt Pedersen Sources:[8][9][10]

---

North Dakota

North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Hawks 7 10 0 7 24 No. 5 Bearkats 7 3 13 0 23 Date: September 15 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:07 Game attendance: 5,373 Game weather: Temperature: 88 °F (31 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: ESE 4 Referee: Kevin Boitmann TV announcers (ESPN3): Randy McIlvoy, Shea Walker, Sarah Merrifield Sources:[11][12][13]

---

At Nicholls State

Sam Houston State at Nicholls State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 11 Bearkats 7 0 0 0 7 • No. 18 Colonels 3 7 3 14 27 Date: September 22 Location: John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA Game start: 6:24 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 2:52 Game attendance: 5,025 Game weather: Temperature: 82 °F (28 °C) • Weather: Rainy, Overcast • Wind: SE 6 Referee: M. Vandervelde TV announcers (ESPN+): Kooter Roberson, E.P. Garth, Brian Adams Sources:[14][15][16]

---

Central Arkansas

Central Arkansas at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 OT Total No. 13 Bears 3 7 7 14 0 31 • No. 21 Bearkats 0 14 14 3 3 34 Date: September 29 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 3:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:52 Game attendance: 7,598 Game weather: Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Weather: Drizzly & Overcast • Wind: ESE 4 Referee: Mike Defee TV announcers (ESPN3): Randy McIlvoy, Shea Walker Sources:[17][18][19]

---

vs Stephen F. Austin

Battle of the Piney Woods

1 2 3 4 Total Lumberjacks 14 0 0 7 21 • No. 17 Bearkats 21 23 10 0 54 Date: October 6 Location: NRG Stadium Houston, TX TV announcers (ESPN3): Ted Emrich, Shea Walker, Julie Dobbs Sources:

---

At Northwestern State

Sam Houston State at Northwestern State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 15 Bearkats 14 9 11 8 42 Demons 0 28 0 0 28 Date: October 13 Location: Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, LA Game start: 6:00 pm CDT Game attendance: 5,125 Game weather: Rainy Television network: CST/ESPN3 Sources:

---

At Lamar

Sam Houston State at Lamar

1 2 3 4 Total No. 14 Bearkats 13 0 10 0 23 • Cardinals 10 7 17 7 41 Date: October 20 Location: Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:14 Game attendance: 7,227 Game weather: Overcast Temp: 74 Wind 9 mph Referee: Ed Bourgeois Television network: ESPN+ Sources:[20][21]

---

Southeastern Louisiana

Southeastern Louisiana at Sam Houston State (homecoming)

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 10 0 15 25 • No. 23 Bearkats 14 0 7 7 28 Date: October 27 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 1:05 pm CDT Elapsed time: 3:23 Game attendance: 10,098 Game weather: Clear Temp: 76 Wind: WSW 8mph Referee: Dan Lewis Television network: ELVN Sources:[22]

---

At Incarnate Word

Sam Houston State at Incarnate Word

1 2 Total No. 21 Bearkats 0 Cardinals 0 Date: November 3 Location: Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX Game start: 2:00 p.m. CDT Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Abilene Christian

Abilene Christian at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total • Wildcats 7 0 7 3 17 Bearkats 0 3 7 0 10 Date: November 10 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 2:30 pm CST Television network: ELVN/SLC Digital Sources:

---

At Houston Baptist

Sam Houston State at Houston Baptist

1 2 3 4 Total • Bearkats 7 21 14 0 42 Lions 3 7 3 7 20 Date: November 17 Location: Husky Stadium Houston, TX Game start: 2:00 p.m. CST Television network: SLC Digital Sources:

---

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	4	4	5	11	21	17	15	14	23	21	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	4	4	4	11	19	16	14	10	22	22	RV	—	—

References