Bearkat Bites: Way-Too-Early Game Preview vs. Jacksonville St.

Armed with a new head coach, do the defending CUSA Champs have another trick up their sleeve?

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Jacksonville St. Preview
After three straight roadies, the Bearkats return home against the reigning CUSA champions. Jacksonville (ALABAMA!) St. has a few changes here and there after the departure of key pieces to the portal and NFL. Is there enough left to get them back to the conference title game?

This is a series of team by team game previews of the opponents Sam Houston will face. You can read the previous entries at the underlined links below.

Western Kentucky
UNLV
Hawaii
Texas
New Mexico St.

The Opponent
Jacksonville St. Gamecocks
2024 Record
(9-5, 8-1 in CUSA)
The Coach
The departure of Rich Rodriguez back to West Virginia set JaxSt off on a journey that ended at the doorstep of Charles Kelly. The longtime assistant coach spent the last two seasons with defensive coordinator stops at Auburn and Coach PrimeERRRRR “Colorado” before heading back to Jax, where he was an assistant during the 1990s. He was also an assistant under Alabama and Nick Saban from 2019-22, so that’s a shine that never quite wears off.

Joining Kelly are OC Clint Trickett from Georgia Southern (whom Sam Houston beat in the New Orleans bowl) and DC Brian Williams, who served as Maryland’s d-coordinator the prior three seasons.

The Quarterback
Ummm…good question. Neither one of the transfer quarterbacks have separated themselves during spring ball, meaning we are still left to guess whether the starter will be Memphis transfer Cade Cunningham or Kentucky transfer Gavin Wimsatt.

Wimsatt has more experience than Cunningham.

It matters this time for the usually run-heavy JaxSt because 2025 looks to be a year of balance, with more passing elements mixed in to the offensive attack.

Offseason Guide
For a team that won the conference in 2024, this is probably the only really cool thing that happened for Jax St. since then. Rich Rodriquez took a lot of the flare and energy of this program with him back to West Virginia.

Whatever new offense that OC Clint Trickett wants to run will have to be done so with a new look offensive line and without four first-team All-CUSA players who left the program to graduation and the NFL. Outside of last year’s OL starter, Amare Grayson, there is little to no experience, size or depth along the front five. That’s going to make things tough for Cam Cook, who figures to be the starting running back after transferring in from TCU. It’ll be big shoes for Cook to fill, as he must replace standout rusher Tre Stewart, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings.

It would be much easier for Trickett to add more of the passing game if WR Cam Vaughn and his 85 catches and 5TDs were still here. However, he joined Rich Rod in West Virginia, so what’s left is Michael Pettway, and, while he has five years of experience with JaxSt., he and the other WRs on the roster do not have many catches. With new QBs and and a lot of inexperience, don’t be shocked if it takes some time for this unit to gel under their first year OC.

Things are a bit better over on defense, where DC Brian Williams is a defensive line specialist. That should help the likes of Jawaun Campbell in his second season with the Gamecocks. Don’t overlook Darrell Prater either, who, along with Talan Carter, look like nice 300 pound starters along the line.

Meanwhile, the linebackers and secondary are not terrible, and do boast a few names from last season returning, including safety Pat Taylor, but the rest of the defense will need name tags for a bit. The good news is, head coach Charles Kelly is a safety and DB specialist, making his name with that group while at Alabama. If you’re looking for a place to see Kelly’s biggest thumbprint this year, it will be with the DBs and even linebackers.

Who Will Beat Who?
This will be Sam Houston’s conference and midweek home opener and the ‘Kats will be (SHOULD BE) coming off of a nice road victory against New Mexico St.

The bad news for the ‘Kats is that the Gamecocks will be coming off of a bye week and will be battle tested; having already played their season’s toughest game at UCF.

There are a lot of new names and schemes, but I like the overall build build of the JaxSt roster and Kelly does understand good defense. The Bearkats will hang, but I peg this one as a loss for Sam Houston.

Conference Spin: Sam Houston gets a new conference rival?

The flaming-hot takes of conference realignment were reheated this week, as a report emerged about Texas St. being a frontrunner to the join the all-new, all-different Pac12 conference. You can read the entire story here. I read it a few times and have some educated thoughts:

1. Bobcats To The Pac12 Fits Like A Glove
   If you’re a college football conference in search of lucrative TV deals, the state of Texas usually figures in to your plans to survive in the NCAA wilds. Texas St. gives the Pac12 a footing in a a high growth region. It also gives Texas St. a set of conference-mates that are more of a natural fit for the school, after being a member of the heavily southeastern SunBelt conference.

2. The SunBelt Could Add LaTech
   Because Texas St.’s buyout jumps after July 1, these moves could come quick. So much so, that other conferences are looking for new members. Should Texas St. make the jump, LaTech looks to be a strong target by the SunBelt. But wait! We just said the state of Texas is a key to survival for lower level conferences! The SunBelt is foolish for abandoning the state. Umm….not quite. The SunBelt’s strategy leans heavily on in-game experience, believing that natural regional rivalries will help keep the conference going. Adding LaTech means easy trips to ULM, Southern Miss, Arkansas St. and others. It would be a heavily southeast conference, which, historically, has worked out for the….well Southeast Conference (SEC). College football is built on regional rivalries, so the fan in me actually likes this approach. The reporter in me, however, says to give this a few years to measure its success.

   

3. CUSA would need a new member. And the invite goes too….
   Tarleton St.?! That’s right, CUSA could add MORE former FCS schools to the D1 ranks. The Texans have made nice investments in football and athletics overall, as they hunt for that prized golden ticket. This possibility will, no doubt, elicit a sigh from certain corners of CUSA fans, who have grown weary of the conference being a D1 entry-point for FCS programs. Rather than run from this, I say CUSA should EMBRACE what they are; a gateway drug for interested programs. Every week, “let’s see if (former FCS program) can cut it against Liberty”, should be a selling point for the conference, not a hindrance. It’s not inexCUSAbly Awesome for nothing!

4. This would give Sam Houston an in-state conference rival
   If the Bearkats want to get more fans dialed in to football, a big step would be adding some traditional in-state rivalries. With SFA and Texas St not on the table this year, and UTEP leaving the conference in 2026, a school like Tarleton could give the ‘Kats a boost as far as regional matchups go.
   

   What do YOU think?