Bearkat Bites: 'Kats Sign Running Back From College Football Playoff Team
Also, a major network appearance and Dave Campbell's Football has thoughts on Sam Houston
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First Gametime for The ‘Kats Released
The Pac-12 (Pac-2?? I don’t even know anymore) finalized its media rights contracts for 2025 football and in it lies a clue of Sam Houston’s schedule. Oregon St. will host the Bearkats Saturday, November 8, at 7pmPT on the CW network. Take note; this means you’ll be tuning in at 9pm central time to catch the team play. The game before this is an October 28th game against LaTech, so there will be a nice ten day break before Sam Houston have to travel to Corvallis. Fun fact: the Pac-12 has more broadcast partners than teams.
CFP Backfield For For The Bearkats?
After losing virtually all of last year’s rushing production to the portal, Sam Houston got a boost at running back this week, with the signing of Alton McCaskill. He’s a product of Oak Ridge HS in The Woodlands area, and after a stellar 2021 freshman year at Houston, had cups of coffee at the Coach Prime Media MachineERRR Colorado, as well as Arizona St.
McCaskill is a nice pickup for the ‘Kats, and with fellow RB Elijah Green (Indiana transfer), Sam Houston can now field a running back rotation featuring a pair of guys with experience on College Football Playoff teams.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Breaks Down Bearkats
As the warm blanket of summer begins its descent upon Huntsville, Sam Houston has wrapped up Spring Practice (no Spring Game, UGH!). We now have a full May, June, and July for spicy hot takes from college football observers, among which was Carter Yates of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, who dropped by to visit Phil Longo and the Bearkats in April. His observations say that Sam Houston is in for a massive rebuilding year and your friendly neighborhood college football reporter has thoughts.
There will be pretty much no defense this year?
It’s no secret that Sam Houston lost a TON on defense, with the top 16 tacklers from last year entering the portal. These were guys who helped steady the Bearkats over the past two seasons, acting as a solid foundation for an inconsistent offense. Spring drills reportedly featured just three defensive linemen ready to go out and practice, which is never a good sign, although more DTs will arrive via the portal. If you’d like me to point out signs for hope, I’d say there are 18 defensive backs with some fun players mixed in like true freshmen Braylen Wortham and Wisconsin transfer Jace Arnold. And I think the Bearkats will run a 3-3-5 base defense, meaning you don’t need as many defensive linemen to operate your scheme. Overall though, there are just too many faces who are unproven at this level for one to feel overly joyous about things on this side of the ball heading into the season.
The Run-Heavy Longo?
While Phil Longo is advertised as an Air Raid guy, Yates suggests that the first year head coach will run it way more than fans think (sorry for those who still have PTSD from the KC Keeler offensives of ‘23 and ‘24). This would suggest that Hunter Watson is in line to start at quarterback, as he has experience in this type of scheme. I would say this could be a miss for Longo. We just discussed how the defense is all new guys, so the Bearkats will need some good offensive showings in order to stay in games. If it is Watson as the starter, the addition of the aforementioned McCaskill will be a welcome addition.
3-Win Sam Houston?
Yates has the Bearkats landing somewhere around the 3 win mark and if Vegas lays that at the over/under, I’m taking the over TODAY. Sam Houston does have a brutal schedule, so you won’t be able to cash that ticket until say….October or so. But after an admittedly tough September, I count five winnable games as we sit here today (we will discuss those during the summer in a future newsletter). So while I do expect a step back this year, the falloff should not be a steep as some suggest it might be.
Ife Adeyi Signs
There’s a new #ProKat these days, and it’s Ife Adeyi, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent. Ife had great moments at Sam Houston and is one of the speedier WR prospects this year. Playing for a Super Bowl winning team never hurts, so here’s wishing Ife a solid offseason that lands him on the Eagles fall roster.
Sam Houston Has Now Hosted a #1 Draft Pick
With all the Shedeur Sanders conversation was the story of Cam Ward, who went from a zero star recruit out of West Columbia, TX all the way to the top pick in this year’s NFL Draft. A few chapters of that story involve Sam Houston, who is possibly the only team that faced Ward twice in the same calendar year.
The Bearkats saw him in during the weird and funky COVID spring season of 2021 (a 42-14 SHSU victory in San Antonio) and hosted Ward in Huntsville during the second round of the FCS playoffs in December of that year. Ward had 481 passing yards and 5 TDs that day, and you could see what made him special. He is now on the Tennessee Titans (TITAN UP!!! YES I”M A TITANS FAN) so the connection between two football teams I follow the most is pretty cool for this college football writer!