Sam Houston 2022 Football Season Preview
Sam Houston 2022 Football Season Preview
DENVER – As the countdown continues to the start of the 2022 NCAA football season, the 2021 champion of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is the next football preview series featured team, Sam Houston.
SAM HOUSTON RETURNS FOR ONE MORE WAC FOOTBALL SEASON
The best team in WAC football in 2021, Sam Houston returns for one more season in the conference as it transitions to the FBS level for the 2023 campaign. The Bearkats went 11-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in WAC play to capture the league championship last season, in the process earning the top overall seed in the 2021 FCS playoffs.
DYNAMIC BEARKATS OFFENSE PACED THE CONFERENCE IN 2021
Sam Houston led the WAC by scoring 492 points last season, an average of 41.0 points per game that also topped the conference. The Bearkats gained 5,891 yards of total offense across 12 games played, an average of 490.9 yards from scrimmage per contest. In fact, Sam Houston’s 31 team rushing touchdowns not only led the WAC last year but would have stood on its own as the fourth-most offensive touchdowns in the conference without factoring in passing scores.
COACH KEELER LOOKS TO CONTINUE THE MOMENTUM FOR SAM HOUSTON
Head coach K.C. Keeler returns to the Sam Houston sideline for his ninth year in charge in Huntsville, compiling an 80-23 (.777) record through eight seasons. Keeler has led Sam Houston to 21 wins in its last 22 starts overall and has posted a 254-96-1 (.725) career mark in 28 seasons at three different institutions. Keeler’s teams have reached a national championship game on nine different occasions, culminating in a pair of national titles at Delaware in 2003 and Sam Houston in 2020.
CHREST, T. WILLIAMS READY FOR DYNAMIC FINAL SEASONS FOR THE BEARKATS
Wide receiver Cody Chrest is back for his third and final season at Sam Houston coming off a standout year in 2021 in which he hauled in 54 catches for 704 yards and five touchdowns over 12 games to land on the all-conference second team. Chrest turned in a pair of 100-yard receiving games last season, posting seven receptions for 113 yards against Northern Arizona (Sept. 2) and he also made nine grabs for 148 yards at Tarleton (Oct. 30).
Linebacker Trevor Williams returns for one more year to help anchor the Sam Houston defense and was named to the 2022 Stats Perform Preseason All-America Third Team. Williams was a first-team all-conference choice in 2021 after logging 78 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown.
2022 SAM HOUSTON FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 at No. 6 Texas A&M, 11 a.m. CT
Sept. 10 vs. Northern Arizona, 6 p.m. CT
Sept. 17 vs. Texas A&M Commerce, 6 p.m. CT
Oct. 1 vs. Stephen F. Austin, 2:30 p.m. CT (Battle of the Piney Woods, Conference game)
Oct. 15 at Eastern Kentucky, 5 p.m. CT
Oct. 22 at Utah Tech, 8 p.m. CT (Conference game)
Oct. 29 at Tarleton, 6 p.m. CT (Conference game)
Nov. 12 vs. Abilene Christian, 12 p.m. CT (Conference game)
Nov. 19 vs. Southern Utah, 12 p.m. CT (Conference game)
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