2019 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

The 2019 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach K. C. Keeler, the Bearkats compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 6–3 in conference play, tying for third place in the Southland. Sam Houston State played home games at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

2019 Sam Houston State Bearkats football
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	7–5 (6–3 Southland)
Head coach	K. C. Keeler (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Clayton Carlin (3rd season season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bowers Stadium
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Southland Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Nicholls +^		7	–	2					8	–	4
No. 11 Central Arkansas +^		7	–	2					9	–	3
No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana ^		6	–	3					8	–	5
Sam Houston State		6	–	3					7	–	5
McNeese State		5	–	4					7	–	5
Incarnate Word		4	–	5					5	–	7
Abilene Christian		4	–	5					5	–	7
Northwestern State		3	–	6					3	–	9
Stephen F. Austin		3	–	6					3	–	9
Houston Baptist		2	–	6					5	–	7
Lamar		2	–	7					4	–	8
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll

Preseason

Preseason poll

The Southland Conference released their preseason poll on July 18, 2019. The Bearkats were picked to finish in fourth place.^[1]

Preseason All–Southland Teams

The Bearkats placed six players on the preseason all–Southland teams.^[2]

Offense 1st team Nathan Stewart – WR 2nd team Woody Brandom – TE/HB

Defense 1st team Zyon McCollum – DB 2nd team Erick Fowler – DL Hunter Brown – LB Royce See – LB

Post season All–Southland Teams

Offense 1st team Woody Brandom – TE/HB 2nd team Nathan Stewart – WR

Defense 1st team Royce See – LB Zyon McCollum – DB 2nd team Erick Fowler – DL Hunter Brown – LB

Schedule

Sam Houston State has scheduled 12 games in the 2019 season instead of the 11 normally allowed for FCS programs. Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS teams are allowed to schedule 12 regular-season games in years in which the period starting with Labor Day weekend and ending with the last Saturday of November contains 14 Saturdays.^[3]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	5:00 p.m.	at New Mexico*	No. 23	Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, NM	LOBOTV	L 31–39	13,749
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Oklahoma Panhandle State*	No. 25	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	W 77–0	4,942
September 14	4:00 p.m.	at North Dakota*	No. 24	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Pluto	L 23–27	8,697
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Incarnate Word		Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 45–6	8,196
September 28	6:00 p.m.	at McNeese State		Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN+	W 28–17	9,107
October 5	3:00 p.m.	vs. Stephen F. Austin		NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Battle of the Piney Woods)	ESPN+	W 31–20	24,008
October 12	2:00 p.m.	Lamar	No. 25	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	L 17–20 3OT	4,047
October 19	2:00 p.m.	No. 9 Nicholls		Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	W 17–0	3,953
October 26	6:00 p.m.	at No. 12 Central Arkansas	No. 21	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN+	L 25–29	9,363
November 9	3:00 p.m.	at Abilene Christian		Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN+	W 24–10	6,491
November 16	2:00 p.m.	Northwestern State		Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	L 28–31	4,280
November 23	2:00 p.m.	Houston Baptist		Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	W 37–14	3,849
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source:^[4][5]

Game summaries

At New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Bearkats	0	16	7	8	31
Lobos	13	9	10	7	39

See also: 2019 New Mexico Lobos football team

Oklahoma Panhandle State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	0	0	0	0
No. 25 Bearkats	42	21	14	0	77

See also: Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies football

At North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Bearkats	0	14	0	9	23
Fighting Hawks	14	0	13	0	27

See also: 2019 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

Incarnate Word

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	0	6	6
Bearkats	14	17	7	7	45

See also: 2019 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

At McNeese State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearkats	0	9	6	13	28
Cowboys	7	7	3	0	17

See also: 2019 McNeese State Cowboys football team

Vs. Stephen F. Austin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearkats	0	14	0	17	31
Lumberjacks	7	3	0	10	20

See also: 2019 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team

Lamar

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	0	3	7	3	20
No. 25 Bearkats	7	0	0	0	3	7	0	17

See also: 2019 Lamar Cardinals football team

Nicholls

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Colonels	0	0	0	0	0
Bearkats	7	3	7	0	17

See also: 2019 Nicholls Colonels football team

At Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Bearkats	7	9	6	3	25
No. 12 Bears	0	0	14	15	29

See also: 2019 Central Arkansas Bears football team

At Abilene Christian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearkats	0	14	10	0	24
Wildcats	10	0	0	0	10

See also: 2019 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

Northwestern State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demons	7	17	7	0	31
Bearkats	21	0	7	0	28

See also: 2019 Northwestern State Demons football team

Houston Baptist

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	7	7	0	14
Bearkats	20	7	0	10	37

See also: 2019 Houston Baptist Huskies football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	23	25	24	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	21	RV
Coaches	22	22	21	RV	RV	RV	24	RV	25	RV