Sarah Bautista | SHSU Athletics
SHSU senior running back Alton McCaskill (22) celebrates with teammates after rushing for a touchdown in last week's loss at Western Kentucky.
The Sam Houston State University football team will look to bounce back on Friday after dropping last week’s season opener at Western Kentucky.
SHSU is slated to kick off against UNLV at 8:30 p.m. at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. This will be Sam Houston’s first of five games at Shell Energy Stadium due to construction at Bowers Stadium.
The Bearkats started last week’s game slow offensively and trailed 20-10 at halftime before storming back to take a four-point lead early in the third quarter. However, they proceeded to give up 17 unanswered points in a 41-24 defeat.
Junior quarterback Hunter Watson threw for 209 passing yards and one interception. Watson also led the team in rushing with 91 yards and one touchdown, while senior running back Elijah Green led the Bearkats in receiving with 7 receptions and 61 yards.
“I thought we played hard for four quarters and played a clean game in week one,” Sam Houston head coach Phil Longo said, adding “where we fell short on both sides of the ball, I think we lost the game on third down. Offensively, we weren’t very good at all, and defensively, we gave up some tough plays.”
Sam Houston’s next opponent, UNLV, is coming off a 38-31 victory over the Idaho State Bengals.
“UNLV is long, and they have some speed on both sides of the ball,” Longo said. “They have some athletes. I think talent-wise, they are comparable to what we just played, but they are very different to Western Kentucky.
“These guys are taller and longer across the board. They’re going to be able to close space when they’re tracking you. Just because their range, they’ll close some windows, and they’ll be harder to block.”
UNLV is led by first-year head coach Dan Mullen, who previously served as head coach at Florida and Mississippi State. Most recently, he worked as a college football analyst for ESPN.
Mullen gave his thoughts on the Bearkats prior to Friday’s game.
“It’ll be a tough challenge anytime you go on the road,” Mullen said. “They’re a good team. They played last week and they’re looking to take their big steps from week one to week two for the game this week. Hopefully, we take those steps and we’re much improved.”
This will be the first time in school history that Sam Houston will square against with UNLV.