# 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.

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

The Southland Conference released their preseason poll on July 18, 2019. The Bearkats were picked to finish in fourth place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Nicholls | 200 (20) |
| 2 | Central Arkansas | 154 |
| 3 | Incarnate Word | 150 (1) |
| 4 | Sam Houston State | 146 |
| 5 | Lamar | 123 |
| 6 | McNeese State | 114 |
| 7 | Abilene Christian | 112 (1) |
| 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 71 |
| 9 | Stephen F. Austin | 63 |
| 10 | Northwestern State | 56 |
| 11 | Houston Baptist | 21 |

### Preseason All–Southland Teams

The Bearkats placed six players on the preseason all–Southland teams.

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

## Game summaries
### At New Mexico

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

### Oklahoma Panhandle State

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

### At North Dakota

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

### Incarnate Word

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

### At McNeese State

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

### Vs. Stephen F. Austin

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

### 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 |

### Nicholls

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

### At Central Arkansas

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

### At Abilene Christian

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

### Northwestern State

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

### Houston Baptist

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

## Ranking movements

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