It’s hard to fathom what Sam Houston went through to make it to Bowers Stadium. 

Sam Houston went more than 450 days between its 2019 season finale and the scheduled season opener because of the pandemic. 

Thanks to the snow storm, many players went days without power and water, and the field had to be shoveled out just to practice. The planned opener against UIW was pushed back to April. 

The team is without a locker room because of facility renovations. Players had to get changed in the stands before the game and huddled for pregame talks in the converted weight room. 

The Bearkats lost two assistant coaches to FBS opportunities just 30 days earlier. 

“It was almost surreal,” quarterback Eric Schmid said. “That whole week, it didn’t feel like a game week. You still had in the back of your mind that something is going to happen, you’re not going to play.” 

But at the end of it, Sam Houston came away with more than a statement win over No. 18 Southeastern Louisiana. It was a message to the country that with a new star quarterback in the fold, the Bearkats offense is back and ready to compete for a national championship again. 

“I think last year was so disappointing because we finally had that defense that matched one of the top one or two offenses in the country,” Sam Houston coach K.C. Keeler said. “It was such a great group of kids that did everything we needed to do to win, but we really fell short at the one position.” 

The Bearkats’ quarterback situation in 2019 ranked among the most frustrating in the nation. Sam Houston had three quarterbacks entering the year – Eric Schmid, Ty Brock and Mike Dare. All three suffered major injuries. Midway through the season, Sam Houston was forced to use receiver Ryan Humphries as an emergency quarterback. 

With Schmid healthy and active, Sam Houston’s offense harkened back to its buzzsaw ways. Schmid completed 25-of-40 passes for 428 yards and two touchdowns, and added another 89 yards and a score on the ground. Returning receiver Chandler Harvin and transfer Jequez Ezzard combined for 10 catches, 205 yards and a score. Running back Ramon Jefferson rushed for 139 yards and a score. The offense clicked on every level with 672 yards, 9.5 yards per play and 43 points. 

The defense had some tackling issues in their first live action in 16 months – against former Arkansas starting quarterback Cole Kelley moving down to the FCS level, no less. That was to be expected. With all the returning talent, the switch will flip. 

The blueprint for a national contender is in Huntsville. 

Said Keeler: “It was rewarding having the big win like that because I think the guys all felt that we could be a good football team; I think the win against Southeastern Louisiana was the first indication that we can be a very good football team.” 

Getting back to form

Since Willie Fritz took over the program, Sam Houston has established itself as perhaps the premier program in the Southland Conference. Between Fritz and Keeler, the Bearkats finished top-two in the conference in six of the seven seasons from 2011 to 2017 with five appearances in the national final four. 

However, that made the mini-slump in 2018 and 2019 so frustrating. The Bearkats fell from No. 1 to No. 34 in total offense after back-to-back Walter Payton Award winner Jeremiah Briscoe graduated and finished seventh in the conference in 2018. 

The 2019 season was supposed to be a resurgent year, but the injuries at quarterback ultimately doomed a special team and kept the Bearkats out of the FCS Playoffs. 

“I thought if any of the three quarterbacks could have stayed healthy, we were a playoff team that could have gone deep,” Keeler said. “I thought with Eric Schmid, we were as good as anybody. We could have been a final four team – that’s how good I think Eric Schmid is.” 

The biggest frustration was that Sam Houston lost the five games in 2019 by a combined 22 points. The Bearkats were an unfathomable 0-5 in one-score games and 7-0 any time they could create any separation. In some ways, the long layoff was just what Sam Houston needed to reassess and get back on track. 

Schmid spent much of the offseason working closely with offensive coordinator Ryan Carty doing mental reps. There were countless meetings with the quarterbacks and 1-on-1 with Carty to prepare for every wrinkle. 

“Mentally, it prepared me a lot for the season,” Schmid said. “We went through our install probably a million times. We installed everything probably four or five times over the five months.” 

Mounting a resurgence during an abbreviated spring season doesn’t come without complication. Sam Houston is trying to find a balance between competing in the spring and being ready for a difficult schedule in the fall. 

Sam Houston has not held a live scrimmage or live practices all spring. Almost every practice takes place with only a helmet and shoulder pads and without any tackling to the ground. The Bearkats also limited their schedule to just conference play to find as many bye weeks as possible before the FCS Playoffs start on April 24. 

The strategy meant avoiding the typical tune-up games before opening against a ranked SELA team. The early jitters were obvious between missed tackles and early fumble woes during the first live tackling quarterbacks felt in months. It’s worth the rust. 

“We’re trying to balance that line of competing for a championship and also not banging up our kids with a very brutal schedule we have next year,” Keeler said. “But we were very committed that when we saw there was a chance at a national championship in the spring that that’s where our mindset was, that we can win a championship.” 

The STATS FCS Top 25 moved Sam Houston up to No. 12 after the Bearkats turned back the clock, but that could change soon. The Bearkats have a date with No. 7 Nicholls, the two-time defending Southland champ, on Saturday in a game that could decide the 2021 conference title. 

The 2020-21 season marks Sam Houston’s final run in the Southland Conference, as the program is headed to the Western Athletic Conference in the fall. Winning the conference for the seventh time would be a fitting parting shot to the conference that helped launch Sam Houston to the top tier of the sport. 

“We definitely want to go out on top our last year in the Southland,” Schmid said. “It’ll be the last time we’ll play a lot of these teams, so you kind of want to go out with a statement.”