Conference USA · Phil Longo, year 2 (2-12) · Elliott T. Bowers Stadium · 14,000
LastL 17–23 vs Tulsa · Sat Sep 12 · Landyn Locke 316 pass yds, 2 TD
Nextvs Nicholls · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · Elliott T. Bowers Stadium · series 11-3 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #165 | #113 | +16.5✓ | @Troy | L 21–24 136 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #159 | #116 | +12.5✓ | Tulsa | L 17–23 139 | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #154 | #197 | Nicholls | ||||
| 4 | Sep 26 | #153 | #8 | @Texas Tech | ||||
| 6 | Oct 8 | @Liberty | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 15 | Western Kentucky | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 22 | New Mexico State | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 28 | @Missouri State | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 8 | @Jacksonville State | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Kennesaw State | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | Middle Tennessee | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Florida International |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | Tulsa | L 17–23 | 371 | 1 | 29:42 | +0.120 | 43.1% | 115.1% | |
| Sep 5 | @Troy | L 21–24 | 373 | 1 | 30:51 | +0.168 | 47.1% | 120.5% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 372 | 1.0 | +0.144 | 45.1% | 117.8% | ||||
Sam Houston won a national championship as recently as 2020, jumped to the FBS, won its first bowl in 2024 — and then the coach who did all of it left for Temple and the whole thing came apart at 2-10.
Bearkat fans don't carry a grudge so much as a quiet 'we were just there' — a 2020 ring and a 2024 bowl trophy that no 2-10 season can take back. They know what this program is capable of because they…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 2-10 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among Conference USA teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cold. 2-8 over the last 10, and lost the last four.
The best thing about him from an athletic and a physicality standpoint is that he knows what he i s capable of, he does a really good job of trying to steer clear of doing some things that may not be in his wheelhouse, he plays within his own ability and makes rea lly good decisions, and when you are talking about a quarterback and those two things you’ve got a shot to win each game you play
Next Sep 19
vs Nicholls · at home
~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
Sam Houston collapsed 37 spots in SP+ — the 2-10 record and 1% returning production highlight a stark contrast to the program's FCS-to-FBS ascent, testing Phil Longo's ability to stabilize.
our readbackground
Phil Longo begins his tenure with a 2-10 losing record, signaling a rebuild for Sam Houston, which remains one of the weaker programs in FBS despite its recent FBS reclassification.
our readdeveloping
Elijah Green sees a real spike in usage once the game is out of reach, and his efficiency in competitive snaps sits below the position baseline -- the numbers lean on the opponent giving up.
our readdeveloping
Grady O'Neill is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Grady O'Neill: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Qua'Vez Humphreys is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Tim Burns Jr. is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Sam Houston · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Sam Houston enters 2026 rated No. 135 in 2025 SP+ (-27.8), down 37 spots from 2024. It is top-quintile returning production in FBS — 1% of production comes back. SP+ reflects three years of tape; a drop this steep is structural, not noise. The recovery window is open but the room knows it. The preview consensus leans in — but preseason ratings reward the recent past, not the season ahead.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'the projection is underselling us' read -- fans betting the season beats the preview number.
The 'the model has seen the tape' counter -- efficiency ratings reward what a program has actually done, not hope.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
This event was in 61 of 269 board posts (23%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
More in this tab
Sam Houston is the Conference USA newcomer whose 2020 FCS national championship + 2023 FBS reclassification + K.C. Keeler era make them the most-recent FCS-to-FBS-conference ascent in CFB.
The program ledger
since 2025Sam Houston AD to retire
AD retirement mid-rebuild is the kind of front-office instability Longo doesn't need — class rank already sitting at #126, SP+ down 37 spots, and now the athletic department loses its institutional memory at the worst possible moment.
Troy releases depth chart for opener
Troy's depth chart drops before the opener and Sam Houston is the designated tune-up — a ranked #126 class and a 37-spot SP+ slide makes this exactly the kind of early-season measuring stick that exposes how much Longo's rebuild still has left to climb.
Sam Houston given 10% bowl chance in CUSA's BCI
A 37-spot SP+ drop and a 10% bowl shot tells you exactly where Longo's rebuild sits — Phil needs that 5-star Simie commit to mean something fast, because the QB pressure is real and CUSA isn't waiting.
Albert Simien commits to Notre Dame
Longo's rebuild just lost a piece to the ACC — Simien heading to South Bend is the kind of drain a #122 class can't keep absorbing while the QB room is already under pressure.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
TX leads the 2026 class with 12 commits. National footprint reaching 7 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
66 signees across 9 states, 2023-2026. TX leads the pull.
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Sam Houston player grew up 331 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Elliott T. Bowers Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 104 of 108 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
0% of tipped/broken-up passes have turned into picks — below the ~18% league average, and due for more.
0 interceptions of 13 disrupted passes (13 deflected, 0 intercepted), 2026 only.
13 penalties committed, 10 drawn on opponents — ceding 31 yards of field position.
111 penalty yards committed vs. 80 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Sam Houston · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026