The 2012 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by third-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 11–4, 6–1 in Southland play to claim a share of the regular season conference championship. They earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they advanced to the national championship game where, for the second consecutive year, they lost to North Dakota State.
Before the season 2012 recruits 16 recruits originally committed to Sam Houston State during the 2012 Spring signing days. However QB Jared Johnson committed on February 21 to bring the number up to 17.
Orange-White Classic Spring football began on Wednesday, March 21. The team would hold 14 practices over a five-week span. All weekday practices were scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting March 21. They took place at 3:30 PM, except for Easter Friday (April 6) which took place at 9 AM. Two Saturday practices were scheduled on March 24 and 31 at 9 AM. The 2012 Orange-White Classic concluded the Spring Football schedule. It was held Wednesday, April 18.
More than 2,000 fans came out to see the Spring Football game, featuring an offense versus defense format. The offense rolled up six touchdowns, and the defense came up with two turnovers in the 80-play scrimmage.
Junior quarterback Brian Bell completed 11 of 17 passes for 161 yards and a score. Senior wide receiver Trey Diller caught seven passes for 118 yards including a diving 26-yard touchdown catch.
Sophomore running back Keyshawn Hill carried six times for 47 yards and senior Vincent Dotson rushed 11 times for 49 yards.
Backup quarterback Chris Grett rushed for a two-yard score and hit wide receiver Beau Smith for a five-yard touchdown. Hill broke for a 30-yard touchdown and Richard Sincere scored on a 15-yard reserve. Newcomer Cody Morgan added a 19-yard touchdown. No score was kept throughout the game.
Schedule
Game summaries Incarnate Word Sources:
The Bearkats open the season with their lone non-conference home game against the Division 2 Cardinals. It will be the first meeting between the Bearkats and Incarnate Word.
Sam Houston State took a brief 6-0 lead with a Timothy Flanders 40-yard rushing touchdown and a missed extra point. Incarnate Word took a 7-6 lead with a 26-yard pass to Trent Rios. The Bearkats retook the lead with another Flanders rushing touchdown in the second quarter and held the Cardinals scoreless for the rest of the game. Timothy Flanders finished with two touchdowns and became the school's all-time leading rusher. Keshawn Hill also scored two rushing touchdowns. Trey Diller ran for a touchdown as well. J. D. Standley and Chance Nelson added receiving touchdowns. Terrance Robinson closed out the scoring with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Baylor
The Bears and Bearkats meet each other for the fourth time in school history. All 4 games have been in Waco. Baylor currently owns a 3-0 advantage.
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Central Arkansas
The Bearkats open the SLC season against the Central Arkansas Bears. It will be the seventh meeting overall. The winner will take the overall series lead, currently even at 3-3. The Bearkats have won the previous 3 meetings.
The game featured the top 2 SLC favorites, with the victor to probably win the conference title. The Bearkats go into the game with a higher ranking. The Bears are ranked too and have home field advantage.
The game was close throughout. The Bearkats jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, it was 10-7, Sam Houston. Central Arkansas tied it up in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Sam Houston took a 20-10 lead with 5:24 left in the game. The Bears outcoached and outplayed their opponents for the next four minutes with a pair of touchdowns. Sam Houston had barely a minute left on the clock and down by 4 so they had to go for the touchdown. In the end, they were unable to get to the end zone one final time and Central Arkansas held on for the win 24-20.
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Texas Southern
The Tigers and Bearkats played each other for the first time since 1997, with the Bearkats looking to build on an 8-5 record they had against the Tigers. The Bearkats won the most recent meeting in 1997 and had won 4 of the last 5 and 8 of the last 10.
Sam Houston got on the board first with a 61-yard pass from quarterback Brian Bell to Chance Nelson with 12:00 remaining in the first quarter, which followed with kicker Miguel Antonio's extra point put the score 7-0 Sam Houston. Following an interception of a Tigers quarterback Rudy Johnson pass by Sam Houston defensive back Dax Swanson, the Bearkats scored another first-quarter touchdown with 5:18 remaining on a 32-yard run by wide receiver Trey Diller, with Sam Houston leading 14-0. During the second quarter, Texas Southern scored on a 16-yard pass by quarterback Justice Jones to James Davis with 12:11 remaining to make the score 14-6 Sam Houston, however, the Tigers' extra-point attempt was blocked by Sam Houston defensive tackle Preston Sanders, and defensive back Kenneth Jenkins scooped up the ball and ran it back for a defensive two-point conversion, raising Sam Houston's lead to 16-6. The Beakats then scored on a 22-yard pass from Bell to wide receiver Stephen Williams at the 10:16 minute mark, Antonio made a 19-yard field goal at 3:16 and Bell made a 32-yard scoring pass to Nelson in the closing minute of the quarter to end with Sam Houston leading 33-6 at halftime.
Sam Houston running back Keyshawn Hill made the lone score of the third quarter, a 36-yard rush at the 3:43-minute mark to raise Sam Houston's lead to 40-6. Just seven seconds into the fourth quarter, Sam Houston running back Ridgeway Frank ran in four-yard, putting the score at 47-6 Bearkats. Antonio made the final score of the game with a 39-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the quarter, with the final score 50-6 Sam Houston.
Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell completed 10 of 15 passes for 208 yards and had one interception, and backup quarterback Chris Grett made one pass for four yards. Texas Southern quarterback Rudy Johnson completed six of 11 attempts for 39 yards and one interception, backup quarterbacks Justice Jones and Jeff Anderson made four completions out of seven attempts for 67 yards and one completion out of three attempts for nine yards, respectively. Sam Houston's Keshawn Hill rushed six times for 74 yards, Richard Sincere carried the ball eight times for 65 yards, Ridgeway Frank held it 13 times for 63 yards, Tim Flanders ran 10 times for 49 yards, Trey Diller rushed one time for 32 yards and Chris Grett ran four times for 28 yards. Sam Houston's Chance Nelson caught the ball three times for 127 yards, Terrance Robinson received it three times for 43 yards and Stephen Williams caught it two times for 32 yards.
With the win, Sam Houston improves to 2-2. The Bearkats lead the series 9-5.
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Stephen F. Austin
The Battle of the Piney Woods returned to Reliant Stadium for a third consecutive season. The Bearkats sought to continue their 1-game winning streak against the Lumberjacks and build upon the record they have against Stephen F. Austin of 49-35-2.
Sam Houston worked its way down the field on its first possession but had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by kicker Miguel Antonio at the 12:55 minute marker, putting the Bearkats on the board 3-0. Stephen F. Austin forced a turnover late in the first quarter and quarterback Brady Attaway connected with wide receiver Ryan Gambel on a 30-yard pass in the closing seconds of the period to put the Lumberjacks on top 7-3. Sam Houston fumbled the ball again early in the second quarter, and Attaway threw a 27-yard scoring pass to wide receiver De'Vante Lacy just six seconds into the period to increase the lead to 14-3 Lumberjacks.
Sam Houston responded with five-yard pass from quarterback Brian Bell to tight end K. J. Williams with 12:21 remaining in the half to put the score 14-10 Lumberjacks. Later in the quarter, Sam Houston worked its way down to the red zone again, settling for a 22-yard field goal from Antonio, with the score now 14-13 Lumberjacks. Stephen F. Austin fought its way down to its red zone, however Attaway's pass was intercepted by Sam Houston cornerback Bookie Sneed who ran the ball back 92 yards for a scoring touchdown with 3:34 remaining, which followed by Antonio's extra point put the Bearkats ahead 20-13. Sneed's pick six broke Sam Houston's school record for an interception return of 90 yards set by Paul Wenzel in 1968 against Sul Ross. Antonio made a 42-yard field goal as the second quarter came to a close, with Sam Houston leading 23-13 at halftime.
The Lumberjacks opened the third quarter with a 77-yard touchdown pass from Attaway to D.J. Ward on the second play of their drive to close the gap to 23-20 Sam Houston. The Bearkats struck back at the 12:00-minute mark with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Bell to wide receiver Trey Diller, and again with a faked field goal attempt that ended with quarterback Bell running in a one-yard score with 7:59 remaining to raise Sam Houston's lead to 37-20. Another 30-yard touchdown pass from Bell to wide receiver Torrence Williams with 5:10 remaining stretched the lead to 44-20 Sam Houston. The Lumberjacks made the final score of the period with a 70-yard scoring pass from Attaway to wide receiver Cordell Roberson, and the third quarter came to close with Sam Houston leading 44-27.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bell made a nine-yard quarterback keeper rush into the end zone and the Bearkats extended their lead to 51-27. The Lumberjacks then launched a comeback attempt with Attaway completed a three-yard scoring pass to Roberson at the 10:56 minute mark, which was followed with a successful two-point conversion pass from Attaway to Ward. Roberson scored his third touchdown of the game with an eight-yard pass from Attaway with 5:43 remaining to close Sam Houston's lead to 51-43, however a late drive by the Lumberjacks ended on Sam Houston's 30-yard line, with a final score of 51-43 Sam Houston.
Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell completed 12 of 20 passes for a total 168 yards, and Stephen F. Austin quarterback Brady Attaway completed 39 of 76 attempts for a career-best 545 yards and two interceptions. Sam Houston's Tim Flanders rushed 27 times for a total 125 yards, followed by quarterback Brian Bell who ran eight times for 69 yards, Richard Sincere who rushed 12 times for 27 yards and Ryan Wilson who carried the ball three times for eight yards. Trey Diller caught the ball four times for 97 yards. Torrence Williams caught it once for 30 yards and Terrance Robinson received the ball four times for 29 yards.
With the win, Sam Houston improves to 3-2. Sam Houston leads the series 50-35-2.
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Nicholls State
The Bearkats continued their road SLC schedule, meeting the Colonels in Louisiana for Nicolls State's homecoming game. Going into the 28th meeting of the teams found the Bearkats 15-11-1 against the Colonels, having won 6 straight and 7 of the past 8.
There were no scores in the first quarter, however, eight seconds into the second quarter, Sam Houston running back Tim Flanders scored on a two-yard run, which, when followed by kicker Miguel Antonio's extra point, brought the score to 7-0 Sam Houston. Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell made a five-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Melvis Pride with 4:20 remaining, and Sam Houston led the game 14-0 at halftime.