Sam Houston Players to Watch vs. Texas Longhorns in Week 4

From last season under K.C. Keeler to this one under Phil Longo, the Sam Houston Bearkats have seen a huge amount of turnover due to the transfer portal.

Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned in his Monday press conference that the Bearkats have 65 new players on their roster from last year to this.

Sam Houston has struggled getting on the same page in their opening three games, heading into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium with a 0-3 record. But the Bearkats still have plenty of players with notable collegiate experience under their belts. Specifically, here are three Bearkats to watch against the Longhorns:

Hunter Watson or Mabrey Mettauer -- QB

The Bearkats' quarterback situation is chaotic. Longo has had three quarterbacks play in their opening three games.

When asked in his Tuesday press conference, Longo declined to name the single quarterback they were prepping to start on Saturday. It could be either Watson or Mettauer, though Watson seems to be the frontrunner after Longo did refer to him as Sam Houston's "starting quarterback" at one point.

A senior, Watson spent his first two collegiate years at Arkansas-Monticello and Iowa Western CC. In 2023, he led Iowa Western to the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship, earning NJCAA All-American second-team honors with a 22:4 touchdown-interception ratio.

He subsequently transferred to Sam Houston for the 2024 season. Last year, he started 12 out of the Bearkats' 13 games, achieving a 9-3 record that included a New Orleans Bowl win over Georgia Southern.

To start 2025, he threw for 209 passing yards and an interception against Western Kentucky in the Bearkats' 41-24 loss, also adding 91 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. In Week 2, though, Watson's struggles were clear -- he only tallied 101 passing yards across 11 of 22 passing, again without a passing touchdown but with a rushing one. Watson was benched for Mettauer, a redshirt freshman transfer from Wisconsin, at the end of the third quarter.

Mettauer went on to go 8 of 13 with his arm for 86 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. That performance and a Watson undisclosed injury were enough to earn him the start in Week 3 against Hawaii, although Mettauer did not impress with his 91 passing yards, interception and 17 carries for 35 yards before exiting with an injury in the middle of the fourth quarter. Freshman Landyn Locke then took over for him.

With the quarterback room now healthy and coming off a bye week, Sam Houston's starting quarterback situation should see some clarity versus Texas on Saturday.

CJ Brown -- Safety

Sam Houston vs. Hawai — Sep 6, 2025; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Hawaii Rainbow Warriors wide receiver Pofele Ashlock (5) pulls in a touchdown over Sam Houston Bearkats during the fourth quarter at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

A senior defensive back in his sixth year of college football, Brown transferred from Bowling Green to the Bearkats this past offseason.

He spent the first four years of college at Northern Illinois. After appearing in all six games as a true freshman in an abbreviated 2020 season, Brown totaled 107 and 78 tackles in 2021 and 2022 before utilizing his redshirt year in 2023. At Bowling Green in 2024, Brown accumulated 74 tackles across his 13 starts.

Through three games for Sam Houston, the safety has 21 tackles, which leads the team, as well as three pass deflections and a forced fumble. He is the enforcer in the secondary for the Bearkats, clearly using his experience to his advantage.

Longo had this to say about both Brown and quarterback Watson on Tuesday:

"CJ and Hunter are no strangers to playing every down, and both of them [have] been in some really, really good football games, and they've seen some great competition, and that shows on the field," Longo said. "You can see they are veterans. You can see they're a little bit more poised. You can see that things come more naturally to them because they've done it."

In the bright lights of DKR, Brown can expected to be a leader of the Sam Houston defense.

JaMair Diaz -- LB

Diaz, another defensive transfer to Sam Houston for this season, is playing his junior year in 2025.

Spending two seasons at Division II Glenville State, Diaz was named the Mountain East Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 after leading the Pioneers with 54 total tackles and recording 12 sacks. His 21 tackles for loss led all of NCAA Division II, per his Sam Houston page.

Through three games, Diaz has 13 total tackles (nine solo), a sack and a scoop and score. He has proven to be a bright spot in a Bearkat defense giving up the seventh-most points and 12th-most yards per game thus far.

"He's somebody [who] flashed for us in the spring," Longo said about Diaz. "I think [he has] a little bit of leadership out there, the work ethic is outstanding. Anytime you have somebody with his twitch and somebody with his passion for the game and somebody with his work ethic, it's almost impossible not to see improvement ... And he has [gotten better], and he's been playing well the whole season. He's become more and more of an issue for offenses."

Like Brown, Diaz will be an athletic roamer who can cause difficulties for quarterback Arch Manning and the Texas offense. The Bearkats and Longhorns will kick off from DKR at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.