Texas Longhorns vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats Way-Too-Early Preview: What the Stats Say

The Texas Longhorns, at best, will walk into their week four game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats an undefeated 3-0 or, at the worst, 2-1, with the only potential challenge being Ohio State to open the season. After the opening game, Texas should have an easier time against San Jose State and UTEP, and Texas's final nonconference matchup in 2025 against Sam Houston State should feel a lot easier.

A comfortable victory against Sam Houston would give Texas some momentum as they head into their first bye week of the season, where, after the bye, they get into the heart of SEC play as they pay a visit to the Florida Gators to open the SEC portion of their schedule.

Sam Houston will look to make the game close, as in college football, the possibility of an upset will always be present, especially after the 10-3 season the Bearkats had last season, but with some leadership changes at head coach and many players transferring in and out its hard to predict what Sam Houston will look like. But if their struggles, especially on offense, persist, the Longhorns will have no trouble in the matchup.

The Texas Longhorns defense will outweigh the Bearkats' offense

A season ago, the Longhorns' defense was a big proponent in their journey to another College Football Playoff Semifinal, especially on the back end in the secondary. The Longhorns' pass defense a year ago was special, allowing the 7th-lowest passing yards per game, tied for first with the lowest number of passing touchdowns allowed, tied for first in interceptions with 22, and the second-lowest passer rating allowed in all of Division I.

The Longhorns lost two big pieces of their pass defense from the season with Jim Thorpe award winner and 2025 NFL Draft first-round pick Jahdae Barron and second-round pick Andrew Mukuba heading to the NFL. Now led by All-American Michael Taaffe and other returners like Jaylon Guilbeau, and exciting young talent in Kobe Black among others, and on top, exciting, touted freshmen.

The Bearkats' passing offense, on the other hand, struggled a year ago, with just 2,186 passing yards in 13 games for an average of just 168 passing yards per game, 15 passing touchdowns, and scoring just 23.8 points per game, all of which ranked in the 100s in all of college football for each statistic.

Hunter Watson, the starting quarterback for the majority of the year for Bearkats from a season ago, threw for 1,811 yards, 12 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, which, depending on the new offense new head coach Philo Longo installs, won't exactly be lighting up the Longhorn defense.

Where Watson found the majority of his success was running the ball with 647 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns, the Longhorns' run defense was just as solid as its pass defense, allowing 109.8 rushing yards per game, 3.2 yards per carry and 15 rushing touchdowns.

Whether it be through the air or on the ground, the Bearkats' offense will struggle against the Longhorns' defense. The matchup is slated for Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in Austin.