Who Are The Sam Houston Bearkats?

In their final non-conference matchup of the 2025 regular season, the Longhorns take on 0-3 Sam Houston.

Sep 13, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns running back James Simon (31) runs for yards during the second half against the Texas El Paso Miners at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Week 4 is a prove-it week for the Texas Longhorns.

This Saturday, the Longhorns will take on the Sam Houston Bearkats in their last of four non-conference regular season games and the finale to a stretch of home games against Group of 5 opponents.

After another underwhelming offensive showing against the UTEP Miners, Texas has a chance to iron out the areas of improvement versus a 0-3 Bearkats team.

The Sam Houston Bearkats

Sep 6, 2025; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Sam Houston Bearkats quarterback Mabrey Mettauer (3) hands off the ball to running back Elijah Green (21) against Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during the second quarter at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

Transitioning from the FCS to the FBS in 2023, Sam Houston is only in its third season on the top level of college football and as a member of Conference USA. But, after a rough introductory year, going 3-9 in 2023, the Bearkats bounced back impressively in 2024, tallying 10 wins, including a New Orleans Bowl victory over Georgia Southern.

Decade-long head coach K.C. Keeler exited Huntsville this past offseason to take the same job at Temple. Phil Longo, who served as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2014 to 2016, replaced Keeler as the Bearkats head coach ahead of the 2025 season.

Between his stints at Sam Houston, Longo spent time as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Ole Miss, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In Chapel Hill, he was part of former Texas coach Mack Brown's staff.

The Bearkats are Longo's first head coaching gig since he was at La Salle in 2004-2005. Longo is still looking for his first win as the leader of Sam Houston.

Texas vs. Sam Houston

Sep 13, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver Parker Livingstone (13) makes a catch while defended by Texas El Paso Miners cornerback Justin Content (18) during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Longhorns and Bearkats have only matched up once -- a 2006 meeting at Darrell K Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium in which Texas dominated 56-3.

The second edition of this matchup will come ahead of bye weeks for both sides.

After a season-opening loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Longhorns are now coming off two consecutive wins over mid-major teams similar in caliber to Sam Houston. But in neither did Texas truly impress offensively. Quarterback Arch Manning has only 579 passing yards across his three performances so far.

Against UTEP, the Longhorns ran the ball 55 times, compared to only 25 pass attempts by Manning. The trio of running backs Jerrick Gibson, Christian Clark and James Simon contributed close to half of Texas' total offense production.

With CJ Baxter out and Quintrevion Wisner's status unknown, the Longhorns' young backfield depth could be relied upon heavily once again.

But, offensively, the Texas pass attack has some serious convincing to do.

The Longhorns are facing a Bearkats defense that is giving up 38.7 points per game, 442.3 yards per game and 314.7 passing yards per game. Those numbers have been accumulated in 17-point losses to Western Kentucky, UNLV and Hawai'i.

Throughout the rest of the season, it will not get easier than this -- Texas has to show it is a threat aerially on Saturday.

Week 4's matchup is the Longhorns' first night game this season. Texas-Sam Houston will kick off at 7 p.m. CT from DKR.