The Sam Houston State Bearkats look to make it to 2-0 on the season when they take on Prairie View A&M on Parent’s Weekend this Saturday. The Panthers come in to town after a 53-0 victory over Texas College, while the Bearkats look to get back to where they left off with their strong victory over East Central Oklahoma, 58-14.
Prairie View A&M is 2-0 with its first winning season since 1976 coming last year when the Panthers went 7-3. The Panthers hold the all time record for most consecutives losses at 80, lasting from 1989-98. This is almost double the previous record held by Columbia University, who accumulated 44 straight losses.
The Bearkats look to have another explosive offensive performance out of Rhett Bomar, who passed for 198 yards and had four touchdowns, as well as 30 yards rushing. The offense scored on every possession of the first half, including two touchdown catches by Catron Houston, and another by Jason Madkins. James Aston also rushed for 115 yards on eight carries and two scores.
They will be going up against a very good Prairie View A&M defense, which is led by Zach East, the 2008 SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The Panthers’ defense surrendered only five yards rushing in their opening night victory over Texas Southern University, as well as shutting out Texas College on Saturday. Their defense was stingy yet again, allowing only 101 yards of total offense.
The Panthers also bring a potent offense that has scored 87 points in two games this season. They are led by Donald Babers, who was the SWAC Offensive Player of the Week after their first victory of the season, rushing for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
The Bearkats should counter with a defense that forced four turnovers in their victory over East Central Oklahoma. The Bearkats are led on defense by All- Southland Conference players Chris Brown and Nolan Bucek, as well as SLC Honorable Mention Eric Mikolajchak.
SHSU is 19-4 all-time on Parent’s Weekend games. In the only match-up the team played in 1985, the Panthers defeated the Bearkats 12-7.