Past Events

The Texas A&M Aggies top the Oklahoma State Cowboys 24 - 21. 

Sam Houston State defeats Steven F. Austin University 31 - 20.

Washington State Cougars defeat the University of Houston Cougars 24-31.

As Baylor topped Vandy 45-38, the match-up did not disappoint. It was an exciting game from the first play to the last. The crowd at NRG Stadium was predominantly green and gold; the Baylor crowd and their cheers were the 12th Man for the Bears in their victory over the Commodores.

Baylor

Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has come along with this team from last seasons 1-11 finish. His team was led by Texas Bowl MVP quarterback Charlie Brewer. Brewer rushed for 109 yards in 16 carries, passing for 384 with 21 completions in 34 attempts. His ability to extend the play with his legs was a game changer, so much so that Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason commented on Brewer in his post-game presser. “He ran as well as their running backs did. The reality was, he was the difference in this ballgame. He was able to keep drives alive with his legs and that was tough for us.” Brewer had a dozen different targets at his disposal; the Bears should make a big impact next season in the Big 12. Rhule has made big strides with this team in season two.

Shoot Out

The Bears offensive stats from the game were beyond impressive, 668 total offensive yards, an average of 8.2 yards per play with three scoring plays at 30+ yards. Vandy’s were just as impressive with 573 total offensive yards, an average of 9.2 yards per play, also with three scoring plays of 30+ yards. If you get a chance to watch a replay of the game, I highly recommend it. My words can not do the back and forth action justice. Both teams now know what they need to work on defense for next season. Not to say there wasn’t any defense there was, but each team struggled to stop the run. Now is the time to tighten up, tweak, as well as work on finishing the plays. Perhaps a little more hustle would have helped both teams.

Vanderbilt

Senior quarterback Kyle Shurmur completed 18 out of 37 attempts for 286 yards and one touchdown. Shurmur also broke several Vanderbilt team records in Thursday night’s game.  He ended his college career with 8,865 yards, 64 touchdowns, 722 completions in 1,264 attempts, the most in Vanderbilt team history. Vandy’s breakout star this season was running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn had two breakaway touchdown runs, 68 and 69 yards. He also set a Texas Bowl record with 243 rushing yards. Vaughn made such an impact on Coach Rhule that he sought him out after the game to let him know his thoughts “I just want to tell you, that was as impressive as anything I’ve ever seen, that was really impressive. You’re impressive on tape, too, but seeing you live — that was impressive,” Rhule praised Vaughn. Ultimately, Vaughn was equally impressed with Rhule for taking the time to speak to him. “I’ve never had a coach from another team come and talk to me about my performance so it means a lot that I got his attention, too.”

Next Season

The Bears will have Brewer as their returning quarterback. Vanderbilt will have to replace Shurmur, which will be no small feat. They will also have to replace defensive force Joejuan Williams, who just announced he will forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Meanwhile, Commodore Nation will be waiting anxiously to find out if Jared Pinkneyand Vaughn will return or take their talents to the league. Needless to say, both teams have laid a solid foundation for the future. This was a match-up of two teams on the come up, the game was one of the better bowl games of the 2018 season, as there was no shortage of action. If you are a fan of either team you have some great football in your future. 2019 will be big for Baylor as well as Vanderbilt.

Fun Facts From The Game

Here are a few of the fun facts from the post-game notes and quotes.

· Baylor and Vanderbilt shattered a Texas Bowl-record with a combined 1,241 total yards, surpassing the previous Texas Bowl record of 1,037 yards set by LSU and Texas Tech in 2015.

· The Bears and Commodores tied a Texas Bowl record for the most points scored in a game with 83 points, tying the previous record set in 2015.

· The 2018 game featured a Texas Bowl record nine lead changes.

· The teams combined for 571 rushing yards, the most combined rushing yards in Texas Bowl history.

· Baylor and Vanderbilt also combined for a Texas Bowl-record 670 yards passing, surpassing the previous record of 624 in 2015.

· The two teams combined for 24 points in the fourth quarter, making tonight’s game the highest-scoring fourth quarter in Texas Bowl history.

· Baylor and Vanderbilt also tied a Texas Bowl record for the most points scored in the first quarter with 24, tying the previous record set by Texas Tech and Minnesota in 2012.

· Vanderbilt RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn recorded the second- and third-longest touchdown runs in Texas Bowl history with a 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a 69-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

The No. 17 Sam Houston State Bearkats exploded for 47 unanswered points on their way to a 54-21, win over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at NRG Stadium in the 93rd edition of the Battle of the Piney Woods.

The win gave the Kats (3-2, 2-1 SLC) their eighth straight win in the series over the Lumberjacks, extending the longest run by either team in the history of the series.

Quarterback Ty Brock accounted for four touchdowns in the first half and the Kats, including a 32-yard reception on a pass from Eric Schmid early in the second quarter that broke the game open. In all, Sam Houston ran up 500 yards of total offense while holding SFA (1-4, 1-3 SLC) to under 300 yards for the second consecutive year.

The three Bearkat quarterbacks combined to hit 11 different receivers for total completions and four touchdowns with Nathan Stewart leading the way with 87 yards on four catches and his first touchdown reception of the year. Davion Davishad a score and 69 yards on five grabs, while McCray hauled in one from Dare for the Kats’ final touchdown of the day.

Defensively, Derick Roberson led the way with three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss as part of a day that saw the Kats finish a season-high six sacks and 12.0 tackles for loss. DJ Curtis picked off SFA quarterback Foster Sawyer a pair of times, including a pick-six in the second quarter that gave Sam Houston the lead for good.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a high-scoring first half with both teams getting in on the action early, but it was the Lumberjacks who were able to take advantage of an early Bearkat miscue after Quin Jones intercepted Brock on the second snap from scrimmage of the game at the Bearkat 35-yard line. Foster Sawyer then connected with Tamrick Pace from nine yards out to put the ‘Jacks up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game.

Two drives later the Kats took advantage of a short field of their own to tie things up at 7-7. A good punt return from Davion Davis and an SFA penalty set Sam Houston up at the Lumberjack 20 and three players later Brock found Davis in the left corner of the end zone for the score.

Sawyer immediately led SFA back down the field connecting on five of six passes for 55 yards on a 10-play drive that covered 75 yards and finished on a 5-yard run by Josh McGowan into the end zone.

But from there, it was all Bearkats as Sam Houston exploded for 37 unanswered points to end the half. The first points of that run came when Brock connected on big plays to both Davis and Dee Bowens before running one into the end zone from eight yards out to knot it up at 14-14.

It took one more snap from scrimmage for the Kats to take their first lead of the game when Curtis picked off Sawyer on the opening play of the ensuing drive and raced 30 yards untouched into the end zone for the Kats’ first pick-six since 2015.

Two drives later Sam Houston got creative two drives later when Schmid took a throwback pass on the left side and hooked up with Brock on the other side of the field for a walk-in, 32-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 28-14.

Curtis then set the Kats up once again on the next drive, picking a deflected ball out of the air for his second interception of the half and setting the Kats up at the 22-yard line. Two plays later Kyran Jackson went in from four yards out for his first score of the game, giving the Kats a 35-14 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.

Stewart got in on the action when Brock found him for a score from 43 yards out, his first touchdown of the year and Tre Honshtein closed out the half as he nailed a 27-yard field goal as time expired to give Sam Houston a 44-14 lead midway through the game.

After Roberson’s second sack of the day put an end to SFA’s first drive of the second half, the Bearkats quickly added to their lead as they went 56 yards on nine plays on a drive that ended in a 23-yard field goal from Honshtein.

Roberson’s big day continued one drive later when he sacked SFA quarterback Jake Blumrick, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Scean Mustin at the SFA 42-yard line. Mike Dare then marched the Bearkat offense right down the field, eventually hitting McCray out of the backfield for a 17-yard touchdown that upped the lead to 54-14. The score would stay that way until late in the fourth quarter when Blumrick found Pace from 21 yards out for a touchdown.

By: KAGS.com