No. 5 Sam Houston (3-0) at Northwestern State (0-4)

When: 6 p.m. Thursday at Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches, La.

Broadcast: ESPN+

The Matchup: A simple look at the records of these teams will leave one wondering how this game could be Dave Campbell’s Small College Game of the Week.

However, the records are deceiving in this case. Northwestern State has not been an easy team to defeat despite a winless record this spring. The Demons put a scare into No. 7 Nicholls and No. 18 Southeastern Louisiana earlier this spring, losing by a combined 10 points.

NSU has lost its last five games dating back to 2019. The Demons previous win? Of course, that would be a 31-28 win at Sam Houston, which evened the overall series between these programs at 21 wins apiece dating back to 1929.

Sam Houston has been the most impressive team in the country this spring. A healthy Bearkats squad has rolled through their first three games averaging 58.6 points per game on offense while allowing 20.6 points per game.

The Kats have been incredibly dominant in their last two games, defeating Nicholls and Lamar by a combined 133-24 score.

Everything mentioned above makes this a perfect “trap” game scenario and has the Kats on upset alert. Turpin Stadium can be a tough place for opposing teams, and Sam Houston has an 8-15 record at NSU. 

The Kats will try to avoid any funny business on April Fool’s Day.

Players to Watch: 

SHSU - Eric Schmid, QB, Jr, The Woodlands, Texas (The Woodlands HS)

Jequez Ezzard, WR, Gr, College Park, Ga. (Howard)

Jahari Kay, DL, Sr, Berkeley, Calif. (Laney College)

NSU - Scooter Adams, RB, Jr, Hallettsville, Texas (Kilgore)

Jomard Valsin, OLB, Jr, Port Arthur, Texas (Memorial HS)

PJ Herrington, S, Jr, Natchez, Miss. (East Mississippi CC)

Key to Victory: Turnovers. It is that simple. If the Kats take care of the ball, they should coast to a win. But avoiding turnovers will not be an easy task. 

In the Demons win over SHSU in 2019, the Kats turned the ball over four times, allowing NSU to erase a 14-point deficit to claim the upset win.

Prediction: Sam Houston by 14