HUNTSVILLE – The script read the same for the thousands of Sam Houston fans at Bowers Stadium for the midweek Conference USA clash with UTEP (3-6). The Bearkats played well early and entered halftime with 21-13 lead over the Miners behind a pair of John Gentry touchdowns and a touchdown pass from Keegan Shoemaker to Malik Phillips. 

Sam Houston (0-8) has played three home Conference USA games in 2023 and the Bearkats were ahead or tied in all three. And they’ve lost all three in excruciating fashion. Jax State outscored the Bearkats 28-7 in the second half and overtime to win the CUSA opener on Sept. 28. FIU outscored Sam Houston 23-17 to eventually win in double overtime last week. 

At one point late in the third quarter against UTEP, the Bearkats were up 27-13. The Miners only scored one touchdown in the first 44 minutes of game time. They scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives starting with a Mike Franklin three-yard run with 1:07 left in the third quarter. A Kevin Hurley one-yard run – set up by a James Neal interception – with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter gave UTEP a 34-27 lead – its first of the game. 

Sam Houston tied the game at 34 with 6:02 left in the fourth quarter on a four-yard Noah Smith run and had a chance to take the lead with the ball one possession later. A three-and-out and a short punt set up UTEP, however, and a 32-yard Buzz Flabiano field goal sealed the deal. 

THREE THOUGHTS 

Second half woes: Sam Houston is now 0-3 at home in CUSA play at Bowers Stadium. The Bearkats outscored those three opponents by a combined 52-40 in the first half. They were outscored 69-43 in the second halves of those games. Sam Houston is 3-2 in CUSA and one of the biggest success stories in college football if those coinflip games go its way. Instead, the Bearkats are winless two-thirds through their first season at the FBS level. On the season, Sam Houston is being outscored 82-46 in the second half and 61-31 in the fourth quarter. 

The climb from 53 scholarships in FCS to 85 in FBS isn’t as easy as finding the bodies to fill those spots. Sure, the Bearkats have as many scholarship players as the Miners, but that lacks context. It’ll take a cycle or two to truly build the offensive line and defensive lines enough to withstand four quarters of FBS football. James Madison is the outlier. Jax State is lightning in a bottle. The trials of Sam Houston are more representative of how this move should feel. 

UTEP saves season…for at least a week: A loss at Sam Houston would’ve been the final nail in the 2023 campaign with the Miners entering the game with six losses. The next defeat on the season puts them out of bowl contention, and likely fires up rumors and gossip about the future of head coach Dana Dimel. The Miners weren’t inspiring in the win. They fell behind early and allowed over 20 points in the first half to one of the worst scoring offenses in America. Still, with everyone counting them out and looking forward to the offseason – even many in their own fan base – UTEP didn’t quit. 

UTEP scored 24 points in the second half while gaining 226 total yards. The Miners recorded over 400 yards in the game. The running game eventually wore down and tapped out a game Bearkats defense. UTEP ran for 222 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries – an average of 5.6 yards a carry. Conversely, Sam Houston averaged just 3.9 yards a carry and one-fifth of their total rushing yards came on a first-quarter touchdown run by John Gentry. 

As the game wore on, it was clear which team had the depth and size up front to win a 12-round bout. Hope remains for a six-win season and a bowl bid, but the odds are against the Miners. Western Kentucky and Liberty remain on the schedule. The win over Sam Houston was better than a loss, but it doesn’t erase the disappointment from the season if the Miners can’t ride the momentum to a bowl berth. 

The midweek games are a double-edged sword: On one hand, people who would never stop their Saturday to watch UTEP and/or Sam Houston tuned in with vigor as the two battled in a one-possession game on ESPN2. The exposure – and television money – make it worth it for programs in Conference USA to sacrifice home games on Saturday for eyeballs midweek. A lot of the midweek games have been compelling watches and maybe CUSA raises its profile in the way that the Sun Belt and MAC have with creative and fun scheduling combined with close games and rowdy crowds. 

But that is the downside. A game on a Wednesday doesn’t help attendance. The students have school the next day. Parents have work. Kids have school. A large chunk of the Sam Houston fan base lives in Houston and anyone who’s driven I-45 to Huntsville at 5 p.m. knows how hard it’d be to make kickoff. The same was true in last week’s Battle of I-10 between UTEP and New Mexico State. 

Football is now a television product. The atmosphere in the stands, especially for the G5 programs begging for tv slots, is secondary. That’s a tough reality for college football purists and head coaches adjusting to a new normal. The onus is on us to take the good with the bad and revel in the fact that we get compelling football on Wednesday nights.