Meet Your Insider
Evenin', folks. Pull up a stump. I'm Lemuel Coxwell, but everybody from here to the Trinity River calls me Lem, and I'm your Sam Houston insider at The Cover Window. I'm a Walker County native and a high-school history teacher, and I collect Texas folklore the way some folks collect bottle caps. My students say I can turn a fire drill into a three-part saga. They're not wrong.
Here's how I'll tell it. I'll be patient, because seasons are long and young men grow. I'll be proud, because Huntsville is a small Texas town with a big Texas name, and our Bearkats play like they're carrying it. Most of all, I'll be honest. A good storyteller never needs to stretch the truth. Every number I give you will be real. If I don't know something, I'll say so plain, then go dig through the archives.
The School in 60 Seconds
Sam Houston State fielded its first football team in 1912. Home is Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, which seats 14,000; CFBD lists it as built in 1986. In 2021 the Bearkats left the Southland Conference for the WAC's FCS football league, and in November 2021 they accepted an invitation to join Conference USA at the FBS level starting in 2023-24.
The last five seasons tell a tale with some hills in it: 11-1 in 2021, 5-4 in 2022, 3-9 in 2023, 10-3 in 2024 and 2-10 in 2025. That 10-3 year was the high mark of the FBS era so far. Every good story has a hard chapter before a good one.
The Coach and the Scheme
Phil Longo was named Sam Houston's 16th head coach on Dec. 18, 2024, so this is his second season. Wikipedia describes him as a practitioner of the air raid offense. He was previously offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, and before that offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Carolina, Ole Miss and Sam Houston.
The 2026 numbers match that reputation through the air but not on the ground. The Bearkats throw for 247.0 yards per game (51st in FBS) and run for 95.0 (134th), at 3.15 yards per carry. Scoring sits at 19.5 points per game (123rd). The defense is split. It allows just 137.8 passing yards per game (4th in FBS) but 200.3 rushing yards (129th), and opponents convert only 32.1% of third downs (24th). The Bearkats have 12 sacks and a +1 turnover margin (61st).
Players to Know
QB Landyn Locke: 129 of 205, 1,418 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT, 62.9%. He was 13 of 30 for 112 yards against Western Kentucky.
RB Alton McCaskill: 211 yards on 53 carries, 1 TD. M.J. Dowdy ran 14 times for 55 yards against WKU.
WR Chris Reed: 17 catches, 289 yards, 3 TD, including three catches for 51 yards against WKU.
LB Dean Ford: a team-high 38 tackles. LB Elijah Groves: 2.5 sacks.
K Sam Carpenter: made a 42-yard field goal against WKU and a 36-yarder at Liberty.
The Conference Picture
Sam Houston is 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Conference USA. The Bearkats are 1-2 at home and 0-3 on the road. They are not ranked. The two close losses came early, 24-21 at Troy and 23-17 to Tulsa. Since then it's been a steep climb: 49-14 at Texas Tech, 35-3 at Liberty and 16-3 to Western Kentucky. The lone win was 59-0 over Nicholls. A home win Wednesday would be the first league win of the season. In a long story, that's the chapter where the hero stands back up.
This Week: Game Preview from Both Sides
New Mexico State (2-4) at Sam Houston (1-5) · Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8:00 p.m. ET · Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, Huntsville · ESPN2
Last time out. Western Kentucky won 16-3 in Huntsville on Oct. 14. Sam Houston was held to 177 total yards and 12 first downs. WKU is now 4-1 against Sam Houston and perfect since the Bearkats joined CUSA in 2023. New Mexico State lost 22-3 at FIU on Oct. 7. FIU's kicker made five field goals, and NMSU threw two interceptions.
Sam Houston's offense vs. New Mexico State's defense. The Aggies allow 347.8 yards per game (61st) and are tougher against the run (125.5 yards, 47th) than the pass (222.3, 90th). So Locke's arm is our best path. NMSU has 15 sacks, with Gabe Peterson at 4.5, so protection matters. The Aggies rank 118th in red-zone defense, allowing scores on 92.9% of trips. Get there, and good things tend to happen.
New Mexico State's offense vs. Sam Houston's defense. The Aggies will want to run, and James Jones is the reason: 599 yards on 92 carries and three touchdowns. He entered the FIU game leading Conference USA at 102.0 rushing yards per game. Our run defense allows 200.3 yards a game. That's the whole ballgame in one sentence. Our pass defense, fourth in FBS, should make the Aggies one-dimensional if we can slow Jones.
Series. New Mexico State leads 2-1. NMSU won 27-13 in 2023, Sam Houston won 31-11 in 2024, and NMSU won 37-10 on Oct. 2, 2025. Those series details come from a search summary of the schools' pages, so I'm marking them thin.
Availability. No official conference availability report as of Oct. 18, 2026. I found no confirmed Sam Houston injury news. On the New Mexico State side, Adam Damante started at FIU after Trey Hedden started the first four games. Who starts Wednesday hasn't been confirmed.
New Mexico State brings its own debut insider, a chile-roasting storyteller from Las Cruces. Two storytellers, one ballgame. Somebody's tale gets a happy ending.
Three questions that decide it:
1. Can the Bearkats slow Jones and the NMSU run game?
2. Can Sam Houston's offense get into the red zone against a defense that rarely stops anyone there?
3. Can the Bearkats keep winning the turnover battle (+1) against an NMSU team at -5?
Local Flavor
I'll tell you about my Huntsville haunts once I've confirmed them. Bring a lawn chair and a story. Not an ad.
My call: New Mexico State Aggies 24, Sam Houston Bearkats 23.