The 2012 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by third-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 11–4, 6–1 in Southland play to claim a share of the regular season conference championship. They earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they advanced to the national championship game where, for the second consecutive year, they lost to North Dakota State.
Before the season
2012 recruits
16 recruits originally committed to Sam Houston State during the 2012 Spring signing days. However QB Jared Johnson committed on February 21 to bring the number up to 17.
Orange-White Classic
Spring football began on Wednesday, March 21. The team would hold 14 practices over a five-week span. All weekday practices were scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting March 21. They took place at 3:30 PM, except for Easter Friday (April 6) which took place at 9 AM. Two Saturday practices were scheduled on March 24 and 31 at 9 AM. The 2012 Orange-White Classic concluded the Spring Football schedule. It was held Wednesday, April 18.
More than 2,000 fans came out to see the Spring Football game, featuring an offense versus defense format. The offense rolled up six touchdowns, and the defense came up with two turnovers in the 80-play scrimmage.
Junior quarterback Brian Bell completed 11 of 17 passes for 161 yards and a score. Senior wide receiver Trey Diller caught seven passes for 118 yards including a diving 26-yard touchdown catch.
Sophomore running back Keyshawn Hill carried six times for 47 yards and senior Vincent Dotson rushed 11 times for 49 yards.
Backup quarterback Chris Grett rushed for a two-yard score and hit wide receiver Beau Smith for a five-yard touchdown. Hill broke for a 30-yard touchdown and Richard Sincere scored on a 15-yard reserve. Newcomer Cody Morgan added a 19-yard touchdown. No score was kept throughout the game.
Schedule
Game summaries
Incarnate Word
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The Bearkats open the season with their lone non-conference home game against the Division 2 Cardinals. It will be the first meeting between the Bearkats and Incarnate Word.
Sam Houston State took a brief 6-0 lead with a Timothy Flanders 40-yard rushing touchdown and a missed extra point. Incarnate Word took a 7-6 lead with a 26-yard pass to Trent Rios. The Bearkats retook the lead with another Flanders rushing touchdown in the second quarter and held the Cardinals scoreless for the rest of the game. Timothy Flanders finished with two touchdowns and became the school's all-time leading rusher. Keshawn Hill also scored two rushing touchdowns. Trey Diller ran for a touchdown as well. J. D. Standley and Chance Nelson added receiving touchdowns. Terrance Robinson closed out the scoring with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Baylor
The Bears and Bearkats meet each other for the fourth time in school history. All 4 games have been in Waco. Baylor currently owns a 3-0 advantage.
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Central Arkansas
The Bearkats open the SLC season against the Central Arkansas Bears. It will be the seventh meeting overall. The winner will take the overall series lead, currently even at 3-3. The Bearkats have won the previous 3 meetings.
The game featured the top 2 SLC favorites, with the victor to probably win the conference title. The Bearkats go into the game with a higher ranking. The Bears are ranked too and have home field advantage.
The game was close throughout. The Bearkats jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, it was 10-7, Sam Houston. Central Arkansas tied it up in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Sam Houston took a 20-10 lead with 5:24 left in the game. The Bears outcoached and outplayed their opponents for the next four minutes with a pair of touchdowns. Sam Houston had barely a minute left on the clock and down by 4 so they had to go for the touchdown. In the end, they were unable to get to the end zone one final time and Central Arkansas held on for the win 24-20.
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Texas Southern
The Tigers and Bearkats played each other for the first time since 1997, with the Bearkats looking to build on an 8-5 record they had against the Tigers. The Bearkats won the most recent meeting in 1997 and had won 4 of the last 5 and 8 of the last 10.