Sam Houston — Conference USA
HC
Phil Longo · Elliott T. Bowers Stadium · Huntsville, TX · 14,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.00 / 0.24
2025
Class rank
#126
class of 2026
Returning PPA
58%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (2–10)
Statistical comps — 2025 Sam Houston's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (20 in / 15 out)
| Outgoing |
|---|
| Kolt Dieterich | OT | → Washington |
| Rhett Larson | IOL | → Western Kentucky |
| Rayfield Lotten | TE | → New Mexico State |
| Mabrey Mettauer | QB | → SMU |
| Lonnie Adkism | WR | → uncommitted |
| Hunter Watson | QB | → uncommitted |
| Michael Phoenix II | WR | → uncommitted |
| Fatu Mukuba | WR | → uncommitted |
| + 7 more |
Origins
Keeler won the 2020 FCS championship in a season played in spring because of the pandemic, then took the program to the FBS and a bowl win in its second year.
Founded 1879 · The oldest teacher-training institution west of the Mississippi · first football 1912 · defined by K.C. Keeler
All-time record
Win %
58.4%
46 seasons played
Winning seasons
18
39% of seasons
By level: ii/iii 0–4 (1919–1923) · FBS 15–31 (1924–2025) · FCS 155–86 (1987–2022)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2011 | 12 | 0 | Southland |
| 2016 | 12 | 1 | Southland |
| 2017 | 12 | 2 | Southland |
| 2021 | 11 | 1 | AWC |
| 2014 | 11 | 4 | Southland |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1919 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 298 | 52% |
45% | 64 of 136 | 5.2 | 11% |
| 2nd down | 212 | 42% |
36% | 121 of 136 | 4.8 | 10% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 26 | 46% |
46% | — | 6.0 | 12% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 34 | 26% |
26% | — | 3.2 | 9% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 76 | 18% |
14% | — | 4.8 | 12% |
| 4th down | 30 | 40% |
30% | — | 6.4 | 13% |
146 drives · 22% ended in points · 6.5 plays and 30.6 yards per drive · -0.06 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 1 | UNLV |
Tim Burns Jr. 59 Yd pass from Mabrey Mettauer (Mabrey Mettauer Pass to Qua'Vez Humphreys f… |
59 | 6.49 |
| 10 | Louisiana Tech |
(03:20) No Huddle-Shotgun #21 E.Green rush left for 80 yards gain to the LAT00 TOUCHDOWN, … |
80 | 6.39 |
| 1 | UNLV |
Landan Brown 53 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) |
53 | 6.11 |
| 12 | Delaware |
Landan Brown 62 Yd Run (Christian Pavon Kick) |
62 | 5.32 |
| 1 | Western Kentucky |
Hunter Watson run for 55 yds for a TD (RJ Lopez KICK) |
55 | 4.24 |
| 7 | Jacksonville State |
Hunter Watson pass complete to Austin Smith for 27 yds to the JXST 30 for a 1ST down |
27 | 4.20 |
| 13 | Middle Tennessee |
(05:29) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 L.Locke pass complete deep right to #2 C.Reed caught at MTSU1… |
54 | 4.18 |
| 8 | UTEP |
No Huddle-Shotgun #34 L.Brown rush left for 63 yards gain to the TEP18 (#32 E.Baldwin; #16… |
63 | 4.18 |