The Machine

Sam Houston

Conference USA · 1-8CFP unranked

Sam Houston is 1-8 and No. 134 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 21.8 points below an average FBS team. Last game: lost 47-14 at Jacksonville State in Week 10.

Week 11: vs Kennesaw State, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit

Machine rankNo. 134of all FBS teams
Rating now−21.821.8 points below an average FBS team
Since July−3.4from −18.4 in the preseason rating

Why Sam Houston is No. 134

  • Sam Houston's rating is −21.8: the machine's estimate that Sam Houston is 21.8 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 134 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
  • It started the season at −18.4, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it down 3.4.
  • The biggest weekly moves: +2.7 after Week 1 (L 21-24 at Troy) and −2.1 after Week 6 (L 3-35 at Liberty).
  • Its record is 1-8. The 8 losses were to No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 52 Liberty, No. 81 Tulsa, No. 84 Jacksonville State, No. 112 Troy, No. 121 New Mexico State, No. 124 Western Kentucky, No. 125 Missouri State, by 18.6 points on average. The win came by 59 points. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
  • Its FBS opponents so far average No. 90 in the machine's ratings.
  • Just above is No. 133 Northern Illinois (−20.7); just below is No. 135 UL Monroe (−22.2).

The rating, week by week

Strengths and weak spots

Head coach

Phil Longo is in his 2nd season at Sam Houston (since 2025). This season: 1-8. At Sam Houston overall: 3-18, counting this season.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Team stats

Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.

Passing

Completions-attempts191-307
Passing yards2164
Touchdowns-interceptions15-6
Yards per attempt*7.0No. 95 of 138
Explosive pass rate7.6%No. 126 of 138
Sacks allowed (rate)6.7%No. 99 of 138

Rushing

Carries-yards249-672
Yards per carry2.7No. 137 of 138
10-plus-yard runs (rate)13.1%No. 84 of 138
Stuffed at or behind the line (rate)22.5%No. 130 of 138

Scoring

Points per game17.6No. 132 of 138
Yards per play5.15No. 119 of 138
Third-down rate33.1%No. 122 of 138
Red-zone TD rate47.4%No. 121 of 138
Giveaways9No. 44 of 138

Defense

Points allowed per game27.6No. 99 of 138
Yards per play allowed5.53No. 73 of 138
Yards per pass attempt allowed6.1No. 20 of 138
Yards per carry allowed5.0No. 119 of 138
Sack rate4.9%No. 95 of 138
Takeaways9No. 106 of 138
Third-down rate allowed30.4%No. 13 of 138

Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders

The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).

Passing

  1. Landyn Locke163-257, 1779 yds, 13 TD, 5 INT
  2. DJ Bailey25-44, 321 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT
  3. Brett Holloway3-5, 64 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT

Rushing

  1. Alton McCaskill62 carries, 235 yds, 1 TD
  2. Landan Brown43 carries, 175 yds, 1 TD
  3. MJ Dowdy40 carries, 147 yds, 1 TD

Receiving

  1. Chris Reed28 catches, 437 yds, 4 TD
  2. Tim Burns Jr.21 catches, 428 yds, 3 TD
  3. Grady O'Neill42 catches, 409 yds, 3 TD

Tackles

  1. Dean Ford53
  2. Brian Bates Jr.39
  3. Railyn Adams37

Sacks

  1. Josh Alexander-Felton4
  2. Elijah Groves2.5
  3. Brody Henderson2

Interceptions

  1. Railyn Adams2
  2. Caesar Magee III1
  3. Cameron Franklin1

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Who's playing

Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.

Throwing

  1. Landyn LockeMost passes in the last game8 games257 attempts84%
  2. DJ Bailey3 games44 attempts14%

Carrying

  1. Alton McCaskill9 games62 carries32%
  2. Landan Brown9 games43 carries22%
  3. MJ Dowdy5 games40 carries21%
  4. Jerrian Parker5 games17 carries9%

Catching

  1. Grady O'Neill9 games42 catches22%
  2. Chris Reed9 games28 catches15%
  3. Tim Burns Jr.8 games21 catches11%
  4. Landan Brown8 games19 catches10%

Tackling

  1. Dean Ford9 games53 tackles9%
  2. Brian Bates Jr.9 games39 tackles7%
  3. Railyn Adams8 games37 tackles6%
  4. Brody Henderson9 games35 tackles6%

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

The season, week by week

  1. Week 1 L 21–24 at Troy. The run game struggled: 1.6 yards a carry, 2.6 less than Troy usually allows.
  2. Week 2 L 17–23 vs Tulsa. The pass defense was the strength: Tulsa got 3.8 yards an attempt, 3.7 under what it usually gains. Its most yards an attempt of the season.
  3. Week 3 W 59–0 vs Nicholls. Nicholls is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. Won the turnover battle by 3.
  4. Week 4 L 14–49 at Texas Tech. The passing game struggled: 5.1 yards an attempt, 3.2 less than Texas Tech usually allows.
  5. Week 6 L 3–35 at Liberty. The run defense gave ground: Liberty got 7.6 yards a carry, 2.9 over what it usually gains. Its most yards a carry of the season.
  6. Week 7 L 3–16 vs Western Kentucky. The passing game struggled: 3.7 yards an attempt, 4.7 less than Western Kentucky usually allows. Its fewest yards an attempt of the season.
  7. Week 8 L 24–30 vs New Mexico State. The run game struggled: 0.6 yards a carry, 3.6 less than New Mexico State usually allows. Its fewest yards a carry of the season.
  8. Week 9 L 3–24 at Missouri State. The run game struggled: 1.0 yards a carry, 4.1 less than Missouri State usually allows. The offense gave up 5 sacks.
  9. Week 10 L 14–47 at Jacksonville State. The run game struggled: 2.8 yards a carry, 1.5 less than Jacksonville State usually allows.

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