The Bearkats are having a disaster of a season.

PublishedOctober 10, 2025 11:19 AM EDT•UpdatedOctober 10, 2025 10:37 AM EDT

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Sam Houston State had one of the most pathetic crowds you’ll ever see in college football.

The Bearkats had been an FCS power before moving up to the FBS, where things haven’t gone well. Phil Longo fell to 0-6 Thursday night in his first year with the program after losing 29-27 to Jacksonville State.

The program is racing in the wrong direction, and it appears fans aren’t overly interested in attending games anymore.  

Sam Houston State gets pathetic attendance for latest loss

Due to renovations to the team’s home stadium, the Bearkats are playing home games at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.

The crowd Thursday night was hilariously pathetic. Steve Helwick shared a video of the crowd at kickoff……and Shell Energy Stadium was pretty much completely empty.

You can check out the footage below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

The game data posted by ESPN claims 5,419 were in attendance. Does it look like there were that many people there to you?

It definitely doesn’t appear that way to me. Not even close. That’s one of the most pathetic attendances I’ve ever seen.

It’s also a bit comical seeing how Sam Houston State hired Phil Longo to take over the program… after he was fired last season by the Wisconsin Badgers.

His air offense was an unmitigated disaster in Madison. The terrible results is one of many reasons why Luke Fickell’s seat is on fire.

How often does a coordinator on a losing team get fired and then get hired as a head coach? Granted, he previously coached there, but it was still an odd hire.

It’s also not off to a great start at all! Sam Houston State is one of the worst teams in America.

Phil Longo is 0-6 in his first season as Sam Houston’s head coach. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

What do you think of Sam Houston’s lackluster crowd? Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.