SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word football team used four touchdowns in the third quarter and took advantage of seven Sam Houston turnovers to defeat the 21st-ranked Bearkats, 43-26, on Saturday afternoon in front of a season-record crowd of 5,643 people at Benson Stadium.
 
Combined with McNeese's loss to Southeastern Louisiana, UIW's win leaves the Cardinals in a tie for first place in the Southland Conference with just one conference game remaining on their schedule. UIW is now 5-4 on the season and 5-2 in conference play. Sam Houston dropped to 5-4 overall and 4-3 in conference.
 
It was UIW's first victory over Sam Houston and the Cardinals' first undefeated home season in program history.
 
In what has been a record-breaking season for Cardinal football statistics, UIW shattered several program marks Saturday. Quarterback Jon Copeland surpassed Trent Brittain's records for most passing touchdowns and most pass completions in a single season. The Cardinals also set a single-season team record for total offense.
 
On defense, among other superlatives, Cam Knight forced two fumbles and recovered one of those. Javon Burse picked off a Sam Houston pass and returned a SHSU fumble for a touchdown. The Cardinals recovered four Bearkat fumbles, a program record, and intercepted three passes in the win.
 
The game see-sawed throughout the first half.
 
UIW took advantage of Kyle Covington's interception to set up an early touchdown, a 22-yard pass from Jon Copeland to Phillip Baptiste in the left corner of the end zone. An extra point kick that hit the right upright and bounced out left the score at 6-0 with 9:09 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Sam Houston answered later in the period on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ty Brock to Nathan Stewart.
 
A short UIW punt give the Bearkats the ball in Cardinal territory, which led to Tre Honshtein's 37-yard field goal. The score stood at 10-6 in favor of SHSU at the end of the first quarter.
 
Sam Houston benefitted from another short field when Copeland fumbled while being sacked. The Bearkats took over at the Cardinal 13, but the UIW defense stiffened, forcing Honshtein's 22-yard yard field goal and resetting the scoreboard to 13-6 in favor of Sam Houston with 9:13 left in the second quarter.
 
Sam Houston threatened, deep in Cardinal territory, with 4:20 left until halftime, but UIW's Knight forced and recovered a SHSU fumble, giving UIW the ball at its own one-yard line. The Cardinals, on the strength of Copeland's 17-yard pass to Baptiste, Ra'Quanne Dickens' 40-yard run from scrimmage, and Copeland's 20-yard keeper, set up Rhett Marshall's 39-yard field goal. With 1:54 remaining until the break, Sam Houston led 13-9.
 
With 1:42 remaining until halftime, UIW's Silas Stewart intercepted Brock's pass, setting up the Cardinals at the Bearkat 30. Copeland then found Kody Edwards on the left sideline, who dived just inside the pylon for a touchdown. That gave UIW a 16-13 lead at the half -- a half during which the Cardinals benefitted from four Bearkat turnovers.
 
Copeland hit Edwards on a 71-yard touchdown pass on UIW's second offensive play of the third quarter, giving the Cardinals a 23-13 lead. On the next play from scrimmage, the Bearkats responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Brock to Stewart, cutting UIW's lead to three, 23-20.
 
The next Sam Houston turnover, a fumble forced by UIW's Lukas Termin, resulted in Burse's 46-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. UIW had its 10-point lead back, 30-20, with 10:46 on the clock in the third quarter.
 
Copeland's 40-yard pass to Ameer King, and another missed extra point, gave UIW a 36-20 lead. The drive had been kept alive when Dickens gained seven yards for a first down on a fourth-and two play from the SHSU 43.
 
Dickens' two-yard touchdown run made the score 43-20 with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter. Copeland set up the score with a 54-yard pass to Jaelin Campbell, a throw that bounced off a defender before being caught.
 
Sam Houston's Dewaylon Ingram caught Mike Dare's seven-yard touchdown pass for the games' final score before the Cardinals clinched the 43-26 victory.

UIW Head Coach Eric Morris
Opening Statement…
 
"What a stellar performance by our defense. Coach Deason told me before the game that we're going to go get this thing, we're going to win it on defense. Everywhere I've been, I've never had a defensive coordinator come up and say that to me before a game. But boy, was he right. What a great job by the defense of pressuring the quarterback, interceptions, fumbles, all that stuff. Offensively, we started out slow, but I thought we picked up on the different things they were doing against us schematically and we were able to make some big plays down the field. We responded in a good way. I'm super proud of this team. We'll be playing for a lot next week, so I'm excited for our kids to have that opportunity."
 
On this year's home success…
 
"Hopefully people start to notice. Our home crowd was better than I've ever seen since I've been here. We need San Antonio to keep coming out and cheering us on. These kids, they deserve to have a good crowd here at home. As hard as they're working, the performances that they're having, they deserve to be supported by our community. It seems like every week they get more and more people. We talk about "the word is out" and we're actually getting the word out. They say if you build it they will come, and we're building it right now, so hopefully everyone keeps coming."
 
On Cam Knight's forced fumble at the one-yard line…
 
"We always talk about those big plays that can change a game. Today, there were seven of them. I don't know if I've ever been a part of a game like that before. They all changed the game. They kept us in early, we struggled early on offense. We finally got into our rhythm. But I couldn't be more proud of the resiliency of this team. They're fighting for one another, they believe in one another, they believe in the coaching staff. I'm super proud of how far they've come in such a short amount of time and I'm excited to see what the future holds for all these kids."
 
On being in first place in the conference…
 
"It feels good. I think a bunch of people outside of this room didn't believe that we could make it here prior to the season, and that was our biggest task as coaches. We had to believe as coaches and we had to have these kids believe that they were good enough. Boy, can I tell you, they're good enough. They're better than I could ever imagine. I love the way they're coming out and preparing, and they're getting everything that they deserve. I tell them all the time, you get what you deserve in football. You work for all these moments and opportunities, celebrations after a game. They're working hard for it during the course of the week and it's fun to celebrate with them."