College career
2001 season
Long did not see any action during the regular season. He entered the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl in the fourth quarter, but did not attempt a pass.
2002 season
Long had a record-breaking season as a sophomore after not attempting a pass as a freshman. He won the starting spot from two-year incumbent starter Mark Farris with a solid performance against the Pitt Pathers in the second game of the season and started his first career game the following week against Virginia Tech. Long passed for 2,509 yards and 19 touchdowns on 177-of-333 passing, his 2,509 season passing yards putting him at No. 2 in school history for a single season. He started the last nine games of the season and played in all 12. He posted 300-yard passing games against Kansas (399), Texas Tech (367) and Oklahoma State (332). Long shared Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors with Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury after passing for 367 yards and seven touchdowns against the Red Raiders, his seven touchdowns shattering a Big 12 record. His 19 passing touchdowns tied him with Gary Kubiak for the most in one season at A&M.
Mark Allen Farris is a former quarterback for Texas A&M University and a former shortstop in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system. He is the son of Nancy and Phil Farris of Angleton, Texas. He has two daughters, Kameryn and Kendyll. He is married to Amanda Payan Farris and they have a son, deacon.
The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football competition, now termed the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, since the beginning of the school's official sponsorship of the sport in 1890. As of the 2013 season, Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raiders" name.
2003 season
Long was supplanted by Reggie McNeal as the starting quarterback, although he did see action in all 12 games. In his lone start against Mizzou (after an injury to McNeal), Long passed for 252 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-29 passing. He finished the season with 709 passing yards and four touchdowns on 63-of-104 attempts.
Reginald Parrish McNeal is a former professional American football player. He played five seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M University.
The University of Missouri is a public research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest University and the flagship of the four campus University of Missouri System. Founded in 1839 it was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It is a member of the Association of American Universities as well as a land-grant and space-grant institution. Enrolling 30,046 students in 2019, it offers over 300 degree programs in thirteen major academic divisions. Its well-known Missouri School of Journalism was founded by Walter Williams in 1908 as the world's first journalism school; It publishes a daily newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, and operates an NBC affiliate KOMU. The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the world's most powerful university research reactor and is the United States sole source of isotopes used in nuclear medicine. The university operates University of Missouri Health Care, running a number of hospitals and clinics in Mid-Missouri. Its NCAA Division I athletic teams are known as the Missouri Tigers, and compete in the rigorous Southeastern Conference. The American tradition of homecoming is claimed to have originated at Missouri.
2004 season
Unhappy with his lack of playing time, Long decided to transfer to Sam Houston State University following the 2003 season. During his senior season, Long passed for 3,408 yards and 31 touchdowns and led the SHSU to an 11-3 record and helped propel them into the NCAA Division I-AA playoff semifinals. He was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led the Bearkats to a share of the Southland title and an NCAA playoff berth.
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The Southland Conference, abbreviated to SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Southland sponsors 18 sports, 10 for women and eight for men, and is governed by a presidential Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of athletic and academic administrators. Tom Burnett was named the Southland's sixth commissioner on Dec. 23, 2002. From 1996 to 2002, for football only, the Southland Conference was known as the Southland Football League.
In the first round of the playoffs, Long led his team to victory against Western Kentucky. He threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns, leading Sam Houston State to a 54-24 win.
In the second round, Long passed for 478 yards and three touchdowns to rally the Bearkats from a 20-point fourth quarter deficit, leading them on a 75-yard drive which culminated with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Jason Mathenia as time expired for a 35-34 win over Eastern Washington University.
In the semifinals against Montana, Long was 35-of-53 for 375 yards, but was erratic throwing two interceptions without a touchdown. He was sacked six times, matching his total for the entire season up to that point. Ironically, Montana quarterback Craig Ochs was a transfer from Texas A&M's Big 12 rival Colorado Buffaloes.
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The 2015 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by second-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 11–4 overall and 7–2 in Southland play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Southern Utah, McNeese State, and Colgate to advance to the Semifinals, where they lost to Jacksonville State. The 2015 season marked the Bearkats' 100th season of football.
