Tuesday, July 25, 2017
San Marcos, TX -- What better way to finish senior week than with a blowout victory against a conference foe with a championship on the line. Texas State scored touchdowns both through the air and on the ground. They ended up with 297 rushing yards, led by senior halfback Terrance Franks who had 178 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brandon Smith had 162 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Demun Mercer had 130 yards and 3 touchdowns. Troy never saw it coming. I guess the Bobcats wanted there to be no doubt as to who is the conference champion.
For all intents and purposes, this is the Sun Belt Conference Championship. If Texas State wins, they win the tie breaker. If Troy wins, they win outright. It isn't known whether the Bobcats overlooked Western Kentucky or they just aren't as good against real competition, so this could be one hell of a matchup.
According to rivals.com, these teams are rated equally. And yes, Troy has four losses. But their schedule was much tougher than Texas State's. Their losses include Florida State and South Carolina while the Bobcats played no power 5 conference teams. There should be no reason to take this game lightly. It's senior week and players like Terrance Franks, Bradley Miller, and David Mayo want to end their careers on a good note. So you're going to see the best of both teams.
Bowling Green, KY -- For those who had a problem with the BCS standings as of late, all is right again. The Texas State Bobcats have fallen to the Western Lentucky Hilltoppers and all thoughts of a BCS title shot are over.
The pressure was on from the beginning as WKU scored fairly easy on a 3 yard run by fullback Stan Daniels. Texas State would tie it up with a touchdown pass from quarterback Jordan Moore to Brandon Smith, but Western Kentucky came right back and scored on a 71 yard touchdown pass from Brandon Doughty to halfback Anthony Wales. On the next Bobcat drive, Moore threw an interception. WKU capitalized and scored again, this time on a 35 yard pass from Doughty to Jerrell Moore. Down 21-7, the Bobcats would come back and score before halftime, but there was still enough time for the Hilltoppers to score too.
To start the second half, Moore would throw another interception and Western Kentucky scored a field goal to put them up 31-14. Moore found his groove and threw a pair of touchdowns to get the deficit down to 3. WKU scored another field goal and it was on the Bobcats to take this game away. But Moore threw his third interception of the game and pretty much ended any chance of winning.
Doughty's 370 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions was enough to pressure Moore to make the bad decisions in crucial times. Although Moore had 421 passing yards of his own, the football gods finally reminded Texas State that it takes a well-rounded effort to win championships.
You could say Western Kentucky is having a down year, standing at 4-6 with no chance of winning the Sun Belt. But they always play tough and would love to play spoiler in this game. Can the Bobcats tune out all of the national hype and focus on winning this thing out?
I tend to agree with the sentiment that Texas State isn't really the 6th best team in the nation. If the Bobcats go undefeated and somehow makes it to the BCS national championship game, do they have a chance whatsoever? I guess the debate goes back to being deserving of a title shot versus being good enough to win the title.
This is all a moot point if Texas State doesn't handle their business. They play Western Kentucky this week and end with Troy, another team staking claim as the Sun Belt's elite. This talk could all be for nothing. So let's just enjoy Saturday's game.
Mobile, AL -- It was another rainy game for Texas State, but they came up all sunshine as they defeated the South Alabama Jaguars in Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday night. With relative ease, the Bobcats marched down the field and scored seemingly whenever they wanted. Wide receiver Brice Gunter scored three touchdowns and receiver Demun Mercer had 140 receiving yards.
With the rain and the risk of subsequent injury late in the season, Bobcats head coach Dennis Franchione called off the dogs in the fourth quarter. It could have been an even worse blowout.
Monday, July 24, 2017
There will be more pressure on the Bobcats to stay undefeated and in the top 25 than there will be from the actual opponent, South Alabama. Sitting at 3-6, there's not much of a threat from the Jaguars. Let's just hope Texas State doesn't look ahead to Western Kentucky and Troy.
San Marcos, TX -- Two Bobcats were injured but it didn't stop the rest of them from getting this victory. Early in the first quarter, running back Terrance Franks went down with a concussion and was out for the game. This gave Tim Gay the opportunity to pound the rock in the rain, and that's just what he did. He broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a game with 5.
Brandon Smith was also injured and back spasms would take him out of the game, but not before he amassed 151 receiving yards and a touchdown. Tight end Bradley Miller had 110 receiving yards and a touchdown of his own.
Texas State is now 9-0 and will no doubt be climbing in the polls.
Arkansas State is 6-3 and is on a 3 game winning streak. Their biggest win is against Louisiana-Lafayette, so this team isn't a bunch of pushovers. Coach Luke Fickell will have these boys ready to play and they won't just lie down on the undefeated Bobcats.
There is rain in the forecast, so it may add an element of mystique.
Monroe, LA -- If you only saw the final score, you wouldn't think it was ever a contest. But the Warhawks of ULM held their own in the first quarter of the game. On Texas State's first three offensive possessions, they were held to only two field goals. In fact, the Bobcats didn't score a touchdown until 1:19 left in the first half. Quarterback Jordan Moore finally found the end zone with a 9 yard pass to Jafus Gaines. By halftime, the score was 16-0 Bobcats.
From there, Texas State pulled away in usual fashion. Bradley Miller started to make big plays and ended up with 163 receiving yards. Moore finished with 469 yards and 3 touchdowns. Even Tyler Jones, who came in for mop up duty, threw a touchdown pass.
The Bobcats didn't do much on the ground, as ULM had a stubborn run defense. So Texas State just kept with the pass.
"If that's the only way we can run the clock, through the air, that's what we'll do." said Bobcat head coach Dennis Franchione.
In terms of talent, these two teams match up pretty well. But as we've seen for quite some time, Texas State has been playing well above their talent level. The ULM Warhawks, sitting at 3-4, pose no huge threat to the Bobcats, but they have the ability to pull off an upset. I wouldn't bet on that, though.
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