A Recurring Nightmare: Bobcats Fall Flat Against Southern Utah Once Again

Here's a question to Bobcat fans: If you were told that the Texas State football team went into Cedar City, Utah and outgained the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on offense by 25 yards, had 25 first downs and was 4 of 5 on fourth down conversions, would you have believed that the Bobcats lost the game by 22 points?

I wouldn't have believed it either.

But a 22 point loss was exactly what unfolded today in Eccles Coliseum for the 'Cats, as the Thunderbirds took advantage of four Bobcat turnovers for a 38-16 final decision. The usual high offensive production of 412 yards went to waste today as the Bobcats could not buy a touchdown in the red zone, were plagued by penalties and mental mistakes at the worst times, and could not find anyone to contain the lethal QB-to-WR combo of Cade Cooper to Tysson Poots. Even if you forget about the 34-20 debacle in San Marcos between these two teams last year, this loss still will be an especially painful one in the minds of Texas State players, coaches, and fans. Not only will it likely hurt the Bobcats' chances of garnering an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs if they don't win the SLC title, but the loss came with the knowledge that Texas State's biggest enemy in the game was themselves.

On their opening possession, SUU hit the Bobcats in the mouth with a seemingly effortless 80 yard touchdown drive that left the defense reeling. Bradley George and the Bobcats then struck right back with a 72-yard drive of their own, punctuated by a 10-yard Alvin Canady touchdown run. The first quarter ended, and that's when things started to go downhill for Texas State.

The nickel-and-dime machine of T-Bird QB Cade Cooper and WR Tysson Poots snapped into action, as an 80-yard drive that started with 5 minutes left in the 1st ended up in another touchdown. Cooper and Poots tormented the Bobcats all day with, especially on third down, with the passing routes between 5 and 20 yards that seemed impossible for the 'Cats to disrupt. Poots would end up with 120 yards receiving and Cooper 256 yards passing, and the Bobcat secondary never seemed to find an answer for them. But despite the defensive troubles, Texas State still had a chance to tie the game with a drive down to the Thunderbird 1. That's when disaster struck.

Third string quarterback Alvaro Garcia curiously checked in at the signal-caller's position, tried to punch the ball into the end zone, and instead lost the ball. That's when SUU defensive back Akeem Anifowoshe picked the ball up and brought it all the way back to the other end of the field for a 100-yard scoop and score. The Bobcats were then unable to bounce back from the massive momentum-killing play for the rest of the game, despite having a number of chances to score.

Mental mistakes and turnovers plagued the Bobcats last week against an overmatched Texas Southern team, and those same mistakes came back to hurt Texas State this week in a big way. The 'Cats put the ball on the ground four times in the game, and lost the ball three times. Two of those fumbles came in the red zone, and of course one of them led to the potential 14-point swing just mentioned. George also threw an interception that would prove to be inconsequential. What really crushed the Bobcats chances were 85 yards of penalties. Each flag seemed to come at exactly the worst time, whether it was a pass interference on third and long or an ineligible receiver downfield on a potential touchdown pass. Based on these results, the Bobcats will certainly be spending the plane ride home wondering what could have been.

Texas State falls to 2-2 on the year with the loss and will have to recover quickly as they face a talented passing offense in Southeastern Louisiana to open Southland Conference play this week. Kickoff is at 2 pm, and pregame coverage will start at 12:30 on 89.9 KTSW, ktsw.net and txstatebobcats.com

-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor

Additional editor's note: Bobcat RB Karrington Bush may have sustained a sprained ankle towards the end of yesterday's game. This would be really unfortunate given that Saturday was his first game back from a sprained MCL.