Bobcats Turn Back Bearkats for the Second Straight Year

Diehard Bobcat fans, are you still a bit disappointed about the fact that Texas State will not be participating in the NCAA FCS Playoffs this year? You have plenty of reason to be. An extremely winnable game against Southeastern Louisiana turned into a shocking nightmare over the course of 10 minutes that unequivocably cost Texas State their shot at the playoffs and at least a share of the SLC Championship. The Bobcats' inability to figure out the historically dormant Southern Utah program has been a headscratcher, to make the understatement of the year. That loss blew a hole through any chance Texas State had of receiving an at-large playoff berth. The McNeese game was certainly winnable as well, although that loss may not have stung as much because both teams seemed to be more evenly matched than the SUU and SLU losses...and it also wasn't nearly as disorienting. Add on the fact that the door was wide open for Texas State to win the SLC Championship if they could have beat McNeese--SFA was able to upset SLU in Hammond and the Lions inexplicably dropped a 45-30 loss to a sad-sack Nicholls team a week later--and you might be still feeling slightly sick to your stomach if you're a Bobcat fan.

However, with all that being said, Bobcat fans have to admit that it feels great whenever Texas State can ruin the spirits of their rivals in Huntsville. Despite occasionally poor play, a poor attendance of 9,118 fans, questionable refereeing and a brawl instigated by bitter Bearkat players, the 'Cats were able to do just that on Saturday with a 28-20 win over Sam Houston State.

Texas State came out a big sluggish to start the game, as DeMarcus Griggs fumbled away the ball inside of the Bearkat red zone within the first minute of play. QB Blake Joseph and the Bearkat offense then sliced through a reeling Bobcat defense in their first offensive posssession. Momentum was squarely in SHSU's corner, as the Bobcats looked uninspired save for an impressive 48-yard touchdown run by Alvin Canady. The Texas State defense looked to have had the Bearkats stopped on the next possession, but a questionable roughing the kicker call kept the SHSU drive alive that eventually led to another touchdown. Compounding the crowd's frustration with the officiating was an obvious offensive pass interference call that should have been docked against SHSU's Jason Madkins, but was inexplicably called on Texas State's Darryl Morris instead. The usually stoic Bill Culhane called it "maybe the worst call we've seen all year." Thankfully for Texas State, the end result of the drive was a missed field goal for the Bearkats. Still, the frustration for Bobcat fans and players remained as SHSU led at halftime, 17-14.

Whatever Coach Wright told his team at halftime must have worked like a charm.

In the second half, the Texas State defense stepped it up in a big way, holding SHSU to three total points. The defense, displaying their M.O. of bending but not breaking, stepped up in the red zone once again and stuffed the Bearkats on a 4th and 3 at the Bobcat 8 late in the fourth quarter. It was also fitting that DeMarcus Griggs was the recipient of the two winning touchdown passes from Bradley George, both of them going for 13 yards and electrifying the relatively sparse Bobcat Stadium crowd. It was after that last touchdown that things started to get a little chippy. The Texas State defense stepped up their game, and the Bearkats may have lost their cool as a result.

Some Bobcat fans and KTSW staff members had been telling me that SHSU's Jason Madkins had been talking trash non-stop to Texas State players throughout the game (and for good reason as he finished with over 100 yards receiving on the day). However, the trash-talking turned into an all-out slugfest in the fourth quarter. After the Bobcats stuffed SHSU on the aforementioned 4th and 3 stop at the Texas State 8 yard line, some pushing and shoving occurred and then both teams started throwing punches and saw their benches clear. While it may not be known who the exact instigator was, the referees clearly thought that the majority of the blame fell on Sam Houston State's shoulders as QB Blake Joseph and DE Chris Brown were BOTH called for personal fouls. Instead of starting at the 10, Texas State would start at their own 40 as a result. Chris Brown was eventually ejected, possibly for an incident in which he threw his helmet while on the sideline. Brown was eventually seen being escorted off of the field by UPD officers. On Texas State's end, KTSW Sideline Reporter Luke McBroom overheard Bobcat head coach Brad Wright telling his redshirt players to get off the field or risk losing playing time next year. Both coaching staffs were thankfully able to keep the situation from escalating out of control, and as of this point no major injuries were reported to have been suffered during the brawl.

After the dust cleared, the now-raucous Bobcat Stadium crowd saw Texas State stall on their offensive drive, punt the ball away to SHSU and pin them back deep in their own territory due to a penalty called on the return against the Bearkats. SHSU's Blake Joseph, who had an admirable effort on the day with 24 completions out of 36 attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown, set up his offense with 85 yards and 1:34 left to try and score eight points. He was able to get off a nice 11-yard pass to Madkins, but saw disaster strike on the next play. Senior defensive lineman Garrett Hood, who has had some outstanding games as a Bobcat but had previously never recovered a fumble, finally got his hands on the pigskin after Travis Houston jarred the ball loose from Blake on a sack. It was a triumphant way for Hood and Houston to end their careers at Texas State and it was an emphatic exclamation point to cap off the Bobcats' first consecutive winning seasons since the 1980's.

Fourteen seniors took the field on Saturday, including some big names such as Bradley George, Travis Houston, Will Thompson, Garrett Hood, Alex Luna, Alvin Canady, Calvin Gore, and Joe Bell, among others. George, despite showing spurts of inaccuracy during periods of two interceptions and a couple of balls thrown up for grabs, had an outstanding day to close out his senior career with 322 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. DeMarcus Griggs had an outstanding day with 11 catches for an eye-popping 178 yards and two touchdowns. Griggs was one catch shy of tying Texas State's all-time reception record in a single game, and he passed Cameron Luke's single-season reception record with 80 total. Not bad for a sophomore.

Texas State finishes the season 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the SLC, while Sam Houston State drops to 5-6, 3-4 SLC. The Bobcats have won their last two against the Bearkats and have taken the last 5 out of 7 against their rivals. While missing out on another SLC Championship and another playoff berth may not be what Bobcat fans want, there are still plenty of bright spots to pick out from this season. The dominant win over SFA, garnering the first win over Central Arkansas, winning for the first time in Thibodaux since 1999, and the rivalry win over Sam Houston State were all high points for this year's team. Also, having winning seasons for consecutive years may not sound like much, but with this program it's a welcome change. There are also a number of players coming back next season that should excite Bobcat fans and coaches--DeMarcus Griggs, Darren Dillard, Mishak Rivas, Tim Hawkins, Joplo Bartu, Adley Eshragipour, DJ Hall, Brian Iwuji, Ron Jackson, Frank Reddic, and hopefully Karrington Bush are just a few names of players that may be standouts next year for Texas State.

The two most compelling stories this offseason will likely be Coach Wright's contract talks and who Texas State will play in non-conference next year. Texas State is locked in to play TCU again next year and has been rumored--for better or for worse--to be playing Southern Utah again, although that is not official. KTSW will have coverage of both stories whenever we find out more information, so stay tuned to the KTSW Sports Blog for more updates around Bobcat Football and all Texas State athletics.

-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor