Texas State Upsets #20 Central Arkansas With Last-Minute Heroics

Call them the Cardiac 'Cats.

After a series of games that likely raised the profits of cardiologists at the Central Texas Medical Center, the Texas State football team put forth their most exciting -- and hair-raising -- performance to date with a last-minute 27-24 road win over #20 Central Arkansas. There were a number of events that happened that may sound familiar to Bobcat fans after their win over then-#11 SFA last week: Texas State beat a ranked opponent, and saw their offense came up clutch in the 4th quarter despite being outgained on offense for the second straight week. However, those facts don't tell the whole story, as this contest was much, much closer and evenly matched than last week's tussle against the Lumberjacks.

The two teams traded blows throughout the entire game, and both seemed to be fairly evenly matched. In the case of Texas State's unstoppable force on offense vs. Central Arkansas' immovable object on defense, Texas State won out, but barely. Bobcat fans should be thanking their lucky stars--and Darius Bolden, who pulled in an outstanding game-winning touchdown catch with 27 seconds remaining--that the offense was able to pull out a last-minute victory on Saturday. Bradley George had an outstanding day as he as he completed 27 of his 39 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns, which is even more impressive when you consider that DeMarcus Griggs exited the game in the first quarter for unspecified reasons. However, the rushing game continues to be a concern in the absence of Karrington Bush, as the Bobcats were held to under 70 yards rushing for the second straight week.

Texas State's defense put forth another bend-but-don't-break effort against UCA...well, mostly. They did let Central Arkansas score a touchdown with 1:40 remaining, and they did give up over 400 yards of offense once again. Still, holding an offense that has been averaging 30 points a game to 6 under their usual average is a good thing, and this team has seemed to have found a way to turn things up a notch inside the red zone. Last week, SFA came up empty inside the Bobcat 20 in three out of four tries, and this time UCA was only able to convert three of their five red zone trips to touchdowns. It's an impressive amount of improvement for a team that was giving up 28 points to a stagnant Nicholls offense and 51 to Southeastern Louisiana a few weeks ago.

The one unfortunate thing about Saturday for Texas State was a lack of movement at the top of the Southland Conference standings. SFA escaped an apparently inspired Nicholls team 31-27 despite trailing at the start of the 4th quarter, while McNeese turned up the temperature on Bearkat head coach Todd Whitten's hot seat with a 63-42 pinball game of a victory over Sam Houston State. The most disappointing (and unsurprising) outcome for Bobcat fans came at the hands of Southeastern Louisiana, who possesses a tie-breaker on the Bobcats. The Lions went into Natchitoches and kept Northwestern State's winless woes alive with a 27-0 shutout, and Texas State badly needs them to lose to SFA this Saturday in order to have the fast track towards a second straight Southland Conference championship. After this week, SLU only has to play a reeling Nicholls team, and while it is a rivalry, the game will be played in Hammond. Advantage, Lions.

Texas State will have to win out as well to guarantee any chance of a conference title. The road to the championship only gets tougher this Saturday with #10 McNeese State coming into town. The 'Cats have won four out of the last five against the tradition-laden Cowboys, including a 45-42 win over MSU last season in Lake Charles when the home team was ranked #4 at the time. We may see quite the shootout between these two teams, as McNeese has a powerful rushing attack but has not impressed on defense throughout the season. If you can't make it to a possibly sold-out Bobcat Stadium, you can listen to KTSW's live coverage of the game on 89.9 FM, ktsw.net, and txstatebobcats.com. Kickoff is at 6 pm, and the KTSW Pregame Tailgate Show starts at 4:30 pm.

-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor

Additional note: The game will be broadcasted live on SLC TV.