It's the middle of June, and if you San Martians, Austinites, Houstonians, etc. haven't melted already, we congratulate you and appreciate your stopping by the KTSW Sports Blog. This week our preview of Texas State's gridiron opponents for the 2009 season continues with a battle between the TSU's--well, not really. Texas State swore off using TSU as their initials ever since the name change from SWT was set in motion, while Texas Southern has used TSU as their official abbreviation for years. So, while the "real" TSU brings a world-famous marching band in the Ocean of Soul, will they bring a legitimate upset threat to Bobcat Stadium? Read ahead to find out.
Texas Southern at Texas State
Location: Bobcat Stadium, San Marcos, TX
Date/Time: September 26, 6 pm
Last year's result: Texas State 63, Texas Southern 39
Basic facts about TSU:
Location: Bobcat Stadium, San Marcos, TX
Date/Time: September 26, 6 pm
Last year's result: Texas State 63, Texas Southern 39
Basic facts about TSU:
Location: Houston, TX
Enrollment: 11,635
2008 Average Game Attendance: 4,811 (Capacity: 12,000)
2008 Record: 4-8 (1-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Head Coach: Johnnie Cole (4-8 in one season at TSU)
Series Record: Texas State leads 8-0
Texas Southern's 2008 season in review: While a 4-8 season is certainly not something to dance in the streets about, it was still a significant feat for the Tigers after a sad-sack 0-11 campaign in 2007. After a 1-10 season in 2005 and another 0-11 clunker in 2004, it's obvious that second year head coach Johnnie Cole is doing something right at his alma mater. He certainly knows how to ressurrect a program, as he engineered the fastest turnaround in school history at his last job at Divison 2 Lane College with a high octane offense.
The bad news about last year's season though was that three of those wins came against a Division 2 school in Shaw and two NAIA squads in Texas College and Concordia College of Selma, AL. There wasn't an extremely dominant win in the bunch either, as the Tigers did not beat any of those teams by more than 18 points. TSU's other win came against 2-10 SWAC foe Alcorn State on the road, but it was by only one point.
Should Texas Southern have expected more from their season? If you consider the addition of talented hometown quarterback Bobby Reid (who transferred from Oklahoma State after being part of Mike Gundy's infamous "I'm a man, I'm 40" rant), an extremely effective junior season from talented wide receiver William Osbourne and a relatively easy strength of schedule, you could try and make a case that TSU should have squeaked out another win or two. However, a very strong case could also be made that the Tigers did about all they could do considering the state of their program at the time. If you examine TSU's schedule in 2008, you'll see blowout after blowout pile up, most notably an 83-10 embarrassment of a game at FBS Arkansas State. The lack of close losses suggest that Coach Cole and Texas Southern were still light years away from competing with the upper echelons of the SWAC last season.
Last season's game: Was last year's jaw-dropping 63-39 shootout a result of great offense or awful defense? Well, while there were some fantastic efforts made by members of both offensive units, it was more of the latter. Texas State came into their tilt with Texas Southern knowing that the Tigers' defense was likely to be the worst they would face all season. While SFA would eventually put up even less of a fight in Nacogdoches than a rebuilding (to put it nicely) Tiger defense, the Bobcats nonetheless rolled up a staggering 623 yards. What Texas State didn't expect was to give up 599 yards themselves. While it was obvious that the Bobcat defense was struggling to adjust to first-year defensive coordinator Fred Bliel's system in the early season, nobody expected such a poor defensive outing.
The Bobcats struggled with the tandem of Reid, Osbourne and junior WR Brian Haith until late in the first half, when Texas State went up by two scores off of a Darren Dillard touchdown reception. Halftime brought fireworks from the Ocean of Soul, and both offenses followed suit with more fireworks of their own in the second half. Texas State effectively put the game away with a 39-yard Stan Zwiggi TD run that put the Bobcats up 42-20, but both offenses proceeded to embarrass their defensive counterparts anyway. Reid, normally a rushing threat at the signal-calling position, eventually threw for a staggering 484 yards and 5 TD's. Texas State countered with six different players reaching the end zone.
Returning starters/players: 5 on offense, 6 on defense
You may be noticing by now the name William Osbourne constantly being mentioned in this preview. Well, there's a reason for that: He's really the only major offensive threat returning for this Tiger team. The to-be senior exploded for 1093 yards receiving in 2008 after being a marginal threat the season before for TSU. He will likely be the main weapon that will give opposing defenses headaches in 2009. Senior Brian Haith, while not as effective as Osbourne, is a legitimate second option at wideout. Junior RB and Wake Forest transfer Lucas Capparelli returns as a possible dual threat on the ground and through the air after an unremarkable 2008 season, while sophomore tailback Marcus Wright will likely be relied upon to generate the most success for an improving rushing attack once again. These two tailbacks will likely get more chances to demonstrate what they can do, since Bobby Reid won't be eating up the majority of yards and touchdowns on the ground anymore. They'll have an offensive line supporting them that remains mostly in tact. While it remains to be seen for the offensive line to be "one of the best in the conference" as Cole claimed following a major OL transfer from LSU, it's a young unit that has huge potential.
The much-maligned Texas Southern defense returns its biggest playmaker in junior LB DeJuan Fulghum, who led the team in tackles and tackles-for-loss last season. William Parker and Antonio St. Rose are also back at the linebacker position after being second and third on the team in total tackles last season, respectively. Sophomore De'Markus Washington had a huge year as a true freshman at the cornerback position, netting 5 interceptions on a defensive unit that didn't exactly impress in the turnover margin category. Kydarian Wilkins also got major playing time as a true freshman at the cornerback position, and will be counted upon to step up his game in 2009. However, it's probably not a good thing when your linebackers and defensive backs are making the majority of tackles for your defense, so a defensive line that was the source of many Tiger woes last year will have to step up. The Tigers usually play a 3-4 defense, and only one starter returns to the line in Darnell Reeves, who was replaced after three games by freshman Adeyanka Peters. According to Texas Southern's stats, Peters didn't record a single tackle on the season in eight starts. If the Tigers hadn't gotten some JUCO transfers to help bolster depth on the defensive line, things could have been very dicey in the trenches for them this year.
Key losses: By far the biggest loss is dual-threat quarterback Bobby Reid. Losing a player that generated over 2/3 of a team's offense per game is certainly someone that is tough to replace. However, Reid's backup Cornelius Harmon graduated as well, so nobody on the TSU roster returning from 2008 will have taken a snap in Division 1 football. There may or may not be an FBS quarterback transfer waiting in the wings for TSU (more on that in a bit), so it's hard to say whether one of the three rising sophomores will get a shot at manning the offense. Tight end Roland Robins was a steady threat on the receiving end, and he's gone too.
As mentioned earlier, two of the three key playmakers on TSU's 3-4 defensive line in Matthew Valmore and David Knighten have graduated, leaving some major depth issues at the position. However, given the line's woes last year, maybe a fresh start is what the unit needed. Zachry Logan was a decent contributor at cornerback, but there are a number of young corners on this squad that can easily replace him.
In summary, this is a young team with few losses that has a lot of potential to climb out of the SWAC cellar. However, being faced with the prospect of playing a quarterback with no game experience is always a daunting task to overcome.
Key newcomers: Make no bones about it, coach Cole is relying on FBS transfers to be the centerpiece of a powerful offense this season as he continues to rely on his M.O. of fielding prolific offensive units. Two transfers from LSU at the WR and OL positions will likely make an impact, especially at OL where rising sophomore Ernest McCoy will likely see the field immediately. Chip Gregory, a running back transfer out of Arkansas, will likely be converted to wide receiver as well to help out Osbourne. The biggest question mark from this FBS haul is former Iowa quarterback Arvell Nelson, who was arrested on charges of marijuana possession last year and was subsequently dismissed from the Hawkeyes. Nelson, who saw extremely limited playing time and was eventually moved to wide receiver, now has a warrant for his arrest as of June 9th. The warrant cites a failure to appear in court in response to last year's charges, and Arvell could have his probation revoked as a result.
The other key newcomers that could make an immediate impact are JUCO transfers Justin Coleman and Kinsley Akinwole on the defensive line. Two freshman d-linemen were also signed in response to the lack of depth at the position. JUCO tight end Jordan Curtin could also make waves at a position that is possibly even thinner than defensive line following the departure of Robins.
Other notes: Special teams were a mixed bag for Texas Southern in 2008. Upcoming senior Stephen Solomon did a respectable job at the punting position, averaging around 39 yards per punt and downing 12 of them inside the 20. William Osbourne further cemented his role as an impact player for the Tigers by averaging nearly 16 yards per punt return. TSU as a result was 8th in all of FCS in average yards on punt returns. On the flip side, placekicker Robert Hersh had an extremely rough freshman season as he hit only 8 of his 15 field goal attempts and was able to convert a field goal longer than 30 yards just once.
Here's a stat that might surprise you: Texas Southern was 7th in the country in tackles for loss with an average of eight per game. Here are some stats that likely won't surprise you: TSU was 104th in total defense, 114th in scoring defense and 109th in turnover margin out of 125 teams in Division 1 FCS football.
Texas Southern has traded Division 2 Shaw and NAIA Concordia for FBS teams in UL-Monroe and Big East power Rutgers in 2009. They'll also avoid the embarrassment of a road game at an NAIA school when they host Texas College after traveling to Tyler to face the Steers last year.
The big picture: Assuming that the team is in good condition from the week before, there are a couple of things that fans will be counting on to happen in this game: A large number of Bobcat points on the scoreboard, big numbers for Bradley George and Karrington Bush, and a fantastic halftime performance from the famous Ocean of Soul Marching Band. What nobody knows is how Texas Southern will answer the inevitable Texas State offensive onslaught. Whichever quarterback is starting for the "real" TSU will only be playing in his third road game of his career, and given Nelson's legal troubles it may be prudent to assume that it will be one of the three unproven sophomores manning the helm. That could spell trouble for the Tigers if Texas State gains an early lead. But, no matter who the quarterback is, William Osbourne will have the eyes of Bobcat defensive backs Will Thompson, Drenard Williams and company trained on him the entire time. If Osbourne is locked down completely, then TSU has some potential backup weapons at receiver to counter in Haith and the SEC transfers. Cole has also preached a committment to a balanced offensive attack, so shutting down Wright and Capparelli in their carries and forcing Texas Southern to go one-dimensional is a major goal.
Texas State will likely notch another victory due to the talent disparities between these two squads, but the Bobcats should still play with intensity just in case. If Texas State gets sufficient pressure from the d-line and the secondary executes their assignments, then the good guys should come away with a convincing win. However, if there are missed assignments like last year and TSU's signal-caller gets all day to throw, then these Tigers could bite.
-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor
2008 Average Game Attendance: 4,811 (Capacity: 12,000)
2008 Record: 4-8 (1-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Head Coach: Johnnie Cole (4-8 in one season at TSU)
Series Record: Texas State leads 8-0
Texas Southern's 2008 season in review: While a 4-8 season is certainly not something to dance in the streets about, it was still a significant feat for the Tigers after a sad-sack 0-11 campaign in 2007. After a 1-10 season in 2005 and another 0-11 clunker in 2004, it's obvious that second year head coach Johnnie Cole is doing something right at his alma mater. He certainly knows how to ressurrect a program, as he engineered the fastest turnaround in school history at his last job at Divison 2 Lane College with a high octane offense.
The bad news about last year's season though was that three of those wins came against a Division 2 school in Shaw and two NAIA squads in Texas College and Concordia College of Selma, AL. There wasn't an extremely dominant win in the bunch either, as the Tigers did not beat any of those teams by more than 18 points. TSU's other win came against 2-10 SWAC foe Alcorn State on the road, but it was by only one point.
Should Texas Southern have expected more from their season? If you consider the addition of talented hometown quarterback Bobby Reid (who transferred from Oklahoma State after being part of Mike Gundy's infamous "I'm a man, I'm 40" rant), an extremely effective junior season from talented wide receiver William Osbourne and a relatively easy strength of schedule, you could try and make a case that TSU should have squeaked out another win or two. However, a very strong case could also be made that the Tigers did about all they could do considering the state of their program at the time. If you examine TSU's schedule in 2008, you'll see blowout after blowout pile up, most notably an 83-10 embarrassment of a game at FBS Arkansas State. The lack of close losses suggest that Coach Cole and Texas Southern were still light years away from competing with the upper echelons of the SWAC last season.
Last season's game: Was last year's jaw-dropping 63-39 shootout a result of great offense or awful defense? Well, while there were some fantastic efforts made by members of both offensive units, it was more of the latter. Texas State came into their tilt with Texas Southern knowing that the Tigers' defense was likely to be the worst they would face all season. While SFA would eventually put up even less of a fight in Nacogdoches than a rebuilding (to put it nicely) Tiger defense, the Bobcats nonetheless rolled up a staggering 623 yards. What Texas State didn't expect was to give up 599 yards themselves. While it was obvious that the Bobcat defense was struggling to adjust to first-year defensive coordinator Fred Bliel's system in the early season, nobody expected such a poor defensive outing.
The Bobcats struggled with the tandem of Reid, Osbourne and junior WR Brian Haith until late in the first half, when Texas State went up by two scores off of a Darren Dillard touchdown reception. Halftime brought fireworks from the Ocean of Soul, and both offenses followed suit with more fireworks of their own in the second half. Texas State effectively put the game away with a 39-yard Stan Zwiggi TD run that put the Bobcats up 42-20, but both offenses proceeded to embarrass their defensive counterparts anyway. Reid, normally a rushing threat at the signal-calling position, eventually threw for a staggering 484 yards and 5 TD's. Texas State countered with six different players reaching the end zone.
Returning starters/players: 5 on offense, 6 on defense
You may be noticing by now the name William Osbourne constantly being mentioned in this preview. Well, there's a reason for that: He's really the only major offensive threat returning for this Tiger team. The to-be senior exploded for 1093 yards receiving in 2008 after being a marginal threat the season before for TSU. He will likely be the main weapon that will give opposing defenses headaches in 2009. Senior Brian Haith, while not as effective as Osbourne, is a legitimate second option at wideout. Junior RB and Wake Forest transfer Lucas Capparelli returns as a possible dual threat on the ground and through the air after an unremarkable 2008 season, while sophomore tailback Marcus Wright will likely be relied upon to generate the most success for an improving rushing attack once again. These two tailbacks will likely get more chances to demonstrate what they can do, since Bobby Reid won't be eating up the majority of yards and touchdowns on the ground anymore. They'll have an offensive line supporting them that remains mostly in tact. While it remains to be seen for the offensive line to be "one of the best in the conference" as Cole claimed following a major OL transfer from LSU, it's a young unit that has huge potential.
The much-maligned Texas Southern defense returns its biggest playmaker in junior LB DeJuan Fulghum, who led the team in tackles and tackles-for-loss last season. William Parker and Antonio St. Rose are also back at the linebacker position after being second and third on the team in total tackles last season, respectively. Sophomore De'Markus Washington had a huge year as a true freshman at the cornerback position, netting 5 interceptions on a defensive unit that didn't exactly impress in the turnover margin category. Kydarian Wilkins also got major playing time as a true freshman at the cornerback position, and will be counted upon to step up his game in 2009. However, it's probably not a good thing when your linebackers and defensive backs are making the majority of tackles for your defense, so a defensive line that was the source of many Tiger woes last year will have to step up. The Tigers usually play a 3-4 defense, and only one starter returns to the line in Darnell Reeves, who was replaced after three games by freshman Adeyanka Peters. According to Texas Southern's stats, Peters didn't record a single tackle on the season in eight starts. If the Tigers hadn't gotten some JUCO transfers to help bolster depth on the defensive line, things could have been very dicey in the trenches for them this year.
Key losses: By far the biggest loss is dual-threat quarterback Bobby Reid. Losing a player that generated over 2/3 of a team's offense per game is certainly someone that is tough to replace. However, Reid's backup Cornelius Harmon graduated as well, so nobody on the TSU roster returning from 2008 will have taken a snap in Division 1 football. There may or may not be an FBS quarterback transfer waiting in the wings for TSU (more on that in a bit), so it's hard to say whether one of the three rising sophomores will get a shot at manning the offense. Tight end Roland Robins was a steady threat on the receiving end, and he's gone too.
As mentioned earlier, two of the three key playmakers on TSU's 3-4 defensive line in Matthew Valmore and David Knighten have graduated, leaving some major depth issues at the position. However, given the line's woes last year, maybe a fresh start is what the unit needed. Zachry Logan was a decent contributor at cornerback, but there are a number of young corners on this squad that can easily replace him.
In summary, this is a young team with few losses that has a lot of potential to climb out of the SWAC cellar. However, being faced with the prospect of playing a quarterback with no game experience is always a daunting task to overcome.
Key newcomers: Make no bones about it, coach Cole is relying on FBS transfers to be the centerpiece of a powerful offense this season as he continues to rely on his M.O. of fielding prolific offensive units. Two transfers from LSU at the WR and OL positions will likely make an impact, especially at OL where rising sophomore Ernest McCoy will likely see the field immediately. Chip Gregory, a running back transfer out of Arkansas, will likely be converted to wide receiver as well to help out Osbourne. The biggest question mark from this FBS haul is former Iowa quarterback Arvell Nelson, who was arrested on charges of marijuana possession last year and was subsequently dismissed from the Hawkeyes. Nelson, who saw extremely limited playing time and was eventually moved to wide receiver, now has a warrant for his arrest as of June 9th. The warrant cites a failure to appear in court in response to last year's charges, and Arvell could have his probation revoked as a result.
The other key newcomers that could make an immediate impact are JUCO transfers Justin Coleman and Kinsley Akinwole on the defensive line. Two freshman d-linemen were also signed in response to the lack of depth at the position. JUCO tight end Jordan Curtin could also make waves at a position that is possibly even thinner than defensive line following the departure of Robins.
Other notes: Special teams were a mixed bag for Texas Southern in 2008. Upcoming senior Stephen Solomon did a respectable job at the punting position, averaging around 39 yards per punt and downing 12 of them inside the 20. William Osbourne further cemented his role as an impact player for the Tigers by averaging nearly 16 yards per punt return. TSU as a result was 8th in all of FCS in average yards on punt returns. On the flip side, placekicker Robert Hersh had an extremely rough freshman season as he hit only 8 of his 15 field goal attempts and was able to convert a field goal longer than 30 yards just once.
Here's a stat that might surprise you: Texas Southern was 7th in the country in tackles for loss with an average of eight per game. Here are some stats that likely won't surprise you: TSU was 104th in total defense, 114th in scoring defense and 109th in turnover margin out of 125 teams in Division 1 FCS football.
Texas Southern has traded Division 2 Shaw and NAIA Concordia for FBS teams in UL-Monroe and Big East power Rutgers in 2009. They'll also avoid the embarrassment of a road game at an NAIA school when they host Texas College after traveling to Tyler to face the Steers last year.
The big picture: Assuming that the team is in good condition from the week before, there are a couple of things that fans will be counting on to happen in this game: A large number of Bobcat points on the scoreboard, big numbers for Bradley George and Karrington Bush, and a fantastic halftime performance from the famous Ocean of Soul Marching Band. What nobody knows is how Texas Southern will answer the inevitable Texas State offensive onslaught. Whichever quarterback is starting for the "real" TSU will only be playing in his third road game of his career, and given Nelson's legal troubles it may be prudent to assume that it will be one of the three unproven sophomores manning the helm. That could spell trouble for the Tigers if Texas State gains an early lead. But, no matter who the quarterback is, William Osbourne will have the eyes of Bobcat defensive backs Will Thompson, Drenard Williams and company trained on him the entire time. If Osbourne is locked down completely, then TSU has some potential backup weapons at receiver to counter in Haith and the SEC transfers. Cole has also preached a committment to a balanced offensive attack, so shutting down Wright and Capparelli in their carries and forcing Texas Southern to go one-dimensional is a major goal.
Texas State will likely notch another victory due to the talent disparities between these two squads, but the Bobcats should still play with intensity just in case. If Texas State gets sufficient pressure from the d-line and the secondary executes their assignments, then the good guys should come away with a convincing win. However, if there are missed assignments like last year and TSU's signal-caller gets all day to throw, then these Tigers could bite.
-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor
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