Texas State’s kickoff coverage team gets ready against Arkansas State.
Texas State knew its path to a bowl game wouldn’t be easy.
When the Bobcats checked out the last three games of the regular season and saw Arkansas State, Western Kentucky and Troy in consecutive games, they took a deep breath and prepared for a fight.
After last week’s 38-21 loss to the Red Wolves, Texas State looks worse for wear — but isn’t totally out of it. This week the Bobcats need to bounce back against the Hilltoppers in this year’s final collegiate game inside Bobcat Stadium.
Here are three matchups Texas State must win to have a chance.
No. 1 — Texas State’s O-Line versus Western Kentucky’s Pass Rush
Reason — You better believe the Hilltoppers will be coming after the Bobcats’ true freshman quarterback Tyler Jones. Texas State hasn’t done a good job of protecting Jones these last two games and it’s showed. Jones got banged up last week (wrist on his throwing arm) and it showed in his delivery: passes weren’t as crisp and the Bobcats chose to keep it on the ground to protect him as much as they could. Texas State must show some variety with its offense to keep WKU off its trail, yet can’t do it with Jones taking hit after hit.
No. 2 — Texas State’s WRs versus Western Kentucky’s Secondary
Reason — If you listened to the Texas State Sports Podcast this week, you learned that Western Kentucky beat writer Chad Bishop felt the strongest aspect of the Hilltopper defense was their secondary. For the Bobcats to have success throwing the ball, their wide receivers must gain separation and not be hurt by costly drops. Texas State’s tight ends (Ryan Carden and Bradley Miller) need to gain the respect of WKU’s standout linebackers (Xavius Boyd and Andrew Jackson) to pull them off the run game.
No. 3 — Hammer versus The Nail
Reason — Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione said Western Kentucky running back Antonio Andrews is “…not afraid to be the hammer and not the nail.” Well, there can only be one hammer and one nail come Saturday. The Bobcats must treat Andrews as the nail and deliver some punishing blows. If Andrews is the one to dictate the physical nature and tempo of the game, it will be a long night for Texas State.
