- “We played better in some areas [against Wyoming], but not as good across the board in improvement than I would have hoped from Week 1 to Week 2,” Head coach Dennis Franchione said.
- “We certainly experienced what WAC travel will be like last weekend, getting in at 3 o’clock in the morning,” Franchione said. “That was a day game, so it gives us a little bit of a glimpse of what’s ahead.”
- “This is going to be a process getting more people game experience,” Franchione said. “A lot of these guys haven’t had it yet and we’ve played up and hung with them pretty good for a long time, but we haven’t put two halves together yet.”
- “We’ve been outplayed in the second half,” Franchione said. “It’s somewhat different circumstances — we turned the ball over against Texas Tech and Saturday we had a problem with three-and-outs. We caved in a bit defensively when that continued to happen.”
- “You always analyze the situation at quarterback and you try to play the strengths and identify things,” Franchione said. “We’re in the process of saying, ‘OK, where are we at with that? Somebody step forward. Somebody show us that they are the guy.’ Until we really get to that point, we’re going to play two and there are growing pains with that.”
Tag Archives: Wyoming
College Football: Quotes From Tuesday’s Press Conference (Wyoming/Tarleton Edition)
College Football: Game Thoughts (Wyoming Edition)
- Texas State needs to learn how to finish out games. Although the Bobcats don’t have the depth at the moment of their first two opponents (Texas Tech and Wyoming), they should be able to keep it closer. Another strong first half wasn’t to be against the Cowboys as Dennis Franchione’s squad watched a seven-point deficit turn into a 35-point loss.
- So far this season, Texas State has been outscored 69-0 in the second half.
- The Bobcats rode the quarterback carousel once again, starting junior Shaun Rutherford, then bringing in sophomore Tyler Arndt once Rutherford turned it over twice (fumble and an interception). Wyoming only turned those two turnovers into seven points, as Texas State’s defense held strong following the fumble.
- When Arndt was in, at least against the Cowboys, the offense seems to move a lot smoother. That being said, the former is only true if Franchione and the coaching staff allow Arndt to do what he does best (pass) and not ‘Stephen McGee’ him (force him to be what he’s not — an option quarterback).
- Arndt completed seven of his 14 passes for 54 yards. One of Arndt’s passes wound up in a Wyoming defender’s hands for an interception.
- The Cowboys teed off on Arndt, sacking him four times. Three of those sacks occurred on consecutive plays as Wyoming linebacker Korey Jones abused the Bobcats’ offensive tackles.
- Now to the defense, or lack of, yesterday. Texas State allowed 618 yards of total offense, 382 on the ground. That is inexcusable.
- One bright spot for the Bobcats on defense was Aaron Matthews, a first-year transfer. Matthews squared up nine solo tackles, four assists and hauled in one interception. If Matthews doesn’t start from now on, I’d question the decision by the coaching staff.
- Senior punter Ben Follis had a heck of a game. Follis had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the thin air since Texas State’s offense went three-and-out six times. He averaged 47.9 yards per punt, including a long of 71.
Filed under Football
College Football: Keys To The Game (Wyoming Edition)
For Texas State (+16.5) to win today at Wyoming, it needs to do these things…
- Establish the run game early — Last week against Texas Tech, Texas State controlled the clock against Texas Tech. The Bobcats kept the Red Raiders’ offense off the field while driving on their defense. Today, Texas State needs to do the same thing against Wyoming. Junior quarterback Shaun Rutherford and junior running back Marcus Curry could have big games today.
- Knock Wyoming freshman quarterback Brett Smith out of a rhythm — Smith is only a true freshman, so he probably doesn’t have his game legs under him yet. While he did a great job last week against Weber State, this is a brand-new week. The Bobcats need to show him different looks, blitz and get to him early and often. Texas State did a good job of hitting Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege last week, but they need more of it this week.
- Limit turnovers — This one should be self-explanatory after last week’s fiasco.
What are your keys to the game for the Bobcats to win?
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College Football: Questions From Twitter (Part 1)
Got a few interesting questions on Twitter this week, but the one that stuck out to me was from Jason Castillo (@jmstillo). He asked…
At first, I had to give it some thought, but to be honest, it was a pretty easy question to answer.
The 2011 version of the Bobcats that lost to Texas Tech is far better than the squad that lost to Houston by the same amount in 2010. It all boils down to one reason — Texas State was actually in the game this year.
The Bobcats had a legitimate shot to upset the Red Raiders in Lubbock. Texas State led 10-0 at one point (10-9 at halftime) and if junior quarterback Shaun Rutherford didn’t fumble on the opening drive of the second half deep in Texas Tech territory, the squad could be looking at a 17-9 — at worst 13-9 — advantage.
Last year, the Bobcats didn’t stand a chance against the Cougars. Texas State looked timid at the start and was always on its heels, failing to put pressure on UH.
The Bobcats have one more shot to pull off an upset as a member of the FCS this Saturday when they travel to Wyoming to face the Cowboys.
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College Football: Notes From Tuesday’s Media Luncheon
If you watched Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione‘s press conference following last Saturday’s 40-point loss to Texas Tech, you got a good gist of what he said Tuesday, but nonetheless, here we go.
- Franchione was upset with the number of turnovers. He said it could have been a closer game, maybe even down to one possession at the end, rather than a blowout.
- Franchione said the defense missed 16 tackles in the loss, but couldn’t draw a correlation to those missed tackles and points for Texas Tech. On one play alone, the Bobcats missed three or four tackles.
- Franchione said he won’t name a starting quarterback for the game against Wyoming until Thursday or Friday. He wants to watch tape and see how sophomore Tyler Arndt and junior transfer Shaun Rutherford do in practice before making a decision.
- Franchione said he trusts Rutherford’s arm and if it weren’t for the penalty (defensive pass interference) on the Bobcats’ first play of the game, we’d be lauding how Rutherford could throw the ball.
- Franchione said his team matches up better with Wyoming, but the Cowboys still have 85 scholarships, compared to Texas State’s 74. With that said, Franchione doesn’t want to make excuses and feels confident that the coaches can put a good game plan together for Saturday.
- Franchione said Wyoming true freshman quarterback Brett Smith isn’t a ‘typical freshman.’ He lauded Smith for leading his team down the field for the game-winning touchdown with no running backs in the backfield.
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