Texas State held its 2021 Spring Football Game on Saturday, but the sidelines at Bobcat Stadium were much emptier than usual.
Just eight practices into spring camp, the team had to put workouts on hold as a combination of injuries and COVID-19 contact tracing protocols placed a large chunk of the roster on the inactive list. The maroon and gold had just enough return to action in time for Saturday’s scrimmage, but the absences were notable.
Texas State’s offense defeated the defense in the spring game, 53-40. But head coach Jake Spavital said afterward they held out around 30-35 players, including about 20 on the defensive side.
“That's just the kind of where the times are at. You know, it's unfortunate on some of these things. The COVID protocols and just where it's are probably a little bit more severe than what we had in the season,” Spavital said. “We're still dealing with a lot of false positive tests … A lot of these kids sat out for a long time, for about two weeks, that were healthy and they were contact traced twice. And so, it's the way it goes right now, man.”
Spavital said there wasn’t any consideration to move the Spring Game since there were too many other events taking place in conjunction, such as the inaugural Jake Spavital Golf Tournament on Friday and the Texas State Baseball and Softball games that took place Saturday afternoon. The team had planned to run a full game for the exhibition, but without sufficient numbers to make frequent substitutions, Spavital scaled down the competition to take less of a physical toll.
The spring game featured five skills challenges and four scrimmage segments. The skills challenges included bull in the ring and one-on-one receiving drills, and throwing, kicking and punt returning competitions that allowed the offense and defense to earn points for their respective teams.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady McBride looked confident running the offense in the scrimmage segments, completing 8-of-10 passes on the day for 144 yards and three touchdowns. His second drive featured a 45-yard pass to junior slot receiver Chancler “Tweeder” Speights and was punctuated by a 12-yard touchdown by sophomore receiver Drue Jackson. McBride ended his next drive with a six-yard scoring throw to junior wideout Waydale Jones, who fans saw in action for the first time after the Wake Forest import sat out all of last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
The 6-foot-4 Beeville native finished the day with three receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown.
“It's just good to see a new body out there because he's got such a contagious spirit about himself,” Spavital said. “He's going to be a guy that's going to help out a lot, especially on the perimeter because you've got (junior wide receivers Javen Banks) and Marcel (Barbee) that are proven and you guys have seen them play a lot. And now you've got (junior wideout Trevis Graham Jr.) and you can add Waydale in there to kind of take off the load on those two guys.”
Graham led the offense with four receptions for 53 yards and touchdown thrown by NC State transfer quarterback Ty Evans, who made his debut with the Bobcats. Evans finished the scrimmage completing 5-of-7 passes for 66 yards.
Despite missing multiple starters, the defense still made multiple big plays. Freshman defensive back Zion Childress led the team with 4.5 tackles and joined junior defensive lineman Nico Ezideore and linebacker London Harris in registering a sack. The defense also combined to rack up 8.0 tackles for a loss and break up four passes.
The lack of subs still made it difficult for some players, though.
“(Sophomore safety) D.J. Mask was laying on the ground, and he normally never lays on the ground,” Spavital said. “I go out there and I'm like, ‘You doing all right?’ And he goes, ‘I don't have a sub right now, I'm just trying to take a break.’”
Spavital said Texas State came out of the scrimmage mostly healthy, though sophomore running back Jahmyl Jeter, Texas Tech transfer defensive lineman James McCann and SMU transfer cornerback Eric Sutton were all pulled from the game early due to injury. The head coach said he plans to allow those who were injured to rest until the team returns for summer workouts.
The Bobcats will finish their camp practicing Monday through Thursday this week, mostly focusing on installations and individual drills as Saturday was the last full-contact practice of the spring. And though it’s been a bit unorthodox, Spavital is pleased with the strides the team has made in practices in spring practices.
“I really like this team,” Spavital said. “I think we're getting better every single day. And we're looking forward to seeing where we take this in the fall.”
