Jake Spavital something was off with the team while the Bobcats were warming up in a torrential downpour at Troy last Saturday.
“I think that's when we lost the game,” Texas State’s head coach said. “It was tough to get a rhythm, try to get a snap, try to catch and throw and all that. And I felt like psychologically, that kind of got to us. And you go into the locker room right before you're about to run out and you kind of sense a lack of confidence and kind of a hesitation.”
The Bobcats forced a turnover on downs during the Trojans’ game-opening drive, setting the offense up in good field position. Texas State picked up a first down after Troy was caught offsides on a punt. But the visitors’ next three plays resulted in a loss of four yards and the maroon and gold had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore kicker Seth Keller. Spavital said the team’s mistakes began to avalanche from there and the team was handed a disappointing 37-17 loss.
But Spavital knows last week’s game was uncharacteristic of the team. The Bobcats are now looking to redeem themselves this week against South Alabama, an opponent Texas State defeated 30-28 inside Bobcat Stadium on Nov. 9, 2019.
“We've got a lot to fix in terms of that and they understand that and I think they've responded so far,” Spavital said. “I think the morale is still up, they understand that a lot of the things that happened with us right now are self-inflicted. And we put our head down, we went back to work, you know, that's the only thing we can do right now in these moments.”
Last year’s contest against the Jaguars came down to a missed 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter by South Alabama kicker Frankie Onate. Texas State defensive coordinator Zac Spavital said his unit made a lot of mistakes in that game that it can’t afford to repeat.
Unlike Trojans, the Jaguars’ offense prefers a slow tempo, leaning heavily on its run game. The team had 151 more yards rushing than it did passing in 2019 and has fed sophomore running back Carlos Davis often this year, allotting him 48 carries for 278 yards (fourth in the Sun Belt) and a touchdown.
“Playing them last year, I was at nose tackle and they were a pretty good team. But this year, they're looking a little bit better than what they were last year, I'll give them that,” junior defensive lineman Nico Ezidore said. “We're just gonna have to go out there and ball.”
“I think that we need to be a lot more efficient than we were last year. We've also gotta be better on the third and fourth downs. You know, they hit us on a two-minute right for half the score, which can't happen,” Zac Spavital said. “So our mindset is that we've got to play a lot better football game than we did against them last year. They're a better football team. If we do the same thing, then we want to be able to win that game.”
The Bobcats will also have to continue weathering its depth issues at numerous positions. Sophomore safety Tory Spears was shoehorned into a starting cornerback spot against Troy despite having never played the position before. Jake Spavital said fellow sophomore safety DeJordan Mask — who is a game time decision this week after having his ankle rolled up on — ended up playing six different positions against the Trojans.
Texas State did have both redshirt sophomore Brady McBride and junior Tyler Vitt both active to play quarterback for the first time all year last week. The head coach planned to split snaps between them at Troy, but the rain changed the offense’s plans as Vitt was on the field for just one full series and a few snaps in package plays he had practiced all week.
Jake Spavital said he plans to stick with just one man at the position this week but wanted to wait until the team’s COVID-19 test results came in Thursday morning to make a decision on who would start. Who Spavital picks will have to lead the offense against what the head coach describes as a big, physical defense.
“I think they're coached extremely well. I think that they're going to make you earn everything. I think they've increased their profile as a team,” Spavital said. “They're going to keep everything in front of them on defense and make you work for everything … This is going to be a match for us where we have to play with intensity and effort and physicality because they're going to be sound and keep it in front and that comes down to executing and making plays at that point.”
Texas State (1-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) visits Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, to take on South Alabama (1-2, 0-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.
Ezidore said the team knows what it has to do to pull out a win.
“We have to always come together and always stay locked in every single day. And to be honest, we gotta fight with more heart,” Ezidore said. “We've gotta fight with more heart to get over this hump. That's what we tell each other every single day, and always run to the football. Make plays, make more tackles and keep the ball from going in the air too much.”
