Texas State looked ready to roll after scoring on the first drive of Saturday night’s game at No. 12 BYU.
But the Cougars ran over the Bobcats, responding with 42 unanswered points and taking a 52-14 victory inside LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
“They still played,” head coach Jake Spavital said. “(BYU was) such a good team that we were playing and we had difficulty just doing some simple execution in terms of just moving them. They are a talented team and we came out and threw a lot of different wrinkles at them for a shot because we knew they were a good team.”
BYU (6-0) kicked the ball off for a touchback and Spavital deployed a shotgun trips formation on the first play of the game for Texas State (1-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) — with three receivers lined up wide on the left, redshirt sophomore tight end Jackson Lanam on the right and redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady McBride and redshirt freshman running back Calvin Hill in the backfield. McBride completed a pass to Calvin Hill for an 18-yard gain.
On the next play, though, Spavital opted for a non-traditional formation. Senior wideout Jeremiah Haydel shifted to the right side of the field as two offensive linemen — redshirt freshman Dalton Cooper and junior Russell Baker — joined sophomore receivers Marcell Barbee and Drue Jackson out left. Senior Reece Jordan remained at center, with junior Tate Heitmeier to his left and junior Eddie Rivas to his right on the line, and Lanam dropped into the backfield with McBride and Hill as an H-back. McBride handed the ball off to Hill this time, who picked up 12 yards.
The alignment caught the hosts off guard. The Bobcats remained in the same formation for the next four plays, moving down to the Cougars’ 10-yard line. A holding penalty backed the visitors up to the 20 and Texas State finally broke from the formation, picking up a one-yard pass from McBride to Hill made it 3rd and 16. On the final play of the drive, McBride rolled to his right and threw across his body to find Barbee, who barreled into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown and the first score of the game.
TOUCHDOWN
— Drew King (@drewking0222) October 25, 2020
Brady McBride throws across his body, finds Marcell Barbee for a 19-yard TD. Extra point is good. Bobcats punch the No. 12 team in the country in the mouth on the first drive of the game @smdrsports #TXST 7#BYU 0
11:33 left in the first pic.twitter.com/Rb4ziLkPP2
But Texas State wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter. BYU countered with a 10-play, 86-yard drive on the next possession that ended with a four-yard scoring rush by junior running back Lopini Katoa. The Cougars would go on to score on six of their final 10 drives.
The Bobcats had their chances to strike back. Senior linebacker Hal Vinson recovered a bad snap by BYU on the hosts’ 6-yard line late in the second quarter. But the Texas State offense failed capitalize, going four-and-out and turning the ball over on downs. Senior linebacker Brayden Stringer picked off a pass by sophomore quarterback Baylor Romney late in the third. The visitors went three-and-out on the next drive.
The maroon and gold finally broke the cold spell early in the fourth with an eight-play, 96-yard drive that ended with another touchdown pass from McBride to Barbee, this time from 20 yards out. The Cougars added one more score on the next drive, a 28-yard field goal, after freshman punter Ryan Rehkow ran for 49 yards on a fake punt — BYU’s longest run of the season — giving the hosts the 52-14 blowout win.
McBride finished the game throwing 17-30 for 150 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He targeted Hill most often, completing five passes for 38 yards, but did the most damage with Barbee, who snagged three receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Brock Sturges produced 58 yards on eight carries despite being seen limping at times late in the game. He was followed by Hill with 43 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Junior linebacker Sione Tupou led the team with 12 tackles, four of them unassisted. He was followed by junior safety Brendon Luper and freshman defensive back Zion Childress with nine each. Tupou also teamed up with sophomore safety Kevin Anderson for one tackle for a loss. Childress and senior linebacker Markeveon Coleman, who sat out the first half of Saturday’s game after picking up a targeting penalty in last week’s contest at South Alabama, each broke up a pass.
With its five-game road stretch concluded, Texas State play in Bobcat Stadium for the first time in seven weeks next Saturday when it hosts Louisiana (4-1, 2-1) at 7 p.m. for a Halloween meeting.
Spavital said he’s expecting more discipline out of his team in next week’s game.
“They did finish the game and I am pleased with that, but we can’t have so many mistakes,” Spavital said. “We did some uncharacteristic things so we’ve got to clean up. We are a young team and we’ve got to keep playing. Eventually things will start going our way if we learn from our mistakes and keep pressing forward.”
