With the win, the Bobcats remain unbeaten in Strahan Coliseum and move to 5-8 on the year. Point Guard Ryan White had a team high 7 assists today to go along with 10 points. Cameron Johnson also filled up the stat sheets with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. While the Bobcats played pretty good, they didn’t let down on what they’ve become known for: fouls. The Cats had 35 fouls overall and had 4 different players foul out of the game.

For the Cats, after a 25 point win against Texas Lutheran on December 29th and another home game against Oklahoma Panhandle State coming up on January 5th, we could be going to into conference play with a 3 game winning streak. The Bobcats open up Southland Conference play on January 9th against UT-Arlington in Arlington.

Maximum Bobcat

max@bobcatfans.com

Next Saturday there are two major games in the SLC. McNeese will travel to San Marcos to take on the Bobcats and SFA will travel to Hammond, LA to take on the Lions. The 4-team log jam will be sawed in half in the matter of one night. This week is looking very favorably for Texas State fans as well. Not only do we face the Cowboys at home in the comfy confines of Bobcat Stadium, but SFA has to travel to Strawberry Stadium to try to get a win. Since SELA is the one conference team that the Bobcats have lost to, we would like to see them get a loss, as it increases our chances of getting the Automatic Bid to the FCS Playoffs.  With SELA’s last game of the year being against a down Nicholls State program, SFA is the best chance for SELA to drop another game.

The road for Texas State is clear, win out and you can get at the very least a share of the Southland Conference Championship with the possibility of an At-Large bid for the playoffs. Win out and have SELA drop another conference game and Texas State will be going to the playoffs for the third time in 5 years.

The UCA victory was the first part of a three part job. The Cowboys will be the second. McNeese always plays the Bobcats tough and just as they always do, the Cowboys look very dangerous this season. They are a balanced team and have already shown they can go on the road and get a big time W, like their victory over Appalachian State in Boone, NC early in the season. The Cowboys certainly have the potential to come into San Marcos and get a victory, but with the Texas State defense showing improvement late in the season, it certainly won’t be easy. What did surprise me this weekend was seeing the McNeese defense let Sam Houston put up 42 points on the board in “The Hole”. If we see that same defense show up in San Marcos this Saturday, you can expect a TXST victory.

What are your thoughts on the two big games coming up this week in the SLC? Let me know in the comments below.

-Maximum Bobcat

Max@Bobcatfans.com

The UCA Bears have been very strong the past few years, but this season it looks like it’s time for the Bobcats to step up and get a ‘W’ from the Bears. Gone is the era of UCA QB Nathan Brown and in his place Head Coach Clint Conque has positioned Senior Robbie Park to lead the team. Park does not come close to the skill and passing accuracy of Nathan Brown, but has earned his spot as a starter through his game management.

If the Bobcat defense can put pressure on the QB, I see him making many short dump passes that Joe Bell and Joplo Bartu will gobble up and allow only minimal gain. The real problem I see for the Bobcat defense going into this game is their rushing defense. I predict that the Bears will run more than pass against the Cats this Saturday. Brent Grimes will have a field day against us unless we get some good Run D.

Last week against Southeastern Louisiana, the Bears did not manage to get much pressure on the SELA Quarterback. For us Bobcat fans, looking at last Saturday’s performance of the Bobcat Offensive Line, you have to like what you see.

The one player that could put a damper on that however is All-American DE for UCA, Larry Hart. He plays with the same energy and speed as Travis Houston, but with a little bit more weight behind him. The Bobcat offensive line needs to keep an eye on him at all times, otherwise BG will be going down quickly and often. I have faith though that the Bobcats won’t be “coming off the high of beating SFA” as so many doubters like to put it, but rather that the Bobcats smell blood and want to finish the first part of a three-part job.

The pressure is on at the end of the season to make the playoffs and the only way we can get a shot at them is if we win out. Even then, it’s not a guarantee. For now, all we can hope is that Coach Wright and his staff are preparing the Bobcats to go to Conway and get a win. We’ve known all season what the offense is capable of, but after the SFA game we now know what the defense is capable of too.

To win the game the Bobcats have to play solid defense and avoid any costly penalties or turnovers in the redzone on offense. Do that and the Texas State football team will have 4 game winning streak on their hands.

My Breakdown and Prediction for Central Arkansas

The Bears of Central Arkansas have been a major thorn in the side of the Bobcats for the past two years.  The 2007 season game in Conway was an embarrassment and in the 2008 game, the Bobcats just couldn’t hold on to the ball long enough to win the game.  A few too many fumbles and a dominating rushing offense by the Bears took the Bobcats by surprise who were expecting an aerial assault at the hands of Nathan Brown.  With Brown now graduated, the man chosen to fill his shoes is Senior Robbie Park.  Park has looked good early in the season, performing well OOC, including a big win over FBS foe Western Kentucky.

As for defense, well the Bears are stacked.  With six Bears selected to First Teams Defense for the All-SLC Football Team, expect low scoring games out of Bears’ opponents this season.  The Bears return nine of the team’s top ten tacklers on last year’s squad, including Senior Defensive End Larry Hart.  The Bobcats will have a lot to contend with in Hart, last year he was tagged an All-American and also earned the 2008 Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year award.  At this point in the season though, the winner of this game will probably be whichever team has stayed healthy and is in a rhythm.  Besides KB right now the Cats have a good rhythm going.

Prediction: 28-23 victory for whichever team has the ball bounce their way that day.

Maximum Bobcat

max@bobcatfans.com

This past season Bush ended his collegiate career, playing all four years with the Bobcats and leaves Texas State as one of the Top 5 scorers in school history. He recently left San Marcos to go overseas to Portugal where he will be playing for professional club AD Vagos. Bush also spent this past Summer training at the San Antonio Spurs Pre-Draft workouts.

Bush is not the only recent ex-Bobcat who plays professionally overseas, Brandon Thomas also signed a 1-year contract over the Summer to play for the Japanese team Kyoto Hannaryz. For those of you wanting to follow Bush’s professional career, you can follow AD Vagos at http://www.ad-vagos.com. For those of you just wanting a reminder of some of Bush’s best dunks, here’s a pretty sweet highlight video to check out… http://www.brandonbush.blip.tv

max@bobcatfans.com

It is my firm belief that Texas State football should not be scheduling any OOC games with non Division I teams. It has nothing to do with the strength of Division II or NAIA teams, but whether or not the opponent counts towards the Bobcats D-I win total for the FCS playoffs. Division II and lower don’t count, so we shouldn’t be playing them. With the Southland currently in a 4/3 home/away schedule alternating annually and with the annual FBS game thrown in, we could alternate 5 or 6 home games per year while playing a full D-I schedule. Of course, even more home games are possible during the playoffs.

Bobcats take a knee before the start of the '08 playoff game vs. Montana

With the Division I playoffs expanding, that means more At-Large bids. More at large bids means that OOC scheduling becomes even more important. In my oh-so-humble opinion, any FCS Athletic Department that schedules Division II games immediately puts their team at a disadvantage of getting a chance at the playoffs.

After the SUU game this season, Texas State will have completed all home-and-home agreements with FCS teams we’ve played in the past few years. Well, except Appalachian State, we decided to take the check for that 2004 game in Boone instead of asking for a return trip. WHY?? Still never heard a good excuse for that one.

So since we’ve completed all our contracts with other schools it’s now time for the Athletic Department to dazzle us with a new OOC for next season. Don’t get me wrong, The Drive to FBS has been GREAT so far, things are really looking up. But, how does it look when we say we want to play UP but we schedule DOWN?

I think we should play teams from the Missouri Valley, Big Sky, Southern, or Great West conferences. What teams do you think we should play Out Of Conference? Let me know in a comment below.

-Maximum Bobcat

max@bobcatfans.com

Last year, I couldn’t imagine the belly-aching that would have come forth from yours-truly and others if Drenard Williams would have gotten a season-ending injury over the summer.  This year it just seems like most people feel good enough about our defense overall that we can plug another good player into the spot and still be solid.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Bobcat defense is not up to the point where they can thoroughly dominate a game. Yet. The Defensive line has a number of question marks, but it seems like with another veteran coach Mike Bugar teaching these players, that the Bobcats will make enough adjustments from game to game to produce a solid-enough defense.  The Bobcats ranked last in the Southland Conference last year, giving up over 443 yards per game.  If this year’s squad can get into just the top three defensive clubs in the conference and allow the Bobcat Offense to run its course, then I’d expect another FCS playoff appearance for Texas State in 2009.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, as this Saturday the Cats are set to take on the Angelo State Rams.  The Rams already have a record of (1-0) thanks in part to a 21-7 win at home against Texas A&M-Commerce this past Saturday.  It is definitely an advantage to the Rams to already have played a regular season game, but I still think the Bobcats will win handily and Bradley George will be sitting by the third quarter.  How do you think the defense will do this season? Comment below and tell me.

-MaximumBobcat

Max@BobcatFans.com

For Bobcat fans going to the home opener against Angelo State and haven’t been to San Marcos this summer, expect your jaws to drop.  Most of you have probably seen the pictures in the threads on the BobcatFans forum, but the pictures really don’t do the new suite and club seats expansion any justice.  The thing is just…massive.  It towers over the whole field and looks great at any angle.

For the past few years, Bobcat fans have been saying that every season is crucial in Texas State’s move towards FBS. Well, since this time last year, Texas State has had two good seasons.  The first was the 8-5 football season with a trip (albeit short) to the playoffs.  The second was an off-season that completed the beginning phase of the master plan for Bobcat Stadium.  We need to continue to have two good season every year as the Bobcats try to move to a FBS conference.

In a few days I will be covering a member of this season’s Football coaching staff that has recently began to garner the respect and love of the Texas State fans.  Might not be who you’re thinking of though.  Stay tuned to this blog for more opinions, predictions and maybe a little bit of smack about this upcoming season’s opponents!

-MaximumBobcat

MaximumBobcat can be reached at Max@BobcatFans.com