Bobcats claw back against Warhawks, 22-18

Faced with a 13-point deficit at halftime and the team in dire need of a spark, senior linebacker David Mayo set his team aside. His message was simple.

They’ve been here before. The Bobcats defeated Tulsa in triple overtime on the road. As Idaho mounted a comeback, the defense squashed the bid with an interception.

Winning close games is the teams’ mantra. Texas State’s 22-18 victory against Louisiana-Monroe was no different.

“You have to have leaders like that change your whole mentality of the game” said junior running back Rob Lowe. “David is a great player. We all look at him as one of the best players on the team and one of the best leaders on the team. His words hold weight. We all came together and did what we needed to do.”

Lowe’s 21-yard touchdown gave the Bobcats its first lead of the game with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The rest was up to the defense. The same unit that allowed 34 points last week didn’t’t allow an inch, stuffing Louisiana-Monroe on fourth-and-one. At the forefront of the defensive push was Mayo, who tallied a career-high 22 total tackles in the win. He became the first player in conference history with two games exceeding 20 tackles.

Texas State retained possession and bled just enough clock to claim the first Sun Belt Conference road victory in school history.

“I told the guys at pre game meal somebody is going to have to make a drive to win the game at the end or we are going to have to make a stop to end the game,” Coach Dennis Franchione said. “I didn’t’t know we were going to have to do both.”

The comeback bid didn’t’t materialize until the middle of the third quarter. Louisiana-Monroe tacked on another two points, after foiling Texas State’s option play in its own end zone. Tyler Jones, sophomore quarterback, rolled to his right and unfurled a pass to the sideline to avoid the sack. The result was a safety.

It was up to often under-utilized C.J. Best, junior wide receiver, to beef up a struggling offense in the third quarter. Best accounted for 44 yards of the teams’ 75 yards in a drive culminating with Lowe’s 15-yard touchdown.

The play gave them some life heading into the fourth quarter.

“The team put me in position to make plays,” Best said. “When the coach calls your number, you have to perform and that’s what I tried to do today.”

As the Warhawk’s put the finishing touches on the Bobcats, Terrence Franks, senior running back, found enough space in the backfield to re-open the window.

Jones converted on fourth down and Franks finished the deal, high-stepping in to the end zone for a 40-yard score.

“It’s a tribute to them,” Franchione said. “It’s a great win for the kids. They really deserve all the credit for all their preparation, attitude, approach and resiliency. I don’t believe in football that you ever deserve a win, but these kids deserved a win.”

The victory was the Bobcats’ third by fewer than six points this season. Louisiana-Monroe, the conference’s stingiest run defense, allowed a season-high 229 rushing yards. Lowe and Best combined for 177 rushing yards on 23 carries.

“We have to keep going,” Franchione said. “We have to do something with this one. We have a lot of tough games ahead of us. We have to keep playing hard like we did tonight and hope something good is gonna happen.”

Quixem Ramirez is the Sports Editor for the University Star where this story originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and the San Marcos Corridor News.