Bowl Game Opportunity At Stake In Game Against South Alabama

Tyler Jones, then a freshman quarterback, stood behind his offensive line on fourth-and-26, down three points with less than two minutes to go.

“It’s over if this is not executed,” ESPN commentators said as Jones prepared to snap the ball. “It’s a tough fourth conversion, fourth and a lot.”

Jones felt the pressure from two South Alabama defensive backs and scrambled to find Ben Ijah, wide receiver, for a 51-yard completion.

The pass set up Jason Dann, place kicker, for a 42-yard field goal.

Texas State regained its lead with four seconds left on the clock. The Bobcats won 33-31, simultaneously ending South Alabama’s season.

Both teams will enter Saturday’s competition in the same positions as last season. A win could spell the end of a season for one and a bowl game berth for the other.

“Anybody can beat anybody at any moment in this league,” said Craig Mager, senior cornerback. “It’s really going to come down to who works hard enough during the week, who wants it more at the end of the day.”

Injuries have hurt South Alabama’s stats as of late, but Jaguars senior quarterback Brandon Bridge is now listed as “probable” to play against Texas State.

Mager says Bridge’s numbers warrant concern from a defensive standpoint. South Alabama is a predominantly run-heavy team, but Bridge has established a 59.3 completion percentage for 177 yards in one game in November.

South Alabama senior running back Jay Jones incurred a season-ending ACL injury against Georgia State that will alleviate the running threat the Bobcats initially anticipated.

Mager and his defensive squad, however, can’t rest easy in light of injuries.

South Alabama senior wide receiver Shavarez Smith has over 500 yards on the season. Mager says the physical aspect Shavarez and others bring to their team’s offensive unit is substantial.

“They’re all pretty tall, they’re all pretty fast, they all have great ball skills,” Mager said. “Hopefully we can get a little bit of pressure on them and do what we do best in our defense.”

To some, the biggest question mark for Texas State has been Jones. Jones threw two interceptions in his team’s last game against Georgia Southern, one of which was returned for a 100-yard touchdown.

His decision-making has been questioned, but co-offensive coordinator Mike Schultz is confident about Jones, who is currently second in the conference for pass efficiency.

“We ask Tyler to manage the game,” Schultz said. “Sometimes we are all guilty of mismanaging things. Has he had some times where I wish he put the ball in a different place? Yeah, but he’s been pretty solid this year. He’s still, you know, a young quarterback. He’s barely played 12 games. He’s still going to come on and do the things that we ask him to do. I’m not worried about him.”

The implications of the game are grand with both teams contending for one of three bowl game invitations available to the Sun Belt Conference.

Coach Dennis Franchione said as the season winds down, all games are big ones, but the Bobcats will have work to do after South Alabama regardless of the outcome.

Mariah Medina is an assistant Sports Editor for the University Star where this story originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between U Star and the San Marcos Corridor News  |  @CorridorNews