Pause The Buzz And Pack Wacker
By: Weston Warner | @CorridorNews
Déjà Vu?
Is it just me, or does this feel a little more important? With two games remaining in the 2014 regular season, Dennis Franchione and the Bobcats find themselves in a very familiar situation. It was just a year ago when the Bobcats held a 6-3 record at one point in the 2013 campaign, only to lose the last three games of the season and finish at a 6-6 mark. In fact, it was Arkansas State that beat the Bobcats last year 38-21 which in turn started that 3 game slide to end the season.
The Bobcats, who come into Thursday night’s nationally televised game with a 5-5 record, are coming off of a really tough 24-20 road loss to South Alabama that came down to the wire but will have the pleasure of hosting the 6-4 Arkansas State Red Wolves in what will hopefully be a raucous atmosphere of their own. Tyler Jones (22 total touchdowns on the year) and the three headed monster of Robert Lowe, Terrence Franks, and C.J Best will look to exploit an Arkansas State defense that gave up 37 points in a loss to Appalachian State last weekend.
On the other side of the ball, David Mayo (who leads the nation with 14.1 tackles per game) will play his last home game as a Bobcat and will lead a much improved Bobcat defense against Fredi Knighten and a Red Wolves offense that has only scored under 20 points in one game this season which was at Neyland Stadium against Tennessee.
Although it is not the same exact spot in the schedule as last year, it still feels like the pivotal swing game that it represented last season. It sounds weird to say, but the difference between the possibility of a 7-5 record and a 6-6 mark is an absolute game changer for the current and future state of a football program like Texas State. For the players and coaches it’s the difference between possibly going to a bowl game and sitting around wondering what could have been. For the fans it’s the difference between admitting “they had a really solid year” and “yeah it was a pretty good year”.
I hope I don’t misrepresent thousands of people when I say that fans, students, and alumni do not have unrealistic expectations. Bobcat Nation just wants positive momentum from year to year and a perceived feeling that they can compete with just about anyone that they put on their schedule. Given those expectations, the program is exactly where it should be and where Coach Franchione said that it would be in 2011 when he took the job.
That being said I also don’t think that it is unrealistic for the coaching staff and the team to expect a packed house come 8:30 P.M on Thursday. I know that it’s on national television so it’s just as easy to go home and watch it, but let everyone else that doesn’t live in Central Texas watch it through a TV screen. Show the national audience that Texas State not only has a beautiful new stadium but that people actually fill it and make it worth the money.
So yes, I know. It sounds like I am trying to give everyone that reads this the notion that this game means more than any Texas State football game in school history. That’s not what I am saying at all–but I am saying that it is the most important game of the season and that being in attendance will mean a lot more than hanging out at the tailgate party all night or doing anything else in this city. The athletic department has done an amazing job of marketing and promoting their athletes and athletic events, yet it seems that there are still times when the stadium isn’t quite full for the game while thousands of people are hanging out in the parking lot tailgating.
I am ALL FOR tailgating and I really love the dedication and passion that it takes to party for hours and eat really tasty food; I am just going out on a limb and assuming that the coaching staff and the players would really appreciate the feeling, message, and atmosphere that a completely full stadium would provide in such a pivotal game.
Weston Warner is Sports Editor for the San Marcos Corridor News and you can email him at Weston@SMCorridorNews.com
