TXST QB Named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week

BY: GABBY TROPEA, SPORTS REPORTER

@GabbyTropea

After a historically dominate 65-0 shellacking of the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Texas State football fans have another accolade to celebrate. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Jones was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, despite being on the sideline for most of the second half against UAPB.

“It was of first times (playing college football), a lot new guys coming out there and playing, but I thought we looked pretty good, for the most part” said Jones on the Bobcats’ victory over UAPB. “I believe that this was definitely a statement that we are not a D-1AA anymore, we’re D-1.”

Texas State opened the season at home, with an incredibly high scoring game, setting a positive tone for the rest of the season. Arkansas Pine Bluff’s defense had predicted, and even bragged, they would only allow the Bobcats to score 14 points in the game. Boy, were they wrong.

“We were just trying to see how we could do as a team,” said Jones, “This game was more about us: how we were going to play, how we were going to respond and I think we did a pretty good job. There’s always room for improvement with this no-huddle offense, but I think we did a pretty good job.”

The real MVP of the game was Jones, who completed 21 of 25 passes for 278 yards and recorded four touchdowns. The sophomore also rushed for 51 yards on six carries, totaling 329 yards of offensive play. He broke his career records in passing yards and completions Saturday. The Bobcats’ win also tied for the fifth-highest single game total in Sun Belt Conference history.

Last season, Jones threw for 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 100 of 160 passes. With half of those touchdowns already recorded this season, the sophomore quarterback could be coming into the season stronger than ever, especially now that he’s past his freshman year. The newly-implemented no-huddle offense could be good news for the ball club.

“I remember that first game against Wyoming last season, I told him ‘just be aware of that back-side safety. If he comes in your vision, you got to pull off’,” said Head Coach Dennis Franchione about Jones. “Well, he threw the ball, got lured into it, and the back-side safety picked it off. This year, that wouldn’t happen. That’s an illustration of the difference between Tyler last year and Tyler this year. I don’t foresee much being thrown at him this year that he’s not somewhat ready for.”

The Bobcats (1-0) are on bye this week, and will be preparing to face Navy at home on September 13.