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Post Game Press Conference (Free Video Under Media Archive)

SAN MARCOS, Texas—The Texas State football team played hard and put up a good fight in its Homecoming game, but the Bobcats couldn't overcome some critical mistakes as the Demons escaped with a 23-10 victory on Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
“We had red zone errors, turnovers, and penalties and gave up three big plays on defense,” said Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione. “It's hard to win a game when you fail in those categories and that is what we did. The kids played hard and were well prepared. That was a good football team we played and we just came up on the short end.”
 
Northwestern State tailback Justin Aldredge's 33-yard touchdown run with 4:45 left in the game gave the Demons all the breathing room they needed as they held on for the victory.
 
Texas State gave up two big plays in the opening minutes of the game as the Demons jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. The first big play was when Phillip Harvey scored the first touchdown of the game with a 47-yard run. Then, Brad Henderson hit a wide open Louis Hollier for a 36-yard TD pass after Hollier got open behind Texas State's defense.
 
The Bobcats fought valiantly to get back into contention, but Texas State could not overcome four turnovers and three errant field goal attempts. Three of the four turnovers occurred on Northwestern State's end of the field with two fumbles coming at the Demons' four and 19-yard lines, respectively. In addition, Bobcat quarterback Shaun Rutherford threw an interception after Texas State had driven down to Northwestern State's 34-yard line following the Demon's first touchdown.
 
Texas State scored its first points in the game with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half as redshirt freshman Terrence Franks broke around the right end for an 82-yard touchdown run. Will Johnson added the extra point to pull Texas State to within 14-7.
 
The run by Franks was the longest run by a Bobcat since Stan Zwinggi had a 91-yard touchdown run against Cal Poly in the 2007 season-opener, a span of 53 games.
 
The Bobcats pulled to within 14-10 in the final minute of the first half when Johnson kicked a 47-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
 
” “I thought we had about as bad of a first half as we could have had,” said Franchione. “We gave up the two scores early, had some penalties that hurt us and turned the ball over. I told them at the half, 'It's 14-10 and we can play better than this.'
 
But, Texas State continued to make mistakes in the second half. The first came on the opening drive of the third quarter after the Bobcats turned the ball over on its own 27-yard line when Northwestern State's Wade Williams recovered a fumble by Rutherford. However, the Bobcats' defense forced the Demons to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Jo Shaughnessy
 
Midway through the third period, Texas State drove the ball down to Northwestern State's 13-yard line before Marcus Curry mishandled a handoff and fumbled away the football. However, the Demons were forced to punt the ball away from their 13-yard line and Nic Russo's kick was downed at Northwestern State's 40-yard line.
 
After Darius Bolden gained 16 yards on a reverse play, Terrence Franks recorded a 10-yard run and Rutherford gained eight more yards to give the Bobcats possession at Northwestern State's 11-yard line. Rutherford had a seven-yard run on the first play in the fourth quarter down to the Demons' four-yard line. The scoring opportunity was thwarted when Derek Rose forced a fumble and Northwestern State recovered.
 
However, the Bobcats continued to fight as Texas State forced a punt and then drove down to NSU's 19-yard line before Johnson missed a 36-yard field goal try.
 
The Demons took possession and Aldredge capped off the scoring in the game with his 33-yard touchdown run to make the final score 23-10.
 
“Not a lot was going our way but we hung in there and kept fighting,” said Franchione. “Our kids never gave up and fought their tails off. They deserve a lot of credit for that. We are going to put the film on tomorrow and find 100 ways we could have won this game. You just have to fix those things and get better.”
 
The loss drops Texas State to 5-4 overall this season, while Northwestern State improves to 5-3 overall. The Bobcats will play their second straight home game next Saturday when they play host to Prairie View A&M in a game that kicks off at 3:00 p.m.