Celebrating The 10-Year Anniversary of the 2005 Football Team: Parts 5 & 6

By: Brant Freeman, Texas State Athletics

Football | 11/12/2015 5:16:00 PM

Oral History Parts 1 & 2
Oral History Parts 3 & 4

2005 Oral History Part V: Dreams of an Elusive Southland Title Finally Realized

After Texas State's loss to Nicholls State, the Bobcats were one of four Southland Conference teams with a 2-1 conference record with three games left to play. The margin for error after Texas State's overtime defeat in the bayou was razor thin, and, with perennial conference juggernaut McNeese State (one of the four 2-1 teams) looming on the schedule, it was a precarious situation to be in for a program not used to playing meaningful football after Halloween. But the Bobcats had beaten the Cowboys handily the year before, 54-27, in Lake Charles and proceeded to carve up McNeese State like a jack-o-lantern again, in a 49-7 rout at Bobcat Stadium.

"To beat McNeese, who we beat all three years I was there, the premier program in the Southland, was big for us. I also remember that being Fred Evans' finest game in a Bobcat uniform. He dominated the line of scrimmage that day."
- David Bailiff
"There was different intensity and hunger in their eyes after the Nicholls game. That's when it really hit me that this team could go all the way."
- Travis Bush
"Our motto for the rest of the season after losing to Nicholls was that if we don't win out, we're not going to win a conference championship, so our motto was to come out swinging. I think having your back against the wall and responding the way we did showed what we were made of."
- Randy Moshier
"We all understood that we had a goal in mind and what we needed to get done. Beating McNeese was a big win because they have always been the powerhouse of the conference."
- Thomas Kereztury
"McNeese and Northwestern were two of the most physical schools in the conference and we dominated them both"
- Dameon Williams
"I remember how fired up our crowd was that day, and our fans understood who McNeese was. They (the Cowboys) weren't just a good Southland team, they were a Top 5 I-AA program. (Texas State) jumped on them quick and it was one of those rare games where it was over early."
- Bill Culhane

Indeed the game was over early. Texas State led, 35-0, at halftime and held the Cowboys to eight first downs for the entire game. With the prize of a Southland Conference championship within their grasp, Texas State's focus and determination didn't waver. The following week, the Bobcats posted their first win in Nacogdoches in 14 years in a 38-21 defeat over Stephen F. Austin.

"I remember being really focused for the McNeese and SFA games. We all understood that we had a goal in mind and what we needed to get done."
- Thomas Kereztury
"We came out flat (in the first half) vs SFA, but before going into the locker rooms, Coach Bailiff lashed out at us. That speech lit a fire under us."
- Dameon Williams
"We didn't have a lot of success at Homer Bryce Stadium. Before that season, in the previous four or five times I saw the Bobcats play the Lumberjacks there, they just kicked us. So to beat them, 38-21, that was a big win."
- Bill Culhane

In the wins over Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State, quarterback Barrick Nealy emerged as a serious contender for the Walter Payton Award, I-AA's equivalent to the Heisman. Nealy had 572 total yards in the two games (including a game-sealing 81-yard TD run with 2:00 to go against SFA) and no turnovers. The offense as a whole was dominant, racking up 931 yards against the Cowboys and Lumberjacks, while Texas State's defense limited those two teams to just 468 yards total while forcing six turnovers.

With the way the Bobcats were playing following their loss at Nicholls State, it was almost as if the Colonels had done them a favor. But the good gestures ended there because Nicholls State kept winning. Going into the season finale, both teams were 4-1 in Southland Conference play and while a win for Texas State assured the Bobcats at least a share of the conference title, a Nicholls State win over McNeese State meant that the Colonels would get the Southland's automatic bid to the I-AA Playoffs. Texas State was a virtual lock for the postseason as well though, provided the Bobcats won their finale over their rivals from Huntsville: Sam Houston State. Four playoff-eligible teams with three losses or fewer weren't invited to the postseason in 2005, and a letdown against the Bearkats would've dropped Texas State's record to 8-3 and put the Bobcats squarely on the bubble for one of the eight available at-large bids.

"We were so close to winning conference and getting into the playoffs. We weren't going to let Sam Houston get in our way."
- Nate Langford
"We told them to treat that game like the first playoff game. We win, we keep playing, not to mention a share of (our) first conference title in I-AA. We lose, the season is probably over. Looking back, we probably put too much pressure on them. They had never been in a game that meant that much."
- Travis Bush
"We definitely felt that we had to win the Sam game to get in the playoffs. We knew it was a rivalry game and it was going to be tough."
- Thomas Kereztury
"We didn't want to leave any doubt (about whether or not we'd get in the playoffs). We felt like we just needed to win."
- David Simmons
"I wasn't thinking about the playoffs as much as I was thinking about the Southland Conference title. I just wanted to win the damn ring."
- Randy Moshier

The finale against Sam Houston State marked the second year in a row that the game had postseason and conference title implications on the line. In the 2004 finale, Texas State had an outside shot at the Southland title but lost to Sam Houston State, 27-9, in Huntsville. That Bearkat team, led by Texas A&M transfer quarterback Dustin Long, would share the 2004 conference crown with Northwestern State and reached the semifinals of I-AA playoffs before bowing out to Montana.

But the euphoria in Huntsville was short-lived. Longtime Head Coach Ron Randleman retired after the Bearkats' run in 2004. Long was a senior in the '04 season and had a brief mini-camp stint with the Dallas Cowboys the following spring. Randleman's replacement was easier to find than Long's. Sam Houston State hired Todd Whitten, who had been the head coach at Tarleton State the previous five seasons and had coached the DII Texans to an upset win over the Bearkats the year before. As for the quarterback position, SHSU opened the season with Oklahoma transfer Noah Allen at quarterback … then Phil Daugherty … and, finally, Wade Pate. Collectively the trio threw for 2,296 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2005. Long had thrown for over 4,500 yards 39 touchdowns and 18 interceptions the previous year.

As a result of the changes of two of college football's most important positions (head coach and quarterback), the Bearkats stumbled to a 3-6 record prior to the finale in San Marcos but had won two of their last three conference games. And this was a rivalry game after all. The Bobcat-Bearkat rivalry dated back to 1915 with the two programs playing each other on the final week of the regular season every year from 1984 to 2011 (with the exception of the 1998 season when the Bobcats played Nicholls State in a make-up game due to the floods in San Marcos that year).

Rivalry? Check. Conference title implications? Check. Postseason berth on the line? Check. Sold out stadium? Check. Since the Bobcats made the move to I-AA football, Texas State never had a crowd of more than 15,000. That day, there were 15,288 fans crammed into Bobcat Stadium, which at the time was the third largest home crowd in program history. It was the largest attendance figure since the 1982 season when SWT drew 16,200 in a game versus Angelo State.

There's a sense that the perception of Bobcat Football changed that night. The team was good. The quarterback was one of the best in the nation. The defense was having its best season in years. The crowd could sense that the program was on the brink of turning the proverbial page. Everything was coming together and at the right time. That day, Texas State was born. Not just figuratively either. The iconic TEXAS…STATE chant came to life on that November afternoon in San Marcos.

"There was no greater feeling than to be finally running out onto the field to a packed stadium after four years of low attendance. You could feel the energy in the stadium as well as in town."
- Thomas Kereztury
"It was a testament to how far things had come … I remember how electric it was. My wife was a volleyball player at the time, and her and her teammates plucked one of the 'stadium: sold out' signs from the parking lot after the game. She still has that sign today."
- Randy Moshier
"It was amazing. The little rubber pellets on the field were shaking and I remember the TEXAS…STATE chants. It was surreal … We had San Marcos on another level that day."
- Morris Crosby

"Coming from someone who played there with probably 2,000-3,000 fans in the stands at most games, it was a proud moment to see (Bobcat Stadium) filled up with maroon and gold."
- Travis Bush
"We couldn't hear. We had to make some adjustments on defense because the crowd was so loud. It was deafening in that stadium. It really felt good"
- David Simmons

Game 11: Sam Houston State (3-6) @ Texas State (8-2) November 19, 2005

Early in the game, Sam Houston State's offense was no match for Fred Evans, David Simmons, Jeremy Castillo and company. In the first quarter, Texas State's defense forced three three-and-outs and held the Bearkats to nine total yards. The Bobcat offense rolled up 145 yards in the game's first 15 minutes but lost two fumbles (one at the SHSU 2-yard line, the other at the Bearkat 21-yard line). Stan Jones missed a 39-yard field goal. Texas State's usually potent offense was playing sloppy. The Bobcats' Southland Conference coronation was within reach but Texas State couldn't get out of its own way. The team was tight.

"You could see us pressing too hard early in that game."
- Travis Bush
"I remember being in the middle of the game and thinking 'the (football) gods don't want this to happen'. Everything seemed to be working against us and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot."
- Randy Moshier

The Bobcats took a 10-3 lead into halftime but the Bearkats closed the gap in the third quarter, and Texas State's lead stood at 13-10 with one more quarter to play in the 2005 regular season. Sam Houston State tied the game early in the fourth on a 22-yard field goal and the see-saw battle continued from there. After Daniel Jolly's seven-yard touchdown run gave the Bobcats the lead back at 20-13 with 9:29 to play, the Bearkats responded with a 44-yard touchdown pass and tied the game again at 20-20 with under three minutes to go. With their season on the line, the Bobcats did what everyone thought they would do: put the game into the hands of Barrick Nealy.

Nealy drove Texas State to the SHSU 38-yard line with under a minute to go. With the best offense the program has ever had in its I-AA history, the game felt over. At worst, Texas State would settle for a field goal attempt from Jones, who, despite missing earlier that day, was a dependable kicker, the best kicker in the Southland Conference that year. His kick would be the final nail in Sam Houston State's coffin, and the Bobcats were raising the hammer. On 2^nd-and-10 from the Bearkat 38-yard line, Nealy, like he did so many times that season, took off running. Blazing past several SHSU defenders, Nealy was about to put an exclamation point on Texas State's long awaited Southland Conference Championship season. And then in an instant, 10 yards shy of the end zone, the hammer missed its spot.

Nealy fumbled the ball.

The Bearkats recovered the fumble (Texas State's sixth fumble of the game) and knelt on the ball, sending the game into overtime. Maybe Bobcat teams from years past would've collapsed after such a devastating turnover. But this wasn't like any team from years past. Instead of succumbing to the unfortunate turn of events, the Bobcats forged on, confident this day was still theirs.

"It wasn't a big deal to us to go into OT. I had no doubt whatsoever that we were going to win that game, it was just a matter of how."
- Thomas Kereztury
"We rallied behind Barrick. He had a huge part in our success in the season so we just supported him."
- Nate Langford
"I don't think anyone panicked. We had great belief in the defense (in overtime). We felt they would give us a chance."
- Dameon Williams

Indeed the defense did its part. Sam Houston State got the ball first in overtime and while the Bearkats drove inside the 10-yard line, Texas State's defense stood firm and kept SHSU out of the end zone. The Bearkats settled for a 23-yard field goal by Lance Garner, taking a 23-20 lead. When the Bobcats got their turn on offense, they wasted little time, almost as if they knew the team was running late for its championship party.

Nealy, amending for his late fourth quarter turnover, ran for 20 yards on Texas State's first play in overtime. On their second play, Nealy handed the ball off to goal line back Nick Session. Behind the left side of the offensive line, Session ran towards the train tracks nestled behind the north end of Bobcat Stadium. Like so many Union Pacific cars that barreled down those tracks, Session barreled through the Bearkats.

Touchdown Texas State.

"Clutch play."
- Nate Langford
"Insane. (Nick) had a wide open hole. The O-line dominated."
- Dameon Williams
"Nick's game winning TD I replay in my mind over and over. I will never forget how hard he ran to get into the end zone ... At that moment I can remember running to the end zone to celebrate and looking back to see the crowd rush the field and then I realized that we made it."
- Thomas Kereztury
"I thought it was fitting that Nick, a fifth-year senior who got the bulk of his playing time in 2005, was the one who scored that touchdown."
- Randy Moshier
"After watching Nick run towards Aquarena Springs and then watching our fans spill out of the stands, I started thinking how a good number of them (the fans) had been there during the early 2000's and the 90's as the program struggled. I thought that was pretty cool."
- Bill Culhane

Although Texas State won that night, 26-23 over its in-state rival, Nicholls State won as well, defeating McNeese State about an hour earlier. The two programs, who annually fought over a paddle, had to share the Southland Conference title and were named co-champs of the conference. No one cared about the "co" part of it. This was a championship team, the first of its kind at the I-AA level, a goal that seemed out of reach just 24 months prior after the program limped to its third straight four-win finish.

"That moment was surreal. It was almost a feeling of relief that we finally brought (a championship) home during my time at Texas State. Going back to my first few seasons we were never picked to win anything and to be on top it made you feel proud to be a Bobcat."
- David Simmons
"That wasn't our finest performance but we pulled it out at the end. I'll always remember getting on stage and watching the students spill out onto the field. It was incredible, the feeling that we won the conference and that we had achieved that goal."
- David Bailiff
"It was a huge deal for me personally because it was a collective goal for a group of guys that hadn't accomplished a whole lot in their careers who had no winning precedent set before them. It felt like we were stepping out into unchartered territory at the time."
- Randy Moshier
"I was finally going to get a ring. My dad got two from the championships in '81 & '82. I just really wanted one to get him to shut up about his two."
- Nate Langford
"When we scored to win in overtime, I remember just standing on the sideline and watching the crowd rush the field and watching the celebration for several minutes. I remember looking up and picturing Coach Wacker smiling down on us. I was there when we couldn't win, and everyone told us we would never win. It was awesome to be a part of history at a place that I care so much about."
- Travis Bush

The Southland Conference Championship trophy and t-shirts and rings that came with it weren't the only honors the Bobcats received following that night in San Marcos. Three players – Nealy, Evans and Kereztury – were named All-Americans. An unprecedented 10 Texas State players were named First-Team All-Southland Conference after having just eight First-Team players the previous four seasons combined. Nealy and Evans were named Southland Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year respectively, just the second time ever that one school won both awards since both had been awarded in 1994. Nealy was the third Bobcat ever to win Southland Player of the Year, and Evans was the first (and only) Bobcat ever to win Southland Defensive Player of the Year honor.

On a national stage, Nealy was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and finished fifth in the voting while Coach Bailiff was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award (I-AA Coach of the Year) and finished third.

The accolades were special and the championship was even greater. But there was still work to be done.

The playoffs were next.

2005 Oral History Part VI: A Playoff Debut (And Comeback) for the History Books

The day after Texas State celebrated its first ever Southland Conference title, the team prepared for another first: an announcement of who the Bobcats would play in the opening round of the I-AA playoffs. The closest the program had come to the postseason before was in 2000 and 1991, seasons that ended with seven wins but ultimately no games after Thanksgiving. The last playoff game of any kind for the Bobcats was in 1983, the team's final year of DII football (SWT lost in the first round of the DII playoffs that year to Central State).

The entire team, along with fans, boosters and members of the media all crammed into the Sac-N-Pac Room (now known as the J. Garland Warren Room) of the End Zone Complex that Sunday night to watch the unveiling of the I-AA bracket on ESPN television. All eyes were fixed on the TV screen as the field of 16 was announced, featuring several playoff mainstays:

Montana vs Cal Poly

Appalachian State vs UL Lafayette

Hampton vs Richmond

New Hampshire, the field's No. 1 seed would host Colgate

Nicholls State, the Southland Conference's automatic bid would travel to Furman

Northern Iowa vs Eastern Washington

Eastern Illinois vs Southern Illinois

The No. 4 seed Texas State would host Georgia Southern

"You don't know who you're going to play but you kind of have a feel so you get video on every team you can get and start breaking (all of them) down. Georgia Southern was one of those teams."
- David Bailiff
"We got the most grizzled, seasoned veteran program that you could face in the first round. We thought we could beat anybody but as soon as we saw the playoff selection we knew that this was going to be a challenge."
- Randy Moshier
"I had been around I-AA football long enough and when I saw that we drew Georgia Southern I remember thinking 'we got the Notre Dame of I-AA coming to our house.' When the day of the game arrived I recall walking into the press box and seeing Georgia Southern administrators and staff wearing their national championship rings. They looked like they had been there before and this game was just the first one on the path to another title."
- Bill Culhane

Prior to the game, Texas State's I-AA trophy case may as well have been the size of a mini fridge while Georgia Southern's was an industrial size freezer. The Eagles had been to the playoffs 15 times over the previous 20 years with six national championships to their name. Georgia Southern was just five years removed from its last national title but the Eagles were in what they considered to be a "dry spell" at the time. They had lost in the first round of the playoffs the year before and the seat was getting hotter for Head Coach Mike Sewak, whose predecessor Paul Johnson (currently the head coach at Georgia Tech) had gone 62-10 over four seasons with a pair of national championships. The pressure continued to mount throughout the 2005 season as the Eagles started an uncharacteristic 4-3. Georgia Southern recovered and won its final four games to earn an at-large berth and the right to play Texas State in the first round.

As if the thrill of preparing for a playoff game wasn't exciting enough, one member of the coaching staff went through a life changing experience just a few days before the Bobcats took the field that weekend.

"That was one of the greatest (and most tiring) weeks of my life. Already running on limited sleep, I came home from work on Tuesday about 11 p.m. My wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was sitting up in bed when I walked in. She said she thought we needed to go to the hospital. I laid down and said wake me up when you're ready, and she said, "No, we need to go now." We go in about 11:30, we're up all night, and my son Ty is born around 5:30 Wednesday morning. Luckily my parents had stayed in town that week, they came over, and I was back in the office my 8 a.m. As soon as practice ended, I went right back to the hospital and spent the night next to my wife and son. I remember being woken up every hour as the nurse came in to check her vitals. Went back to practice early Thursday morning. We brought Ty home on Thursday around noon, and had Whataburger for Thanksgiving dinner. Best Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had."
- Travis Bush

The good news is that Georgia Southern's triple-option offense was something Texas State had seen before against Nicholls State earlier in the season. The bad news is that – A. the Bobcats lost that game and B. the Eagles' version of the triple-option was far superior to that of the Colonels'. Georgia Southern's offense rung up over 38 points per game in 2005.

"When I saw we drew Georgia Southern the first thought I had was 'what kind of offense do they run and who are their key players'. Someone tells me that they run an offense similar to Nicholls so then I think 'OK, it's going to be one of THOSE games.'"
- David Simmons
"Drawing Georgia Southern we knew it was going to be tough and we knew their background as being a 1-AA powerhouse. Coach Bailiff told us that it was going to be a tough game and that we were going to have to weather the storm but as long as we stay focused we were going to win."
- Thomas Kereztury
"We weren't scared. We knew we were going to give them one hell of a game."
- Nate Langford

Game 12: No. 6 Georgia Southern (8-3) @ No. 4 Texas State (9-2) November 26, 2005

Texas State was new to the postseason and it didn't take long for the nerves to kick in. On the game's opening kickoff, returner Dameon Williams fumbled the ball but the 'Cats caught a break as it was recovered by Chase Pulliam. If anxiety was at an all-time high at that moment they were quelled just seconds later as quarterback Barrick Nealy took off for a 76-yard run on the Bobcats' first play from scrimmage. Three plays later, Nealy scored himself to give Texas State a 7-0 lead.

"Me personally, I was happy that he did that, because I fumbled the opening kickoff. I was like 'phew, way to save my butt.'"
- Dameon Williams

The euphoria didn't last long though. The Eagles responded to Nealy's touchdown with one of their own. And another. And another. When the Bobcats would sell out on the run, Georgia Southern would simply throw the ball deep, connecting on touchdown passes of 38 and 57 yards. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles had a 21-7 lead.

"With the way the game started I remember thinking 'are we ever going to stop them?'"
- Bill Culhane

Texas State's defense did tighten up in the second quarter and the Bobcats went into halftime trailing 21-10. On the Eagles' first possession of the third quarter, Daniel Varvel intercepted a pass from Georgia Southern's Jayson Foster and on the very next play of the game Nealy hit Williams for a 31-yard touchdown pass. After a failed two-point conversion the deficit stood at just 21-16. But at that point it appeared the Eagles were done letting the Bobcats hang around and pieced together drives of 87 and 93 yards, the latter capped off by a 36-yard touchdown run by Foster, the fourth touchdown he'd been responsible for that day. With 4:20 left in the third quarter, Texas State's historic, magical season appeared to be destined to become just another playoff footnote for the visitors from Statesboro, Georgia. Bobcat fans felt the same way with several of the 10,000 in attendance heading for the exits after Foster's latest score.

"I remember during a TV timeout saying to myself, 'Well, it's been a great season, we won conference, we made it to the playoffs and my son was born. We have a lot to be proud of.'"
- Travis Bush
"I thought it was too bad that after such a great season it's going to be disappointing that these guys are going to remember it ending with a blowout loss."
- Bill Culhane

Texas State's offense came together towards the end of the third quarter, driving 86 yards for a touchdown with Nealy connecting on a pass to his backup quarterback Chase Wasson. Little did anyone know just how close Wasson was to actually taking snaps the rest of the game prior to that scoring drive.

"I didn't find this out until I was a graduate assistant at Rice University when offensive coordinator Tom Herman told me his take on the game. When we were down, 35-16, the coaches had talked and wanted to give Barrick a curtain call and put him in one last series, sub him out and let the crowed give him a proper exit. Well, (after) we scored so quickly, Herman said well we might as well keep going and see what happens."
- Thomas Kereztury
"I mean c'mon now. If you've got Barrick on your team it always feels like you're going to win. Barrick was that dude for me."
- Morris Crosby
"We didn't waiver. We never felt like we were out of a game. It only takes putting together a few series and we were back in."
- Dameon Williams

The 2005 season had been one marked by Texas State's resiliency and that characteristic would again be put to the test. Down, 35-23, going into the fourth quarter, the Bobcats proceeded to play their best fifteen minutes of football. Nealy threw two more touchdown passes to Williams on Texas State's first two fourth-quarter possessions (all three of Williams' catches that day were for touchdowns). The Bobcat defense forced a pair of punts and two turnovers on downs. Daniel Jolly slammed into the end zone for a late fourth-quarter score. Daniel Varvel forced his third turnover of the game on a wild throwback attempt on a Georgia Southern kick return. Douglas "Smokey" Sherman iced the game with a 9-yard touchdown run. In an instant, Texas State had turned a sure defeat into a rout. The playoff tested Eagles, who were outgained in total yards in the fourth quarter 196 to -6, never saw what hit them.

"I remember being on the field late in the game getting ready to kneel the ball and all of us looking at each other and asking ourselves what had just happened?"
- Randy Moshier
"(The comeback) was about us just staying positive. We didn't get down on ourselves, answered the call and elevated our game."
- Nate Langford
"We shut them down. I think our strength and power just overwhelmed them. And the coaches called a great game."
- David Simmons
"We just started clicking on all angles. That fourth quarter comes and the defense just locks them down. We put together a great drive and I catch my second TD. Then another drive and I catch my third. At this point we are on top and really starting to have fun. We were moving on to the next round and were a step closer to the national championship, which (started feeling) to be a real possibility."
- Dameon Williams
"How to explain it … All hell broke loose. In all of the time that I've been covering Texas State athletics, I've seen comebacks but I have NEVER seen anything like that fourth quarter I watched that day. And I may never again."
- Bill Culhane
"There was nothing we did schematically that changed that ball game. It was simply our players again, putting their foot down, and saying, "WE are not going to lose this ballgame!"
- Travis Bush

By looking at the box score, you would never know that this was Texas State's first ever I-AA playoff game. Nealy threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 126 yards and a score. Five different Bobcats scored touchdowns that day. Simmons and fellow linebacker Jeremy Castillo combined for 23 tackles and two and a half sacks. The drive chart from the fourth quarter is something so impressive that it probably deserves to be framed and hung in the halls of Texas State's End Zone Complex:

TXST- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 22 -- TOUCHDOWN (10 plays, 78 yards)
TXST- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 16 -- TOUCHDOWN (6 plays, 84 yards)
TXST- (4^th Qtr) -- Opp 28 -- TOUCHDOWN (4 plays, 28 yards)
TXST- (4^th Qtr) -- Opp 12 -- TOUCHDOWN (2 plays, 12 yards)
TXST- (4^th Qtr) -- Opp 5 -- END HALF (3 plays, -6 yards)

GASO- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 35 -- PUNT (3 plays, 7 yards)
GASO- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 23 -- DOWNS (4 plays, 5 yards)
GASO- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 15 -- FUMBLE (0 plays, -3 yards)
GASO- (4^th Qtr) -- Own 20 -- DOWNS (4 plays, -15 yards)

The win was the first postseason victory at Texas State since SWT defeated UC Davis in the 1982 Division II National Championship Game. The Bobcats wouldn't wait another 23 years for their next win either. Instead, it would take them all of seven days.

Up next in our 2005 Oral History Series: A Trip to Chattanooga Falls Just Short

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