Football | 10/6/2017 5:36:00 PM
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State returns home for its second Sun Belt Conference game of the season when the Bobcats host ULM on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Bobcat Stadium.The game kicks off at 2 p.m. and can be heard on FM 103. 1 in Austin, AM 630 in San Antonio and 89.9 FM in San Marcos with Bobcat announcers Brant Freeman and Bill Culhane describing the action. The game can be seen through ESPN3.
The Bobcats enter the game looking to improve their record to 2-4 this season after dropping a 45-10 decision at Wyoming. Texas State began the season with a 20-11 victory over Houston Baptist before suffering a 37-3 loss at Colorado on Sept. 9, a 20-13 loss versus Appalachian State and a 44-14 loss against UTSA in the H-E-B I-35 Showdown on Sept. 23.
ULM enters Saturday's game with a 2-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Sun Belt Conference games after posting a 56-50 victory over intrastate rival Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and a 51-43 triumph againt Coastal Carolina.
TEXAS STATE vs. ULM SERIES
This marks the 14th meeting between Texas State and ULM in a series that began on Sept. 20, 1986. The Bobcats enter Saturday's game with a 4-9 series record against the Warhawks.
The two schools have split their four previous Sun Belt Conference games since the Bobcats joined the league in 2013. ULM edged the Bobcats 21-14 on Oct. 12, 2013 in San Marcos. Texas State won a 22-18 decision on Oct. 25, 2014 in Monroe, and a 16-3 outcome on Oct. 19, 2015 in San Marcos. Last season, ULM won, 40-34, on Oct. 15, 2016 in Monroe.
TEXAS STATE IN BOBCAT STADIUM
Texas State looks to win its second home game of the season and even its home record to 2-2 against ULM. The Bobcats won their season opener against Houston Baptist before losing their last two home games against Appalachian State and UTSA.
This is the 36th year that Bobcat Stadium has been the site of Texas State home football games. The stadium opened in 1981 when Texas State won the first of two NCAA Division II national championships. In 2002, the field was named "Jim Wacker Field" to honor the school's football coach, Jim Wacker, after he led the Bobcats to both national championships and later served as athletic director. Texas State enters the ULM game with a 122-93 record in Bobcat Stadium.
BOBCAT TIDBITS
Texas State enters the ULM game ranked second nationally and tied with Idaho for the Sun Belt Conference lead in blocked punts with one this season after
Anthony D. Taylor recorded his fourth career blocked punt at Wyoming. Taylor led the nation with three blocked punts last season.
Taylor's blocked punt gives the Bobcats two blocked kicks overall this season, which ranks fifth nationally and leads the Sun Belt Conference this season.
Easy Anyama also blocked an extra-point attempt against Houston Baptist earlier this season.
The Bobcats lead the Sun Belt Conference in sacks with 14 this season. Texas State's average of 2.8 sacks per game ranks 22nd among national leaders and second among Sun Belt leaders behind ULM's 3.0 per game.
Texas State recorded a season-high six sacks against Houston Baptist and three sacks at Colorado. The six sacks against HBU are the highest single-game total by the Bobcats since Dec. 1, 2012 when they had six sacks against New Mexico State.
Frankie Griffin leads the Bobcats with 3.0 sacks after assisting on a sack at Wyoming.
Gabe Loyd has 2.5 sacks after recording a sack at Wyoming, while
Jordan Mittie and
Easy Anyama have two sacks.
Hal Vinson,
Gavin Graham,
Caeveon Patton and Clifton Lewis, Jr. have recorded one sack each.
Sami Awad and
Dean Taylor have assisted on a sack this year.
The Bobcats rank third in rushing defense among Sun Belt teams after surrendering an average of 141.4 yards per game. Texas State held Wyoming to 84 yards rushing to mark the third time this season the Bobcats have held their opponent under 100 yards rushing.
Texas State ranks 60th nationally and third among Sun Belt Conference leaders after allowing 3.7 yards per rush this season. The Bobcats held Wyoming to 2.4 yards per carry to mark the third opponent they have held under 3.0 yards per rush this season.
The Bobcats also rank 25th nationally and second among Sun Belt Conference leaders with four fumble recoveries this season.
A.J. Krawczyk recovered a fumble at Wyoming. It was Krawczyk's first fumble recovery in his career after he forced a fumble for the first time against Appalachian State. Krawczyk recorded three tackles, including one solo stop, at Wyoming after he had a career-high eight tackles and equaled his career high of six solo stops versus UTSA. He enters the ULM game leading the Bobcats and ranking fourth among Sun Belt Conference leaders with 23 solo tackles. He is third among team leaders with 30 total tackles. It marks the third game this season in which Krawczyk has recorded seven tackles with six solo stops. He also had seven tackles against Houston Baptist and Appalachian State.
Gabe Loyd ranks second among Texas State defensive leaders with 36 total tackles this season after collecting 15 stops in the last two games. He led Texas State with eight tackles at Wyoming after registering seven against UTSA. He had two solo stops and recorded a sack and 1.5 tackles for losses of 11 yards at Wyoming.Loyd's eight tackles at Wyoming marks the second time in the last four games and second time in his career that he has led the Bobcats in tackles. He also led Texas State with a career-best 12 tackles at Colorado earlier this year. His 12 total tackles mark the fourth time in his career he has recorded double digit tackles in a game. He also had 12 tackles at ULM, 11 tackles, including a career-best 10 solo tackles, at Idaho and 10 total tackles at Ohio last season. He ranks seventh among Sun Belt Conference leaders and second among Bobcat leaders with 2.5 sacks. He also ranks second among team leaders with 4.5 tackles for loss.
Sophomore linebacker
Bryan London II tallied six tackles at Wyoming after leading Texas State in tackles for the first time this season with nine tackles against UTSA. He enters the ULM game leading the team with 37 total tackles, including 16 unassisted stops.
Sophomore linebacker
Frankie Griffin ranks fourth among Sun Belt Conference leaders and leads Texas State with 3.0 quarterback sacks. Griffin also ranks fourth among team leaders with 29 tackles this season after he tallied five tackles and equaled his season high of seven tackles against UTSA. He also had seven tackles at Colorado.
Stephan Johnson recorded his first career forced fumble at Wyoming. Johnson also recorded four tackles, one tackle for a loss of one yard, and broke up a pass against the Cowboys after he registered a season-high seven tackles against UTSA.
Willie Jones III led Texas State with 57 yards rushing on five carries and completed a 36-yard pass at Wyoming. Jones III enters the ULM game with 70 yards rushing on 19 carries and has completed 4 of 9 passes for 73 yards this season.
Marcus Ripley had three, 50-yard punts among his six punts at Wyoming. He had punts of 52, 50 and 53 yards against the Cowboys. Ripley enters the ULM game with seven 50-yard punts and averages 44.3 yards per punt to rank second among Sun Belt Conference leaders in both categories. His 44.3 average ranks 27th nationally. Ripley averaged 46.4 yards on seven punts against UTSA. He kicked a career-long 74-yard punt against the Roadrunners and that was the longest punt by a Bobcat since Oct. 30, 2003 when Corey Elolf had an 86-yard punt against McNeese State. Ripley also had a 71-yard punt at Colorado.
WHAT'S NEXT
Following the ULM game, Texas State will travel to Lafayette, La. for a Sun Belt Conference game against the Ragin' Cajuns on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
