The Texas State football team will close out its 2018 season when the Bobcats host Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference game at 3 p.m. Nov. 24 at Bobcat Stadium. The Bobcats enter the game with a 3-8 overall record and are 1-6 in the Sun Belt teams. Arkansas State has a 7-4 overall mark and a 4-3 Sun Belt record.
Texas State will have a pregame ceremony to honor eight seniors who are playing in their final game at Bobcat Stadium. The seniors are team captain and three-year starter
Tyler Watts, team captain and two-year starter A. J. Krawczyk, two-year starting nose tackle
Sami Awad, offensive lineman
Kregg Lemons, wide receiver
Kelton Powell, tight end
Elijah Rogers, kicking specialist
James Sherman and long snapper
Tommy Simmons.
Texas State will also honor its 2018 Athletics Hall of Honor Induction Class at halftime on Saturday. The five inductees include former Bobcat football players C. J. Carroll, Greg Gilcrease and Ricky Sanders; former Texas State track and field/cross country runner James Ortiz and former Bobcat baseball player Darwin Pennye.
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Chris Woods will serve as Texas State's interim head coach for Saturday's game. Woods came to Texas State as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach this season after serving the past three years on the coaching staff at Oklahoma. He is in his 25th season of coaching and has served six seasons as a head coach at Mansfield and Stonehill. He has 13 years of experience as a defensive specialist and coordinator.
The Bobcats look to even its record to 3-3 in Bobcat Stadium this season after winning home games against Texas Southern and New Mexico State. The three losses came against Louisiana, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.
Texas State faces a division leader for the second straight week when they host Arkansas State. The Red Wolves are tied for the West Division lead and Texas State played at Troy last Saturday. TXST held Troy to season lows in scoring and total yards with just 12 points and 220 total yards.
The Bobcats had three players record double digit tackles at Troy.
Nikolas Daniels had a game-high of 16 total stops, including a game-high six solo tackles.
Bryan London II, recorded a season-high 15 tackles with three solo tackles. He also led Texas State with two pass breakups.
Jakharious Smith tallied a career-high of 11 total tackles and led the Bobcats with 2.5 tackles for loss.
Texas State has two of the Sun Belt Conference's top three tackling leaders on its defense.
Bryan London II is tied as the Sun Belt leader with 9.2 tackles per game. He has 101 total tackles in 11 games this season, and has recorded 100 tackles in two of the last three years.
Nikolas Daniels is averaging 9.0 tackles per game to rank third among league leaders. With his 17 tackles at Troy, he has a combined 30 total tackles against the top two teams in the Sun Belt's East Division, Troy and Appalachian State.
Freshman quarterback
Tyler Vitt has completed 101-of-165 passes for 1,026 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Vitt made his fourth start of the season at Troy last week.
Anthony D. Taylor rushed for his fourth touchdown of the season at Troy. He has run for 296 yards on 82 carries this season.
Robert Brown, Jr. has run for 303 yards and one TD on 67 carries.
Keenen Brown leads Texas State's offense with 47 receptions for 556 yards and five touchdowns.
Hutch White has 31 catches for 274 yards and two TDS, while
Jeremiah Haydel has 15 receptions for 317 yards and four TDs.
SERIES VERSUS ARKANSAS STATE
In a series that began Nov. 16, 2013, Texas State seeks its second win against Arkansas State. The Bobcats have a 1-4 series record against the Red Wolves.
Texas State has a 1-1 mark in home games against Arkansas State. TXST's lone win in the series came on Nov. 20, 2014, when the Bobcats won 45-27 in San Marcos. The Red Wolves won the last game in San Marcos, 36-14, on Dec. 3, 2016.
ABOUT ARKANSAS STATE
Arkansas State enters Saturday's game with a season-best three-game winning streak after defeating ULM 31-17 last Saturday to move them into a three-way tie with the Warhawks and Louisiana atop the Sun Belt Conference's West Division standings. Even though they are tied, the Red Wolves must win Saturday's and hope that ULM defeats Louisiana in Monroe to play in the Sun Belt's inaugural championship game.
Senior quarterback Justice Hansen leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 12th in the NCAA in total offense with an average of 298.8 yards per game, He also is 15th in the NCAA and first in the Sun Belt in passing offense with 263.3 yards per game this season. Hansen enters Saturday's game having completed 242 of 364 yards for 2,896 yards and 25 touchdowns with six interceptions.
Marcel Murray has rushed for 733 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries, while Kirk Merritt has 69 receptions for 786 yards and five TDs.
Defensively, end Ronheen Bingham ranks ninth among NCAA leaders in tackles for loss and 13th in sacks with 18.5 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks this season.
