After not being overwhelmed while competing against a Power Five Conference team, the Texas State football team returns home looking to even its record to 1-1 when the Bobcats host Texas Southern at Bobcat Stadium. The non-conference game kicks off at 6:05 p.m. and tickets to the contest are still on sale at
www.txstatebobcats.com.
The game will be broadcast in Austin on KNVA and nationally on ESPN3 with David Saltzman (play-by-play), Keith Moreland (analyst) and Megan Birdsong (sideline) describing the action. In addition,
Brant Freeman (play-by-play),
Bill Culhane (analyst) and Karina Medellin (sideline) return to call the action on Texas State's radio network (1300 the Zone, KTSW and 930 the Answer).
Texas State intends to bounce back from a 35-7 loss at Rutgers. While he admits his team has some things to clean up, Head Coach
Everett Withers came away from the game knowing his team competed against a Power Five Conference team.
"While we didn't win the game, we did not look out of place on the field," said Withers. "Defensively, we had three interceptions, returned one of them for a touchdown, and should have had two more. We didn't tackle or fit the run well at times, but we competed hard and gave the ball over to our offense three times. Offensively, we were able to run the ball, but we had eight penalties that put us behind schedule. We need to clean some things up and not put ourselves in bad situations."
Texas State is looking to win its second straight home opener and earn its fifth victory in its last six home openers.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are looking for their second straight win after defeating UT Permian Basin 26-16 last Saturday.
TEXAS STATE STORYLINES
- The 2018 season is the 111th year for the Texas State football program that fielded its first team in 1904. The Bobcats didn't field teams in 1943-45 because of World War II. Texas State has won two NCAA Division II national championships and 14 conference championships during its history.
- This marks the 37th year that Bobcat Stadium will be the home for Texas State 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 who led the Bobcats to both national championships and later served as athletic director.
- The Bobcats enter Saturday's game looking to win their second straight home opener in Bobcat Stadium after defeating Houston Baptist 20-11 in 2017.
- Texas State also looks to win its fifth home opener in the six seasons against the Tigers. In addition to the win against HBU, Texas State beat Prairie View A&M in 2013, Arkansas Pine Bluff in 2014 and Prairie View A&M in 2015. The lone loss in a home opening game was against No. 6-ranked Houston in 2016.
- The game at Rutgers marked the just the fourth time that Texas State opened a season against Power Five Conference program. Before falling 35-7 at Rutgers, the Bobcats suffered a 50-10 loss at Texas Tech on Sept. 3, 2011, and 59-16 at #10-ranked Florida State on Sept. 5, 2015.
- Texas State is one of the 11th youngest teams in the nation with over 68 percent of its roster being underclassmen. The Bobcats have just 10 seniors this season.
- Junior linebacker Bryan London made his 25th consecutive start for the Bobcats and led Texas State with nine tackles at Rutgers. It marks the 15th game in which he has led the Bobcats in tackles.
- Junior offensive tackle Aaron Brewer made his 24th consecutive start on Texas State's offensive line.
- Linebacker Frankie Griffin opened his senior season collecting seven tackles, a sack for an 11-yard loss and two tackles for loss of 17 yards at Rutgers. Griffin also forced a fumble on his sack against the Scarlet Knights.
TEXAS STATE vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN SERIES HISTORY
Texas State is in pursuit of its 10th straight win against Texas Southern in a series that began on Oct. 15, 1988. The Bobcats own a 9-0 series record against the Tigers. The two teams last played on Sept. 26, 2009 when the Bobcats triumphed 52-18. All nine contests have been played in Bobcat Stadium.
Texas State is 22-2 against Southwestern Athletic Conference foes. In addition to owning a 9-0 record against Texas Southern, the Bobcats are 12-2 against Prairie View A&M and 1-0 against Arkansas Pine Bluff. Texas State enters Saturday's game against Texas Southern having won 20 straight contests against SWAC teams. Texas State's last loss against a SWAC school was Oct. 8, 1977.
SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN
Texas Southern looks to win its second straight game after recording a 26-16 victory over UT Texas Permian Basin. The Tigers jumped out to a 23-2 lead through three quarters before the Falcons rallied with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Graduate transfer Glenn Cuiellette threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns and Brad Woodard rushed for 74 yards on 16 carries to lead the Tigers.
GAME PROGRAM FOR SATURDAY
Texas State will have digital game programs this season. To view Saturday's program,
click here. To download the program,
click here
NEXT WEEK
Texas State will open its 2018 Sun Belt Conference schedule when the Bobcats travel to South Alabama on Sept. 15. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
