SAN MARCOS, Texas – Quotes from Texas State football head coach Jake Spavital and kicker Seth Keller following the game against Arkansas State at Bobcat Stadium.
 
Jake Spavital, Head Coach
Opening statement…
"Another wild game. You know, what else can you expect from us right now? You know, I can tell you man, like we've talked in here, you know, we lost four straight and in just kind of some heartbreaking ways. I kept telling you all that our kids will keep showing up and they're going to keep fighting and keep playing for themselves. We had to work through a lot of adversity this week. You know, our injuries and the amount of people that were playing, and then we ended up losing Josh Berry at the end of the game. I don't know the severity of that one, but it doesn't look too good. A lot of guys are dropping left and right, and we talked about being mad about things, and there's no excuses. You don't run from anything. You face it like man. You show up and you keep swinging because the people in this room are the only ones that understand what's going on with everything and you got to play for each other. You got to lift each other up and great things will happen. Our defense has been playing at a high level all year and then we had a lot of talks about just being there and being consistent and elevate your play and have some fun with it and try to win the game on defense. I thought we had a defensive touchdown there for a minute. Really curious to watch the tape on that one because I thought it was a touchdown from my vantage point. You look at the offense and all the moving parts and you got Lincoln (Pare) and Layne (Hather) who don't act like that means much but that does mean a lot to those two because a lot of people who strap on helmets and go out there and understand the sacrifice and teamwork. (Them) doing it for Arkansas State and then turn around and doing it for Texas State that takes a lot of courage to go through all that and the guys wanted to win it. We gave them the two game balls just because of everything that they've gone through. Gave Seth Keller the game ball, the guy that everybody hated on a couple weeks ago and now he's doing it. He didn't blink, didn't waver, and we were fired up for him. The kids were extremely excited for Seth. We made him give him a speech afterwards in the locker room as well, but it just shows you that this team loves each other. They care about each other. They understand that we've been through some unfortunate things but we're going to keep showing up and they're going to enjoy it. They are going to strap back up again and we're going to try to find a way to figure it out next week for Louisiana on senior night. And that's what matters. So, really proud of these kids on how we finally won a game that kind of that fashion. You know, normally we've been losing in those fashions but finally got us one." 
 
What is Seth Keller's impact on the team and what does it mean to have a kicker like that?
"He's just a consistent guy. I've been around a lot of kickers. I made jokes in here before that I don't talk to him. I've learned not to talk to him in the routine by any means by that. I always make the joke with Seth about how I hate him so much but actually, I'm telling you, he's one of the greatest men and kids I've ever been around in my entire life. He's just so consistent. He's very analytical of things. He's a great teammate, and he's going to be there for you guys. He's just really kind of the all-around kicker that I've never really experienced before him because everybody loves him. Everyone wants to be around him. Everybody just enjoys what he brings to this team and just to see him respond in that fashion and just happy for him. But that's good to know that he's just one kick away from school record, you say? So that's a great accomplishment by anybody and he's made a huge impact here. And I think he's one of the most consistent guys that has ever walked through these doors."
 
Do you think the weather played a factor of becoming a special team's day today?
"It was. You can tell both teams were struggling kicking off too, as well. We started squib kicking a lot and they're doing a lot of sky kicks and I think their kicker is really good. I think he's been perfect on the year they've had one blocked kick, but you can tell that guy's got a great career ahead of him. But we talked about it all week. We're expecting a little bit more inclement weather. We're expecting it to be kind of like James Madison. So, I think both teams were expecting that, and they got to the point in the second half where they threw it around a little bit more. It's crazy how this weather is right now because you never know and when it hits the hills around here you can see some bizarre things that happened, but we've prepared for it all week, we talked about it, we our main goal was saying we're not going to worry about the elements. Address it right now that it could be cold and rainy. So, we're not going to deal with that. It's all about the energy and the emotion because I've coached up in the north for a while and there's an intimidation factor on how you handle the weather. And our whole deal was we needed to be wanting to bring energy and we're not even going to talk about it think about and I thought our kids handled it pretty well."
 
What were your thoughts on the final drive with 31 seconds left and what was going through your mind when calling plays?
"Yeah, one is trying to figure out what personnel I had if I didn't have to go 10 personnel and that last set. That's what was the first discussion we had. Then, you know, a lot of teams would probably run that out and play for overtime, but we're like, well, I saved one timeout, instead of freezing them two times in a row. So, I saved one timeout and I was good with that. We ended up checking it down to Lincoln (Pare) and end up burning a timeout with 15 seconds left. So, I knew I had an opportunity for really three shots. And they were playing a third shell where we knew that we could hit a hole shot into the boundary and that was kind of our approach. So, we put Drue Jackson right there in that spot. And he makes a great catch. It was great throw and catch to get us into striking distance to field goal range and called it again, but we knew that they'd make their adjustment play to safety over the top. So that's why (Donnovan Moorer) ended up hitting that underneath on that. So, like we were just a four vert concept that we knew in that coverage, we could possibly hit some boys over the top linebacker, kind of in that intermediate level, and we ended up hitting two of them and then I don't even know what penalty they got at the end of the game. There's some sort of penalty and put us in field goal range. It was pretty chaotic, because everyone thought the clock was going to start on the referee's whistle, but it's actually on the snap. So, we're trying to calm people down just so we can, you know, spike it and then then Seth did his deal."
 
What players do you think stepped up tonight, especially at that receiver position?  
"I thought (Rontavius) Groves was phenomenal all day. We played him everywhere. He played in that slot and lead personnel. We played him in the boundary. Kid was doing everything and I was so happy for him.  You guys have heard me talk about him a lot. He's got this contagious personality about him and you know good or bad, indifferent. He's always going to have a smile on his face and he's going to always keep showing up. I thought Donnovan [Moorer] showed up well. Donnie had 54 yards which was good, and then Drue Jackson. It was just fun watching these guys that don't get very many opportunities. Embrace the moment to shine, and they did. It was really enjoyable. I was struggling. We all were just trying to find the personnel groupings and trying to get that going, which we got a good plan. My offensive staff had a good job of working through these issues and figuring it out. We had a couple of mistakes in there, but it's hard to be perfect. When you're doing that, trying to get people all over the place and just thought those guys responded. You know we had Adam Tillmon. You haven't even probably heard about Adam Tillmon before and he came in late (in his career) and he's such a great kid too. He didn't even have a number you know. We didn't have time to give him a number because he came in late, so as a joke, we gave him a jersey that had no number on it and I killed him before the game but we ended up putting him in a 31. It's just fun watching those kids interact and enjoy the moment and go out there and just compete as hard as they can." 
 
On defense, you know, you held Arkansas State to 13 points. What were they doing right tonight to keep Arkansas State quiet? 
"They do what they always do. I thought they did a good job of being able to protect at times. I know (defensive coordinator) Zac (Spavital) was bringing some pressure because that's a good quarterback and they're trying to make him as uncomfortable as possible. I'm happy for that defense because they're the challenge for them was that you got an opportunity to be the best defense in the history of our school at that FBS level and they're taking it seriously. I think that it was a cat and mouse game. It's like they're playing chess and they're running the ball and they're throwing the ball and then they're screening it and then they're going back to the run and I thought they did a great job of handling and expecting that offense." 
 
You talked about that fumble forced by Alonzo Edwards earlier that was initially called a touchdown by him and then called back because the receiver was out of bounds when fumbled. The call is still kind of confusing. Could you give me clarity at all? 
"Yeah, they said that the receiver was out of bounds and touching the ball inbounds and that's why it was a dead ball. So there was never really a fumble. It's a fumble, but like it was never a change of possession. I didn't see anybody touching. I was more concerned if AJ got his feet in bounds and then had possession of the ball. I'm definitely going to look at this one a few times." 
 
Especially because it led to Arkansas State touchdown, do you think that gave them a little bit of momentum going from a touchdown and their ball and all of a sudden they drive right down the field? 
"It did. I'm telling you, that drains a lot of confidence out of you during drives. You know, you can see how it kind of just sucks the momentum out of the defense. Then some guy will step up and make a play and then they get back into their in their groove of everything but you're right." 
 
What's it say about your players that they even in that moment, they were able to overcome and still get the result? 
"Yeah, I love how this team is. There's a hard game and it's a tough league that we're in, and these guys show up and they play for each other. I wish you guys could see them daily on how they act and compete and make each other better, and then we call it badger mentality and keep swinging. We have a lot of talks, and I think this is one of the closest teams I've ever been on. A lot of teams are quit and fold but these kids are going to just keep going up and playing as hard as they can and try and work their way through the game. So, I'm extremely proud of these guys. It's all about ignoring outside noise and worrying about the people in this room. These guys show up and they know the people that believe in them and what they're going to do and that's all it matters to these guys."
 
One win away from a fifth win, which hasn't happened since 2014. You know, remember last year when you got the fourth one that was kind of a big benchmark to cross. You think that fifth win is another big deal for y'all? 
"It just shows the progression of what we're doing here. You know, we wanted to go to bowl game. That was our deal, but you understand that sometimes there's unfortunately ups and downs and bounces and all that stuff. It's about showing up as I keep telling them, be a man, and they show up and they face adversity. They have a lot of things that they can do here that's never happened at this school in a long time. And that's why they play for it. They play for the people in this room and the ability to keep building this program. That's why we talk about while we're playing for is for the development of this program and just keep chipping away and keep getting better every single year which we have done. We have come lightyears ahead of where we were back in 2019 and where it is now and I think everybody in the whole country sees that and where we're at now it's about just making sure that we keep chipping away and doing the right things for the seniors and making sure that we're trying to end the season on a high note." 
 
 
Seth Keller, Kicker (Redshirt Junior)
Game winner as time expired or with two seconds left. It's got to feel good obviously. How did it feel what was going through your head watching you go through the uprights?
"It felt a lot of relief. Thank the Lord that it went through. I pray every day that He puts me in a position to help the team and you know, coming back from the ULM game and coming up short because of my kick. I was pretty down but the team uplifted me the entire time. They didn't say anything bad. They were by my side, thick and thin, because they know what we go through every day. And so just being able to help the team get this win tonight, I was overfilled with joy just because I know what it felt like two weeks ago to miss it. And now to make it you know, I'm just so thankful for this opportunity in this blessing to be part of this team and part of a brotherhood that everybody cares about each other."
 
You brought up that ULM kick and after that Jake Spavital came up here, we talked to a few other players as well. And all of them have the same message of like this non-Seth Keller in that game without them, you know, and it should've Come down to that last kick. Seems like you really felt that from them that they really lifted you up after that down moment.
"After the game I remember a few guys coming straight up to me and saying, 'Hey, I love you man, this isn't on you.' You know, it's a team effort and a team win and team loss, you know, so I remember hugging Sione (Tupou). And just him saying, 'hey, we'll get them another time.' So, yeah, they were really, really uplifting and it's great to see that. It's hard to see a team just pull each other apart after something like that and to see them rally around me it meant the world."
 
You know, from an outsider's perspective, looking at this team. It's hard to see how close y'all are especially if you see some losses and stuff like that. But Jake was just up here telling us that this is one of the closest teams he's ever been around. Is that something that you feel? What goes on that we don't see that brings y'all so close together?
"I felt that way with this team and in particular, since spring ball. Spring ball was a big milestone for us. We were starting to have that cohesiveness with each other. And then I think summer workouts was kind of when the switch flipped. But I think after some workouts going into fall camp, I had a really good feeling about it, and then at the end of the day, I don't care about wins and losses. I love to win. I'd love to get Coach Spav wins, but just being in here every day, waking up at five in the morning, coming to practice, coming to lifting, coming to conditioning I mean, their family and that, in that sense, that you're with them more than anybody. Haven't been home since the summer so it's like these are your guys these are your brothers so I think we realized that and we've progressed as a unit. And we've learned that it's not just about what we put out there but it's about lifelong friends."
 
You're one kick away from tying the career record of Texas State for a field goal kicker. When you hear that, how does it feel hearing something like that? That you've accomplished so much in your time?
"Again, I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity. Thank the coaches for bringing me here. It's a blessing to be part of a program and to do something that I love and do it at the collegiate level. This is something that I've wanted to be a part of for a while and coaches bringing me in and giving me their trust feels great. And, I could care less if I beat that record or not. But at the end of the day, I just want to be here cheering on my other guys and making sure that they're doing what they love as well and cheering them on while they're doing it."
 
It was a very tough loss against ULM. How do you rebound from basically a situation that you were put in? How do you rebound the focus on how to better yourself making sure when the situation comes you're going to be prepared?
"I think since that kick at ULM I've done a lot of mental reps. You know, a lot of envisioning myself in that same scenario and seeing it go through the posts instead of wide right. I think mental reps are almost more important than physical reps for field goals and once you get the mental side down, I've heard many kickers say it but, it's just a routine kick. You've done this thousands of times, you can do it. So just believe in yourself. Believe that. You know that you're ready for this position that you're in and just go execute."