Week 5 Football Recap: Too Early for Nicknames?

Was it too early to christen the Bobcat defense “The Doom Squad”? The Bobcats fell to Sun Belt Conference favorite, Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday 48-24.

The highly touted Texas State defense faced a spectacular performance by Ragin’ Cajun quarterback Terrance Broadway who threw for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns on 18/23 passing attempts.

Early on in the game it looked as if the Bobcats would have momentum going their way after they recovered a fumble on Louisiana’s opening drive. But the offense stalled at midfield and the Cajun offense never looked back.

Defending that pass has been a weak spot for the Bobcats all season, but the one thing Defensive Coordinator Craig Naivar had prevented was the big play. Naivar’s defensive scheme allows opposing teams to easily complete underneath routes and passes in exchange for never giving up the deep play. Tonight was the exception.

Louisiana’s first big play was a 53 yard strike to wide-receiver Jamal Robinson. Texas State corner-back Craig Mager struggled against Robinson prompting Coach Naivar to sub in David Mims for a few series before halftime.

The Bobcats front 7, aforementioned “Doom Squad”, faced a very talented offensive line from Louisiana-Lafayette. Uncharacteristically the Bobcats defense was simply outmatched in this game.

“You come in with a lot of steam, a lot of rolling momentum and you get knocked on your face. It kind of humbles you and that’s what happened tonight.”
– Quarterback Tyler Jones

Jones was a bright spot on the offense although the stats may show otherwise.

Brandon Smith was the biggest bright spot on Texas State. Smith returned two kickoffs for touchdowns late in the game to become the first player in Texas State history to have two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single season.

Texas State now faces a very winnable three game stretch at home. They will play Louisiana-Monroe who lost their starting quarterback for the season, and Georgia State and South Alabama who are a combined 2-8 on the season.

If the Bobcats can hold down Jim Wacker Field and come away with three victories in the next three weeks, Texas State would have the minimum required six wins to be bowl eligible.

Game Notes:

• Louisiana-Lafayette proved why they were the favorites to win the conference.

• Just an all around sloppy game from State on defense. I’m guessing they didn’t expect to see Louisiana pass as much as they did.

• Did State need a loss like this? To fire them back into focus? Not saying they lost focus but as Jones said a loss like this is humbling and could right the ship for a bowl run.