Week 11 Football Recap: Manball 2 – Electric Boogaloo

Those bowl hopes everyone had? They’re all but gone at this point as the Bobcats are routed by the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 38-7 on Senior Night.

The game had all the makings to be an historic night for Texas State Athletics, but Bobby Petrino and Western Kentucky had other plans. The hashtag #PackBobcatStadium, the Rally on the Quad and the countless other promotions all over campus marketed the game more than any other in school history. However, with the help of sub-40 degree weather, the capacity of Bobcat Stadium mirrored the offensive flow tonight, empty.

The big news before the game was that quarterback Tyler Jones would not start after suffering a broken hand in last week’s contest vs Arkansas State. The stage was set for senior quarterback Tyler Arndt to, quite poetically, keep the Bobcats’ bowl hopes alive with a win on Senior Night, his last opportunity to play in Bobcat Stadium.

Unfortunately, the dream quickly became a disaster.

Arndt’s first two drives ended with a Robert Lowe fumble and a three and out. The three following drives all ended with interceptions as Arndt would finish the night throwing 1 for 5, for 5 yards, and 3 interceptions. At one point head coach Dennis Franchione knew that for the sake of the game, and his quarterback’s confidence, he could not put Arndt back in.

Despite the four early turnovers, Texas State was still only down 17-7 at the half following a touchdown pass to Brandon Smith when Tyler Jones, gutsy as ever, entered the game midway through the second quarter, broken hand and all.

“Big heart, big guts, courage, winner. There is a difference between someone being hurt and injured, some players can play with things other people can’t.”
– Coach Dennis Franchione on Tyler Jones

The Bobcats looked poised to make this a game by the end of the first half.

But then the second half actually started and the floodgates opened.

Texas State could not get the offense going at all. Robert Lowe and Chris Nutall combined for merely 26 yards on the ground on 16 carries and the defense was gassed come the middle of the 3rd quarter, allowing Western Kentucky to pile on the lead making the final score 38-7.

Western Kentucky running back Antonio Andrews entered the game as the Sun Belt’s top rusher and the nation’s 4th leading rusher with 1,407 yards. He ended the night with 204 yards and 3 touchdowns, breaking the Hilltopper record for most 200-yard rushing games in a career.

From Arkansas State’s Michael Gordon to Antonio Andrews, this seems like the appropriate time to bring in the next installment of the *Manball series.

Manball 2: Electric Boogaloo

(One day I’ll make a logo for this)

What else can be said? It was no surprise that Antonio Andrews was going to be the focal point for the Hilltopper offense and, credit to Bobby Petrino, they fearlessly steamrolled through San Marcos with that exact game plan. The Bobcats’ front seven had no answer for Andrews and it was, like last week, as if we were watching a wrecking ball….or Mike Alstott.

Texas State’s bowl hopes are all but gone barring an obvious must-win next week, a lot of help from teams looking to be bowl eligible and perhaps a empathetic bowl sponsor or two.

*Manball refers to the testosterone-abundant game plan that is designed to strictly run the ball down your opponent’s throat. Therefore establishing physical and mental dominance. No gimmicks, just man vs man…Manball.

See examples of the act by two inductees in the Manball Hall of Fame, Toby Gerhart and Eddie Lacy.