2012 Texas State: A look back

Texas State Bobcats (4-8, 2-4 WAC)

Joining the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013 season.

2012 Season:

• Beat Houston 30-13
• Lost to Texas Tech 58-10
• Beat Stephen F Austin 41-37
• Lost to Nevada 34-21
• Lost to New Mexico 35-14
• Beat Idaho 38-7
• Lost to San Jose State 31-20
• Lost to Utah State 38-7
• Lost to Louisiana Tech 62-55
• Lost to Navy 21-10
• Lost to UTSA 38-31
• Beat New Mexico State 66-28

All in all, 2012 was a rather successful season of transition into the FBS ranks for the Texas State Bobcats as a member of the WAC Conference. The Bobcats ended up with a more difficult than anticipated schedule including a brutal 4-week stretch that saw them play 3 bowl teams in 4 games with the lone exception being Louisiana Tech who turned down a bowl berth.

The highlight of the season was a season opening win over Houston winning 30-13 in dominant fashion to win their very first game as a FBS squad. The Bobcats were brought back to earth the very next week getting blown out by Texas Tech for the second straight season 58-10 before getting back into winning ways with a hard fought victory over Stephen F. Austin. 

While losing to some very good teams in 2012, the Bobcats kept the scores reasonable only losing by 13 to Nevada, 11 to San Jose State, and 7 to Louisiana Tech. The Louisiana Tech game saw the Bobcats go for 55 points in the defeat. The biggest disappointment for the Bobcats was a 38-31 loss to rival UTSA on the heels of that brutal 4 week stretch 

referenced earlier. Texas State was able to get a win to end the season scoring 66 points versus a hapless New Mexico State team to end the season.

TEAM STATISTICS	TXST	OPP
SCORING	343	402
Points Per Game	28.6	33.5
FIRST DOWNS	233	309
Rushing	97	145
Passing	108	141
Penalty	28	23
RUSHING YARDAGE	2152	2782
Yards gained rushing	2389	2988
Yards lost rushing	237	206
Rushing Attempts	413	490
Average Per Rush	5.2	5.7
Average Per Game	179.3	231.8
TDs Rushing	24	25
PASSING YARDAGE	2405	3035
Comp-Att-Int	217-361-8	248-408-14
Average Per Pass	6.7	7.4
Average Per Catch	11.1	12.2
Average Per Game	200.4	252.9
TDs Passing	17	26
TOTAL OFFENSE	4557	5817
Total Plays	774	898
Average Per Play	5.9	6.5
Average Per Game	379.8	484.8
KICK RETURNS: #-Yards	54-1346	34-734
PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards	18-363	16-140
INT RETURNS: #-Yards	14-92	8-157
KICK RETURN AVERAGE	24.9	21.6
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE	20.2	8.8
INT RETURN AVERAGE	6.6	19.6
FUMBLES-LOST	13-8	14-12
PENALTIES-Yards	87-811	71-725
Average Per Game	67.6	60.4
PUNTS-Yards	51-2204	37-1637
Average Per Punt	43.2	44.2
Net punt average	40.5	32.8
KICKOFFS-Yards	64-4026	74-4478
Average Per Kick	62.9	60.5
Net kick average	49.0	36.9
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game	29:59	29:53
3RD-DOWN Conversions	62/159	73/157
3rd-Down Pct	39%	46%
4TH-DOWN Conversions	8/22	7/18
4th-Down Pct	36%	39%
SACKS BY-Yards	12-89	28-151
MISC YARDS	0	0
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED	44	53
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS	12-17	11-19
ON-SIDE KICKS	1-3	1-1
RED-ZONE SCORES	(31-38) 82%	(43-55) 78%
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS	(24-38) 63%	(37-55) 67%
PAT-ATTEMPTS	(43-44) 98%	(51-53) 96%

Offense: 

Departing:

Led by quarterback senior Shaun Rutherford. Rutherford passed for over 2100 yards and 15 touchdowns to go along with 597 yards rushing ranking him as the team's second leading rusher. Flanking Rutherford was senior running back Marcus Curry who led the Bobcats in rushing with 685 yards on 113 carries and 10 touchdowns on the season. Curry was a very effective pass catching option as well with 19 catches for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Bobcat offense. The only other receiving option that will be missed on the field is senior tight end Chase Harper who finished the season 2nd on the team in receptions with 28 catches for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns. None of the other senior skill position players made a significant impact on the offense in 2012. The Bobcat offensive line will need to make some adjustments in 2013 with the losses of Adley Eshraghipour and Thaddeus Watkins. Watkins was plagued by injuries but was very impressive when on the field and Eshraghipour was a huge surprise after playing on the defensive side of the ball until his senior season and had a very good 2012 in his first and only year as a starter.

• #11 Tim Hawkins WR 6-2 200 Sr. 3L Corpus Christi, Texas Carroll HS
• #17 Shaun Rutherford QB 6-0 187 Sr. 1L Bay City, Texas Blinn College
• #19 Chase Harper TE 6-5 250 Sr. 1L Austin, Texas Navarro College
• #28 Marcus Curry RB 5-11 211 Sr. 1L Carrolton, Texas Navy
• #55 Adley Eshraghipour OL 6-4 265 Sr. 3L Arlington, Texas Martin HS
• #56 Thaddeus Watkins OL 6-5 286 Sr. 1L Pleasant Hill, Calif. Diablo Valley College
• #86 Ed Amerson WR 6-0 218 Sr. 2L Keller, Texas Austin College

Returning:

Texas State enters Sun Belt play with huge questions on what player or players will step up to take over Rutherford and Curry's places in the offense. Leading the way in the backfield are Tim Gay and Terrence Franks. Gay was a redshirt freshman in 2012 and saw the ball in very limited duty but was explosive when he got his chances averaging 10.3 yards per carry on 27 attempts with a long run of 75 yards. Sophomore Terrence Franks handled the ball 64 times in a backup role to Marcus Curry and rushed for 269 yards and 5 touchdowns in backup duty playing all in 12 games of the 2012 season. Replacing Rutherford will be a much more difficult matter than the running back situation but junior Tyler Arndt looks to take over the job full time going into his senior year. Arndt played in 5 games throwing for 208 yards and 1 touchdown but 3 interceptions in spot duty behind Rutherford. Arndt will get the first opportunity to start at quarterback this fall for the Bobcats. Another junior, Duke DeLancellotti will be right on his heels looking to take the starting job himself in what looks to be an open competition for the starting job. The Bobcat receiving corps will be one of the strongest returning groups from the 2012 season with 8 different returning players making 10+ catches in 2012 led by Andy Erickson and Isaiah Battle. Erickson and Battle will be emerging seniors in 2013 and combined for 65 catches for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns. Battle made his 26 catches in only 8 games played due to injury. Brandon Smith, Deche Milburn, Benjamin Ijah, Jafus Gaines, and Terrence Frank all will make an impact in an offense that likes to spread the ball all over the field. While the losses of Watkins and Eshraghipour are huge for the Bobcats on the offensive line, the remaining starting linemen are young and getting better every day. Sophomore Charlie Will Tuttle proved himself to be a road grater on the line with over 55 pancake blocks in a very impressive season while redshirt freshmen Matt Freeman and Zach Crawford made big impacts with Freeman's being cut short due to injury. If Freeman can recover fully for the 2013 season, those returning players plus 2012 true freshman Adrian Bellard will make for a very solid front line next fall. 

Defense:

Departing:

The Texas State Bobcats defense loses alot of production on a defense that struggled in their first season as a member of the FBS. Linebacker/defensive end combo Joplo Bartu led the defense with 95 tackles on the season to go along with 12 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. his production at two different positions is going to be tough for the Bobcats to replace in 2013. Flanking Bartu in the secondary were safety Jason McLean and cornerback Darryl Morris. The two defensive backs combined for 130 tackles and 4 interceptions on the season for the Bobcats. The only other major contributor lost to graduation will be linebacker Brian Lilly who started 7 games at strong  side linebacker and 1 game at middle linebacker with 32 tackles in solid duty for the defense and defensive end Jonathan Ward who added 19 tackles on the defensive line.

• #02 Darryl Morris CB 5-10 188 Sr. 3L San Antonio, Texas Warren HS--Started all 12 games at cornerback. 
• #10 Aaron Matthews S 6-4 208 Sr. 1L Fresno, Calif. San Joaquin Delta College
• #15 Jason McLean S 5-11 201 Sr. 3L San Antonio, Texas Madison HS--Started the first 7 games of the season. 
• #21 Mario Wiggins S 6-1 190 Sr. 3L San Antonio, Texas Madison HS
• #29 Denzel Wells CB 5-11 195 Sr. Houston, Texas Cy Falls HS
• #31 Joplo Bartu LB 6-2 229 Sr. 3L Waller, Texas Waller HS--Started all 12 games at defensive end and linebacker. 
• #34 Brian Lilly LB 6-0 241 Sr. 3L Denison, Texas Denison HS--Started 8 games at SLB and MLB. 
• #52 Damon Grant LB 6-0 246 Sr. SQ San Antonio, Texas Prairie View A&M
• #90 Jarrett Haywood DL 6-4 242 Sr. 1L Bastrop, Texas Cisco College
• #95 Jonathan Ward DE 6-1 233 Sr. 2L Lumberton, Texas Lumberton HS

Returning:

While losing 276 tackles from 5 total players including the two leading tacklers will be tough to replace, the young Bobcats defense brings back 12 players that made 20+ tackles in 2012. Xavier Daniels made 66 tackles on the season from his free safety spot making all 12 starts as a junior. The trio of Craig Mager, Justin Iwuii, and David Mayo combined to add 135 tackles and 5 interceptions playing significant minutes for the Bobcat defense. McMiller, Jeter-Gilmon, McColloch, Benning, Taulelei, Norfleet, Clavell-Head, and Moncure all will being experience and talent to the 2013 defense hoping to play better versus some tough Sun Belt offenses this fall.

Special Teams:

Departing: None.

Returning:

Everyone returns for the Bobcats special teams with nearly every player making significant contributions as a freshman or sophomore in 2012. Kicker Will Johnson made 12-17 kicks as a sophomore with 7-9 accuracy from inside 40 yards. Johnson was also an impressive 5-8 from 40+ yards with a long kick of 54 yards. Johnson split time on kickoff duties with Jason Dann and the two combined for 47% of their kickoffs being touchbacks (Johnson--55% rate). Another sophomore named Zach Robinson shared time with Johnson and averaged a staggering 46.2 yards per punt while Johnson averaged 41 yards per punt. Expect Robinson to take the punting duties over completely in 2013. The Bobcats had a strong group of returners with junior punt returner Andy Erickson averaging 16.7 yards per return with a long of 54 yards. Sophomore Craig Mager also returned one punt with his only return going 79 yards for a touchdown. The kickoff return duties were led by Jafus Gaines who averaged nearly 30 yards per return with a long of 65 yards. The entire team averaged nearly 25 ayrds per return for the Bobcats.

Coaching:

Head coach Dennis Franchione enters his 3rd season as the head coach of the Bobcats with a 6-6 record in his first season and a 4-8 record in his second season as Texas State head coach. Franchione has coached at 7 colleges as head coach previous with stops at Southwestern, Pittsburgh State, Southwest Texas State, New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, and Texas A&M. Franchione is 197-115-2 as a head coach with a 3-4 record in 7 bowl games played. Franchione is a good coach and improves his teams no matter where he goes but is seen as a bit of a mercenary that is always looking for greener pastures.

• Dennis Franchione Head Football Coach
• Mike Schultz Assistant Head Coach/co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
• Jeff Conway Co-Offensive Coordinator, Running Backs and Tight Ends Coach
• Dennis Darnell Offensive Line Coach
• Jason Johnson Wide Receivers Coach
• Craig Naivar Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach
• Brad Franchione Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
• Mike Hudson Defensive Line Coach
• Reuben Vaughn Defensive Tackles Coach
• Jason Washington Cornerbacks Coach
• Mike Groce Director of Operations/Recruiting Coordinator
• Blake Cundiff Football Strength and Conditioning Coach
• Thad Livingston Strength and Conditioning Coach
• David Gish Head Athletic Trainer

Overall:

A 4-8 record in their first season in the FBS with the WAC having such a strong conference was quite a successful season for the Bobcats and should be a good springboard for the future of football in San Marcos, Texas. The only disappointing blemish on the schedule was a 38-31 loss to fellow FBS newbie UTSA on the heels of the toughest part of their schedule. With a move to the Sun Belt and the loss of some quality programs to Conference USA, the Bobcats may surprise some and be a better team in 2013 than many expect. Honestly, improvement from 2012 is the only barometer of success for a still in transition but bowl eligible Bobcats team this upcoming season.