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Texas State Beats Arkansas State, Runs To Bowl Eligibility

The Texas State Bobcats ran all over the Arkansas State Red Wolves and got the sixth win they so craved, in part because of a lack of opportunity from the A-State offense inside the red zone. But at least fans got to meet their new kicker! When you lose 45-27, it's the little things that matter.

By Amanmusthaveacode
Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports

Everything is bigger in Texas but on Thursday evening, that didn't include the offense... or at least, not at first!

Just as the eyes of a nation were on San Marcos after having been (or not) on their president, the Arkansas State Red Wolves paid visit to the Texas State Bobcats in #FunBelt action. In this battle of legitimately dangerous carnivores, it was the Bobcats who came away victorious by the score of 45-27.

On Senior night, the first quarter started and the two teams were oddly-what's the word? Meek? Maybe not, but both offenses had no bite for long enough of the opening 15 minutes that the highlight might have been when Logan Spry came on to try a field goal for A-State. Now, Spry is a fine (spry?) young man, but he's also a walk-on who isn't listed on the Red Wolves roster.

After a Texas State penalty, A-State chose to forego the field goal attempt, which begged the question:

No worries though - he's already a legend on Twitter.

As it turns out, Spry was on the team two years ago and didn't actually walk on last week, but did just become eligible.

Anyways, let's not diminish the integral part that David Mayo played in turning the A-State offense to jell-o in that opening quarter, because Mayo is a monster and he should always be accounted for on a football field. He simply used his performance in the opening quarter to reinforce that idea. (It's nice of him, really.)

The Bobcats finally managed to string together a few plays and scored the first touchdown of the game on their fourth possession of the first quarter when Tyler Jones hit Demun Mercer in the corner of the A-State end zone. A Fredi Knighten interception on the ensuing possession threatened to pull the rug from under the Red State's paws, but that came later. That interception led to a missed field goal, then a Mack touchdown for A-State but it's from there that the wheels promptly came off.

Jones and his ball-fakes, and C.J. Best couldn't be stopped in the second quarter. Texas State kept the ball for 9:53 minutes, ran for 159 yards in the quarter and with 4 minutes to play before the half, the Bobcat Stadium public announcer was blasting DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" on the speakers.

Another way of saying this is that the Red Wolves run defense played poorly when it couldn't. Yet another one is saying if the opening 15 minutes had the Logan Spry highlight in the first quarter, the second revealed that Ferguson had also been relieved of punting duties, replaced by Stephen Hogan.

Down 28-14 to start the second half, the Red Wolves cut into the lead with a Spry field goal only to see the Bobcats run right down the field and answer with a kick of their own. A-State was down 31-20 after three quarters, but would the team come to rue its squandered opportunities? Their six points came on Spry field goals of 18 and 28 yards after the offense couldn't finish things inside the red zone.

Yes. Yes, the Red Wolves would come to rue those field goals, mostly because Texas State can rush the ball while A-State can't stop it. It's a double whammy. To cap things off, touchdowns from Robert Lowe for Texas State and Johnston White for A-State provided the final margin.

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