23 Observations from TXST vs AppSt

That was fun. What a game Texas State vs. Appalachian State was. It came down to the wire, the last play, and proved there has been a lot of improvement on the Texas State squad. The Bobcats showed me a lot this week, so let’s get started with my observations.

1. First off, Texas State showed off some serious swag. Jersey schemes don’t win games but the new white helmet with black top looked clean. Going into the game, I was not a fan, but in person, wow.

2. When I walked into the press box I noticed a new face- it was a Senior Bowl scout. I assume he was there to scout Gabe Lloyd, Gabe Schrade, Easy Anyama, Elijah King and Damian Williams.

3. Bryan London absolutely blew up a play in the first quarter. With 7:30 left in the first London shot through the A-gap to end any chances of Jalin Moore’s attempt at positive yards. It was a 4-yard loss and a tremendous read.

4. The Texas State offense was moving slowly, so they decided to run some trickery to start their fifth drive in the first. Pre-snap Robert Brown was lined up in single-back formation then went in motion to the slot between the TE and WR. Before setting his feet, Brown motioned back to the backfield as the ball was snapped and took the handoff on a reverse. It caught the defense off-guard and led to the first big chunk play of the night for the Bobcats; 20-yard gain.

5. That play led to an absolute beautiful touchdown for the Bobcats three plays later. Williams threw a beautiful bomb on a play action route to Mason Hays-who made a leaping effort down the seam and into the endzone.

6. Damian Williams has some seriously strong hands. On a second down play with just over two minutes he got leveled. Sandwiched between two defensive linemen, but the ball stayed true. Despite the blindside hit, he held onto the ball. The very next play Williams scampered for a 12-yard gain and first down.

7. The Bobcats defense was swarming around in the first half. On the first sack of the day, Gabe Lloyd, Frankie Griffin and A.J. Krawczyk met at the quarterback and absolutely crunched him. Prior to the snap, Krawczyk lined up in the slot outside the left tackle and came shot out of a gun to blow up the running back blocking. All three men got tremendous push and dropped the pocket into the lap of Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb.

8. The Bobcats continued to implement a pre-snap motion from wideouts and running backs. In the second quarter, the Bobcats sent Hays in motion and snapped it right as he was crossing behind Williams, who proceeded to fake the handoff to Mays and then to the running back. After the fake, Hays continued his play action out into the flats, and was wide open. Williams had his eyes down field and missed him, it was a great schematic play. A play that made Gary Kubiak a head coach in the NFL I will add.

9. A few plays after that, on a third-and-one, Williams ran a QB sneak and was never touched down. He fell on a lineman and had the presence of mind to stand back up. This led to a big gain and a facemask to put the Bobcats within ten yards from scoring.

10. Gabe Schrade got his first catch of the season on a 4-yard shuffle pass in the second quarter. Nothing to write home about, but nice to see him get involved.

11. Head Coach Everett Withers teased about going for a fourth and one on his own 30-yard line with just over four minutes to go in the first half. He elected to call a timeout and punt instead, much to the relief of the fans in attendance. It was interesting nonetheless.

12. Caeveon Patton, a 285-pound freshman nose tackle, had an athletic pass break up near the end of the first half. He was dropping back into either a zone or a spy coverage and got his hands up to bat the ball down. Not something you see every day from a nose tackle.

13. Robert Brown Jr. had some explosive plays throughout the game. In the opening drive for the Bobcats in the third-quarter, Brown broke-off on a 22-yard gain. His second rush of 20+ yards on the night.

14. Mason Hays had himself a game. A relatively unknown wide-out for the Bobcats, was making plays all night. He had the diving touchdown reception and special teams tackle in the first half. He caught a big third-down reception in the third as well.

15. The Bobcats shot themselves in the foot in the third quarter. After taking the lead 17-10, the Bobcats committed two holding penalties on what would have been a 47-yard kickoff return.

16. One of the bigger plays of the night came on the first play of the fourth quarter. Williams scrambled out and threw to a crossing Elijah King who broke two tackles on his way to a 55-yard gain. That set up James Sherman’s second field goal of the night.

17. James Sherman was 2-3 on the night for the Bobcats. As easy as the average fan would think being a kicker is, it is a tough challenge to consistently hit. There were also two low snaps on kicks tonight, one of which led to his miss-which was of 40-yards.

18. A.J. Krawcyzk also had a hell of a game. His forced fumble on the one-yard line changed the game. He made the biggest play of the young season for the Bobcats. He finished the game with seven tackles and that forced fumble.

19. Speaking of, that fumble doesn’t happen if the Appalachian State running back does not get greedy and extend his arms to try and get the score. It was a great hit by Krawczyk, a right-place-right-time type of tackle.

20. Damian Williams showed up. 23-35(65%) for 260 yards a touchdown and a bad interception. Minus the interception, a very good game for him. This is what everyone has been waiting to see.

21. Hal Vinson was not talked about enough, but he came in on a spot start and lead the team in tackles with ten. Withers preached about the team depth after the game, citing Vinson as a key player tonight.

22. I mentioned on Party in the Pod this week that most teams do not open the playbook up until they begin conference play. The Bobcats did just that against the Mountaineers. I have already cited the play action and end around. Well, the Bobcats ran about seven plays from that same alignment and pre snap movement. Each play had the same initial movement, but disguised the actual play very well.

23. Everett Withers said after the game, “If we would have scored, I would have gone for two. No doubt. We want to win.” I loved that. I love an aggressive coach and players do too.

Well, that will do it for this week’s observations. The Bobcats almost pulled off the upset and will face UTSA next week at home for the I-35 Showdown.