Texas State decided to leave the FCS and make the jump up to the FBS in 2012. After spending the 2011 season as an FCS Independent, Texas State joined the FBS in 2012 and spent the season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Bobcats finished with a record of 4-8 in 2012. The conference did not sponsor football following the 2012 season, which prompted Texas State to join the Sun Belt for 2013. Here is a closer look at the 2013 season.
2013 Texas State Bobcats Season
Texas State had a decent season in 2013. They opened 2-0 after defeating Southern Miss and FCS Prairie View A&M. Next, they went on the road to Texas Tech and lost easily, 33-7. They defeated Wyoming 42-21 to start the season 3-1 before facing their first conference foe. They lost to both of the Louisiana's, Lafayette (48-24) and Monroe (21-14). The Bobcats won the next three against Georgia State, South Alabama, and Idaho to get to 6-3. Things went downhill after that as they lost their final three and their closest loss was by 14 points. Given how the season started, it almost feels like a failure that Texas State did not get to a bowl game in 2013. The entire schedule is below.
Offense
The offense was subpar in 2013. They averaged 23.9 points and 326 yards per game and now eight starters return. Tyler Arndt started 2013 as the quarterback, but was quickly replaced by true freshman Tyler Jones. For the year, Jones had 1,130 yards (62.5%), 8 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. He also had 257 yards rushing. With a year under his belt, Jones should be much better in 2014 and improve on the 155 passing yards per game from last year.
At running back is Robert Lowe. Lowe ran for 945 yards and 9 touchdowns after starting the final 10 games. He took over from Chris Nutall, who had 477 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2013. Quarterback Tyler Jones was the third leading rusher (257 yards) and Terrence Franks finished fourth with 201 yards and two touchdowns. The unit returns intact and they will probably do better than the 172 yards per game they averaged in 2013.
The receiving unit is a mixed bag. They return their leading receiver in tight end Bradley Miller after he finished with 24 receptions and 311 yards in 2013. However, the second and third leading receivers are gone. Those two were Andy Erickson (27 catches for 273 yards) and Isaiah Battle (27 catches, 259 yards, and 2 touchdowns). The top returning wide receiver is Brandon Smith and he finished with 22 catches for 241 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ben Ijah also contributed last year with 16 catches for 207 yards and 1 touchdown. Ijah, Smith, and Miller are projected to start in 2014. Junior college transfer CJ Best is also expected to contend for a starting spot. This group may have growing pains, but could excel if Tyler Jones is on point to start the year.
The strength of the offense will be on the line. Four of the five starters return and they boast 91 career starts. Leading the way will be center Charlie Will Tuttle. Will Tuttle has started 29 games over the last three years. Filling out the rest of the line will be Ryan Melton (right tackle), Matt Freeman (right guard), Felix Romero (left guard), and Adrian Bellard (left tackle). This unit should help both the run and passing game improve on their numbers from last year.
Defense
The defense is a concern for Texas State in 2014 with only four starters returning. In 2013, the defense had eight returning starters and improved dramatically from 2012. In 2012, the Bobcats gave up an average of 33.5 points and 485 yards a game. By comparison, the Bobcats gave up 27.3 points and 397 yards per game in 2013.
The entire defensive line will need to be replaced, which means the strongest unit 2013 becomes the weakest in 2014. This group is filled with junior college transfers, 10 of them to be exact. Marcus Dallas, Dondre Elvoid, Dallas McClarty, and Roosevelt Pearson are expected to be the starters. Those four have a total of 11 tackles in their careers at Texas State. This group will need to get to know the defense in a hurry and will drop way down in the rushing stats categories.
Only two linebackers will be present in the 4-2-5 system and both are returning starters. Michael Orakpo, the brother of the Washington Redskins' Brian Orakpo, will anchor the linebacking group. In two years at Colorado State, Orakpo had 11 starts and recorded 124 tackles. After transferring to Texas State, Orakpo finished with 71 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 5.5 tackles-for-loss. He was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference 2nd team for his efforts. Joining him at linebacker will be David Mayo. Mayo 89 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, and 4 interceptions in 2013. He too was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference 2nd team. This group will be the leaders on defense and will be expected to help out the front four, especially early in the season.
Five defensive backs will be featured for the Bobcats, but only two of them will be returning starters. Craig Mager will be one of the cornerbacks after having 49 tackles and 9 pass breakups in 2013. Mager has started every game for the past three years. The other returning starter is Colby Targun at one of the safety spots. Targun finished with 54 tackle and 1 interception last year. Two former junior college transfers Demetrius Woodard and Donta Clanton will look to get a large amount of playing time. This unit will struggle to stay in line with last year's passing defense of 249 yards per game.
Special Teams
Special teams will feature two veteran players in seniors Jason Dann at kicker and Will Johnson at punter. Dann started his career at Nebraska, but came to Texas State starting with the 2011 season. He was 9 for 10 last year with a long of 43 yards. Johnson had 44 yards per punt with a net average of 38.3 yards. Johnson also had kicking duties in 2012 and the start of 2013, but lost the job due to missing his first 5 attempts last year. Brandon Smith returned two kickoffs for touchdown in 2013 and will probably see action as the punt returner as well. This unit should do well in 2014.
2014 Season Outlook
It is a mixed bag for Dennis Franchione in 2014. The offense should do better in 2014, but the defense is young and inexperienced. That inexperience could hurt the Bobcats and prevent them from getting to a bowl game. In addition, the schedule may work against them. The 2014 schedule is below.
They start off with FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which should be a victory. However, the games against Navy, Illinois, and Tulsa could all ended up as losses, especially with a young defense. They can beat Idaho, but the two Louisiana teams look tough again this year. They do have more winnable games against New Mexico State, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State. Texas State will probably need one upset during the year to get to their first bowl game, but do not count them out.