2007 Texas State Football Preview
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Since being named Texas State’s 15th head football coach at the beginning of the year, Brad Wright and the Bobcat coaching staff have inked their first signing class and the ’Cats went through their first series of spring drills with a new staff. Now, attention turns to Wright’s first season at the helm.
Prior to being named head coach, Wright had served as assistant head coach and running backs coach at Texas State for three seasons. He also coordinated the special teams units for the Bobcats. No other Southland Conference team won more league games over that span of time than Texas State. In the last three years, the Bobcats are 11-6 (.647) in Southland Conference games.
This year, Texas State returns 44 lettermen including eight starters on offense and five on defense. And while this year’s team as a whole has gained a year of experience and maturity, the core of the group is still young. Listed among the 44 returners are just 14 seniors.
The following is an overview of Texas State’s offense, defense and special teams as the Bobcats prepare for a 2007 campaign which opens Sept. 1 when the squad plays host to nationally-ranked Cal Poly.
Offense
A season ago, responsibility fell on a fairly new crop of Bobcats when it came to Texas State’s offensive unit. Gone from a year prior were many of the play makers at the skill positions who helped lead Texas State to its best season playing Division I football. But now, a group of formerly inexperienced players return to anchor an offense, which led the Southland Conference in total yards (351.6) as well as passing offense (201.4) in 2006.
Among 18 returning lettermen are eight starters from the 2006 season including five at skill positions including quarterback Bradley George, running back Stan Zwinggi, fullback Blake Burton and receiver Morris Crosby who all have at least two years of eligibility remaining. The Bobcats also have four offensive linemen returning with experience.
“We were really young last year and played a lot of young guys in crucial positions,” said Texas State co-offensive coordinator Travis Bush who had been the wide receivers coach at Texas State the past three seasons. When Wright was elevated to head coach earlier in the year, Bush was promoted to associate head coach and is also the Bobcats’ co-offensive coordinator.
“I think last season we saw a lot of people grow up, especially at the offensive skills positions,” he said. “We feel pretty good coming out of spring because we have the same guys we had from last year. They are a year older, a year better from being in our system and more mature.”
Lack of game experience was a hindrance last season. This year, Texas State returns its leading rusher and passer as well as seven of its top eight receivers.
Zwinggi led Texas State with 735 yards rushing. He scored three rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.6 yards a carry. Also returning is sophomore Alvin Canady. Last year as a red-shirt freshman, Canady rushed for 233 yards, third-most on the team, and scored one touchdown on the ground while averaging 5.3 yards a play. The San Marcos product was also a major threat out of the backfield to catch the ball and led running backs with 14 receptions for 229 yards and two touchdowns.
“The goal of every team in the Southland Conference is to run the ball better than anyone else in the league,” Bush said. “To do that, we feel we have to be a little more multiple offensively. We will do some things which will hopefully make our running game more explosive. Hopefully the multiplicity of our offense will also limit blitzes from opponents.”
Texas State will run the same schemes it has utilized in the recent past but with some new wrinkles.
George is one of the players Bush alluded to as gaining a year of experience in 2006. Last year as a red-shirt freshman, George completed 124-of-233 passes for 1,676 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“To run the ball better, we will also have to be balanced,” Bush said. “We have to have a threat with the passing game. Our goal is to use one phase of the game to open up the other.”
Last year’s playing experience has also allowed George to become more in sync with a talented corps of returning receivers led by Crosby who caught 25 passes for 391 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Tyrone Scott was slowed by an injury but still caught 15 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. And from the tight end position, Galen Dunk caught 18 passes for 138 yards as a red-shirt freshman.
Ahead of Texas State’s skill players are three offensive linemen with experience as starters including senior guards Matt Jenkins and Crawford May as well as senior tackle Adrian Dayse. As a red-shirt freshman last year, Calvin Gore also received playing experience and is expected to figure in to the Bobcats’ starting lineup at tackle.
That just leaves the center position as a major question mark. Departed seniors Buck Koalenz and Ryne Miller handled the center chores for the past three seasons. Filling the void could solidify the Bobcats’ offensive front.
Alex Luna took snaps with the No. 1 offense during the spring while red-shirt freshman Taylor Haese returns this fall after being sidelined much of the spring with an injury.
Defense
While Texas State moves to a unique, 43 defensive package, the Bobcat coaching staff believes that it already has the personnel in the fold which can make the system work.
The package will have the Bobcats still playing with an aggressiveness fans have become accustomed to while utilizing a secondary in a way which limits big plays. Last year, 14 of the 29 offensive touchdowns Texas State’s defense gave up covered 30 or more yards.
“When Coach (David) Bailiff and (defensive coordinator Craig) Naivar were here and I saw this team play, they played with a certain kind of tenacity. Turnovers and sacks were always a focus of those teams,” said Texas State’s new co-defensive coordinator Casey Horny. “We’re not changing how we ask our kids to play. What we want to bring to the table is to try to be a little more sound on the back end. We want to have a sound secondary and not give up explosive plays. Nowadays, offenses are geared toward getting yards in chunks rather than three yards and a cloud of dust.”
Secondly, the Bobcats will still provide pressure defensively but Horny said the squad is not going to sellout with its pressure.
“We are not going to take chances and leave a guy on an island,” he said. “We are going to give those secondary guys as much help as we can while also trying to stop the run. I think we will play a little more man defense but man with help rather than being a true zone team.”
As for personnel, the Bobcats return three starters on the defensive line and have a pair of defensive backs with starting experience. The Bobcats however have now lost solid back-to-back classes of graduating linebackers and lose six secondary players who started at one point or another in 2006.
Now it is a matter of players who have been a part of the program one, two or three years moving into new roles as starters or at least players expected to contribute more on the field. The hybrid position in the defense is the rover linebacker position. Look for converted safeties Chase Pulliam and Ric Palmer (who was granted a medical red-shirt for 2006) to occupy the position.
“It is not different personnel, rather where you put them,” Horny said. “The rover is a linebacker plus a cover guy who will be in the box and can play the run but can also be a guy that can cover. I have been impressed with the personnel we have. We have the guys here now who can do it. We don’t have to recruit and wait in order to get the personnel we need.”
Defensively, Texas State returns three-year starters Nick Clark and Nate Langford at defensive end as well as nose guard Ramel Borner who stepped into the Bobcat starting lineup last year as a junior after seeing significant playing time since his freshman season. Cornerback Jervoress Crenshaw and safety Daniel Varvel also started in 2006 and return this fall for their senior seasons.
Special Teams
Texas State returns all of its specialists from a season ago.
Senior punter Chris MacDonald averaged 43.39 yards last season to rank ninth nationally.
Underclassmen Kyle Bronson and Andrew Ireland combined to handle the place kicking responsibilities. Bronson started the year and made 2-of-4 field goal attempts. Ireland earned the starting spot midway through the year and booted 10-of-11 field goals. He was perfect from 40 yards in and was also perfect on 23 extra point tries in leading the team with 53 points.
Josh Barton helps solidify both kicking responsibilities as Texas State’s returning deep snapper.
One area of special teams’ play Texas State will look to improve on is its punt returns. The Bobcats averaged 4.1 yards per return last year to rank among the bottom 10 in the country. Texas State returned 18 punts last season with returning receiver Morris Crosby accounting for 13 returns (6.0 yards per return).
Texas State’s kickoff return numbers were average when it comes to the national rankings. Returning running back Stan Zwinggi had a team-high 14 returns for a 22.2 yard average. His numbers ranked him among the nation’s top 40 returners.