FSU fans,
The top half of this thread is for people who are interested in learning about Texas State. I tried to keep it short and interesting. The bottom of the thread has information about what you should expect to see from our team on Saturday. I'll be following up with some questions that we have regarding the game day experience in Tallahassee.
Thanks!
University History
• Established in 1899 as a teacher’s college, throughout most of its history it functioned as a teacher’s college and still graduates more teachers than any other university in Texas
• Only school in Texas to have graduated a US president, LBJ (1930), he later returned to sign the Higher Education Act of 1965 in old Strahan Coliseum
• Fall 2015 enrollment will be just under 38,000 students making it the 4th largest University in Texas (behind UT, A&M, and Houston); 2nd most applied to University in Texas (behind UT)
• Name changed in 2003 from Southwest Texas State University to Texas State University; at one point in time, several universities (Texas Tech, Texas A&M, University of Houston, University of North Texas) have unsuccessfully fought for the Texas State name…getting the name changed was a huge step in changing the reputation of the directional, regional school "SWT" into a state-wide brand, both academically and athletically
• Texas State is located halfway between Austin and San Antonio in San Marcos, Texas; being located 30 mins from the 7th largest and 11th largest cities in the US, both which are growing quickly and highly desirable for jobs/relocation, should provide Texas State a great place to grow
Football History
• Been playing football since 1904, with an 503-421-26 (.543) all-time record
• Athletic programs adopted the Bobcat mascot in 1920 (they finished 7-0 in 1920)
• Back-to-back NCAA Division-II National Championships (1981 & 1982) under coach Jim Wacker (also coached at TCU & Minnesota)
• Moved up from FCS in 2012 and into the WAC conference; moved again to the Sun Belt in 2013
• Despite a 6-6 record in 2013 and 7-5 record in 2014, TXST has been left out of a bowl the past 2 seasons due to Sun Belt tie-in bowls selecting geographically closer teams (of whom TXST beat head-to-head and/or had a better record/conf record)
• Beautiful Bobcat Stadium re-opened in 2012 after a major renovation and a 30,000 seat capacity (33,000 with temp bleachers); this really is one of the nicest G5 stadiums in the country – definitely not a metal seat erector set (like FIU & FAU); the stadium is built and the plan is in place to increase capacity to 45,000, including a 3rd deck and more suites on the east side
Campus
• Using primarily Spanish Colonial architecture, Texas State has one of the best looking campus in Texas; built right on the Balcones Escarpment means that the campus sits up on a hill overlooking San Marcos
• Old Main (below), built in 1903 still houses the offices for the School of Journalism
• The San Marcos Springs create the San Marcos River which flows through the middle of campus; similar in beautify and water clarity to Blue Spring and Silver Springs for you Florida guys, it provides really good kayaking and tubing and is lined throughout campus with Sewell Park which is probably the best Co-ed watching spot in the country (TXST is known for being “talent” friendly)
San Marcos Springs
Sewell Park
2015 Football Team
In short, Dennis Franchione will bring a well-coached and prepared team to Tallahassee. The offense is led by Junior QB #2 Tyler Jones. As an incoming Junior, he has already started 19 games going back to his true freshman year. He threw for 2,670 yds, 22 tds, 7 ints, and 65.7 compl% last year. He also ran for 539 yds. Although not a breakaway runner, he has a great ability to pull the ball on the zone read and wiggle through the defense for 6-7 yards. By all reports, he had a very impressive off-season (gaining 20-25 lbs) of muscle, and has had a lot more zip on his ball in camp.
TXST returns two Senior running backs, Robert Lowe #28 and Chris Nutall #30. Lowe isn’t a very big or flashy running back but he is solid. He’s an Emmitt Smith-type runner -- stays behind his pads, patient and follows blocks, avoids big collisions, and not great breakaway speed. Nutall sat out last season due to academic suspension. He is a Maurice Jones-Drew-type runner – small and squaty, quick enough to get around the corner and squaty enough to run through arm tackles.
The receiving core is a mix of older experienced guys and more talented younger guys. No one receiver will stand out but I’d keep an eye on #9 CJ Best and #1 Lawrence White. Best is a former running back with great frontline speed. Look for him to get jet sweeps and screen/bubbles. White is a 6’7 tight end who will likely be Jones’ target in the red zone.
Offensive Coordinator Mike Schultz will run a spread, no-huddle, quick snap offense. Unlike most other offense with that description, TXST runs a lot more option and 2/3 back formations. Zone, zone read, draws, triple option are the primary running plays.
The defense lost two draft picks from last year (3rd round CB Craig Mager to Chargers and 5th round LB Mayo to Panthers). There are a lot of unknown’s at DE and LB but the size and athleticism is better than it has been, just lacking experience. CB David Mims was voted the Pre-Season Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year.
Defensive Coordinator John Thompson will bring pressure from multiple fronts. I’d expect him to be aggressive in trying to get negative plays on 1st and 2nd down.
Special teams are a complete mystery. We lost a really good kicker/punter in Will Johnson (Houston Texans). If I expected this game to be close, I’d worry about our kickers.
The top half of this thread is for people who are interested in learning about Texas State. I tried to keep it short and interesting. The bottom of the thread has information about what you should expect to see from our team on Saturday. I'll be following up with some questions that we have regarding the game day experience in Tallahassee.
Thanks!
University History
• Established in 1899 as a teacher’s college, throughout most of its history it functioned as a teacher’s college and still graduates more teachers than any other university in Texas
• Only school in Texas to have graduated a US president, LBJ (1930), he later returned to sign the Higher Education Act of 1965 in old Strahan Coliseum
• Fall 2015 enrollment will be just under 38,000 students making it the 4th largest University in Texas (behind UT, A&M, and Houston); 2nd most applied to University in Texas (behind UT)
• Name changed in 2003 from Southwest Texas State University to Texas State University; at one point in time, several universities (Texas Tech, Texas A&M, University of Houston, University of North Texas) have unsuccessfully fought for the Texas State name…getting the name changed was a huge step in changing the reputation of the directional, regional school "SWT" into a state-wide brand, both academically and athletically
• Texas State is located halfway between Austin and San Antonio in San Marcos, Texas; being located 30 mins from the 7th largest and 11th largest cities in the US, both which are growing quickly and highly desirable for jobs/relocation, should provide Texas State a great place to grow
Football History
• Been playing football since 1904, with an 503-421-26 (.543) all-time record
• Athletic programs adopted the Bobcat mascot in 1920 (they finished 7-0 in 1920)
• Back-to-back NCAA Division-II National Championships (1981 & 1982) under coach Jim Wacker (also coached at TCU & Minnesota)
• Moved up from FCS in 2012 and into the WAC conference; moved again to the Sun Belt in 2013
• Despite a 6-6 record in 2013 and 7-5 record in 2014, TXST has been left out of a bowl the past 2 seasons due to Sun Belt tie-in bowls selecting geographically closer teams (of whom TXST beat head-to-head and/or had a better record/conf record)
• Beautiful Bobcat Stadium re-opened in 2012 after a major renovation and a 30,000 seat capacity (33,000 with temp bleachers); this really is one of the nicest G5 stadiums in the country – definitely not a metal seat erector set (like FIU & FAU); the stadium is built and the plan is in place to increase capacity to 45,000, including a 3rd deck and more suites on the east side
Campus
• Using primarily Spanish Colonial architecture, Texas State has one of the best looking campus in Texas; built right on the Balcones Escarpment means that the campus sits up on a hill overlooking San Marcos
• Old Main (below), built in 1903 still houses the offices for the School of Journalism
• The San Marcos Springs create the San Marcos River which flows through the middle of campus; similar in beautify and water clarity to Blue Spring and Silver Springs for you Florida guys, it provides really good kayaking and tubing and is lined throughout campus with Sewell Park which is probably the best Co-ed watching spot in the country (TXST is known for being “talent” friendly)
San Marcos Springs
Sewell Park
2015 Football Team
In short, Dennis Franchione will bring a well-coached and prepared team to Tallahassee. The offense is led by Junior QB #2 Tyler Jones. As an incoming Junior, he has already started 19 games going back to his true freshman year. He threw for 2,670 yds, 22 tds, 7 ints, and 65.7 compl% last year. He also ran for 539 yds. Although not a breakaway runner, he has a great ability to pull the ball on the zone read and wiggle through the defense for 6-7 yards. By all reports, he had a very impressive off-season (gaining 20-25 lbs) of muscle, and has had a lot more zip on his ball in camp.
TXST returns two Senior running backs, Robert Lowe #28 and Chris Nutall #30. Lowe isn’t a very big or flashy running back but he is solid. He’s an Emmitt Smith-type runner -- stays behind his pads, patient and follows blocks, avoids big collisions, and not great breakaway speed. Nutall sat out last season due to academic suspension. He is a Maurice Jones-Drew-type runner – small and squaty, quick enough to get around the corner and squaty enough to run through arm tackles.
The receiving core is a mix of older experienced guys and more talented younger guys. No one receiver will stand out but I’d keep an eye on #9 CJ Best and #1 Lawrence White. Best is a former running back with great frontline speed. Look for him to get jet sweeps and screen/bubbles. White is a 6’7 tight end who will likely be Jones’ target in the red zone.
Offensive Coordinator Mike Schultz will run a spread, no-huddle, quick snap offense. Unlike most other offense with that description, TXST runs a lot more option and 2/3 back formations. Zone, zone read, draws, triple option are the primary running plays.
The defense lost two draft picks from last year (3rd round CB Craig Mager to Chargers and 5th round LB Mayo to Panthers). There are a lot of unknown’s at DE and LB but the size and athleticism is better than it has been, just lacking experience. CB David Mims was voted the Pre-Season Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year.
Defensive Coordinator John Thompson will bring pressure from multiple fronts. I’d expect him to be aggressive in trying to get negative plays on 1st and 2nd down.
Special teams are a complete mystery. We lost a really good kicker/punter in Will Johnson (Houston Texans). If I expected this game to be close, I’d worry about our kickers.
