Killer redzone and penalty problems

My keys to the game
Continue last week’s balance
Continue the last two week’s running game
Limit Sam Houston’s runs to short yardage
Force Sam Houston to beat us by passing
Score more than 21

• We weren’t balanced.
• We couldn’t run the ball. We had 2 runs of 7+ yards. They were 7 and 8 yards.
• They had 8 runs of 7+ yards
• They only had to attempt 17 passes. They completed less than 50% of those.
• We didn’t score 21.

Not very good on what I thought we’d need to be good at, and we still had a chance to tie it at the end. I thought Nathan should have pulled it down and run for the first down. I know it’s 4th down and running is risky, but he’d scrambled away from pressure and certainly appeared to have plenty of room in front of him – especially since he had already passed the line of scrimmage.

Backing up a bit, the sidelines finally got pumped up when Bobo ran for 53 yards and TJ cracked back on the Bearkat defender. I really felt like we were going to take that momentum and force overtime.

Instead we get down to the 11, lose four yards on first down and then get a personal foul penalty from our senior offensive lineman to make it 2nd and 29. Nathan then throws up a prayer on 3rd and the same that’s picked off in the endzone.

That was just one example of killer redzone mistakes. Backing up a bit more, we have a 3rd and 5 with the ball on the 10 and snap the ball prematurely to Nathan while he and all of the receivers are looking back at the coaches checking on a play update. Results in a field goal.

Two mental mistakes. Two interceptions. One fumbled punt return. And we still found ourselves with a first down on the 24 down just seven points. Four incompletions later and that’s the ballgame. The team that looked nearly unstoppable on offense last week eeked out 180 yards through the first three quarters. The defense stepped it, made the stops and gave us a chance. It just didn’t happen.

I originally stopped here, but I feel like I should ramble on. . . I know we gave up the 92-yard opening drive for a touchdown, but after that, the longest scoring drive for SHSU was 51 yards. That’s it. They scored three times after taking over with superb field position. Both SHSU field goals followed two of our turnovers. Heck, they had just 277 total yards and 1/3 of those yards came on a single touchdown drive.

Huge first half and Bears cruise

A collection of stories following Saturday’s 49-17 win over Texas State in San Marcos.
Bears declaw Bobcats in plowing to 49-17 victory

“This is a team (Texas State) that is probably headed to the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) and this might be our last trip to San Marcos, so we wanted to make in a memorable one,” UCA coach Clint Conque said.

College Football: Bears maul State

What happens when both the offense and defense don’t decide to show up? You get a result like Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.
. . .
“It’s a terrible feeling to have them run it like they were,” Texas State senior linebacker Marcus Clark said. “It’s not like they were passing it over our heads. They were running it down our throats.”
. . .
With the defense regressing to its colander-like form, it was on the offense to turn a possible rout into a shootout. That wasn’t going to happen with the way redshirt sophomore quarterback Tim Hawkins played in the first half.

Hawkins looked timid in the pocket and took off for greener pastures even before the offensive line collapsed. He rushed for 53 yards in the first half but didn’t complete a pass and tossed two interceptions.

Texas State falls to Central Arkansas

When a team allows its opponent to score the first six times it touches the ball, and the team’s quarterback can’t complete his first pass until 18 seconds into the third quarter, bad things are bound to happen.
. . .
The Golden Bears entered Bobcat Stadium with chips on their shoulders . Texas State’s 2008 SLC championship, recognized on their home turf, is a sore spot with Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque.

In 2008, though the Golden Bears had the best record in the SLC and beat the Bobcats, the SLC ruled that they would not be eligible for the title because they were still under a standard probationary period for moving from Division II to Division I and using players who had not qualified at that level, and thus were ineligible for the automatic playoff bid.

“Let’s be clear. This 2008 championship — they were awarded that championship,” Conque said.

Wow. I don’t know if that was a quote from Saturday or if that’s an old one they pulled out from Conque. I also don’t know where he got Golden Bears from.