Published: November 04, 2009 10:37 am      

College Football: Defensive Domination

State defense stepping up at the right time

San Marcos — Texas State is used to people talking about its defense.

Those folks might not be saying the most positive statements. But the comments were well-warranted. The Bobcats couldn't stop an opposing offense in the last two years — all they could do was contain it.

Texas State waited 18 games and 53 minutes of the 19th to finally put its defensive scheme into action. The Bobcats then used the momentum from the Northwestern State game in its 28-7 shellacking of Stephen F. Austin last Saturday.

“Only giving up two touchdowns at Northwestern State was big for our guys,” Texas State defensive coordinator Fred Bleil said. “We needed to play better in the open field and in space and we did pretty well. I could tell it was going to be a good day after we had a few good days at practice.”

Bleil dedicated those days to working on what his defense would see 50 times against the Lumberjacks — the pass.

“We try to allot certain amounts of time to the inside run, outside run, deep ball and short ball,” Bleil said. “We spent a small percentage of time working on the run.”

While SFA did rush for 151 yards on 31 carries, the Lumberjacks' prolific pass offense stalled. The Bobcats knocked around and rattled SFA quarterback Jeremy Moses.

Moses completed 29 of his 43 attempts for a meager (compared to his usual total) 244 yards and a touchdown. Texas State coerced Moses into throwing two interceptions — the first of which was caused by pressure from defensive ends Ron Jackson and Travis Houston.

The Bobcats' defensive line, which came alive in the last seven minutes of the game against the Demons, coerced Moses into several bad throws.

“A lot of credit from this win has to go to the defensive line,” Texas State head coach Brad Wright said. “We didn't blitz but a handful of times.”

Wright's last statement is a testament to the Bobcats' defensive line.

Texas State is usually forced to send its linebackers to finish the job the defensive line can't complete. The Bobcats, according to Bleil, only blitzed more than four defenders eight times out of 81 plays.

“They had been playing against a three-man line for the last three weeks, so we gave them a four-man rush because we wanted to get in those passing lanes,” Bleil said. “We didn't want to have a three-man front. We wanted to stop them from throwing the ball laterally.”

Texas State stopped SFA's bread-and-butter plays – the screen.

SFA only passed for an average of eight yards per completion. SFA wide receiver Graly Crawford reeled in the Lumberjacks' longest reception of the day (29-yard strike) when he raced across the middle of the field to set up the visitor's only touchdown.

Word dispersed quickly through the SLC about the Bobcats' success in stopping the Lumberjacks’ spread offense.

“I enjoyed watching how they attacked and defended SFA,” Central Arkansas head coach Clint Conque said. “They definitely developed a blueprint for other teams on how to stop them.”

Texas State travels to Conway, Ark., to play the Bears this Saturday.