By Tyler Mayforth
Daily Record Sports
San Marcos —
Brad Wright is a simple man.
Wright, who enters his fourth season as Texas State head coach, doesn’t ask for much out of his team. In season, Wright obviously expects wins, but outside of the realm of weekly games, he just wants two things — effort and accountability.
So when the Bobcats returned from spring break for their first practice Tuesday afternoon, it was easy to see why Wright was perturbed.
His players weren’t exerting themselves to the same degree as they were before the break. Offensive linemen weren’t sealing off their blocks, linebackers didn’t finish their tackles and the running backs took their time hitting open holes.
“This is a disadvantage of holding spring practice early,” Wright said. “Last year, we got all four weeks in before spring break, but this year, two weeks on and then one week on. Today, it looked like we’d taken a week off.”
Wright wasn’t the only one noticing the change in Texas State’s demeanor.
“Some of us probably had a little too good of a spring break,” Bobcats wide receiver Da’Marcus Griggs said. “It didn’t take too long for us to shake out of it though. Getting hit can get you back into it pretty quickly.”
Texas State picked up the intensity as practice wore on and it looked a little bit like football. The Bobcats need the tempo to be at its highest as they prepare for the Maroon and Gold spring game set for Saturday night at 6:45 p.m.
In the days leading up to and in the game itself, Wright and his coaching staff are still looking to fill one major hole. Texas State is still waiting for a quarterback to assert himself as the man to beat.
“They have to step up,” Wright said. “The main thing we’re asking our quarterbacks to do is to just not hurts us. We need to make them understand that they don’t need to go out there and make a play every time the ball is snapped, but get the ball to where it needs to be.”
The Bobcats practice today and tomorrow before taking to Bobcat Stadium Saturday night for the spring game.
