Coastal Carolina had much more to play for than Texas State on Saturday. The reigning Sun Belt co-champion was still contending to win the conference’s East Division and make a return trip to the championship game. It was also the Chanticleers’ last home game of the regular season and some of their seniors’ last contest at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.
The Bobcats, meanwhile, were coming off a Senior Day loss to Georgia Southern — the worst team in the East Division — that knocked them out of bowl eligibility. And when they played the league’s other co-champion, Louisiana, earlier this year, they suffered their first shutout since 2002, 45-0.
But Texas State refused to accept its fate as a massive underdog. The players’ heart and fight that head coach Jake Spavital regularly applauds still appeared, even given their circumstances. And for a brief moment, the team appeared to have Coastal Carolina in real trouble.
