Bobcats continue to learn amidst best start since 2005

The Bobcats were back on the gridiron after their exciting 50-36 win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles as Texas State entered the week with the best start to a season since joining FBS and first 4-1 start since the legendary 2005 season.

Despite Texas State historic start, Head Coach G.J. Kinne continues to emphasize that he is not satisfied.

“That’s the thing about us,” Kinne said. “We are still so young with this team and this coaching staff. Every day and every meeting is important for us. We have to continue to be better. We can’t be satisfied with winning a couple of games. That’s not the goal we set for ourselves.”

After the Bobcats slow start against Nevada, the lead-up heading into Texas State’s first conference game was focused on not having a slow start.

Needless to say, Texas State passed with flying colors out-scoring Southern Miss 42-10 in the first half.

“The emphasis coming into last week was starting fast,” Kinne said. “Obviously you couldn’t have started any faster than we did with the kickoff return and the interception. … I thought everything was as good as it could go in the first half.”

But in the reverse of their game against Nevada, the second half saw Southern Miss score 26 unanswered points as the Golden Eagles made it a one possession game trailing 42-36.

Though the Bobcats put away Southern Miss with two fourth down stops by the defense and a 14-yard rushing touchdown from Malik Hornsby.

“The second half was just one of them weird deals,” Kinne said. “You’re up by that many points, you knew you had a big time opponent coming up, we have a long season ahead of us and we are already banged up a little bit. But the halftime speech was ‘Hey this game is not over, we have to go out there and keep scoring’. It’s hard.”

With the Bobcats dealing with some injuries, including the absence of three team captains, Texas State is going through a state of transition.

“Going back to the Nevada game, you are talking about getting up for a team that is 0-3,” Kinne said. “You can tell them all they want and motivate them but at the same time you need those leaders to step up and finish things out. When we didn’t have those guys in there and that type of stuff, I think it just naturally happens that way.”

One of the team captains, quarterback T.J. Finley noted that even though some of the captains are injured, they are still leaders off the field and touched on the fact everyone needs to step up during this time.

“Those guys are doing a hell of a job being vocal on the sidelines,” Finley said. “What I talked to the offense about is having individual leaders in each position group. We need a running back to step up and be a leader in the running back room, we need another offensive lineman in the o-line room to voice their opinion. It’s just the small things like that. You don’t need to be a captain to be a leader. Just step into a role where you are needed and fulfilling those roles is very important to us moving forward.”

Despite juggling the team’s health, Kinne noted that the Bobcats will ready when Texas State goes on the road against Louisiana.

“We probably weren’t aggressive enough as we usually are because we are trying to keep guys healthy,” Kinne said. “It is what it is. We felt like the lead was in hand. Obviously we won and that’s the most important thing. If us being ahead by that many points and worrying about teams coming back is my biggest problem, I promise I’ll be alright. I can handle that next time.”

Kickoff for Texas State-Louisiana is for 2:30 Saturday afternoon broadcasting on ESPNU.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc