Bobcats set to face rival Arkansas State, looking to end losing streak

Texas State looks to bounce back once again as it returns to San Marcos to battle Arkansas State.

Head coach Jake Spavital said the matchup will be interesting as both teams are dealing  with severe injuries leading to teams digging deep into their rosters to fill in the hole while using creative play calls to keep the other on their toes.

“It’s going to be pretty interesting considering the style of the offensive play,” Spavital said. “The defense is going to play pretty similarly with the play calls going to be changed based on protecting certain guys. Offensively, I think the personnel groupings and the formations that you are in. You are going to see a lot of tight end sets with spread sets, 12-man sets in the game with a 10-personnel set and it makes it difficult for defenses to call so they have to make it very simple, play very hard and be sound.”

For defensive coordinator Zac Spavital, Arkansas State’s offense seems to be shaking off the injury bug and expects a tough matchup, highlighting the number of close games both teams have lost this season.

“It looks like they are finally getting healthy,” Zac Spavital said. “They have had similar games like us where they lost a last -second game to Southern Miss, lost a couple of games early by one score here and there, had some quarterback issues but they are a good football team.”

The Red Wolves are led by quarterback James Blackman who leads the team in passing with 2,014 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Blackman’s favorite target has been tight end Seydou Traore who’s tallied a team-high 41 catches for 562 yards and four touchdowns.

As Zac Spavital explained, Texas State will face a different challenge compared to its previous four games as the Red Wolves offense focuses more on its passing game than its rushing attack.

“They rely on their explosive plays,” Zac Spavital said. “They have a different type of philosophy compared to the teams we have played for the last four weeks where they throw a lot to open up the run compared to running the ball to open up the pass…so we will get a good test from them.”

Another dynamic added to this year’s game is the addition of Layne Hatcher and Lincoln Pare who both transferred from Arkansas State during the offseason.

With such an unusual dynamic, Jake Spavital has refrained from talking to the two players about their upcoming opponent.

“I try not to talk too much about it to [Hatcher and Pare],” Spavital said. “Both of them are great kids and they have put a great impact on our program. They work extremely hard and they did the same thing at Arkansas State. They are good teammates and they are going to put the team first. It’s gotta be an awkward deal for them at times these are the times we are living in for college football.”

Even though both players still keep up with their former teammates, the game will still be interesting to watch.

“I know that [Arkansas State] are [Hatcher and Pare’s] boys and they talk to them all the time,” Jake Spavital said. “They haven’t been talking much and I try not to make it a distraction … They are tough kids and they are going to play it off like it doesn’t matter to them but I bet there are going to be a lot of butterflies considering they are going up against the guys you have played with for a while. It will be pretty interesting to watch it go down.”

This will be the 10th consecutive meeting between Texas State and Arkansas State which started when the Bobcats moved to the Sun Belt in 2013.

The Red Wolves lead the overall series 6-3 but the Bobcats have won two straight against Arkansas State in a pair of thrilling wins with the margin of victory a combined four points in the last two games.

Kickoff is at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium.