Texas State shows growth in final scrimmage before spring game

Texas State wasn’t as competitive during Monday’s scrimmage as head coach Jake Spavital would’ve liked. 

The Bobcat head coach said the defense created havoc for the offense, constantly putting them behind the chains and in negative situations throughout the second scrimmage of the spring. 

But Spavital made it clear that the team did make improvements on Monday. 

“I think we’re playing football is the thing that I enjoy,” Spavital said. “We’re sustaining drives. We’re making it competitive. We’re starting to do more of these two-minute situations, put them in these four-down territories, where the play calls can be a little bit different on third downs, where we know that we’re going to go for it on fourth down.

“So, everyday we keep putting these kids in situations to improve. I think we’re becoming a smarter team. We’ve still got a ways to go.” 

On offense, Spavital said two wide receivers stood out on Monday — senior Mason Hays and redshirt freshman Jacoby Hopkins, who scored on a 75-yard pass. Texas State’s running backs also put together a good outing, Spavital said. 

Offensive coordinator Bob Stitt said the offense did some good things Monday but also had its negative moments. 

“It was a little bit tough getting our guys going early in the morning and having a few days off but once we got going we had some good things happening,” Stitt said. “The thing I was disappointed in was turning the ball over. We can’t do that to our defense. We have to give our credit to the defense in spring because they’re making some plays but we’ve got to be able to take care of the ball and some of that stuff is self-inflicted. Also, you want to be able to learn from this stuff now and not next fall in a game. So, we’ll learn from it.”

Defensive coordinator Zac Spavital said the defense’s execution was better during Monday’s scrimmage. 

“I thought there was improvement,” Zac Spavital said. “I thought the evolvement in our packages was better too. Effort has always been great. We haven’t had a problem with that since I’ve been here, so I’m fired up about that. That was consistent. But other than that I felt like we had 11 guys doing everything the right way, communication and things like that.” 

Wednesday marks the final practice before Texas State’s annual Maroon & Gold Spring Game on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Bobcat Stadium. The Bobcats look to have a strong practice before their Saturday showcase.  

“I told them today that this is the last week of practice that we’ve got to make the most out of everything,” Jake Spavital said. “So, this Wednesday practice coming up, I need people to respond to the practice (Monday) and we need some leadership and some accountability to step up. I think it’ll be interesting to see how they respond on Wednesday.” 

Added Stitt: “We want to come out of spring ball with a lot of confidence and it’s very important that we have a great practice Wednesday and clean that stuff up and then come out of Saturday night feeling like we've moved forward over the past five weeks.”