Three takeaways from Texas State’s 38-7 home loss to Appalachian State

Texas State’s win streak was snapped on Saturday after losing to Appalachian State, 38-7, inside Bobcat Stadium. 

The Bobcats were outgained 468 yards to 218, but had to overcome a few absences during the match.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Willie Jones III injured, Tyler Vitt steps in

Texas State’s offense clicked from the start. Sophomore quarterback Willie Jones III completed his first two passes of the game to graduate senior tight end Keenen Brown and senior slot receiver Tyler Watts for 26 yards, setting up the Bobcats in solid field position on the Appalachian State 45-yard line.

Sophomore running back Robert Brown picked up a yard on first down and Jones found space to run on a quarterback keeper the next play, picking up 11 yards. But a big hit from sophomore defensive back Josh Thomas popped the ball out and injured Jones on the play. The Mountaineers came up with the recovery and Jones was sidelined for the rest of the game.

Tyler Vitt lined up behind center for the rest of the contest. The freshman quarterback finished the game going 17-28 for 106 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but the Bobcat offense struggled to move the chains. Texas State converted just 25 percent of its third downs.

“(Vitt) was ready to go,” head coach Everrett Withers said. “Again, you’ve got to be ready to go, step up and be the guy. Tough situation for him, tough situation for Willie. But injuries happen in the game and the next guy’s got to be ready to play.”

Bobcat defense can’t stop Zac Thomas

In his first game back since suffering a concussion on Oct. 25, Zac Thomas had his way on offense.

The sophomore quarterback carved up Texas State’s defense with 247 yards and two touchdowns on 25-36 passing, throwing to 10 different receivers. Thomas also slashed his way to 76 yards on the ground, two yards short of his career high. 

“It’s a matter of not handling the rushing lanes correctly,” Withers said. “We’ve struggled with that the last two weeks. It hurt us last week against Georgia State. It definitely hurt us against a good team this week. I thought we covered well tonight, for the most part. But you can’t let the quarterback beat you with his legs.”

Frankie Griffin, Nikolas Daniels fill in for Bryan London II

Junior inside linebacker Bryan London was suspended for the first half of the game after being called for targeting in last week’s win over Georgia State. In his stead were senior outside linebacker Frankie Griffin and junior inside linebacker Nikolas Daniels. 

Griffin made his presence known on App State’s first drive, sacking Thomas on second down for a loss of five yards. Daniels was everywhere on the field, pacing the Bobcats with 13 tackles and teamed up with junior linebacker Gavin Graham on a tackle for a loss in the fourth quarter.

London returned to the field in the second half and racked up seven tackles before the end of the fourth quarter, second-most behind Daniels. Griffin finished with six tackles and a sack.