Mittie’s switch to tackle improves defense
Texas State defensive tackle Jordan Mittie has a knack for following orders from his coaches.
Recruited as a linebacker out of Aledo High School by former Bobcats coach Dennis Franchione, Mittie redshirted as a freshman in 2015.
That ended up being Franchione’s final season at Texas State, and when current coach Everett Withers came to town, he took one look at Mittie and saw a defensive lineman.
Mittie didn’t bat an eye at the position switch, something Withers equates to his upbringing. His father, Jeff Mittie, coaches the women’s basketball team at Kansas State.
“You can tell he’s a coach’s son,” Withers on his weekly radio show. “When the coach asks him to do something, he tries to do it to the best of his ability.”
Mittie started all 12 games in 2016, recording 31 tackles, including three for loss and half a sack.
He even played nose guard when the Bobcats were shorthanded despite being undersized for the position at 235 pounds.
“The adjustments were mostly just physical,” Mittie said on the coach’s radio show. “Coming from linebacker, I already knew most of the defense.
“For me, it was mostly learning the techniques that went into defensive line.”
After bulking up to 270 pounds in the offseason, Mittie now starts at tackle in the Bobcats’ 3-4 defense, which uses an end and a tackle on the edges and a nose guard over center.
He has eight tackles and a sack and has knocked down a pass in two starts heading into Saturday night’s home game against Appalachian State, the teams’ Sun Belt Conference opener.
Mittie has played an integral role in Texas State’s revamped front seven.
The Bobcats rank ninth nationally in total team sacks with eight, and they rank 20th in rushing defense, allowing just 75 yards per game. Texas State (1-1) also leads the Sun Belt in both categories.
“We’re able to hold our ground and we’re able to make some plays up front in the run game,” Withers said. “That’s helped us a lot to get teams into third-andlong, and Jordan has been a big part of that.”
Volleyball: Bobcats junior middle blocker Madison Daigle was named the Sun Belt defensive player of the week. Over a five-match stretch, Daigle had 34 blocks and nine digs.
The Bobcats finished second at the Creeds & Crest Classic in San Marcos last week, going 3-1 with a five-set victory over UT-San Antonio (0-8), a five-set loss to SMU (6-3) and three-set sweeps of UMass-Lowell (3-6) and Houston Baptist (7-2).
The Bobcats improved to 8-3 with a four-set victory over Stephen F. Austin (112) on Tuesday.
They traveled to Waco to begin play Friday in a tournament with Baylor, UT-San Antonio and St. John’s.