Bobcats enjoy challenge
Players happy to have the experience despite big defeat.
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — The environment at Florida State on Saturday night was quite a change for Texas State. The noise from more than 80,000 fans. An opponent that has won three national titles during the past 23 years, including one just two seasons ago.
This was not the Bobcats’ Sun Belt Conference. This was the top tier of college football.
Texas State played a fundamentally sound game — few penalties and no turnovers until the game was out of hand. Still, Florida State, the 10th-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, beat the Bobcats 59-16 at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“I think our guys have been fired up a long time to get the opportunity to come play here and take the challenge,” Bobcats coach Dennis Franchione said after the loss. “I think guys we recruit want to have the chance to play in these games. So, I think there’s some positives in that regard to playing in a game like this. ... Plus, we got a nice payday, I guess.”
The game presented a rare opportunity for Texas State (0-1), which has been an FBS Division I team for only a few years. Florida State (1-0) is the highest-ranked FBS team the Bobcats have faced and only the fourth ranked FBS team they have met.
The most prominent game for Texas State’s future schedule is at Arkansas next year. So, while this might not have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it might be a chance a four-year player only gets once.
Bobcats safety Demetrius Woodard called the atmosphere great “if you love the game of football.”
“We’re trying to take our program to the top,” said Woodard, who had five solo tackles and a sack. “Playing quality opponents like that, I feel like it will help us in different aspects of our program. We’ve got film against them, a quality opponent that has top NFL prospects, so we can use that film to get better.”
A 14-10 game midway through the second quarter ended up as Texas State’s worst defeat in three seasons. But the Bobcats were happy with the way they performed on their biggest stage to date. They handled the atmosphere well and were simply beaten by a stronger, faster team.
“You kind of really shut it out,” quarterback Tyler Jones said of the atmosphere. “You just focus on what you are doing. It was loud; we were doing our silent cadence. I didn’t really notice when they were doing their chants. You really didn’t notice when the band was playing. If you focus and do what you’re supposed to do, I think everything else takes care of itself.”
The Bobcats’ scoring came from James Sherman’s 26-yard field goal, a 4-yard touchdown run by Chris Nutall and a 4-yard TD catch by Chris French.