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I-AA West: Serious Championship Contenders
Kent Schmidt, I-AA.org West Columnist
Two years ago, no one in their right mind would have considered the Texas State Bobcats championship caliber.
Even Bobcat Head Coach David Bailiff didn’t believe it before the season started.
He said, “We knew we had some talent but to think we were one of the four best teams in the country was past our expectations coming into the season.”
The Bobcats, after all, had posted only three winning seasons in 22 years and had never won a Southland Conference title. Last year, the Bobcats finished just 5-6 but actually had a chance at the Southland title with a win against Sam Houston State.
Texas State had not seen the postseason since 1983, their last year in the Division II ranks.
This year, the Bobcats are one of four teams still playing and have a share of the Southland title for the first time ever. And fans of the school are showing up in record number. Last week, 15,411 fans saw the Bobcats advance to the I-AA semifinals with the semi-final game already at a sell-out number as well. Two prior Bobcat Stadium crowds have been larger, but neither had capacity rules like those set forth in the NCAA post-season playoffs.
Three playoff juggernauts in their opponents, Northern Iowa, Appalachian State and Furman in the other semi-final game join Texas State.
While some may consider Texas State a Cinderella amongst the four finalists, this team is not playing like playoff newcomers and has as good a chance as any of the other teams to win the I-AA title.
Who did the Bobcats defeat to get to the semi-final round?
The Bobcats defeated Cal Poly 14-7 last Saturday to set up the semi-final matchup against Northern Iowa. While Texas State dominated the game statically against the Mustangs, they squandered many chances to blowout the game.
Texas State blew three chances with turnovers and missed field goals in the first half. Two trips to the redzone resulted in no points and one other long field goal went wide.
Texas State, which lost at Cal Poly 38-21 last season, dominated nearly every aspect of the second meeting between the two schools.
"That's the best football team we have faced,” said Cal Poly Coach Rich Ellerson after the game.
The Bobcats ran 92 offensive plays for 467 yards of total offense. The Mustangs were limited to 50 plays and 263 yards of offense.
Texas State tallied 32 first downs, converting 9 of 18 third-and fourth-down attempts. Cal Poly managed just 15 first downs after going 2 of 10 on third-down opportunities.
Douglas Sherman rushed for a career-high 125 yards and one score as the Bobcats leading offensive performer.
Texas State Payton finalist quarterback Barrick Nealy threw for 211 yards on 18-of-33 passing, and Markee White caught eight of Nealy's 18 connections for 76 yards, including a five-yard grab in the game's final minute to cement the seven-point win.
"That was our lowest output of the year because of what they do defensively," said Bailiff. "We could move the ball but we couldn't get in the red zone. But this is the sweetest 14 points I've ever had in my coaching career."
What is unique about Texas State?
Texas State has one of the largest student bodies of any I-AA school. At 27,151 students, the San Marcos school actually rivals many I-A schools in size. In fact, Texas State has a larger student body than the nearby Big 12’s Baylor, Nebraska, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State.
Texas State is actually the sixth largest university in the state of Texas, behind Texas-Austin, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Houston, and North Texas.
Texas State is located in San Marcos, Texas, which is 31 miles southwest of Austin and 49 miles northeast of San Antonio. San Marcos is just over 40,000 in population and can boast that a US president (Lyndon Baines Johnson) attended its university.
Texas State won two Division II national titles in 1981 and 1982. Their coach during these two titles was legendary coach Jim Wacker. The late Wacker proceeded on to I-A prominence in guiding Texas Christian and Minnesota. Current Head Coach Bailiff was a player under Wacker in his last two playing years in 1979 and 1980. Wacker later became the athletic director at Texas State in 1998 until his death two years ago. The Bobcats home stadium is Bobcat Stadium but the field name is named in honor of their legendary coach and athletic director, Jim Wacker Field.
"We have the spirit of Jim Wacker,” said Coach Bailiff. “He installed the value for education before that was in style. That is something that we prioritized here as well."
Who is the semi-final opponent for Texas State?
The Bobcats will get another home game as a result of Northern Iowa’s upset at #1 seeded New Hampshire. The #4 seeded Bobcats will host the Panthers this Friday night in San Marcos.
This will be the two teams third meeting all-time. The two teams had a home-and-home series in 1993 and 1994 with the teams winning at their homes each of those games. Northern Iowa won the first meeting in 1993 34-13 and Texas State won the 1994 meeting 20-19.
More details on this game will follow in the “game of the week” segment of the column.
While the Bobcats won’t be considered a I-AA power yet, they very well could get that nomenclature with a win this Friday against Northern Iowa and give the school a trip to Chattanooga next week.
* * *
I-AA West Playoff Game of the Week
Northern Iowa (10-3) @ #4 Texas State (11-2)
Kent Schmidt, I-AA.org West Columnist
Two years ago, no one in their right mind would have considered the Texas State Bobcats championship caliber.
Even Bobcat Head Coach David Bailiff didn’t believe it before the season started.
He said, “We knew we had some talent but to think we were one of the four best teams in the country was past our expectations coming into the season.”
The Bobcats, after all, had posted only three winning seasons in 22 years and had never won a Southland Conference title. Last year, the Bobcats finished just 5-6 but actually had a chance at the Southland title with a win against Sam Houston State.
Texas State had not seen the postseason since 1983, their last year in the Division II ranks.
This year, the Bobcats are one of four teams still playing and have a share of the Southland title for the first time ever. And fans of the school are showing up in record number. Last week, 15,411 fans saw the Bobcats advance to the I-AA semifinals with the semi-final game already at a sell-out number as well. Two prior Bobcat Stadium crowds have been larger, but neither had capacity rules like those set forth in the NCAA post-season playoffs.
Three playoff juggernauts in their opponents, Northern Iowa, Appalachian State and Furman in the other semi-final game join Texas State.
While some may consider Texas State a Cinderella amongst the four finalists, this team is not playing like playoff newcomers and has as good a chance as any of the other teams to win the I-AA title.
Who did the Bobcats defeat to get to the semi-final round?
The Bobcats defeated Cal Poly 14-7 last Saturday to set up the semi-final matchup against Northern Iowa. While Texas State dominated the game statically against the Mustangs, they squandered many chances to blowout the game.
Texas State blew three chances with turnovers and missed field goals in the first half. Two trips to the redzone resulted in no points and one other long field goal went wide.
Texas State, which lost at Cal Poly 38-21 last season, dominated nearly every aspect of the second meeting between the two schools.
"That's the best football team we have faced,” said Cal Poly Coach Rich Ellerson after the game.
The Bobcats ran 92 offensive plays for 467 yards of total offense. The Mustangs were limited to 50 plays and 263 yards of offense.
Texas State tallied 32 first downs, converting 9 of 18 third-and fourth-down attempts. Cal Poly managed just 15 first downs after going 2 of 10 on third-down opportunities.
Douglas Sherman rushed for a career-high 125 yards and one score as the Bobcats leading offensive performer.
Texas State Payton finalist quarterback Barrick Nealy threw for 211 yards on 18-of-33 passing, and Markee White caught eight of Nealy's 18 connections for 76 yards, including a five-yard grab in the game's final minute to cement the seven-point win.
"That was our lowest output of the year because of what they do defensively," said Bailiff. "We could move the ball but we couldn't get in the red zone. But this is the sweetest 14 points I've ever had in my coaching career."
What is unique about Texas State?
Texas State has one of the largest student bodies of any I-AA school. At 27,151 students, the San Marcos school actually rivals many I-A schools in size. In fact, Texas State has a larger student body than the nearby Big 12’s Baylor, Nebraska, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State.
Texas State is actually the sixth largest university in the state of Texas, behind Texas-Austin, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Houston, and North Texas.
Texas State is located in San Marcos, Texas, which is 31 miles southwest of Austin and 49 miles northeast of San Antonio. San Marcos is just over 40,000 in population and can boast that a US president (Lyndon Baines Johnson) attended its university.
Texas State won two Division II national titles in 1981 and 1982. Their coach during these two titles was legendary coach Jim Wacker. The late Wacker proceeded on to I-A prominence in guiding Texas Christian and Minnesota. Current Head Coach Bailiff was a player under Wacker in his last two playing years in 1979 and 1980. Wacker later became the athletic director at Texas State in 1998 until his death two years ago. The Bobcats home stadium is Bobcat Stadium but the field name is named in honor of their legendary coach and athletic director, Jim Wacker Field.
"We have the spirit of Jim Wacker,” said Coach Bailiff. “He installed the value for education before that was in style. That is something that we prioritized here as well."
Who is the semi-final opponent for Texas State?
The Bobcats will get another home game as a result of Northern Iowa’s upset at #1 seeded New Hampshire. The #4 seeded Bobcats will host the Panthers this Friday night in San Marcos.
This will be the two teams third meeting all-time. The two teams had a home-and-home series in 1993 and 1994 with the teams winning at their homes each of those games. Northern Iowa won the first meeting in 1993 34-13 and Texas State won the 1994 meeting 20-19.
More details on this game will follow in the “game of the week” segment of the column.
While the Bobcats won’t be considered a I-AA power yet, they very well could get that nomenclature with a win this Friday against Northern Iowa and give the school a trip to Chattanooga next week.
* * *
I-AA West Playoff Game of the Week
Northern Iowa (10-3) @ #4 Texas State (11-2)
