5 Things To Know: Training Camp Edition
Written by Brant Freeman on 7:53 AM
It’s that time of year again! We are 10 days away from the start of the
2016 football season, so now seems like an opportune time to start cranking out
the “5 Things To Know” column which I started last year. During the season, these columns will focus
on the opponents Texas State’s football team will be facing, but this week I’m
keeping the focus on the Bobcats themselves.
Training Camp has just about wrapped up, and the team is starting to take shape. On Wednesday, the Bobcats held their final scrimmage of camp. The team is holding a “mock game” on Saturday, however, the goals of camp have pretty much been met. The install of the playbook is in, and most of the roles have been assigned.
Training Camp has just about wrapped up, and the team is starting to take shape. On Wednesday, the Bobcats held their final scrimmage of camp. The team is holding a “mock game” on Saturday, however, the goals of camp have pretty much been met. The install of the playbook is in, and most of the roles have been assigned.
The last two and a half weeks have been dedicated to
self-improvement and separating the wheat from the chaff, so much so that Ohio
hasn’t really come up a whole lot. But that’s about to change. The Bobcats can finally start setting their
sights on, well, the Bobcats. We’ll get
to them next week. For now, let’s look
back at training camp and see where things stand for Head Coach Everett Withers and company.
1)
Tyler
Jones is the starting QB and could be in store for a special season
At his post-scrimmage media session on Wednesday, Coach Withers announced that Tyler Jones will be the Bobcats’ starting quarterback and deservedly so. Despite being pushed at times by newcomer
(and Missouri transfer) Eddie Printz, Jones has looked sharp throughout most of
camp and had one of his best days during the Wednesday scrimmage. TJ didn’t have a strong finish to his junior
season, and with the new coaching staff coming in, his job was far from safe
heading into the spring. Yet, he’s
continued to prove that he’s up to the challenge and continues to win the respect
of his coaches and teammates-- the latter of which voted him as one of the team
captains on Wednesday.
As noted above, Jones did struggle towards the end of the
2015 season, but to be fair the same can be said about the team as a whole, and
we’ve all seen what TJ is capable of when he’s at the top of
his game. That of course is a clip
from Jones’ 470 total yard, 5 touchdown day against Southern Miss from last
season, one of the greatest single game performances ever for a Texas State
quarterback. I don’t know if we’ll see
12 of those in 2016 but I think fans should be optimistic about the chances of
seeing some games like the one Jones had against those Golden Eagles from a
year ago.
First consider his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
coach, Brett
Elliott. At James Madison last year,
Elliott served as Coach Withers’ co-offensive coordinator and QB coach and
helped mold Vad Lee into arguably the best quarterback in the FCS. Lee led the FCS in total offense (375 yards
per game) and in completion percentage (68.3%) and was named as not only the
Colonial Athletic Association’s Offensive Player of the Year, but also as the
best college football player in the state of Virginia.
Prior to that, Coach Elliott was the Offensive Quality Control coach at Mississippi State where he worked with Dak Prescott who blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks in the FBS, breaking 10 school records in 2014, Coach Elliott’s final season with the Bulldogs. The guy knows his quarterbacks, and now he gets to work with Jones who’s preparing to embark on his senior season. Speaking of which…
Prior to that, Coach Elliott was the Offensive Quality Control coach at Mississippi State where he worked with Dak Prescott who blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks in the FBS, breaking 10 school records in 2014, Coach Elliott’s final season with the Bulldogs. The guy knows his quarterbacks, and now he gets to work with Jones who’s preparing to embark on his senior season. Speaking of which…
There’s been a pretty solid track record of Bobcat
quarterbacks having stellar seasons as seniors wearing the maroon &
gold. Take a look at the last three
Texas State signal callers who served as the primary starters during their
senior years.
QB (Year)
|
Comp %
|
Pass Yds
|
TD/INT
|
Eff Rating
|
Rush Yds
|
Rush TD
|
Barrick Nealy (2005)
|
57.5%
|
2,875
|
21/7
|
139.5
|
1,057
|
13
|
Bradley George (2009)
|
63.1%
|
3,121
|
23/11
|
140.4
|
26
|
0
|
Shaun Rutherford (2012)
|
64.5%
|
2,137
|
15/5
|
137.8
|
597
|
5
|
A few takeaways from that chart: 1) Nealy’s 3,932 total yards and 34 total
touchdowns in 2005 are school records. 2) George averaged 286 yards of offense
in 2009 which is also a school record. 3) Rutherford’s completion percentage in
2012 is the 2nd best in school history behind Jones’ 65.4% in 2014.
4) George didn’t run a lot. 5) Those pass efficiency ratings rank as the 5th,
7th and 8th best in the history of Bobcat football.
It goes without saying that a senior year should be a player’s best let alone a
quarterback but if anything, that should make you even more excited about TJ this year.
We’ve seen some great football from him and more could be on the way.
2)
Who
else will have the ball in their hands this season?
Good question. Consider
the skill position players the Bobcats are having to replace: Robert Lowe and
Chris Nutall at running back, Brandon Smith, Jafus Gaines and C.J. Best at wide
receiver and Lawrence White and Ryan Carden at tight end. That’s over 8,000 total yards and 60
touchdowns worth of offense from their careers that’s now gone.
Even if the Bobcats had a wealth of returning backs and receivers, there’s no telling what roles they would have with a new coaching staff. What the staff has had to work with is a mix of newcomers and returning players who were either redshirted last year or had minimal in-game experience. That led to a lot of shrugging of the shoulders by yours truly when asked who the playmakers would be on this year’s team.
Even if the Bobcats had a wealth of returning backs and receivers, there’s no telling what roles they would have with a new coaching staff. What the staff has had to work with is a mix of newcomers and returning players who were either redshirted last year or had minimal in-game experience. That led to a lot of shrugging of the shoulders by yours truly when asked who the playmakers would be on this year’s team.
Now that training camp is essentially over, the picture
of “what will this team look like” is now a lot clearer. Based on what I’ve observed, here’s a rough-draft
look at the offensive skill position depth chart heading into next week’s
season opener.
1st Team
Quarterback: Tyler Jones
Running Back: Stedman
Mayberry
Wide Receiver: Elijah
King, Tyler
Watts, P.J.
Anderson/Eric
Luna
Tight End: Gabe
Schrade
2nd Team
Quarterback: Eddie
Printz
Running Back: Jericho
Worrell/Tyler
Tutt
Wide Receiver: Fred
Nixon, Thurman
Morbley, L.G.
Williams
Tight End: Chris
French
3rd Team
Quarterback: Connor
White
Running Back: Tyler
Siudzinski
Wide Receiver: Mason
Hays, Kolby
Kolek, Austin
Krawczyk
Tight End: Jeff
Banks/Inoke
Langi
A few notes here: this is in no way set in stone, and
there have been a lot of moving parts throughout camp. Several of the “2nd and 3rd
team” players listed above have run with the 1st team offense in
camp. In fact, it’s probably more
appropriate to list this as 1st Team-A, 1st Team-B and 2nd
Team. I could easily see that group of 2nd
team receivers getting ample playing time this season and the same goes for Siudzinski
at running back. Siudzinski has the most
game experience of all the running backs, and let’s not forget he
torched Idaho for 170 yards in the Kibbie Dome last year.
Two of the best players in camp have been Mayberry and Worrell. Mayberry had trouble getting playing time
behind the likes of Lowe, Nutall and Terrance Franks the past couple of seasons,
but with an open competition for the starting job this time around, he’s taken
full advantage of the opportunity. Mayberry,
who Coach Withers has called the team’s most explosive running back, seemed to
separate himself from the pack early on in training camp and never let up.
Meanwhile, Worrell has been one of the best stories of
camp. A walk-on transfer from Allan
Hancock CC, Worrell caught the attention of the coaching staff with his energy
and enthusiasm and has proven he’s got some talent to go along with that fire. Worrell has gotten some time working with the
first team offense and ripped off a long touchdown run during the Bobcats’
final scrimmage of camp on Wednesday.
As for Tutt, the true freshman will be a factor in Texas
State’s backfield as well. Tutt was one
of the most highly touted players in Texas State’s signing class this past
February and was an absolute
monster at Keller High School. He’s
also had some impressive moments at training camp and could be an offensive
fixture for years to come.
With him, Mayberry, Siudzinski and Worrell, the running
back position, which was a question mark heading into camp, is now one of Texas
State’s deepest on the roster.
3)
Okay,
but who’s blocking for them?
Also a good question.
Coach Withers has talked a lot about the team lacking enough “2s”, and I
get the sense he’s referring to the offensive line more than any other
position. The Bobcats lost Adrian
Bellard, Zach Crawford and Brandon Sarabia to graduation. Several other offensive linemen left the
program over the offseason. The coaching
staff has had to convert a couple of defensive linemen to the offensive line
just to have bodies. This is simply not
a deep unit.
However, one of Texas State’s best overall players is at
the premium LT position: Ryan
Melton. Guard Felix
Romero is back from injury (torn ACL in the conference opener last year)
and has proven to be a special player when healthy. Giuliano
Cattaneo started eight games last season despite battling injuries of his
own and will start at center. At the
other tackle and guard positions, it appears starting duties will be held by
sophomore Tryston
Mizerak and redshirt freshman Jacob
Rowland respectively.
Beyond those five players, the offensive line is a mixed
bag. Of all the positions Texas State
can ill afford injury to this year, it’s this one. Whatever lucky charm you have, keep it with
you at all times.
4)
What
will the defense look like in 2016?
The easy answer is: a lot different. Putting aside personnel for a moment, simply
seeing Texas State line up in the 3-4 will be a drastic change. I’ve been covering Bobcat Football since 2003,
and this will be the first time I’ve seen a Bobcat team run the 3-4
defense. It’s not exactly a stat that
can be tracked, but I’m curious if the program has ever run it.
First-year defensive coordinator Randall
McCray ran the 3-4 at Gardner-Webb. In three seasons, his teams had a
penchant for stopping the run and getting off the field--two things Texas
State’s defense struggled to do last year.
Gardner-Webb held opponents to under 100 yards rushing 13 times in
McCray’s three seasons. This past year, the Bulldogs had the third best 3rd
down defense in the FCS, yielding just a 25.9% success rate to their
opponents. Last year, the Bobcats
surrendered 259 yards rushing per game (7th most in the FBS) and a
49.1% 3rd down success rate (5th highest in the FBS).
McCray is here to help clean that up, and Bobcat fans should feel confident that he can. When he first arrived at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldogs had the most improved defense in the country in 2013, going from the 101st ranked defense to 5th in his first season.
McCray is here to help clean that up, and Bobcat fans should feel confident that he can. When he first arrived at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldogs had the most improved defense in the country in 2013, going from the 101st ranked defense to 5th in his first season.
Fans wanting to see more turnovers forced by the defense
should also feel good in knowing that in Coach Withers’ last eight seasons of
coaching, his teams had a total of 122 interceptions. That comes out to 15 per
season. Texas State had just three picks
all of last season, so imagine what 12 more of those could do for a
defense.
As for the players, the “moving parts” mentioned in the
offense above applies here as well. On
the defensive line, Dallas
McClarty will be the team’s starting nose tackle (one of the most important
positions in a 3-4 defense), Jordan Mittie will line up at one of the two
starting defensive end spots and you could see a mix of Dean
Taylor and Ishmael
Davis at the other end position.
At OLB we saw some shuffling of the deck throughout camp. Towards the end of camp, a lot of first team
reps were going to Easy
Anyama and Gavin
Graham with Kumonde
Hines, Teron
Fitzgerald and Karee’
Berry in the mix for the back-up spots.
Frankie
Griffin started camp as one of the starters but has been dealing with a
concussion. Coach Withers mentioned in
his post-scrimmage media session just how impressed he’s been by Graham and
Hines, both true freshmen.
On the topic of 1st year Bobcats, Gabe
Loyd, a junior college transfer, has made an immediate impact on the team
both on and off the field per Coach Withers.
He’s a lock to start at inside linebacker for Texas State and could wind
up as being the Bobcats’ best player on the defensive side of the ball this
season. Opposite of him at the other ILB
spot will likely be Bryan
London, a redshirt freshman from Converse.
In Texas State’s secondary, the 1st team
cornerbacks appear to be Brandon
McDowell and Clarence
Guidry while the safety spots will feature Javante
O’Roy and either Damani
Alexcee or Stephan
Johnson as starters. The starting 11
on defense has a mixture of experience (McClarty, McDowell, Alexcee) and new
blood (Loyd, Graham, London), so it’ll be interesting to see how it comes
together. The 2nd and 3rd
string units have been harder to identify, so again, depth could be an issue.
However, if the starters stay healthy, Texas State’s defense has a chance to be
a difference maker this season.
5)
Texas
State’s Special Teams Unit Could Be A Big Strength In 2016
Field position is always pivotal, and while the offense
and defense certainly play a role in that, special teams is just as
important. Texas State has weapons at
its disposal on special teams to win those field position battles in
punter/kickoff specialist Lumi
Kaba and McDowell as a returner.
Coach Withers has noted that McDowell will not only return punts this
season, but will also likely add kickoff return duties to his job
description.
Kaba finished 2nd in the Sun Belt last season,
averaging 44.3 yards per punt. He had 20 punts of 50 yards or more while also
pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line 19 times. Even in a tough defensive season like the one
Texas State had last year, the numbers show just how crucial it is to make an opponent
“work” for its points. Bobcat opponents
scored 35% of the time when their drives started from their own 20-yard line or
further back, but that number skyrocketed to 50% when starting a drive with
less real estate. Kaba, named preseason
2nd team all-Sun Belt, has the leg to make teams work (and he can
run too!).
McDowell meanwhile has proven
to be a great
return man. His ability to create field
position for the offense will be just as crucial as Kaba’s ability to help the
defense. When the Bobcats started from
their own 35-yard line or closer last year they scored 54% of the time. If they started behind the 35-yard line, that
figure plummeted to 25%. McDowell and
Kaba aren’t by any means the only ones responsible for field position but they
play important roles. Also of note
regarding special teams is that Tyler Watts will also get opportunities to return
kickoffs and redshirt freshman Marcus Ripley will be the Bobcats’ place
kicker.
While those are the five biggest things you should know
this week, I’d like to bullet point a few other things before I wrap up the
column:
-
Texas State could possibly make it through the
season without wearing the same uniform combo twice. Tweaks were made from last year’s uniform set
(and I’m not sure all of the team’s unis were included in that vine) and as you can
see, there’s a lot of different looks the Bobcats could sport this
year. Personally, I like the white
helmet, maroon jersey, white pant look for home games and the white helmet,
white jersey, maroon pant look for road games.
-
The team will also have two
different sets of gloves to choose from this year.
-
The athletic year itself is already underway and
off to a great start as Texas State Soccer is 2-0 after posting impressive wins
over Lamar and Prairie View A&M. Both
wins were by 2-nil scores featuring four different goal scorers and an
advantage in shots of 53-8. BTW, the
last time Texas State started 2-0, the Bobcats won a conference title.
-
The Texas State Volleyball season starts this
Friday at the North Texas Tournament in Denton and the Bobcats will face Ohio
State in the opener. The home opener is
this coming Tuesday against Baylor. No
one ever accused Coach Chisum of putting together soft schedules and this year
is no different.
-
The first Coach Withers Radio Show is this
coming Wednesday at 7:30 at Chimy’s in downtown San Marcos. Once again, the radio show along with game
broadcasts can be heard on our flagship station AM 1300 The Zone (Austin) or on
affiliate stations 930 AM (San Antonio) and 89.9 KTSW (San Marcos, game
broadcasts only, not the coaches show). To
listen online click
here.
That’s all I’ve got for this week, next week’s it’s on to
Ohio! Eat ‘Em Up!
- Brant Freeman
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