Grading the Bobcats vs. Northern Colorado

Texas State won its first non-conference road game in six years after beating Northern Colorado 38-35. It wasn't a pretty win for the Bobcats, but a win nonetheless. Before looking forward to Southern Utah, we must look back at the game that was.

Here's the Daily Record's report card for Texas State vs. UNCO:

Quarterback - B-

• Clint Toon played well enough for the Bobcats to win. Toon completed 18-of-36 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown. He also was intercepted once on a bad read in the end zone. The pick came at the end of the half and his gaffe cost the Bobcats six points.
  

Running backs - A

• Both Stan Zwinggi and Alvin Canady had big games in place of Karrington Bush, who sat the bench due to inconsistency. Zwinggi rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Canady scored twice. Canady also caught a touchdown to tie the game at 7-all. His second touchdown run put Texas State ahead 35-28.

Wide receivers - C

• With the exception of Canady out of the backfield and Cameron Luke, the receivers weren't anything special against the Bears. Many of Toon's incompletions came off dropped passes, which cannot happen at the FCS level. The Bobcats had three completions of more than 20 yards, but should have had more if the balls Toon threw were caught.

Offensive line - B

• Texas State's offensive line was able to pave the way for 180 yards on the ground, 116 of which came from the legs of Zwinggi. The Bobcats created holes for the backs when needed and gave Toon protection to make his reads. Several times, the pocket broke down, forcing Toon on the run. Toon was sacked twice in the game and the line needs to be sure to account for all blitzers or at least recognize it coming.

Defensive line - B

• Texas State's defensive line overcame a slow start to have a big game. After UNCO broke an 80-yard touchdown run right through the middle, the Bobcats' line dug deep. Travis Houston, Wellington DeShield, Ray Parker and Freddy Paige each recorded a tackle for a loss. DeShield and Paige each sacked Bear quarterback Bryan Waggener once.

Linebackers - A

• Courtney Smith, Marcus Clark and Joe Bell each played huge for the Bobcats in the 38-35 win. Smith was named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording 11 tackles, an interception and a sack. Clark tallied four tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss and Bell returned an interception for a touchdown.

Secondary - D-

• The lone saving grace from giving the Bobcat secondary a failing grade was Morris Crosby's interception off a tipped pass. For the second straight week, Texas State was torched through the air. The Bobcats gave up 392 yards passing, including two long touchdown passes. Texas State needs more consistent play out of its safeties and as of right now, it's not happening. Drenard Williams was lucky his spearing penalty didn't cost his team a win.

Special Teams - B

• Solid day out of both Andrew Ireland and Ben Follis. Ireland split the uprights with the potential game-winner and Follis averaged 40.3 yards per punt. The Bobcats need to straighten out their punt return team, as E.J. LeBlanc had nowhere to go. When he did, he chose to backtrack, rather than go straight. LeBlanc finished with three returns for five yards.