Replay of the first Bobcat football chat

A few notes on AJ Stewart (Men's BB transfer)

• Texas State was one of several schools pursuing the 6-foot-8 forward.
• The Bobcats, Kent State, Middle Tennessee State and Murray State were all going for Stewart.
• Stewart's original choice was Central Florida, but the school pulled out of the running late, leaving him up for grabs to the others.
• Texas State won out because new assistant coach Rob Flaska recruited Stewart out of high school and knew his old high school coach. Stewart liked what he saw on the official visit and called Bobcat head coach Doug Davalos the next day to accept the offer.
• Davalos on Stewart: "He's a shot blocker and inside-out player who has a nice touch and really attacks the basket. He's an athletic rebounder too, which in our league, he'll be a very versatile forward for us."
• Stewart will sit out a year and be eligible for Texas State in 2010-11.
• Check out Sunday's Daily Record for a deeper look at the recruiting of Stewart.

Inside the Trenches: The Battle for Center (VIDEO)

Texas State has two capable centers battling for the right to start Sept. 5. Jason Hannan (a transfer from Oklahoma) and Steve Kenney (sophomore from Pearland, Texas) have each had a solid fall camp.

Embedding doesn't show up too well on the blog, but visit this link for the video:

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/multimedia/local_story_238202323.html?keyword=topstory

Texas State holds its second fall scrimmage (VIDEO)

Notes from Texas State's second scrimmage

• Texas State's first-team offense didn't get many reps, as the second and third teams moved the ball well enough to stay on the field against the respective defenses.
• The Bobcats looked good on defense, with bandit Travis Houston and cornerback Will Thompson making big plays. Thompson delivered a huge hit on the far sideline early in the scrimmage.
• The battle for center (Jason Hannan and Stephen Kenney) and cornerback (Derek Lopez and Darryl Morris) continued.
• Hannan looked good with the first-team offense, while Kenney did his job with the second team. Neither were pushed too hard by opposing nose guards, but neither Garrett Hood or Ralston Dews broke into the backfield.
• Morris dropped a sure interception on the near side of the field after Da'Marcus Griggs bobbled a pass.
• Cedric Alexander reeled in a 50-yard touchdown pass late in the scrimmage after a nifty catch-and-run. He caught the ball across the middle and broke free down the right sideline and into the end zone.
• Ryan Batchelor booted three field goals, including a 49-yard rainmaker. Justin Garelick missed the same kick short and put an extra point off the uprights.

1-on-1 line drills highlighted Friday's afternoon practice (VIDEO)

Wright talks candidly about "The Knee"

Four years ago, Texas State was one win away from reaching the Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Bobcats and Northern Iowa Panthers had battled for 46 minutes, 33 seconds and were tied at 37.

Texas State had the ball at their own 25-yard line with 1:27 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats were led by senior quarterback Barrick Nealy and head coach David Bailiff.

Up to that point, Nealy had completed 15-of-24 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.

Texas State just needed 50 yards or so to get into field goal range for Stan Jones. Yet, the decision came from Bailiff to sit on the ball and run out the clock.

Only one coach disagreed with the decision and went against the grain — Brad Wright. The now Bobcat head coach was running backs and special teams coach at the time, but received no backing from his fellow assistants.

"I was the only one that spoke up and said we had to go for it," Wright said. "It was tough because no one else backed me. I knew why we did it, but we had to at least give our offense a fighting chance to win the game."

Bailiff chose to kneel the ball because he felt Texas State would have a better shot at winning the game in overtime. There was also a deeper reason.

"We ran the two-minute offense against our defense like twice a week for the whole season," Wright said. "Do you know how many times we scored against our defense? None. Never. We weren’t a two-minute offense. Barrick Nealy, for all of his strengths, was not a two-minute offense guy."

Yet, that didn't keep Wright from speaking up and trying to change the direction of the game — and possibly history.

"There were plenty of plays we could have run that don’t involve just handing the ball off to our running backs," Wright said. "We could run a reverse, a simple play that looks different but gets you yardage. A reverse isn’t a trick play to me and if all the sudden it gets seven or eight yards, hey, you’re in much better position.

"If you get stoned, well, then you have to rethink things. I’m not talking about running a triple reverse, double-pass play. You just run something that’s part of your offense that you don’t run all the time and like I said, then you assess after that."

The Bobcats ran out the clock and went to overtime, where they eventually lost 40-37. Bailiff left a season later for Rice University and Wright took over Texas State.

If Wright had been coach in 2005, things might have turned out differently.

"There’s ‘what ifs’ either way," Wright said. "You just have to do what your personality is. I would have gone for it."

Texas State's field goal defense shines Friday morning (VIDEO)

Texas State holds first workout in full pads (VIDEO)

Just a few notes...

• If you want a special video of anything for the video blog updates, don't hesitate to let me know in the comment section here or via e-mail to tmayforth@sanmarcosrecord.com.
• Texas State recently hired Eric Brand as the third and final assistant coach for the upcoming men's basketball season. Brand was an assistant coach at Tyler Junior College prior to the hire.
• The Bobcats don full pads for the first time at fall football practice today.
• Follow us on Twitter to get all your Texas State news immediately!

Old faces, new roles to help Texas State Bobcats (VIDEO)

Texas State prepares for upcoming season (VIDEO)

Texas State men's basketball notes...

• The Bobcats were selected to play in the Preseason National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in Tempe, Ariz.
• Texas State will play Arizona State in the first round.
• The Bobcats will play either Cal-State Northridge or TCU in the second round.
• Should Texas State win all of its games, it will head to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals.

Bobcat defensive back Drenard Williams to have shoulder surgery

There was some bad news to come out of Texas State's media day today.

The Bobcats learned defensive back Drenard Williams will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery Aug. 10. Williams started last season at cornerback for Texas State after transferring from Iowa State.

"As the summer wore on, it got looser and looser, and kept slipping out on him," Bobcat head coach Brad Wright said. "He could have maybe played through it, but who knows. He's doing what's best for him in the long run. We fully expect him to recover."

Derek Lopez and Darryl Morris are expected to compete for Williams' position this fall.

Texas State gives season ticket holders a sneak peek

Texas State held its annual season ticket pick-up event Saturday afternoon at the End Zone Complex. Fans were treated to tours of the newly renovated Bobcat Stadium.

Check out our story in the Daily Record today.