Three and Out - Week Six

(1) It looked like the mess we tried to stir up over Twitter with Nicholls not packing the paddle might have worked. I can't take complete credit but every little bit helps and I like to think we contributed to the uproar. About 15,000 fans on Saturday asked, "Where's our paddle?" as the final seconds bled off the game clock. The specific oar in question was left in the Louisiana backwoods on questionable grounds by the Colonel's athletic director. The Loud Crowd packed a spare and several fans brought their own to the drubbing.

As far as the game went, I think Shaun Rutherford is getting the hang of this spread option, I was pleasantly surprised by the seven sacks by the Bobcat defense, and I really love blocked punts and extra points. The fake FG was completely unexpected, as Will Johnson has been so money on field goals this year. Shaun had four incompletions, three TD's, and one interception in twelve passing attempts.

In the past two games he's a combined 18-28 for an even 350 yards with seven touchdown and two interceptions. I don't share the warm fuzzies with the Bobcats' offense that I have for their defense, but I am done arguing about who the quarterback should be.

I wonder if Mike Sherman knew Michael Ebbitt was even on the roster at Texas A&M. Ebbitt had four of Texas State's seven sacks on Saturday and accounts for a third of the Bobcats season total to date. Fran (and new football Operations Director Mike Groce) recruited him once out of California and now a second time when they brought him over from College Station. He's been an unexpected bonus for Naivar's defense.

McNeese State, Texas State's next opponent, broke up a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter to preserve a win at Northwestern, their seventh in a row against the Demons. Riley Dodge did not play for the Cowboys and he is questionable for this week's game versus the Bobcats. Dodge, the hard luck QB transfer from North Texas and former Southlake Carroll star, has seen way more than his share of injuries in his collegiate career. He's been sharing snaps with sophomore Cody Stroud and took a monster hit from a Southeastern defender the week before.


(2) I'm not much of a Cowboys fan, or an Aggie fan either. Either way, I saw two of the biggest second half collapses I can remember over the weekend. I haven't seen a pro team choke a lead away since I was a teenager and Frank Reich led the Bills back over the Oilers. At 27-3, I was ready to leave the bar and go home.

I had the canine side of my family in town to go watch the game versus Arkansas at Jerryworld, so I went to wait for them at a nearby bar and thought it was over at 35-17. Well, the bar had the official Razorback watching party going on and not even 628 yards of offense by the Ags shut them up or held their team down. I thought it would be funny to have the contingent that went to the game meet me there. They were not amused when the red-clad Hog fans started chanting "S-E-C! S-E-C!" at them upon their entrance. I'll remember that for next time.

Speaking of Aggies and conference realignment, this is what I've been hearing lately. Texas wants to go to ten, the Oklahoma schools want to go to 12, and Big 12 interim commish Chuck Neinas is pushing to expand and solidify now. He'll probably win. The candidates look to be BYU, Louisville, and in a major surprise, the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University. My source was at their loss to SMU Saturday. Missouri is not expected to bolt by many people. Their blood feud with Kansas (the "Border War") as a conference rivalry is too important to leave behind and they are satisfied with the new deal to equally share first and second tier TV money in the Big 12.

What does this mean for Texas State? I'll try to be brief in breaking this down.

The Big East needs more teams than just throwing in Temple. Look for them to raid C-USA and possibly the MAC to replenish their ranks. The resulting chaos will cause C-USA to come after the Sunbelt, the WAC, or possibly the MWC. All cards are on the table at this point as the MWC will probably try for 12 and a title game in an arms match with C-USA. C-USA will almost certainly win, by the way, because they'll have Neinas' support and their commissioner will be next in line for the Big 12 job. Keep in mind the Sun Belt will probably be hit to replace Temple by a school like Western Kentucky by the MAC. There's going to be holes to fill everywhere and it looks like matters are going to be driven by market size. One last thing to keep in mind is that Texas State needs the WAC more than it needs them; which is an incredible fact considering the circumstances. I don't think the conference is going to get nailed as hard as some other people do.

I have it on pretty good authority that they're all in this together for now, but the Bobcats' neighbors to the south are much more aggressive regarding their future home. Both schools have applied informally to C-USA, the MWC, and the Sun Belt. I found out this morning that UTSA was one of the 20 that applied to the Big 12. In the meantime, let's just hope everyone at the non-AQ level doesn't get crazy and start building mega-leagues. I don't care what you read, C-USA isn't going to disappear and I doubt the Big East will either. Texas State needs the WAC to be operational for June 2012 or the Bobcats have no guarantees of joining an FBS league.

(3)Around the Top 25:

Oklahoma 31, Texas 21

LSU 24, Florida 7

Arkansas 44, Auburn 34

Around the state:

Rice 34, Memphis 0

Texas Tech 45, Texas A&M 42

Baylor 31, Iowa State 10

San Diego State 28, TCU 24

Florida Atlantic 16, North Texas 10

Houston 37, East Carolina 33

Around the WAC:

Boise State 48, Fresno State 20

UNLV 24, Nevada 13

LA Tech 21, Idaho 17

Utah State 25, Wyoming 24

BYU 44, San Jose State 15