October 5th, 2009
Bobcats fall, 38-16, at Southern Utah

STAFF REPORT

Texas State hoped to settle a score Saturday at Southern Utah, which came to San Marcos last year and hung a 34-20 loss on the homestanding Bobcats.

Unlike last year, though, Southern Utah (SUU) entered Saturday’s game with a much more impressive offense. Furthermore, the game was at Cedar City, UT, and the Bobcats couldn’t overcome mistakes.

So, SUU piled up a 38-16 win, improving to 2-3, while the Bobcats fell to 2-2 entering their Southland Conference opener Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana at Bobcat Stadium (2 p.m.).

The Southern Utah game shaped up as a shootout between two high-powered offenses, and it started out that way. Each offense marched down the field for a touchdown on its first possession. After SUU scored a touchdown on its second possession, Texas State appeared poised to match that effort. But disaster struck the Bobcats.

Texas State drove 61 yards to Southern Utah’s 21 before Da’Marcus Griggs fumbled after catching a five-yard pass from Bradley George. The Bobcats got the ball right back when linebacker Joe Bell recovered a fumble by quarterback Cade Cooper at the Southern Utah 44, only to suffer an even worse twist.

The Bobcats drove the ball down the field to first-and-goal from the two. However, Alvaro Garcia fumbled as he tried to reach across the goal line. Akeem Anifowoshe recovered for Southern Utah and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown that put the home team ahead, 21-7.

The Bobcats couldn’t recover from that 14-point swing against them. After Texas State was forced to punt when its next drive stalled at its own 46-yard line, SUU’s Ryan Griffith closed out the scoring in the first half with a 42-yard field goal to make the score 24-7 at halftime.

Southern Utah scored another touchdown on its first possession in the second half when Cooper hit Fesi Sitake with a 16-yard pass to make it 31-10. Justin Garelick closed out the third quarter scoring with a 24-yard field goal for Texas State, slightly narrowing the gap to 31-10.

The Bobcats scored again with 5:46 left to play, when Frank Reddic ran one yard for a touchdown. Garelick missed the extra point attempt, making the score 31-16.

After a failed on-sides kickoff attempt by Texas State, the Thunderbirds took over at the Bobcats’  24. The Thunderbirds capitalized when Major Gray ran for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 38-16 with 4:10 remaining.

On the plus side for the Bobcats, junior running back Karrington Bush returned to action after a knee injury during the season opener and ran for 82 yards on nine carries. In addition, Alvin Canady rushed for 50 yards and one touchdown on nine carries, while Frank Reddic scored a touchdown for the fourth straight game and finished with 26 yards on six carries.

George completed 26 of his 41 passes for 197 yards. However, Cooper was much more effective at pickling the Texas State defense, completing 27 of 42 passes 256 yards and three touchdowns.