Texas State at SMU Football Recap

By Rick Poulter
Texas State University
Sports Information Department

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS (September 7, 2008) They scored 36 points, ran for 233 yards and passed for another 232, but it was the turnovers that led to 16 first-half points that Texas State was talking about in the end.

“We killed ourselves,” senior wide receiver Cameron Luke said. “We didn’t punt the ball one time because we either scored or turned the ball over. We gave them 16 points with our turnovers and you can’t do that if you expect to win.”

SMU scored on the first possession of the game as Bo Levi Mitchell threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Emanuel Sanders to cap a 6-play, 57-yard drive. It was the first of five touchdown passes for Mitchell.

The Bobcats had a pair of fumbles on their first two possessions and the Mustangs capitalized on the second when Mitchell hit Aldrick Robinson for a 32-yard TD strike to give SMU at 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter began with Clint Toon coming off the Texas State bench and driving the Bobcats down to SMU’s 33 yard-line before Tyler Jones intercepted his pass that was intended for Alvin Canady.

Then Anthony Stowe recovered another fumble at Texas State’s eight-yard line before Mitchell hit Sanders for another TD pass to give the Mustangs a 21-0 lead.

Texas State scored its first points when Karrington Bush ran for a two-yard touchdown to cap a 17-play, 80-yard drive to make the score 21-6. Senior kicker Andrew Ireland’s point after attempt was blocked and SMU’s Derrius Bell picked up the miss and returned the ball 80 yards to give the Mustangs two more points.

After Mitchell threw another touchdown pass to Sanders on SMU’s next possession, the Bobcats closed to within 30-13 when Toon ended the half with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Luke.

Toon threw another touchdown pass to Luke on Texas State’s second possession in the third quarter to make the score 30-19 before Ireland’s kicked his extra-point try wide.

After both teams exchanged field goals, SMU extended its lead to 40-22 on a seven-yard touchdown gallop by DeMyron Martin.

Texas State scored a pair of touchdowns on its next two drives when Toon hit Luke for a 29-yard TD pass and Bush from five yards to make the final score 47-36.

“We kept fighting and coming back in the game,” said Texas State head coach Brad Wright. “But in the end, the 16 points we gave up on offense proved to be too big a difference to overcome.

Bush finished the game with 111 yards rushing, becoming the first Bobcat to run over 100 yards in 2008. Toon threw for 111 yards and one touchdown, while he combined with Stan Zwinggi and Alvin Canady for another 111 yards on the ground. Toon also enjoyed a stellar performance throwing the football as he completed 19 of his 27 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns.

“We have a chance to be a good football team,“ Wright added. “We just need to look at the film and correct some things.’

The Bobcats will travel to Northern Colorado on Sept. 20 before returning home to play host to Southern Utah and Texas Southern.