Whoa Bobcats! 

SMU ultimately topped Texas State in a barn burner, but even a tight 31-24 loss is plenty to celebrate in San Marcos. When these two teams played in 2019, the Mustangs dominated 47-17. On Saturday, the Bobcats looked every bit SMU’s equal for 60 minutes. 

Quarterback Brady McBride played well, but the headliners were the running back tandem of Brock Sturges and Calvin Hill, who combined for 195 yards on 7.2 yards per attempt. Despite the numbers, the defense also hung tough.

It was a more focused and determined performance than we’ve seen from Texas State in… how long? The future is bright for these ‘Cats. This was the team we expected when Jake Spavital took over. 

Optimism in El Paso

Look, there’s no defense for going down 14-3 to an SFA team that has won a combined four games in FCS over the past two seasons. But unlike most UTEP stories over the past two seasons, the heel turn was tremendous. 

After falling down, the Miners took over the game. The defense forced two turnovers and two punts. The offense held onto the ball for an absurd 29:41 of the last 42 minutes of the game, putting together drives of 10, 11 and 16 plays. Quarterback Gavin Hardison threw for 212 yards in his first start. Deion Hankins added 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Jacob Cowing dominated with 116 yards. 

Is this against an FCS opponent? Of course. But still, the last 42 minutes of the game marks easily the best stretch of the Dana Dimel era. Most impressively, UTEP has two offensive players now – Hankins and Cowing – that are legitimate game changers. 

North Texas doesn’t look much different

This comment bites both ways. The Mean Green posted the best offensive day in program history on Saturday, finishing with a program record 721 yards. First-time starter Jason Bean looked fantastic and has a great chance to remain the long term starter following his performance. 

The flipside? North Texas also gave up 569 yards and 31 points to an FCS opponent. Houston Baptist is a very good offense and QB Bailey Zappe is one of the state’s best. But still, the Mean Green hoped to see more from the pass defense. UNT has Shane Buechele, Clayton Tune and Jack Abraham in its next three games – that secondary situation had better get figured out quick. 

The QBs are doing just fine

On day one of the season at least, the Texan quarterbacks got off to a great start. North Texas’ Jason Bason dominated to earn the starting job with 235 yards and 4 total TDs on just 18 pass attempts. Texas State’s Brady McBride was erratic but good with 227 yards and two scores in his debut.

For all the criticism Shane Buechele and SMU got after the game, the senior posted 367 yards and completed 72 percent of his passes. UTEP’s Gavin Hardison had a solid debut with 212 yards and a TD on 28 pass attempts. SFA’s Trae Self posted 14-21 for 133 yards and a score. 

The star of the day, though, was HBU’s Bailey Zappe, who threw for 480 yards and three touchdowns against a higher-level opponent. There were a lot of quarterback unknowns so it feels good to get some good early results. 

Not throwing away their shot

Houston Baptist and Stephen F. Austin both played against FBS opponents to open the season. The pair will play a combined six FBS opponents in the month of September, an incredibly difficult stretch for two programs that are still growing. 

However, while both ultimately lost on Saturday, both looked motivated and ready, even while overmatched at times. Stephen F. Austin did take that 14-3 lead, even if it dissipated. Zappe threw for 480 yards. These two programs – like ACU, another school that plans to play three FBS games – have no interest in being sacrificial lambs in their COVID-19-shortened football season.