TXST FOOTBALL
Texas State enters week four of fall camp as the Bobcats are less than two weeks away from the season opener against the Lamar Cardinals.
While the game strategy for Lamar is slowly working its way through, Head Coach G.J. Kinne’s main focus is still on finishing fall camp.
“Today was a good one,” Kinne said. “It was hot and probably our longest practice of the year. We are not all the way [ready as we look] towards [the] Lamar [game], but we are getting close. We have met about it and did a little scout team work with it but not a lot. So it was good to get a little introduction. School hasn’t started, so we are still in fall camp.”
Though Kinne thought the team practiced well, he still believes the team has work to do before the game next Saturday.
“We went good-ongood for eight periods and got after it,” Kinne said. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but I thought today was a really good practice. The defense practiced really well and the offense had its moments, but we have to be really consistent there. Overall it was a really good day.”
With the Bobcats practicing during their fourth week of fall camp, Kinne’s focus is finding the right pieces to his puzzle while building on executing both the offense and defense.
“We are continuing to build our execution and crispness,” Kinne said “We are getting closer to [putting together] those pieces of the puzzle and who needs to be where, but we still have a little work to go there. There is that fine line of continuing to practice really hard and stay up. We are getting better at that, so I like where we are at.”
While the Bobcats have been battling throughout fall camp, the preseason hype for Texas State continues to grow.
The latest fuel being fed to the preseason hype train was the release of Brett McMurphy’s postseason projections that tabbed Texas State to be the Group of Five representative for the expanded 12-team playoff.
Though Kinne enjoys the good things being said about his team, he also doesn’t buy into the preseason hype, noting that the team will have to earn it.
“It’s a good thing, but you can’t read too much into it,” Kinne said. “The good thing is that we have practice today. You get to go out there and prove it. You have to compete and get after it whether it is training camp or Week 8. You have to go out there to get your mind right.”
For Kinne, in order for the Bobcats to reach the lofty goals of bringing home the team’s first conference championship since 2008 and first 10win season since 2005, the challenge will be mental more than physical.
“The mental strain that it is going to take to win all of those games is being able to take Week One and Week Eight and have the same mental mindset,” Kinne said. “Week Two and Week Five you need the same mental mindset. We are continuing to get there, and as coaches we have to continue to grow our guys and get better in that area. The good thing is that we have a veteran ballclub that has played a lot of games. I like that, but you have to go out there and prove it everyday.”
One of those veterans is wide receiver Joey Hobert who led the team in receiving yards and was tied for most touchdown catches with 76 catches for 896 yards and eight touchdowns.
Hobert’s main focus on dealing with the preseason hype has been watching game and practice tape and learning what to improve on.
“A big thing for us is being able to watch films,” Hobert said. “We might have had a good day, but of the 90 plays we ran, 80 of them there are still tiny things that we can work on. Those ten plays might have been perfect, but we are not perfect by any means.
“That’s what’s great about this sport. If we are perfect, then none of these coaches would be here. We would go out there, win and head home. That is not the case.”
Knowing that the team can and will consistently focus on improving themselves, Hobert knows that having the demeanor will help the Bobcats navigate through the off-season noise.
“Having that mind set of we are not as good as we can be even if we have the greatest day is a good way of going into it,” Hobert said. “We know that so many people made all-conference, preseason All-Amercans and are early draft picks. That noise is cool to feel for the moment, but in the long run, it doesn’t matter if you don’t put the numbers up.”
Defensive back Chris Mills is also under that belief. He is not worrying about the outside noise.
“We just need to keep our heads down,” Mills said. “We have to continue to grind in this building. Just like before, having a winning record, there was no noise for us, so we are going to treat it the same way. We are not worried about the viewpoint from the outside looking in. We have to look on the inside, be responsible, stick to our fundamentals and attack day one.”
Texas State will start the season at home against the Lamar Cardinals. Kickoff is set for Saturday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
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That noise is cool to feel for the moment, but in the long run, doesn’t matter if you don’t put the numbers up.
–JOEY HOBERT TEXAS STATE WIDE RECEIVER
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