Oct. 15, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats

Oklahoma Panhandle State vs. Texas State
Post-Game Quotes
October 15, 2005

OPSU First-Year Head Coach Kyle Davis
"Texas State is just such an overwhelming team. It's tough to handle them all. They've got a good system in place, and it's impressive to see them play. When I broke down the film from the Texas State-Texas A&M game, I couldn't believe it ... they were like a top Division I-A football program.

"We've got guys on this team that don't give up ... we're not going to back down against anyone. We'll get them up and be ready to go next week. We're trying hard to keep our guys up, accentuate the positives and not focus on the negatives.

"We live and die by the option. It just seemed like nothing opened up, but we just wanted to stay with what we believed in. I thought our pass protection had some problems; Texas State is a great football team, but I thought we gave up some easy sacks.

"I just can't say enough about Texas State. Coach (David) Bailiff and his program have an excellent football team, and the facilities here are top-notch."

Texas State Head Coach David Bailiff
"We had five offensive starters missing that didn't play. Hopefully some will be back next week because we're hitting the meat of our schedule starting with Northwestern State. We needed a football team that was healed and we needed a football team that was going to let some of the second- and third-string guys get experience in case starters go down. The kids that you saw tonight are the future of this program and fortunately we were able to get them game reps. Some of them you might not see for another year.

"We're modeling after some of the most successful programs in the country. We're going to continue to have a plan as we turn this program around. We have to get consistent in this program with winning where we can consistently play for a conference championship and consistently play for a national championship. It would have made no sense for us to fly to Lexington (Ky.), fight our tail off like this bunch would and get more banged up in the process. What's important is next week.

"Melvin Webber is a senior leader. He's drawn a line in the sand and said he's not going to take it anymore. Losing is a disease and we're going to break that. It's time to start winning around here. We're 8-1 at home since this staff has been assembled, and that's pretty special. Melvin's a big part of that because of his work ethic and the way he busts his tail.

"The crowd was great. They were loud and they made a difference. You're going to see us on campus this week trying to get more people in the stands. We need this university and community to come out in groves. We need five to ten thousand more next week, but that's not taking anything away from this crowd this week. It was great. We're putting a product on the field that people want to see. People need to get out here and watch these Bobcats.

"Northwestern (State) is tough every year, and we've got to be like Northwestern. If we want to be considered top in this conference, we have to be like them."

Senior Defensive Back Melvin Webber
"With the punt, we blitzed all the time tonight and that was my first time blitzing because usually I'm a jammer. Coach always tells us to run through the play because you never know when you can scoop and score and I was just in the right place at the right time."

Freshman Fullback Ryan Odell
"Going in I didn't think I'd get that many carries, but our first team did what they had to do and they were able to get us some reps."

Freshman Wide Receiver Stan Zwinggi
"I'm glad I got a chance (at running back). It was good for the young guys to get a chance tonight."

Oklahoma Panhandle State vs. Texas State
Post-Game Quotes
October 15, 2005

Texas State improved to 5-1 for the first time since making the move to NCAA Division I-AA in 1984.

Through three quarters, Texas State had held Oklahoma Panhandle State to 37 yards of total offense, including just 16 yards on the ground. OPSU became only the second team to score a touchdown against the Bobcats in the fourth quarter (Southeastern Louisiana was the first last week). The record for fewest yards allowed is 68 set against Nicholls State in 2000. OPSU finished with 95 yards of total offense, including just 10 yards rushing, compared to Texas State's 355 yards of total offense.

The Bobcats finished officially with 249 yards rushing but had 287 positive and 38 negative rushing yards. Of the 38 negative yards, 20 were team yards credited when the Bobcats took a knee on five plays late in the game.

The announced homecoming attendance of 13,787 is the seventh-largest crowd in Bobcat Stadium history.

Melvin Webber became the first Texas State player to return an interception for a touchdown since current Bobcat assistant coach Jason Washington did it against Sam Houston in 2000. He also became the first Texas State player since 1998 to return a blocked punt for a touchdown (Morris Brothers was credited with the block). The two defensive plays ended back-to-back OPSU series early in the second quarter.

Ryan Odell's 118 yards rushing was the best running game by a Bobcat since Barrick Nealy rushed for 121 yards against South Dakota State earlier this year. Odell is a fullback for the `Cats but played tailback against OPSU. He scored two touchdowns. Fellow red-shirt freshman wide receiver Stan Zwinggi was also used as a running back and finished with 87 yards and a touchdown.