TEXAS STATE BOBCATS NOTES:
OPENING DRIVE
• For the first time in program history, Texas State is playing in a bowl game as the Bobcats, who tied their FBS program record for wins in a season under first-year head coach GJ Kinne, will face Rice in the 14th annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday, Dec. 26. • Texas State has been playing at the FBS level for 12 seasons and been bowl-eligible twice before this year (2013, 2014), but the all-Texas matchup against in-state foe Rice will be the first time it is playing postseason football in December since the 2005 FCS Playoffs. • The Bobcats’ path to their first bowl game includes a season-opening win over Baylor (the program’s first win against a Power 5 school) and a tied for second place finish in the Sun Belt West Division. • Texas State is 2-2 all-time against Rice but has not faced the Owls since 1987. The first meeting between the two schools took place in 1920. • The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl is the ninth game this season that Texas State has played in the state of Texas. The Bobcats are 6-2 in this state this year. • Texas State is one of 12 Sun Belt teams playing in a bowl this season. The Sun Belt has the most teams amongst all-conference competing in a bowl game, as the next-highest is the ACC with 11.
THE SQUARE
DID YOU KNOW?
This is Texas State’s first bowl … at the FBS level. But it’s not its first “bowl” game. Texas State won the 1981 and 1982 NCAA Division II National Championships — and played in the Palm Bowl at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas to win both titles. The Palm Bowl was the name of the NCAA Division II national championship game from 1981-85. Texas State — then known as Southwest Texas State — won the first 2 editions while North Dakota State played in 4 of the 5 games over its short history. The Bobcats beat NDSU in the inaugural matchup on Dec. 12, 1981.
BOBCATS IN DECEMBER
Texas State is 8-4-1 all-time in December The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl represents Texas State’s first game played in December since 2016 and first postseason game played in December since 2005 (FCS Playoffs). All-time December results: 0-1 in 1915 … 2-0-1 in 1918 … 2-0 in 1981 … 2-0 in 1982 … 1-1 in 2005 … 1-0 in 2012 … 0-1 in 2015 … 0-1 in 2016.
VICTORY STAR
EXCITING BRAND OF FOOTBALL
One thing that GJ Kinne and the rest of the Texas State coaching staff have installed in their first year is an offense that has produced at its highest level in the Bobcats’ FBS history. • Texas State enters the bowl season ranked 10th in the country in total offense with 470.8 yards per game. • Texas State is 22nd in the country in both passing offense (280.8 yards/game) and rushing offense (189.9 yards/game). • The Bobcats are also 17th in the nation in scoring offense with 36.0 points per game. • Entering this year, as an FBS team, Texas State had never ranked higher than 24th in the nation in total offense. In 2014, the Bobcats finished the season 24th in total offense, which was the only time they had been in the nation’s top-50 in that category. While it is playing in its first bowl game, Texas State is also aiming for something in the postseason contest: the school’s FBS wins record. • With a win against Rice, the Bobcats would set a new FBS program record for wins in a season with 8. • The 7 wins are currently tied with the 2014 season for the most in the program’s FBS history (since 2012). • The 2014 team, although it was bowl eligible, was not among the 78 FBS teams selected for a bowl that year. • The last time Texas State had 8 wins in a season was in 2008 when the Bobcats were 8-4 in the regular season and finished the year with a first-round loss at Montana in the Division I-AA (FCS) Playoffs first round. • Texas State has 13 seasons in its program history with 8 or more wins.
PLAY FAST, GO BIG
Part of Texas State’s unprecedented scoring output is its ability to play fast and hit big plays. • The Bobcats are tied for 12th in the nation with 207 plays from scrimmage of 10+ yards. • Texas State is 20th in the country with a chunk play rate (10+ yard plays/total plays) of 24.4 percent. Georgia leads the country with a rate of 28.9 percent. • Texas State also has 71 plays of 20+ yards, which is tied for 17th in the country. • Texas State is 30th in the country in pace of offense with a play every 24.40 seconds. ODU leads the country in offensive pace with a play every 20.32 seconds. • Across college football, the average seconds per play in 2023 was 27.14 seconds. In 2022, the average seconds per play was one second faster at 26.18 seconds. • On average, there were also more than 2 plays per team (4.2 plays total) more in 2022 games (68.6) vs. 2023 games (66.5).
GOING FOR A DRIVE
Texas State’s offense scores on 46 percent of its drives (53 TD, 14 FG on 145 drives). • Texas State is 7-1 this season when it scores on 40 percent or higher of its offensive drives in a game, with wins against Baylor (50%), Jackson State (85%), Nevada (42%), Southern Miss (43%), ULM (42%), Georgia Southern (64%), and South Alabama (50%). Its lone loss was against Louisiana (60%). • The Bobcats average 1.58 points per drive in non-garbage time drives against FBS opponents, according to BCFToys.com. That is 30th-best in the country. • Texas State averages 10+ yards per play on 23 percent of its drives, which is 8th-best in the nation according to BCFToys.com (non-garbage time drives against FBS opponents only). • On all plays from line of scrimmage, the Bobcats are averaging 6.37 yards, which is 29th-best in the country and best among Sun Belt teams. • Texas State has also run the 16th-most offensive plays this season in the nation (887) but is 85th in the country in time of possession (29:06).
TOTAL OFFENSE
Texas State’s offense has also set the FBS program record for most yards in a season. • Texas State’s 5,661 total yards of offense this year bested the program’s previous FBS record of 5,573 set in 2014. • The overall program record for most yards of total offense in a season is 6,147 set in 2005 (14 games). The Bobcats need 486 yards in the bowl game to match this record. • The Bobcats have 486+ yards of offense in 6 games this year. They had 479 yards of offense against South Alabama in their last time out. • The last Sun Belt team to have more than 6,000 yards in a season was Georgia Southern in 2022 (6,067 in 13 games)
TALKING POINTS
While Texas State’s offense is one of the highest scoring in the country this year, it is already its highest scoring in the school’s FBS history. • Texas State set a new FBS school record with 432 points scored this season, besting the previous mark of 406 set in 2014. • It is only the second time in the school’s FBS history that the Bobcats have scored 400+ points in a single season (406 in 2014). • This year’s 432 points are the most points scored by Texas State in any season since it scored 470 in 13 games in 2008 as an FCS program. That year, Texas State scored 457 points in 12 regular season games. • Texas State has scored 40+ points in 5 games this season — and twice in the last 4 games — which matches the overall program record set 3 other times (1967, 1981, 1983). • The Bobcats scored 265 points in conference play this season (8 games). Last year, Texas State scored 253 points all season (12 games).
AIR ATTACK
Texas State’s passing offense has set the FBS program record for most yards in a season and is close to setting the overall program record. • Texas State has 3,370 passing yards this season, which marks the first time since 2008 that the Bobcats totaled more than 3,000 yards in the air. • The overall program record for passing yards in a season is 3,499 set in 2008 (13 games), which means Texas State needs 130 passing yards in the bowl game to set a new record. • Texas State has 200+ passing yards in all but one game this season. • The Bobcats have only thrown for 3,000+ yards in a season 4 times in program history: 2003, 2008, 2009, 2023. • Texas State has 5 300-yard passing games this year, which is an FBS program record. • The Bobcats have also set the overall program record for most completions in a season with 272. The previous record was 264 in 2009.
GROUND GAME
Despite throwing for more than 3,300 yards this season — and ranking 27th in the country with that total — the Bobcat offense is also one of the best in the country and in the program’s FBS history in rushing • Texas State has rushed for 2,291 yards this season, which is the second-most in the program’s FBS history (most: 2,862 in 2014). • Texas State has rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a season 5 times in the program’s 12 years at the FBS level. The first 4 instances, though, were in the first 4 years in FBS. • The Bobcats are one of 19 FBS teams entering the bowl season with 3,000+ passing yards and 2,000+ rushing yards.
RICE OWLS NOTES:
INSIDE THE SERIES
• Rice and Texas State meet for the fifth time in history, the first in a bowl game and the first with school since it became known as Texas State. • This will the the fifth meeting in which Rice is the home team. • The schools split the previous four meetings, all of them on the Rice campus., while the Owls are the designated home team in the First Responder Bowl. • The series began on 11/19/20 with a 48-0 Rice win. • The Bobcats won the next two meetings, 19-6 on 10/27/23 and 31-6 on 9/20/86 before Rice took the most recent meeting, 38-28 on 9/26/87. • In the most recent meeting, Rice spotted the Bobcats a 14-7 win before winning 38-28. Current Dallas Cowboys VP of Player Personnel Will McClay tied the school record with three interceptions. • The Owls are 2-4 all-time at Ford Stadium, and have lost the last two. The fell to SMU 27-24 in their most recent appearance in 2011… The Owls last win on SMU’s home field was a 43-42 win in 2007 as Rice rallied back from a 15-point deficit to win it on Clark Fangmeier’s walk-off, 31-yard field goal.
BOWLING BACK TO BACK
Rice has earned a bowl berth in consecutive seasons for the third time in school history. The Owls played in two bowls in 1961, playing in the Sugar Bowl on January 1 after the 1960 season and the Bluebonnet Bowl at the end of the 1961 campaign. Most recently, they played in the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl, the 2013 Liberty Bowl and the 2014 Hawai’i Bowl. Mike Bloomgren is the third coach to lead the Owls to consecutive bowl berths, joining Jess Neely (1961) and David Bailiff (2012-14). Neely led the Owls to six bowl games in his career and Bailiff to four. Jimmy Kitts (1938 Cotton Bowl) and Todd Graham (2006 New Orleans Bowl) each took Rice to one bowl.
BOWLING BITS
• Rice will be playing in its 14th bowl game with eight of those in Texas and six of those eight in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area… Rice played in the Cotton Bowl in 1938, 1950, 1954 and 1958 and in the Armed Forces Bowl in 2012 prior to this year’s First Responder Bowl. • The Rice roster includes 18 players who are returning home to the DFW area for the bowl game (DJ Arkansas, Andrew Awe, Moh Bility, Jack Bradley, De’Braylon Carroll, Tre’shon Devones, Tyson Flowers, Izeya Floyd, Quinton Jackson, Joseph Mutombo, Trace Norfleet, Juma Otoviano, AJ Padgett, Landon Ransom-Goelz, Clay Servin, Jeremiah Williams, and Plae Wyatt). • AJ Padgett will become the second Owls QB to start in consecutive bowls, joining Taylor McHargue, who started in the 2012 Armed Forces and 2013 Liberty Bowls. Padgett tied a Rice bowl record with three TD passes in his first bowl start last season in the LendingTree Bowl. • This will be the sixth time Rice has played a bowl game on the home field of a conference rival , with five of six coming on SMU’s home field (1938, 1950, 1954 and 1958 Cotton Bowl, 2023 First Responder Bowl). Rice faced Troy in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl at the SuperDome in 2006. • Rice is 4-1 in bowls in the DFW area, but the Owls have lost their last three games in the area, losing at North Texas in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Their last win in DFW was over UNT in 2015.
DOWN THE STRETCH
• In winning its last two games to earn a berth in the First Responder Bowl, Rice held Charlotte and Florida Atlantic to an average of 218.5 yards per game (Charlotte 158, Florida Atlantic 279). The last time the Owls held consecutive opponents to less than 437 yards total offense was in 1994 when they held Texas Tech (223) and Texas (179) to a combined 402 yards. • The Owls held a Charlotte offense that had averaged 411 yards on offense in the previous two games to just 158, the fewest yards allowed by Rice to a conference opponent since holding Tulane to 123 in 2013. • The 84 yards rushing by Charlotte were the fewest allowed by Rice since they held North Texas to 75 in 2019 while the 74 yards passing were the fewest for a non-service academy vs. Rice since the Owls held Vanderbilt to 71 in 2008. • Charlotte’s seven points were the fewest by a conference opponent since the Owls’ 20-0 shutout at No. 17 Marshall in 2020.
DIVING INTO THE NUMBERS
• Rice has thrown for 3,170 yards this season and the Owls’ average of 264.2 per game is their highest since they averaged 327.2 in 13 games in 2008. The Owls have averaged better than 230 yards just twice since 2008 prior to this year (232.9 last year; 231.3 in 2014). • The Owls have scored 48 touchdowns, the most since they scored 48 in 2014 (13 games). • JT Daniels (21) and AJ Padgett (7) have combined for 28 touchdown passes, the most for the Owls since Chase Clement (44), James Casey (2), Jarett Dillard and Jeremy Goodson (1 each) combined to set the school record with 48. • Rice is tied for 13th nationally in fourth down conversions (16/24; 66.7%), the Owls highest ranking since they finished ninth in both 2012 (12/17; 70.6%) and 2010 (13/18; 72.2%). The 16 conversions match last year’s total (in 27 attempts) and are the most since they converted 16 of 29 in 2021. Rice converted 18 of 30 attempts in Mike Bloomgren’s first year with the Owls in 2018. • On the defensive side, the Owls are tied for 15th nationally in fourth down defense (.385, 10/26), but rank seventh among teams who have defended at least 25 fourth down attempts. (Oklahoma State .240, 8/26; Memphis .300, 9/30; Michigan .321, 9/28; Troy .345, 10/29; Alabama .360, 9/25; Eastern Michigan .364, 12/33). • Rice is tied for 37th nationally with 47 pass breakups this season on 349 pass attempts. The Owls have broken up 13.5% of all pass attempts this season, their highest mark since they broke up 14.5% in 2014 (60/414).
LONG DISTANCE DEAN
• Dean Connors leads the Owls with 707 yards on the ground, including 527 yards on 65 carries over the past six games. • He has a pair of 100-yard rushing games this season. The last Owl with more than two was Astin Walter with four in 2019. • His 707 yards are the most by an Rice RB since Astin Walter had 771 in in 2019 while his 6.7 average per carry is the highest by an Owl (minimum of 75 carries) since Thomas Lott Jr. averaged 7.29 in 2003. • Connors is one of three running backs in college football (and two in the First Responder Bowl) who have at least two carries of 50+ yards and a reception of at least 80 yards. • His 80-yard TD reception at USF was the longest scoring play for Rice in nine years (Driphus Jackson to Jordan Taylor for 88 yards in 2014) and was also the longest pass reception by an Owls’ running back since Quinton Smith and Chase Clement combined on an 80-yard catch and run vs. Houston in 2006. • His 57-yard burst against SMU was the longest rushing play the Mustangs have allowed this season. • He is the first Rice running back with at least three plays of better than 50 yards from scrimmage since Austin Walter had four (51 & 70 rushes/two 70 receptions) in 2017.
