Texas State 63, Prairie View A&M 24: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_18559" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo courtesy Texas State Athletics Photo courtesy Texas State Athletics[/caption] Texas State evened its record at 1-1 with a win over Prairie View A&M. What did we learn about the Bobcats? DCTF's Christian Clark breaks it down.Bobcats’ O-line dominates What a difference a week (and a significantly worse opponent) makes. After getting roughed up by Florida State in a 56-19 defeat last week, the Texas State offensive line was the unit doing damage in the team’s 63-24 win over Prairie View A&M (1-1) on Saturday. The Bobcats’ (1-1) offensive line simply dominated the point of attack — especially in the first half. Holes that your grandmother could have hit appeared for Texas State running backs. Quarterback Tyler Jones had what seemed like an eternity in the pocket. He took advantage of the time, too, submitting a near-perfect 11-for-13, 257-yard, 2-TD line in the first half alone. The starkest reminder of the offensive line’s dominance wasn’t told in numbers, though, but in the state of Jones’ white jersey: It looked clean enough to eat off of. Huge first quarter leaves no doubt It was an offensive explosion unlike anything in Texas State history. There were runs for huge gains, a couple bombs from Jones downfield and even a punt returned for a TD. When the final seconds of the first quarter ticked off the clock, the scoreboard read Texas State 35, Prairie View A&M 3. The 35 points were a Texas State record for most in a quarter. The Bobcats scored TDs on their first four drives of the game. Brandon McDowell capped things with a 95-yard punt return for a TD.  At least four Panther defenders appeared to be within a five-foot radius of McDowell when he caught the ball. But McDowell, somewhat surprisingly, didn’t call fair catch then took the kick to the house as time expired. It was the cherry on top of a dominant 15 minutes. Even in blowout, Hebert’s talent evident There wasn’t a whole lot to like if you were rooting for Prairie View A&M on Saturday night. The offense sputtered, the defense got run over and the Panthers’ special teams were, to put it kindly, less than stellar. But if you’re looking for a bright spot in the dismantling, there was Johnta Hebert. The Panthers’ do-everything tailback made plays as a runner, receiver and returner, showing off speed and shiftiness that was hard to ignore. His final totals: 11 carries for 62 yards, six catches for 63 yards and one kick return for 51 yards. On a rough night for Prairie View A&M, you had to feel for Hebert.