A bitter memento stands in Texas State coach Brad Wright's office.
It's been there since last season, when Sam Houston State came to San Marcos.
It's a reminder of what it feels like to squander a 28-10 fourth-quarter lead to an archrival.
With 13 seconds left in last year's game, in front of a stunned Bobcat Stadium crowd that had watched the Bearkats score 12 unanswered points in the previous nine minutes, Sam Houston quarterback Brett Hicks found receiver Chris Lucas in the end zone on a fourth-down pass to tie the game. With the ensuing extra point, the Bearkats secured a one-point win, adding stinging insult to the Bobcats' injurious 4-7 season.
"I got a picture in my office of that score,"
Wright said this week as his team prepared to play Sam Houston again, "so I remember it very well."
Asked why he keeps the picture, Wright pauses. Then a thin smile escapes his face.
"I believe in revenge,"
he said.
As Texas State aims to seal its second-ever Southland Conference title with a win over Sam Houston today, revenge is very much in the air, though it's probably not limited to Bobcats players and coaches.
Two key Bearkats playmakers might have a bone to pick themselves.
Quarterback Rhett Bomar, the former Oklahoma Sooners starter before coach Bob Stoops kicked him off the team due to NCAA violations, was rebuffed when he approached former Texas State coach David Bailiff about a transfer to San Marcos. Running back James Aston transferred to Texas State from Ohio State in 2006 but carried the ball just five times — mostly in short yardage situations — as he was buried beneath a deep running back corps before moving on to Sam Houston.
The task of stopping the Bearkats' spread offense —which generated 588 yards in a 30-27 overtime loss last week to Southeastern Louisiana — falls to a Bobcats defense that has surrendered plenty of yardage to spread attacks this year but has tightened up recently. Last week, the Bobcat defense gave up just 10 points in a dominating win over Nicholls State and its triple-option offense.
"It doesn't get (any) better than this,"
said Texas State defensive end Travis Houston, who tallied 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and a sack last week. "Conference championship, playoff berth — this (chance) is all we wanted."
Wright said he liked what he saw from his players as they prepared for today's showdown.
"There's no satisfaction here; that's a good sign,"
Wright said. "We're not satisfied with what we've done. All we've done is live to see Week 12 and have it mean something."
Chances to win the league title have been few since Texas State entered Division I-AA in 1984. The Bobcats' lone Southland title came in 2005.
Wright said former Texas State basketball coach Vernon McDonald gave him the following counsel: "It's one of those games you're going to remember, no matter what. If you win the game, you're going to remember it and you're the conference champs. If you lose it, you're going to remember losing the championship. And that game is going to stick with you forever for that reason."
Added Wright, "All we can ask our young men to do is come out and play hard. If they do that, everything is going to take care of itself."
