College Football: Bobcats making progress

San Marcos ? When Texas State took the field last year in the Maroon and Gold Spring Game, its offense left a lot to be desired.

That wasn?t the case in 2012.

Thanks to several big plays from both teams, the Bobcats rolled up 612 yards of total offense. Gold turned its plays into more points, as it won 26-17 in front of about 1,500 fans at Bobcat Stadium.

?Everybody, as far as offensive-wise, has a way better grasp on where we were last year,? Gold quarterback Tyler Arndt said. ?It?s all making sense and coming along. We were kind of limited on what we could do last year with it being that everything was new and we were learning the basics, but now we can add a little more and go from there.?

With fellow quarterback Shaun Rutherford on the sideline and not participating in the spring game due to a sore knee, Arndt had an opportunity to shine as Texas State?s veteran field general.

Arndt looked in control throughout his stint on the field, completing 13 of his 19 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He connected with Jafus Gaines on a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter after a beautiful pump fake, then hit a streaking Andy Erickson for a 70-yard gain to open the fourth quarter.

?Tyler made a big statement today,? Gold tight end Chase Harper said. ?He showed the entire team, and the coaches that he?s ready to be that guy.?

Head coach Dennis Franchione believed Arndt found his rhythm through the team?s 15 spring practices and showed his progress Saturday afternoon.

?He came out from day one on a mission,? Franchione said. ?He?s more comfortable and it showed. He?s made a big step of improvement, which we?re really pleased with.

?He did a few things, running with the ball and leading the team, that confirmed what I believed he could do. He didn?t always do that last year, at that level, and this spring he has.?

Saturday afternoon?s spring game also gave the coaching staff and idea of what they can expect from a few of the redshirt freshman ? and maybe a few returning starters ? come fall.

Gaines hauled in three catches for 81 yards, while Larry Centers, Jr. made a fantastic touchdown catch off a throw from Jack Rhoades. Harper, while everybody knows he is a solid target as a tight end, forced the day?s lone turnover ? as a defensive end ? in the fourth quarter.

?We plan on playing him both ways,? Franchione said. ?We can see him as a third-down pass rush guy and we want to maximize the use of him. It kind of works with his position to do this and lets us to maximize our athletes.?

Even though Gold had some of the better performers in Saturday?s scrimmage, Maroon kept it close after an abysmal start.

Through the first 20 minutes, Gold had more points than Maroon did yards from scrimmage, but that soon changed. Maroon?s quarterbacks (Duke DeLancelotti and Jordan Moore) took advantage of several breakdowns in the Gold secondary to cut its deficit to 17-14.

Maroon tied it up at 17-all on a 23-yard field goal from Will Johnson, yet couldn?t get closer. Gold answered with a three-play, 95-yard drive, capped by a 25-yard touchdown run by Terrence Franks, then iced the scoring with a 39-yard field goal from Jason Dann, his second of the afternoon.

google play franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey