College Football Preview: Arizona State @ Texas State

On Thursday at 6:30 PM, San Marcos will be rocking. The noise from the UFCU stadium will be heard throughout the town. This game is massive for our bobcats. It is, without a doubt, the biggest game of my alum tenure. Bobcat old heads will tell you the importance of this game. Doesn't even sniff the national championships games of 81 and 82. For a deeper reason, I believe it is far more significant than those. On the surface, this game is just any other game. A Big 12 and Sun Belt clash that will entertain Thursday night college football viewers. But, For Texas State fans, old and new, this game means so much more.

This will be the first national viewing of our new, improved football program under GJ Kinne. Texas State has gotten enormous amounts of hype throughout the offseason. The sport recognized what GJ, KDamp (President), and Don (Athletic Director) have done for this program. From raising millions in donor dollars to taking this team to their first-ever bowl game (and winning) last year, their impact on this program just in the first year of GJ's tenure has been astronomical. So, why does this make tomorrow's game the most crucial in our history? Firstly, this new and improved program will be under the bright lights on prime-time television. We have the chance to show the nation who Texas State is. Filling the stadium and winning this game will show the country we mean business. Secondly, The result of tomorrow night's game could shift the momentum for our sleeping giant. A win would catapult us to "legitimate" status. We have the coach and talented players, so now it's time to show the nation who Texas State football is.

Another reason why this game is so important to fellow bobcats is because we are hungry for a great football program and a team to get excited about. We finally have a team that we are not embarrassed to talk about. We can finally brag about our football program to our peers. A win in this game will show the nation we are a football school. It will show the non-believers, alum or not, that we aren't the same program of years past. A win will make up for the horrible years under Withers and Spav. I will never forget the days of being among the few attendees to watch our team get blown out by whatever program they faced and the embarrassment I had for my school. Those days are finally gone.

Tomorrow's game is for everyone who never stopped believing. It is for the past players who devoted their blood, sweat, and tears to this program. It is for the donors and alums who never gave up and lost hope in this university. It is to show all of the non-believers that we are, in fact, a different program. This game means so much more to our program than any game we have ever had. A dominant showing tomorrow will change the trajectory of this program forever. In GJ, we trust. God bless.