By Texas State football's biggest problem for Saturday's game against Oregon State is a 5-foot-10, 172-pound wide receiver who's decimated every secondary he's faced so far this season.
UP NEXT
TEXAS STATE VS. OREGON STATE
When/where:
9:30 p.m. Saturday in Corvallis, Ore.
TV:
CW.
Jesse Legree's 1,110 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns lead the country, and the freshman phenom is likely eagerly rubbing his hands together at the prospect of facing a Bobcats defense that's allowing the most passing yards (295.4) in the Pac-12.
MORE:How Texas State's historic 36-point rally fell just short against No. 20 Boise State
So, how can Texas State try to solve Legree, who has torched even Power Four defenses? (He caught eight balls for 376 yards and three touchdowns against Texas Tech and Houston).
"You're just really trying to bottle him up," Texas State head coach GJ Kinne said Tuesday. "Hoping just to limit the explosives with him."
Fair enough. It's far too optimistic to think the Bobcats' secondary can shut down Legree and Beavers quarterback Braden Atkinson. And before last week, Legree hadn't finished a game with less than 100 yards. Then Fresno State beat OSU 38-22 and held him to 70 yards.
What happened last Saturday, and what can Texas State learn from that game that could help its defense?
The keys to limiting Heisman Candidate Jesse Legree
There are things Texas State won't be able to replicate. It doesn't have Fresno State's trio of veteran cornerbacks Simeon Harris, Loyall Mouzon and Kiontre Harris. Beaver Blitz's senior editor Brenden Slaughter told the American-Statesman Thursday that the Beavers tend to scheme up touches for Legree, who's electric in the open field. The Bulldogs played man coverage, and their physicality seemed to disrupt Legree.
"Jesse's not the biggest guy," Slaughter said. "He may be in contention with (Ohio State wide receiver) Jeremiah Smith for the nation's lead in receiving yards; those guys' body types could not be any more different."
It remains to be seen whether Texas State's Trez Moore, Craig Royal Jr. and Malik Willis can hold up playing man-to-man against Legree. So what can the Bobcats do? At the core, limiting Legree means stopping Atkinson. The quarterback's two worst games this season were against Texas Tech and Fresno State. The two commonalities in those losses? The Red Raiders sacked him four times; the Bulldogs five times.
Texas State edge rusher Tymere Jackson will be critical. He's having a career year with 39 pressures and four sacks. If he continues to generate quick pressures, he can force Atkinson to bail on potential explosive plays.
"He's playing the best football he's ever played, and it's not even close," Kinne said.
How the run defense can be a factor
That being said, Atkinson can't be sacked if he isn't throwing the ball. The focus then shifts to Oregon State's run game, which averaged 1.9 yards per carry against Fresno State and Houston; it ran for 5.6 yards per pop in its three conference wins.
Some of that can be attributed to game script, and correlation doesn't equal causation. Oregon State trailed early against both teams and leaned on Atkinson's arm to give itself a chance at a comeback. Regardless, Texas State is holding opponents to 119 rushing yards per game, the second-best mark in the Pac-12.
Kinne said sometimes a team can get out of sorts if it tries to change too much to adjust for an opponent. Whatever the Bobcats plan for Legree and Atkinson, they need to remember their strengths and play to them as well.
"I don't think you can make a wholesale change in one week," Kinne said. "Find the pieces where they go, see who's available, who's not available due to injuries, and go from there."
This article originally published at Heisman hopeful Jesse Legree has been dominant at Oregon State. Can Texas State stop him?.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heisman-hopeful-jesse-legree-dominant-150000215.html
