Star running back faces regression from last season – The University Star

Texas State football had high expectations for the season, but with two games remaining and a 6-4 record, one could argue that the team’s focus should be on next season. Many times this season the team was competitive throughout the games, but still managed to lose close, important games like Sam Houston and Arizona State.

Despite the defensive mistakes and inconsistent offensive drives, a notable pattern in the losses has come from the star junior running back Ismail Mahdi.

Mahdi entered the season with high hopes after a seemingly successful 2023 campaign in which he rushed for over 1,300 yards and ten touchdowns and hit. six prizesincluding All-Sun Belt first team and First Team All-American. Mahdi was also named to Maxwell Award Watch List, an annual award given to the most talented college football players before the season.

The junior has taken a complete dump-off in yardage this year, reception only 956 yards total through 10 games compared to 1269 total yards through the first 10 games of last season.

Mahdi has shared the ball this year with a healthy redshirt junior Lincoln Couples and a reliable third-string left Torrance Burgess Jr. So the problem with Mahdi this season isn’t the lack of yards; it’s finishing plays without turning the ball over in crucial moments.

Head coach GJ Kinne benched Mahdi in the fourth quarter against Louisiana after he fumbled late in the third quarter. Mahdi similarly had a fumble late in the game in a close game against Arizona State. The fumbles against Arizona State and Louisiana killed the Bobcats’ momentum, leading to two Bobcat losses.

Flashbacks to the Arizona State game are an example of wasted opportunities.

In a tied game with nine minutes left, the Sun Devils got deep into Bobcat territory in prime position to score. However, the defense stood tall and forced Arizona State to punt, giving Texas State nine minutes to chew the clock. The first running play from Mahdi ended in a punt, and Arizona State got the ball in the red zone and ultimately scored the game-winning field goal off that turnover.

Mahdi’s ongoing struggles were managed in the win over Southern Miss, where he shined with two touchdowns and 58 total yards.

Still, with a win over Arizona State earlier in the season, Texas State would have started 3-0 and would have a better standing today.

Although the Bobcats qualified for a bowl game for the second year in a row, the fear that sits high for fans is if they play a good team. Will Mahdi’s early season struggles return?

The speculation is that a more balanced running regime has been in place and will continue to be, with players like Burgess, Pare and senior Deion Hankins getting plenty of playing time and carries.

With the season at a standstill and bowl season around the corner, knowing that Mahdi had a regressive year, the question circulating is whether we will see the same Ismail Mahdi that we saw a year ago.