Texas State notebook: Patton returns from back injury to finally play again for Bobcats

SAN MARCOS — Last year was supposed to be Caeveon Patton's final season at Texas State. 

After starting 27 games over three seasons — registering 128 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, three sacks and five pass knockdowns — the 6-foot-2, 300-pound defensive lineman suffered a herniated disc in his back last summer. He would need surgery and then lots of rehab. But then it got worse. 

“It was pretty stressful,” Patton said. “I had a lot of battles going on, plus that. I tore my pec half a week before back surgery. So I was battling that, and then I had to go get surgery.

"Day one, it was hard. I couldn’t even get out of bed," he said. "Mind you, I tore my left pec, and I’m left-handed. So I literally had to have my 160-pound girlfriend help me out of bed because I can’t even lift myself out the bed. Those first two weeks were real hard.” 

Patton said he tore his pectoral muscle while he was working out before his back surgery, trying to stay in shape. Still, despite those back-to-back injuries, he didn't consider quitting and has worked his way back on the field, spending this offseason rehabbing two different injuries.

“I made that decision when I got surgery,” Patton said. “They told me I couldn’t play again unless I got (the surgery). So I got it, and I knew I was coming back. I just didn’t know how long it was going to take."

Patton said he was cleared to resume football in three months, and that his doctor told him it was the fastest he'd ever seen somebody get cleared after back surgery.

Getting cleared took “a lot of hard work," Patton said. "I was here before the coaches were. I was getting here at 4 o’clock in the morning. Working out, running the bleachers, doing the workout with the team, going to practice. Every day, Monday through Saturday.”

Patton, now a team captain, will make his long-awaited return official Saturday night against Baylor. The Bears offered him a scholarship when he was coming out of Cuero, but it was four months after he had committed to Texas State.

Through it all, there was one thing on his mind that motivated him the most, he said.

"My momma working back-to-back 16-hour shifts my whole life," he said. "She had to take care of three kids by herself. I do it for her and my family.”

Soccer: Texas State fell to No. 13 Rice 2-1 Thursday night, the fourth of five straight road matches to start the season.

The Bobcats (1-2-1) beat Incarnate Word 2-1 in their opener, tied Prairie View A&M 1-1 and then lost 2-1 to Stephen F. Austin. They will travel to Abilene Christian on Sunday before making their home debut Sept. 12 against Coastal Carolina.

Volleyball: Texas State dropped to 0-3 to start the season after losing all three of its matches in last weekend's Dayton Invitational (3-0 to No. 3 Kentucky, 3-1 to Cincinnati, 3-1 to Dayton). Texas State has three weekend matches at Texas Tech's Red Raider Classic in Lubbock — against Tech on Friday, then Ohio State and Rhode Island on Saturday.