TXST Press Release: RENO, Nev. – After trailing by one score at halftime, Texas State football surrendered 24 third-quarter points to Nevada as it lost its season opener on Saturday, 38-14, at Mackay Stadium.
The Bobcats (0-1) turned the ball over four times, with three of those occurring in the third quarter and each resulting in three touchdowns. The final turnover was an interception returned for a touchdown by Nevada’s Bentlee Sanders off quarterback Layne Hatcher that helped make it 38-7.
“From an offensive standpoint, it was just the inconsistencies of running the football, getting into passing downs, drops, penalties, protection mishaps or just a bad ball,” said head coach Jake Spavital. “Everybody seemed to have their moment of not doing their correct thing. And, as a play caller and a whole offensive unit, you’re searching for things that we can execute, put in play, and go. I know that’s not even close to the potential of our offense and it’s frustrating for game one.”
The Wolf Pack (2-0) also turned fumbles by Hatcher and Lincoln Pare into touchdowns with their ensuing drives.
The Bobcats managed to hold Nevada’s offense to 274 total yards, of which 144 was in the air. Nevada had 130 rushing yards, including a 37-yard scramble by backup quarterback Jake Barlage on the final drive of the game.
“Overall, I thought the defense played extremely well,” said Spavital. “Our defense was always in short fields and that tells me the offense was struggling and putting the defense in bad positions. And it’s tough to overcome that stuff when we are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot and putting one side of the ball in bad field position.”
Levi Bell, making his Bobcat debut, and Sione Tupou led the team with 10 tackles apiece. Bell also had 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack.
Texas State did outgain the Wolf Pack, 277-274, but 293 passing yards by Hatcher were negated by -16 team rushing yards. Hatcher was sacked four times for -43 yards while Jahmyl Jeter and Calvin Hill ran for 16 and 11 yards, respectively.
In his Texas State debut, Hatcher was 33-of-51 with 293 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
He connected with Ashtyn Hawkins for both touchdowns, which helped the wide receiver total a career-high 96 yards on 10 receptions.
Texas State trailed 14-0 early after Nevada scored touchdowns in the first quarter on rushes by Toa Taua and Devonte Lee.
The Bobcats eventually answered in the second quarter with a 10-play, 67-yard drive capped on a 20-yard pass from Hatcher to Hawkins to make it 14-7 Nevada. It was the second time the two connected for 20-plus yard plays on the drive as the first extended the drive on a third-down conversion.
Texas State’s final touchdown came with 2:23 remaining in the game. The drive, which was highlighted by a 43-yard catch by Charles Brown, culminated with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hatcher to Hawkins.
The Bobcats will return home and host FIU on September 10 for the home season opener at Bobcat Stadium. Tickets for the 6 p.m. game are available at TXST.com/tickets.
POSTGAME NOTES
Layne Hatcher’s 33 completions were the most by a Bobcat since Gresch Jensen had 33 against Wyoming on Sept. 7, 2019.
Hawkins connected with 13 different receivers for the 33 completions.
Dalton Cooper started his 25th consecutive game, the most consecutive starts by a Bobcat since offensive lineman Reece Jordan had 27 straight starts from 2018 to 2020.
Rontavius Groves had a career-high 55 receiving yards.
Of Hawkins’ career-high 96 receiving yards, 64 came after the catch. He was targeted 13 times.
Javen Banks moved to 8th on Texas State’s all-time career receiving yards list. He finished the game with two catches for 19 yards.
No Nevada player had more than 37 rushing yards, but eight different players had at least one rushing attempt.
– Eat ‘Em Up –
