TXST release:
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State scored 77 points on 684 yards of offense and staked itself to its best start to a season since 2013 with a 77-34 win over Jackson State on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium.
In their home opener in front of the ninth-largest crowd in stadium history, the Bobcats (2-1) rushed for 399 yards and passed for another 285 to put away the Tigers (2-2). Texas State scored eight of its 11 touchdowns on the ground.
Texas State’s 77 points were its most since 1920 when it registered a program-record 78 against Meridian College. The 684 yards were also its most since it had a program-record 696 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2014.
Quarterback Malik Hornsby (133) and running back Damarius Good (105) both rushed for over 100 yards. The totals were career-highs for Hornsby and Good while Hornsby became the first Bobcat quarterback to have a 100-yard rushing game in nearly five years.
TJ Finley threw for 251 yards on 17-of-21 passing. He had three touchdowns in the air and two rushing.
Nine different Texas State receivers had at least one reception from Finley or Hornsby. Drew Donley led the way with 83 yards on three catches. He also had his first career touchdown catch with a reception from Finley halfway through the first quarter.
Kole Wilson had 192 all-purpose yards, including 142 on kick returns and 50 in receiving. He had a near-touchdown on a kick return that ended up going for 69 yards and setting up one of the eight Texas State rushing touchdowns.
Ismail Mahdi had 77 rushing yards on three carries as well as 27 receiving yards and 23 yards on kick return.
The Bobcats controlled the point differential from the start thanks to a two-play, 71-yard opening drive that took all of 35 seconds to result in a touchdown. Mahdi broke loose for a 56-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bobcats their fastest opening drive that resulted in a touchdown in their FBS history.
Donley, Jahmyl Jeter and Donerio Davenport each scored a touchdown of their own to help bring the score to 28-13 early in the second quarter. However, Jackson State pulled within 28-20 after penalties helped put the ball deep into Texas State territory and positioned the Tigers for a four-yard rushing touchdown by Irv Mulligan with 11:11 to go in the second quarter.
The Bobcats answered, though, on the following drive when Finley found the end zone with a three-yard rushing touchdown. Following an interception by Tory Spears on the subsequent Jackson State drive, Finley added his second rushing touchdown of the night to help make it 42-20 Texas State with 8:15 remaining in the first half.
While the Texas State offense was fueled by Hornsby’s and Good’s rushing attack in the second half, the defense tallied four of its six sacks in the game over the final 30 minutes. The six sacks were a season-high for the Bobcats while Deven Wright had a team-high two in the game.
Jackson State finished 400 yards of offense, including 282 passing yards.
The Bobcats will return to Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium for their next game on Sept. 23 against Nevada (6 pm).
From Head Coach GJ Kinne
Opening statement…
“Really proud of the guys. They played really hard. I thought the fans and what we had in the stadium today was really special. The pregame, the catwalk, I mean that matters. That was unbelievable, and that’s why I came to Texas State for stuff like that. I mean we can do some special things here with that, so just really appreciative of the fans. That was unbelievable. I thought the guys played really hard. There’s a lot to clean up, but we can do that. You know, obviously the injuries had a lot of guys go down. So, we’ll check the status of that. You know, we prayed for Myron (Warren) afterwards. That’s where my head’s at right now. So hopefully he’s going to be good.”
On the bounce back from last week’s loss…
“That’s really the standard. That’s what we have to strive for. Every time we go out to practice, every time we go out on the field, we expect to score touchdowns on every possession. So, we got to continue to clean up some things. I think this week of practice, like I said, sometimes it’s good to get punched in the mouth, because you kind of figure out deficiencies and kind of figure out where you are as a club. I thought we did that, and we’ll continue to get better.”
On the Texas State quarterbacks…
“I’ll start with TJ (Finley). I thought he played really well and challenged him to be extremely efficient. I think from the sidelines to probably one play we wish we had back but besides that, I thought he played really well. He’s very accurate, and that’s what we need him to do. I’m just really proud of him and everything he did tonight. Malik (Hornsby), he’s special. I mean, you saw that the dude is special. He erases angles, and I wanted him to play. We talked about taking them out a little bit earlier in the fourth. That dude deserves to play. Really excited for him to go out there and have some success. We didn’t want to throw the ball down the field because I have a lot of respect for Jackson State. But I thought he was pretty special running the ball tonight. Then CJ (Rogers) and PJ (Hatter), I wanted to get them in. They worked really hard and wanted to get them both in there. I think you saw PJ, that dude is pretty special. The way he’s able to run the ball. I know they called it back, but we see that every day in practice and on the scout team he gives those guys a great look. He’s a really special runner, and he’ll continue to develop as a passer. And CJ is just one of the hardest workers, and he’s an epitome of what a Bobcat needs to be. I’m really happy to get him in the game today as well.”
On the run game…
“I think the offensive line had something to do with it, but I also think it was everybody like I talked about. We executed and were able to handle the extra defender in the RPO game. The running backs for the most part put the ball where it needed to be. So that will continue to get better, and having Titus out there was big. You got Sean Shaw out there; got him some tight end reps. He’s going to continue to develop into that role, and he provides some good things in there. So overall, I was pretty pleased with the run game. I think anytime Malik is out there I mean, that dude is special you can run the ball really well with him.”
Stats To Know
Texas State’s 2-1 start to this season is its best since it also started 2-1 in 2013.
The attendance of 24,118 was the ninth-largest in Bobcat Stadium history. It was the third time in the last three seasons that Texas State had a crowd of 24,000 or more.
The Bobcats scored a touchdown on 11 of their 13 drives. The two non-scoring drives ended in an interception in the third quarter and to end the game.
Texas State had 34 first downs.
The Bobcats averaged 9.7 yards per carry: 41 attempts, 399 yards.
They also averaged 15.0 yards per completion and 10.4 yards per play.
The Bobcats did not punt in a game for the first time since Aug. 30, 2014 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Texas State has had 10+ TFLs in all 3 of its games this season.
Texas State has won five of its last seven home games.
The Bobcats had 403 yards of offense in the first half.
Texas State’s 56 points in the first half were its most in the first 30 minutes of a game since Sept. 12, 2015 vs. Prairie View A&M (56).
Malik Hornsby became the first Texas State quarterback with 100 yards rushing since Willie Jones III had 110 vs. New Mexico State on Oct. 27, 2018.4
Texas State’s Standout Performers
QB TJ Finley: 17-of-21, 251 yards, 3 touchdowns; 4 rushes, 20 yards, 2 TDs
QB Malik Hornsby: 10 rushes, 133 yards, 2 TDs; 2-of-4, 34 yards
RB Damarius Good: 11 rushes, 105 yards
RB Ismail Mahdi: 3 rushes, 77 yards, TD; 1 reception, 27 yards; 127 all-purpose yards
WR Kole Wilson: 192 all-purpose yards; 4 receptions, 50 yards, TD; 142 kick return yards
WR Drew Donley: 3 receptions, 83 yards, TD
LB Derick Mourning Jr.: 9 tackles, 3.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack
S Tory Spears: 3 tackles, INT
DE Deven Wright: 3 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 1 quarterback hurry
Up Next
Texas State continue its stretch of home games with a matchup against Nevada on Sept. 23 at Bobcat Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 pm.
