Texas State Stumbles Late Against New Mexico State

By Reily Chestnut
Assistant Sports Director

The tide keeps rolling over Bobcat football as the team squandered a 21-17 lead at halftime, falling to the Aggies 45-35 in their annual Homecoming game.

The guys came into this game, which was the final match up between these two programs as conference rivals, looking to build off a much needed win at Coastal Carolina the prior weekend. How symbolic that they tried to top a rival for the final time in conference play a week after facing the new Sun Belt kids on the block in the Chanticleers. Right out of the gate the ‘cats offense was punishing NMSU. The first drive for the guys culminated in a trick play touchdown thrown by wide receiver Hutch White, his second of the season, to senior tight end Gabe Schrade while starting QB Damian Williams pushed the drive, going 5-7 w/ 50 passing yards and 10 gained on the ground. However, that did not stop the Aggies from answering back with their own 75 yard drive up the field that set up QB Tyler Rogers for a two yard touchdown run, 7-7 tie and only six minutes have passed in the game. Hold onto your butts because this was a real old fashioned shootout. A shootout that Texas State, unfortunately, did not have enough bullets to go until the end.

If you remember, the ‘cats had a 21-17 lead going into the second half over NMSU, so things were looking up for the squad to have a chance to start a win streak if the team could hold off the Aggies for one more half. This is a game of adjustments and the halftime intermission allows time to reload for a fresh 30 minutes of play. Unfortunately, the Aggies came ready to fight back and put pressure on the Bobcats to perform. At the end of the day, the guys fought but could not finish. Although, this final score does not mean the team came up short everywhere.

The game served as a showcase for senior wide receiver, Elijah King, who caught 11 receptions for 129 receiving yards and a touchdown. This performance came in part because Williams threw two TDs while earning 321 yards through the air, his first 300+ passing yard game for the program. However, junior wide receiver, Tyler Watts, was the impact player of the game after catching eight passes for 85 yards while running up the field 76 yards for a rushing TD to go along with his receiving score. Meanwhile, the Aggies tallied 622 total yards to overwhelm the bobcats, mostly through Rogers lighting up the ‘cats secondary for 474 passing yards and three TDs.

The loss drops the Bobcats back in the loss column and puts them at 2-7 overall with a 1-4 mark in conference play. The team will look to bounce back next Saturday when they play their final home game of the year against Georgia State in their Heroes/Veterans game while senior captains Gabe Loyd, Gabe Schrade and Easy Anyama will suit up one last time in front of the locals in San Marcos.

Featured image by Tino Manor.