Texas State defeats South Alabama to gain bowl eligibility

By Isaac Melchor

KTSW Sports Reporter  

The Texas State Bobcats (6-6, 3-5 Sun Belt) defeat the South Alabama Jaguars (4-8, 3-5 SBC) 49 to 26 this past Saturday night in their final regular season game of the season and in the Sunbelt.  

To start this game Texas State received the ball, after some run plays from the running backs and Brad Jackson, the Bobcats get all the way to the 18 yard line where Tyler Robles kicks a field goal to put Texas State up 3-0 with 10:24 on the clock. 

Later on, in the quarter Texas State receives the ball again, where this time Brad Jackson is able to score a rushing touchdown as the Bobcats marched up the field. 10-0 4:40 left in the first quarter. 

When the Jaguars receive the ball back, they pull off a trick play when Anthony Eager catches the football all the way at the 1-yard line, then South Alabama scored for the rushing touchdown making the score 10-7 going into the 2nd quarter. 

In the second quarter the Bobcats move up the field with plays from Chris Dawn Jr till they reach the 13-yard line, Tyler Robles makes the field goal, upping the score to 13-7. 

After a 3 and out from the Jaguars Lincoln Pare scores a 32 yard rushing touchdown, which then after the Bobcats go from the two point conversion and convert it off a pass, with 1:08 left in the second quarter. That would be the last score from either team before halftime.  

28-7 Bobcats. 

In the third quarter Texas State moves the ball up the field where Brad Jackson scores his second rushing touchdown on the day giving the Bobcats a 28 to 7 lead. 

After South Alabama finally moves up the field, they throw an interception to Jaden Rios where Texas State takes over. 

When the Bobcats go back on offense Brad Jackson connects to Beau Sparks for the passing touchdown, with 4:48 seconds left in the third. 

The score going into the final quarter was 35 to 7 Bobcats. 

To begin the fourth, Brad Jackson scores his third rushing touchdown of the game, extending their lead to 42-14 with 6:20 left to go. 

The Jaguars then score a rushing touchdown of their own as running back Kennan Phillip’s marches up the field giving South Alabama 14 points on the day. 

When Jaguars kick the ball to the Bobcats, Jaylen Jenkins returns it all the way for the touchdown extending the lead to 49 to 14 with 6:07 left on the game clock. 

On the other end, South Alabama responds with another rushing touchdown with 4 minutes left to go, leaving the score at 49 to 20. 

South Alabama with time running low, attempts an onside kick where they recover the football. It gives them one last opportunity on offense where they score a passing touchdown to Jeremy Scott, leaving the score to 49-26, where it will remain for the rest of the game as the Bobcats run out the ball. 

 With this win the Bobcats are now bowl eligible, immediately after the game all players and staff made their way to the San Marcos River, where the team took part in the tradition where they all jump into the river in celebration. 

With a towel over his shoulder and flip flops, head coach G.J. Kinne took the stand for the post game press conference. 

When Kinne was asked to describe this season in a few words, he said “A learning experience, I grew a ton as a head coach, lots of moments for our players, coaches, myself, we have to learn from this year.” 

No announcement yet to be made on if Texas State will play a bowl game or potential opponent. For further updates, keep up with @ktswsports on X.