Bobcats survive Lamar in season opener

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

There is an old saying coaches have reiterated for decades. A win is a win. That was the case for Texas State on Saturday. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the Bobcats got the job done by beating the Lamar Cardinals 34-27.

Head Coach G.J. Kinne was happy with the victory but also knew the Bobcats still have a lot of work to do.

“Proud of the guys for getting the win,” Kinne said. “It was not pretty, but [I will] give Lamar a lot of credit. They came in here ready to play. I told those guys in the locker room that it was real easy to point fingers and doing all of that. Point them at me if you want to point them at anybody. We have to do a better job getting them prepared.”

The Bobcats were once again plagued by penalties that hurt the team last season and in their game against the Cardinals with 16 flags for 156 yards, which extended Lamar’s drives.

“We have to get back to the drawing board and continue to preach about discipline,” Kinne said. “It was the number one thing we preached all fall camp, offseason, spring camp, summer and fall camp. We have to continue to get better in that area as coaches, players.”

Texas State started out the game well with their first drive, ending on a 34yard touchdown pass from Jordan McCloud to Jaden Williams. After forcing another Lamar punt, the Bobcats made a nine play, 55 yard drive that ended with running back Ismail Mahdi scoring from the one-yard line. Texas State then scored on the two point conversion using the swing gate formation that saw punter David Nunez pass it to tight end Konner Fox for the score.

A Mason Shipley 40yard field goal in the second quarter extended their lead to 18-0 and into halftime.

The Bobcat defense held the Lamar offense to just 18 yards of offense during the first half.

One of the reasons for Bobcats stout defensive play in the first half was the Texas State defensive line who made seven sacks during the entire game.

“I thought they did a great job of applying pressure and getting sacks,” Kinne said. “We had a couple more where we had some penalties on and we just lost the momentum.”

Lamar finally scored in the third quarter with running back Damien Moore scoring from 18 yards out.

Shipley added a 46-yard field goal to make it 21-7 only for Lamar to kick a field goal of their own.

Trailing 21-10 in the fourth quarter, Lamar scored once again after picking the ball off, on a 50 yard touchdown pass on the screenplay to make it a one possession game at 21-17.

Needing a touchdown to keep the Cardinals at bay, the Bobcats turned to wide receiver Joey “Joe Dirt” Hobert.

Down at the Lamar 37 yard line, McCloud hit Hobert on the pass as the wide receiver fought off the defender.

Hobert successfully threw off the defender while balancing on one leg to keep himself out of bounds before regaining his balance and diving into the endzone.

Hobert later scored on a 30 yard screen while hurdling a defender to put the Bobcats up 34-17 following a missed extra point.

Lamar was able to cut the lead down to 34-27 after another touchdown pass and a field goal. The Cardinals recovered the onside with less than 45 seconds left but the Bobcats slammed the door on Lamar’s comeback to seal the win.

Mahdi ran for 156 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown while Hobert made six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns. McCloud in his first start at quarterback passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns.

With the number of defensive miscues during the second half, Kinne and staff will go back to the drawing board.

“It’s the penalties,” Kinne said. “We played a lot of guys and in fall camp we were rotating a bunch of groups. In game one, we were trying to get as many guys out there as possible and let them compete. When that happens, there are some things you need to clean up, the chemistry part and the discipline part.”

With their first win underneath of the belt, the Bobcats will look to regroup after being pushed by Lamar and the rivalry game with UTSA up next.

“I thought it was good for all coordinators and myself to face a little adversity and face situations that you work during fall camp that you are not expecting week one,” Kinne said. “We have to clean some things up and go back to the drawing board to make sure everyone is on the same page.”