Texas State football (1-2) dropped its third game of the season 42-7 to Baylor (2-1) on Saturday in Waco at McLane Stadium.
The Bobcats lost by five scores, but three failed fourth-down conversion attempts cost them in the loss.
Despite the lack of fourth-down conversions, head coach Jake Spavital stood by his fourth-down decisions. 
“Going into this game, we said we were going to go for it on fourth down because field goals are not going to beat this team,” Spavital said at a post-game press conference. “That’s why we were really aggressive with what we do, we play to win the game.”
Baylor opened the game with a commanding 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Texas State followed that with a three-and-out on their opening possession but returned the favor by forcing the Bears to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive. 
Junior quarterback Layne Hatcher, who started the game with six straight completions, led the Bobcats all the way to the Baylor 31-yard line but couldn’t convert a fourth-down pass to keep the drive alive.
The Bears took advantage of Texas State’s turnover on downs by going on a 65-yard touchdown drive. The score gave Baylor a 14-0 lead with 11:45 to play in the half. 
With the ball back, Texas State’s offense began to click. Hatcher’s quick decision-making helped the Bobcats go on a strong 14-play drive. That drive included four catches from Hawkins, who had 13 total on the day, setting a new Texas State record for single-game receptions. 
Like their previous drive, the Bobcats were faced with a fourth-down decision. With the ball on the Baylor four-yard line, Spavital decided to go for the touchdown. The gamble failed to pay off again; junior linebacker Will Williams broke up a short pass from Hatcher, giving Baylor possession of the ball. 
Despite having two productive drives, Texas State had nothing to show for it.
With 3:41 to play in the half and the ball already at the Texas State 46 yard-line, the Bobcat’s offense went on a five-play touchdown drive that was capped off by a 12-yard throw from Hatcher to Hawkins. The touchdown made the score 14-7 with just under two minutes to play before the half. 
However, Texas State was unable to bottle up Baylor before the intermission. The Bears marched down the field with an efficient two-minute drill. A run from sophomore quarterback Blake Shapen finished the drive off with a 35-yard touchdown giving Baylor a 21-7 lead going into the break, a moment Spavital pointed to as a critical point in the game.
“I’m sitting here looking at Zac [Spavital] and it was the right call. He knew [the run] was coming, we called it out and did the whole thing,” Spavital said in a post-game press conference. “That was a pivotal moment for us because it was so hard to move the ball on them, that we got it into a one-score game and with having the ball in the second half and now down two scores going into it.”
Texas State wasn’t able to muster up another score after the half and finished the day with 268 total yards; 114 of those coming courtesy of Hawkins. The Bears on the other hand were able to pad their stats in the fourth and finished with 501 total yards, 293 of which came via the rushing game. 
Texas State was only converted one out of its four attempts on fourth-down, leaving potential points on the board with each failed attempt. Baylor’s gambles paid off more often, with the Bears going three out of four on fourth-down, each of which followed by a touchdown.
The Bobcats will try to pick up pieces as they move on and prepare for their next matchup against Houston Baptist University. 
The matchup between Texas State and Houston Baptist is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos.