The Texas State football team dropped their conference game 24-7 to Louisiana Oct. 12 at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Bobcats dropped to 1-6 for the season and 0-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. On the other hand, Louisiana improved to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.
The Ragin’ Cajuns took an early 7-0 lead over the Bobcats in the first quarter, despite deferring after winning the coin toss. The Bobcats answered with a fumble on the run by graduate quarterback Damian Williams and Louisiana added seven more.
After an intentional grounding call, Williams was pulled for freshman quarterback Willie Jones III. The Bobcats ended the first quarter down 14-0.
“Willie’s performance was up and down,” Texas State head football coach Everett Withers said. “It was not very consistent but something to build on.”
Although the Bobcats had the ball at the three-yard line, an interception was thrown by Jones. This gave the Ragin’ Cajuns back the ball, and sent the Bobcats back to the locker room down 14-0.
For the first half, the Bobcats completed 42 plays for 223 yards, while Louisiana had 27 plays for 173 yards. The Bobcats fumbled twice and recovered one.
Leading Texas State at the end of the half defensively with three tackles was senior linebacker Gabe Loyd (3-0), junior linebacker Frankie Griffin (3-0), senior safety Stephan Johnson (2-1) and junior safety A.J. Krawczyk (0-3).
The Bobcats cut down the Ragin’ Cajun lead by seven after a one-yard touchdown by Taylor and a good PAT. The Bobcats scoring rush was seven plays and 89 yards.
Louisiana answered the touchdown with a 27-yard field goal, ending the quarter 17-7.
The Ragin Cajun’s scored one more touchdown that the Bobcats were unable to respond, with Louisiana finishing on top 24-7.
The Bobcats ended the game with three fumbles and three turnovers. Although the Bobcats had possession of the ball ten seconds longer than their opponent, they were still outscored due to the turnovers.
“We turned the ball over more than they did,” Withers said. “Anytime you turn the ball over it’s not good.”
Up next for the Bobcats is a road-trip to Conway, South Carolina to take on SBC team Coastal Carolina Oct. 28 after a bye week. Kickoff at Brooks Stadium is a still to be determined.