After a long-anticipated HEB I-35 Showdown game, the Texas State football team lost 44-14 against the University of Texas at San Antonio on Sept. 23 at Bobcat Stadium.
The Roadrunners began on offense and started off on the scoreboard with a field goal, leading the Bobcats 3-0.
Texas State started its drive on the 28-yard line, but graduate quarterback Damian Williams fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Roadrunners for a touchdown. The Roadrunners were leading 10-0 in the first quarter.
Nine plays, 94-yards and four minutes later, Williams drove the ball in for two yards for a touchdown. The Bobcats scored the extra point and the score was 10-7. The score remained the same at the end of the first quarter.
Beginning in the second quarter, the Roadrunners made a 67-yard run and scored their second touchdown of the game leading 17-7.
With almost nine minutes remaining in the second quarter, Williams completed a nine-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Haydel who drove the ball in for a touchdown.
The Bobcats completed the field goal for the extra point, and the score was now 17-14—with the Bobcats just trailing behind the Roadrunners.
Still in the second quarter, the Roadrunners scored another touchdown. To end the half, UTSA scored a 43-yard field goal leading 27-14.
In the fourth quarter with the Roadrunners leading 37-14 and in possession, the Bobcats force a UTSA fumble and Texas State recovers the ball at the Roadrunners 40-yard line. However, the Bobcats did not score anything out of the drive.
“If you can’t win up front, you can’t win a ball game,” Head football coach Everett Withers said. “There were a lot of gaps that weren’t fit right. They were more physical than us.”
Texas State did not score anymore points after the first half, and were playing defense throughout most of the game.
“Coach Withers is very honest and up front and he said we have to fix it tomorrow,” Tight end Gabe Schrade said. “We’re going to come back out tomorrow and get back out there.”
The I-35 Showdown was the most anticipated game of the season with 31,333 fans in the stands. The game’s attendance was the fourth largest in Bobcat Stadium history.
“Tonight they were way more physical,” Sophomore linebacker Bryan London II said. “You expect every opponent to be tough and play physical. We just got to go back to the drawing board and correct mistakes.”
The Bobcats now have an overall record of 1-3. Next up, the Bobcats head to Laramie, Wyoming, to take on the Wyoming Cowboys on Sept. 30. Kickoff is set to start at 3 p.m.