Redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud connected with senior wide receiver Joey Hobert for two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Texas State football began its quest for a conference championship with a victory over Lamar University 34-27 at Jim Wacker Field at UFCU Stadium Saturday night.
Head Coach G.J. Kinne credited his squad for coming out victorious but said there is much the team needs to clean up on.
“I’m proud of the guys for getting a win,” Kinne said. “It was not pretty, but give Lamar a ton of credit. They came in here ready to play.”
McCloud, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, made his highly anticipated debut in a Bobcat jersey and didn’t disappoint, finishing with 238 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one interception.
After taking an early 15-0 in the first quarter, Kinne elected to take out McCloud to give redshirt junior quarterback R.J. Martinez some reps.
This decision stifled Texas State’s momentum, allowing Lamar to stay in the game. The Bobcats didn’t find the endzone again until the fourth quarter and were outscored 17-3 by the Cardinals in the third quarter.
“We talked to both quarterbacks going into [the game]. R.J. [Martinez] performed really well in fall camp, and we wanted to get him some snaps early in the game,” Kinne said. “I thought he deserved that.”
Early in the fourth quarter, McCloud hit Hobert for a 37-yard touchdown pass to put Texas State up 28-17. Later in the quarter, McCloud found Hobert once again, this time for a 30-yard touchdown pass to increase the Bobcat lead to 34-17 and put away the Cardinals for good.
Hobert finished the game with 91 receiving yards to go along with his pair of touchdown receptions.
While expressing his gratitude for the win, Kinne said the coaching staff needs to prepare the team better next week.
“We [got to] do a better job of getting [the team] prepared, but a win is a win,” Kinne said. “I am very happy to be 1-0; that is the biggest thing. It is really hard to win college football games.”
Although the contest was not pretty or dominated by Texas State as many predicted, the team came out of the UFCU home opener with a win and will focus on the next task at hand, I-35 rival the University of Texas- San Antonio.
Kickoff between Texas State and UTSA is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at Jim Wacker Field at UFCU Stadium. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
