Texas State’s (3-1) rushing offense combined for 207 yards in front of a packed UFCU Stadium in San Marcos Saturday night as the Bobcats beat rivals Nicholls State (1-3) 35-3 and brought home the historic Paddle Trophy.
The fireworks started early for the Bobcats as redshirt freshman Brad Jackson completed a nine-yard touchdown run to the right, which capped off a 13-play, 92-yard drive, with 51 of those yards coming from the running game. Jackson finished the game with two rushing touchdowns; Texas State’s reliance on their running backs and Jackson was a theme that continued throughout the game.
“There’s a lot to clean up there [in the rushing game],” G.J. Kinne said in the post-game press conference. “We’ll look at the film and continue to get better, but obviously, that’s who we are. We want to run the football“
Texas State’s defense bent but didn’t break, only allowing three points the entire game. It was an encouraging performance from a group that allowed 97 points in the first three weeks of the season.
“We got our first turnover [of the season], so that was really good to see…we just got to continue to work at it, and when those opportunities come, we got to capitalize on it,” Kinne said. “Obviously, we kept an eye on the end zone, which is the most important thing, but we’ve got to continue to get better.”
Off the field, more than 30,000 fans packed UFCU Stadium for the first time since 2017. It was the fourth largest crowd in Texas State football history.
“We’re fueled by the home crowd always, so anytime we can get that type of attendance in the stadium, it’s always gonna be great,” redshirt senior Kalil Alexander said. “It’s always a great feeling to me, just from coming from [junior college] and the smaller schools, and being able to see stuff like this is truly a blessing.”
With a bye week on the horizon, Texas State will officially kick off its last conference slate in the Sun Belt in two weeks with an away matchup against Arkansas State at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+
