A crowd of over 25,000 gathered to watch Texas State (3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) defeat Appalachian State University (3-3, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) for the first time in program history 36-24. 
The attendance of Saturday’s game broke the record for the largest home crowd for a Sun Belt Conference game in Bobcat Stadium.
With the win, the Bobcats broke a six-game losing streak against the Mountaineers, and the Bobcats are now 3-0 at home for the first time since 2011. 
“Overall, just a great team win,” head coach Jake Spavital said. “Throughout the week we talk about complementary football and we talk about playing clean football and efficient football and playing together, and we finally did that tonight against a very quality opponent.”
Following Texas State’s loss last week against James Madison, the Bobcats entered Saturday’s game as three touchdown underdogs to an Appalachian State team that was coming off a 49-0 thrashing against The Citadel.
Texas State redshirt junior quarterback Layne Hatcher had a bounce-back game after struggling in poor weather conditions the previous week in Virginia, completing 26 of 36 passes to go along with two touchdown passes and one interception.
The interception came on the opening 12-play drive in which the Bobcats were set up on the Appalachian State four-yard line following a defensive pass interference penalty on senior wide receiver Marcell Barbee. 
In the next play, Appalachian State senior cornerback Dexter Lawson Jr., who already had two interceptions on the season to lead the Mountaineer defense, picked off Hatcher in the end zone.
Hatcher responded to the interception by leading the Bobcat offense down the field on a quick five-play drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Lincoln Pare.
As for Hatcher’s two touchdown passes, the first one came early in the second quarter on the team’s third offensive possession when he connected with redshirt freshman wide receiver Charles Brown on a two-yard completion to conclude a lengthy 12-play drive giving Texas State a 14-0 lead. 
Hatcher’s second touchdown pass came later in the second quarter during the Bobcat’s sixth offensive possession when he threw a 23-yard pass over the middle to sophomore wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins in the back of the end zone, putting Texas State up 24-0 with 44 seconds remaining in the first half.
On the opening drive of the second half, quarterback Chase Brice led the Mountaineers on a nine-play drive that took them deep into Bobcat territory. Facing a fourth and five at the Texas State 12-yard line, Appalachian State head coach Shawn Clark elected to go for it rather than kick a field goal. 
On fourth down in the opening drive in the second half, Mountaineers quarterback Chase Brice threw his third interception of the season to junior safety Tory Spears, who returned it for a 94-yard touchdown, giving Texas State a 30-3 lead. 
“The play before I misread my key, gave up a little too much,” Spears said. “We were in zone, I read the quarterback, ball came over my shoulder, caught it and when I cut it up the only thing in my head was go get it.” 
Brice finished the game 40 of 53 for 395 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one interception.
The Bobcat defense disrupted Brice and the Appalachian State offense all night, particularly on third and fourth down. The Bobcats held the Mountaineers to 6-15 on third down and forced four turnovers on downs and two takeaways. 
“It was a great win for the program,” Spavital said. “I think that’s a momentum kind of game for us to understand what we’re capable of doing if we play together and play clean football and play the game of football the right way. So that’s a big win for these kids in terms of the confidence level and showing everybody that we can play with anybody.”
Saturday’s win is the type that can single-handedly turn an entire season around in a positive direction, but Spavital knows there is still plenty of work ahead. 
“At the end of the day, we got to strap it up and do it again next week,” Spavital said. 
The Bobcats will look to carry the momentum from Saturday’s victory into next week when they face the 4-2 Troy Trojans. The game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama.