Texas State blasts Nevada in second-half comeback for 35-24 victory
SAN MARCOS — It was a tale of two halves for the Texas State Bobcats, overcoming a 17-0 deficit at halftime to beat Nevada 35-24 Saturday night. It was the largest come-from-behind win for the Bobcats since joining the FBS in 2012, and this is the program's first 3-1 start since 2013.
Texas State’s five possessions in the first half ended on a pick six, a punt, consecutive turnovers on downs and a fumble. The Bobcats then scored touchdowns on five of their six drives in the second half.
“Great resiliency, great grit in the second half,” Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said. “We came out and weren’t ready to play, and that’s on me. … We just as a coaching staff talked to them about, on offense, score every time you get the ball. We’re going to get so many possessions in the second half. We’ve got to score every time we get it.”
Even when his team was down by more than two scores without team captains Nash Jones, Jordan Revels and Tory Spears due to injuries, Kinne’s confidence in the Bobcats' ability to regain the lead didn’t waver.
“I knew it was going to happen,” Kinne said. “We just had to get it going. Usually it takes a special player to do it, and I thought Joey Hobert kind of sparked us there. Give a lot of credit to TJ (Finley), too. Had some bad things go down, and he was able to bounce back and put the ball where it needed to be. He showed a lot of maturity tonight.
“There was no panic at all the whole game. It was just when is it going to happen and if we had enough time at the end. … I thought it showed tonight that we had three captains out. That showed out there tonight. We’ve got to get healthy, and I have to do a better job of getting these guys prepared.”
Nevada (0-4) opened the game with a 13-play drive, capped by a 30-yard field goal from Brandon Talton. The Bobcats gained 72 yards in 10 plays on their first drive, but Finley threw a pick six that was returned 98 yards by KK Meier, giving the Wolf Pack a 10-0 lead with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first quarter. It was Finley’s first interception in four starts this season.
After a Texas State punt, Nevada ate up 6:55 on the clock with a 14-play drive capped by a touchdown fumble recovery by offensive lineman Zach Welch after running back Sean Dollars lost the ball. The Wolf Pack weren’t able to capitalize on two turnovers on downs and a fumble by the Bobcats, making it 17-0 at the break.
Finley found Hobert in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown with 9:43 left in the third. Finley then found Kole Wilson across the middle for a 77-yard score to make it 17-14 with 3:42 left in the quarter.
Texas State took its first lead just before the final quarter when Ismail Mahdi broke free for a 46-yard touchdown with 49 seconds left in the third. Mahdi added to the lead in the fourth with a 36-yard touchdown run, giving the Bobcats a 28-17 advantage with 8:30 to play. He finished with 216 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
“Huge props to the (offensive line) — they did a great job up front making holes,” Mahdi said. “All I had to do was hit them and run fast, so I just wanted to give big props to them. It was all them, the O-line.”
A turnover on downs by the Wolf Pack set up a coup de grace touchdown run by backup quarterback Malik Hornsby to make it 35-17 with 6:15 left. Nevada scored on a 2-yard run by AJ Bianco with 57 seconds left to cement the final score.
Finley finished 25-for-31 for 295 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Hobert caught nine passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, and Kole Wilson caught four for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Texas State will begin its Sun Belt Conference schedule this Saturday at Southern Miss.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State football team rallies in second half to beat Nevada
