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Texas State opens by shocking Baylor behind Bobcats' new quarterback and head coach

Keff Ciardello
·4 min read
Texas State running back Donerio Davenport goes up for a touchdown catch during the first half of Saturday night's 42-31 win over Baylor at McLane Stadium in Waco. It was the Bobcats' first win over a Power Five program.
Texas State running back Donerio Davenport goes up for a touchdown catch during the first half of Saturday night's 42-31 win over Baylor at McLane Stadium in Waco. It was the Bobcats' first win over a Power Five program.

WACO — The improbable became possible Saturday night when Texas State, with a new quarterback in place and a new head coach making his FBS debut, upset Baylor 42-31 at McLane Stadium. It's the first win ever for the Bobcats over a Power Five program and the their first win over the Bears in nine tries dating back to 1909.

“That was pretty fun,” Texas State coach G.J. Kinne said. “I told those guys this was a new era of Texas State football. Those guys came out with a bang. They believed since the moment I got here, and I’m just really proud of the players and the staff. Couldn’t have done it without all those guys.”

Bohls: Texas State's G.J. Kinne is undaunted of the challenge ahead. Can you doubt him?

Auburn transfer TJ Finley got the start at quarterback over Arkansas transfer Malik Hornsby. Finley accounted for four of Texas State's six touchdowns and finished 22 of 30 for 298 yards and three touchdowns. The Bobcats added 143 rushing yards, converted all four fourth-down tries, scored on all three of their red zone opportunities and punted only three times.

“I told Finley when I recruited him he’s an NFL quarterback,” Kinne said. “He threw some dimes tonight. Converted a couple big-time fourth downs with pressure on the road. … There’s still a lot of things we need to clean up from tonight. We turned the ball over too many times and put the ball in jeopardy too many times.”

Auburn transfer TJ Finley got the start at quarterback and threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns. "I told Finley when I recruited him he's an NFL quarterback," Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said.
Auburn transfer TJ Finley got the start at quarterback and threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns. "I told Finley when I recruited him he's an NFL quarterback," Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said.

After an early field goal put Baylor up 3-0, Finley settled in. He led Texas State on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ismail Mahdi. Another field goal brought Baylor to within 7-6, but the Bobcats countered with Mahdi's 65-yard touchdown run and later added a 27-yard touchdown pass to Donerio Davenport, making it 21-6.

Mahdi led the Bobcats with 83 yards rushing and a touchdown, along with one touchdown reception. Davenport’s touchdown was his only catch.

“We’re an explosive offense,” Finley said. “We are going to go fast. We are going to push the ball down the field. As you can see today, we have the people to get it done. Our coaches are doing a great job to put us in position to make plays.”

The Bears finally found the end zone with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half when Blake Shapen scored on a 9-yard touchdown run. But the Bobcats answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that included their third fourth-down conversion of the half when Finley connected with Ashtyn Hawkins for 31 yards to Baylor's 1-yard line. Jahmyl Jeter's touchdown on a dive play made it 28-13 at halftime.

Baylor came out of the locker room steaming, scoring on its first possession of the second half on Shapen's 53-yard touchdown pass to Drake Dabney. The Bears made the 2-point conversion to close to 28-21.

But yet again the Bobcats answered when Finley scored from 16 yards out on a fourth-and-2 bootleg run, making it 35-21 with 10:18 left in the third quarter.

Texas State's 42-31 win over Baylor was the program's first win over the Bears in nine tries, dating back to 1909. “That was pretty fun,” first-year Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said. “I told those guys this was a new era of Texas State football."
Texas State's 42-31 win over Baylor was the program's first win over the Bears in nine tries, dating back to 1909. “That was pretty fun,” first-year Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said. “I told those guys this was a new era of Texas State football."

Baylor got the ball back after a Davenport fumble and inserted backup quarterback Sawyer Robertson. But after a 33-yard pass to Hal Presley set the Bears up with a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line, the Bobcats' defense stiffened. Robertson was thrown for a 7-yard loss on a keeper, and a third-down reverse pass was dropped in the end zone. Baylor settled for a field goal to make it 35-24 heading into the final quarter.

But Texas State added another touchdown as Finley connected with Joey Hobert for a 26-yarder to boost the gap to 42-24 with 13:52 left. Hobert finished with six catches for 105 yards. Baylor responded with a 12-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Shapen to Dabney.

The Bears had two more opportunities but turned the ball over on their final two possessions. Robertson was picked off by safety Shawn Holton with four minutes left and then fumbled with two minutes left.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State upset Baylor in a season-opening football shocker in Waco