Texas State's Ismail Mahdi scores Bobcats' first two touchdowns of the season in first win
SAN MARCOS — Much was made about Texas State’s passing offense last week, with quarterback TJ Finley named Sun Belt player of the week when he threw for 298 yards and three scores in a 42-31 win at Baylor.
Lost in the fray was another offensive player making waves in his first game with the Bobcats: running back Ismail Mahdi.
Mahdi didn’t start the game, but he scored the Bobcats' first touchdown of the season on a 10-yard pass from Finley in the first quarter. Later in that quarter, Mahdi broke away for a 65-yard touchdown run, giving the Bobcats a 14-7 lead. He finished the game with 83 yards rushing on six carries and the two scores.
As one of 39 transfers from FBC or FCS programs this offseason, Mahdi witnessed new coach G.J. Kinne’s “explosive offense” last season when Mahdi was at Houston Christian and Kinne was at Incarnate Word. Mahdi had 87 yards on 13 carries that game, but Kinne’s Cardinals walked away with a 73-20 win.
“I seen what they did at (Incarnate Word) playing in the same conference, the Southland Conference,” Mahdi said. “They put up 70 on us. I seen what they did and I was excited about the offense and the way they were going to use me. … It’s an exciting offense and I wanted to be part of it. I just feel like that’s the type of player I am: an explosive player.”
Mahdi only played in eight games last season due to injury, but he was still a Jerry Rice Award finalist after gaining 909 all-purpose yards — 568 rushing and 333 receiving — with five touchdowns. He averaged 5.1 yards per carry and 10.4 yards per catch for the Huskies.
He almost didn't play football after moving to Texas from Kenya as a child, but you can’t have his type of speed on a Texas playground and not get scouted.
“There’s not much football in Kenya,” Mahdi said. “It’s mainly soccer. I was a soccer guy, my dad played soccer. Coming to the U.S., my dad didn’t want me to play football, he wanted me to focus on soccer. My friends seen me playing football out in recess and they were like, ‘you should play football’ and my middle school coach was like, ‘you should play football.’”
Football recruiting: Houston Clear Falls linebacker La’Kell McGowan became Texas State's 12th pledge for the Bobcats' 2024 recruiting class after committing Friday morning. He also holds offers from Memphis, Washington State, Boise State, BYU and Louisiana Tech. He’s the second linebacker pledge along with Clear Springs linebacker Michael Sylvalie.
Volleyball: Texas State won both matches in the Texas State Invitational last week — a 3-2 win over North Texas on Thursday and 3-0 victory over No. 13 Houston on Saturday. The Bobcats (4-2) are home again this weekend, hosting the Bobcat Classic. After a 3-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday night, Texas State will play Cal and Abilene Christian on Saturday.
Soccer: Texas State has won two straight matches, beating Houston Christian on the road 3-1 on Sunday and then Texas Southern on the road 4-0 on Thursday. The Bobcats (4-3) are back in Houston this Sunday, this time to face the Houston Cougars.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi scored the team's first two TDs
