TXST FOOTBALL
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The Countdown to Kickoff series takes a look at the upcoming 2025 season for the Texas State Bobcats in their final year of the Sun Belt Conference.
This week will preview the Bobcats final road game of the season as Texas State makes the trip to Hattiesburg in a showdown with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss’ 2024 campaign was one not worth remembering as the Golden Eagles finished the year 1-11 with their lone win coming against Southeastern Louisiana.
Head Coach Will Hall was fired after the seventh game of the season before Reed Stringer coached the team on an interim basis.
Against Texas State, the Bobcats decminated the Golden Eagles 58-3 on homecoming night.
During the offseason, the Golden Eagles hired Charles Huff to take over the program after leading Marshall to a conference championship in the same season.
Huff proceeded to bring over 19 players from the Thundering Herd conference championship team, many of whom contributed to Marshall’s success that season.
Looking to lead the offense is quarterback Braylon Braxton. At Marshall, Braxton passed for 1,624 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 610 yards and four touchdowns.
Joingin Braxton is the wide receiver duo of Chuck Montgomery and Carl Chester. Montgomery caught 32 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns while Chester caught 20 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns.
Returning on defense for the Golden Eagles is defensive tackle Brodarius Lewis. Lewis made 39 total tackles, 19 solo tackles and led the team in sacks with four.
The series history of Texas State-Southern Miss dates back to 2013 when the Bobcats began their transition to FBS.
In their first meeting, Texas State defeated Southern Miss 22-15 in a low scoring affair. Quarterback Taylor Arndt scored the game winning touchdown with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
The two teams met again in 2015 in a game that was the complete opposite of their first meeting.
Combining for over 1,200 yards of offense, Southern Miss defeated Texas State 56-50 in the highest scoring game of the series.
The series went on a hiatus until 2022 when Southern Miss moved from C-USA to join the Sun Belt, placed in the West Division.
The first ever conference meeting between the Bobcats and the Golden Eagles took place during the 2022 season when Southern Miss defeated Texas State 20-14. Despite the Bobcats scoring a 74-yard touchdown pass from Layne Hatcher to Ashtyn Hawkins, the Golden Eagles responded with a 53--yard touchdown pass with just 32 seconds left in the game to come away with the win.
The Bobcats exacted revenge against the Golden Eagles the next season when Texas State defeated Southern Miss 50-36 in the conference opener for the ‘Cats.
Texas State went up 42--10 at halftime before Southern Miss scored 26 unanswered points in the second half. The Bobcats sealed the win with a late touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Kickoff for Texas State-Southern Miss is set for Saturday Nov. 15 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Texas State defeated Southern Miss 58-3 in the biggest blowout win of the series. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
