Bobcats stun Warhawks with last second comeback, first 5-win season since 2014

Texas State scored 12 unanswered points with less than five minutes remaining in the game, as the Bobcats stunned the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks, 21-20, to seal the team’s first five-win season since 2014 in front of the fifth largest crowd at Bobcat Stadium.

Catching 10 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns, wide receiver “Joe Dirt” Joey Hobert talked post-game about how this win establishes the start of a new era of Bobcat football.

“It’s great [especially] with the more recent years not being great at all,” Hobert said. “With this new team, it’s not about what happened in the past. It’s about making history. This is a new team and we are going to show what this new team is and not what it was. This is a new brand of Texas State football.”

With the team trailing late in the game, Head Coach G.J. Kinne said he was thrilled with the effort of both the players and his fellow coaches.

“I’m just really proud of the guys and the staff,” Kinne said. “There was no give-up on that sideline. Those guys believed. I told the guys before the game that the reason we will win this game is because of the relationships in the locker room between players and coaches. We have a bunch of winners over there.

“To win a game like that is huge, so I’m really proud of our guys and coaches.”

At the start of the fourth quarter, Texas State trailed Louisiana Monroe, 13-9, following a 22-yard field goal by Warhawk kicker Derek McCormick that followed a goal line stand by the Texas State defense.

On the next possession, the Bobcats drove down to the ULM 28-yard line, after a first-down run by running back Jahmyl Jeter.

Disaster struck for Texas State as the Warhawks picked off the pass on the play, then returned the ball 76 yards for the score, to give Louisiana Monroe a 20-9 lead with only 8:57 left in the game.

Despite the interception leading to the touchdown, Kinne said he knew that his team was not going down without a fight.

“For me, it felt similar to how it went against Lafayette,” Kinne said. “But there was no doubt on that sideline.”

The following possession saw the Bobcats drive down to the ULM 11-yard line, capped off by a twoyard run by T.J. Finley.

Finley found Hobert in the end zone for the score as Texas State made it a 2015 game, following a failed two-point conversion.

The Bobcat defense responded once again by forcing the Warhawks to go three and out on their next possession, while calling two timeouts as Texas State fair caught the ball at their own 24-yard line needing a touchdown to retake the lead with only 3:15 left in the game.

Driving 76 yards, Finley connected with Hobert with a 22-yard touchdown pass and the Bobcats regained the lead.

Following a second failed two-point conversion, Texas State led Louisiana Monroe, 21-20.

The Warhawks started on their own 25-yard line before quarterback Jiya Wright ran for 16 yards to put the ball on the ULM 41-yard line.

Louisiana Monroe moved into Texas State territory following a 19-yard pass from Wright to Woullard as the Warhawks set up shop on the TXST 40-yard line.

The Warhawks initially appeared to have moved the ball to the Bobcat 28-yard line, but officials called them for offensive pass interference, which moved Louisiana Monroe back to their own 45-yard line.

Following a pass play that only went two yards, Louisiana Monroe was forced to call timeout with four seconds left in the game.

Not able to kick the game-winning field goal, the Warhawks were forced to throw a last ditch Hail Mary.

Wright scrambled for an 11-yard gain after he was pressured to run out of bounds.

But time had expired before Wright went out of bounds, and the Bobcats completed the emotional comeback, sealing the record- making 21-20 victory.

Texas State will begin their bye week Monday, giving the team some time before the Bobcats take the field Oct. 27, when they host the Troy Trojans for Homecoming Weekend.

cmcwilliams@ sanmarcosrecord.om Twitter: @ColtonBMc