SAN MARCOS, Texas — South Alabama closes the regular season Saturday at Texas State, seeking its first win in San Marcos in a matchup of bowl-eligible Sun Belt Conference teams.
The Jaguars (6-5, 4-3 Sun Belt) secured bowl eligibility with back-to-back wins, most recently a victory over Marshall in which South Alabama’s defense forced takeaways on Marshall’s first two possessions. The Jaguars converted those turnovers into two field goals, and the defense limited the Thundering Herd’s running game and overall offense for most of the afternoon.
Texas State (6-5, 3-4 Sun Belt) opened the season 4-1 but has gone 2-4 since and has lost its last two games, falling 31-23 to Coastal Carolina and 77-31 to Arkansas State. South Alabama opened as a 5.5-point favorite.
Home Teams Unbeaten in Series
The all-time series between South Alabama and Texas State is even, and each team is 4-0 at home. Half of the meetings have been decided by seven points or fewer.
A win would give South Alabama back-to-back winning seasons for the first time as a Football Bowl Subdivision program. Earlier this season the Jaguars won at Louisiana-Monroe for the first time in program history.
Arkansas State Routs Bobcats
In last week’s loss at Arkansas State, Texas State allowed seven rushing touchdowns, three of them on runs of 40 or more yards in the first half. The Bobcats also gave up a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter and three defensive touchdowns in the second half.
Arkansas State scored three touchdowns in a seven-minute span early in the third quarter to take a 56-17 lead, and back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns put the Red Wolves ahead 77-24 with 10:39 remaining. Arkansas State’s offense did not take a snap from the 8:20 mark of the third quarter until 6:19 remained in the game.
Kinne’s First Season at Texas State
GJ Kinne is in his first season at Texas State and his second as a head coach. In his lone season at FCS program Incarnate Word, Kinne led the Cardinals to a 12-2 record, a 5-1 mark in the Southland Conference, a berth in the FCS semifinals and a No. 7 final national ranking. That offense led all of Division I in scoring and total offense at 51.5 points and 581.2 yards per game.
Kinne’s first Texas State recruiting class included 53 scholarship newcomers and was rated by 247Sports as the program’s best since moving to the FBS. The Bobcats upset Baylor 42-31 in the season opener for the program’s first win over a Power Five opponent, then scored 77 points against Jackson State in their home opener, one point shy of the school record.
Texas State has won two more games than in each of the previous two seasons. The Bobcats have a turnover margin of minus-8, with 21 giveaways (eight interceptions and 13 lost fumbles on 20 total fumbles) and 13 takeaways (five interceptions and eight fumble recoveries).
Bobcats Offense
Quarterback TJ Finley has completed 245 of 357 passes (68.6 percent) for 2,919 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions, putting him 81 yards shy of 3,000 for the season. He has 101 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on 65 carries.
Joey Hobert leads the receivers with 71 catches for 847 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games. Ashtyn Hawkins has 47 catches for 688 yards and two touchdowns, and Kole Wilson has 55 catches for 595 yards and seven touchdowns.
Ismail Mahdi has rushed for 1,112 yards and nine touchdowns on 176 attempts. Donerio Davenport has 423 yards and two touchdowns on 84 carries, and Malik Hornsby has 229 yards and six touchdowns on 35 carries. Texas State averages close to 200 rushing yards per game.
Bobcats Defense and Special Teams
Brian Holloway leads the Texas State defense with 83 tackles, 45 solo, a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss, a team-high two interceptions, a half sack, eight quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles. Shawn Holton has 74 tackles, an interception, two pass breakups and four forced fumbles. Kaleb Culp has 64 tackles, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Ben Bell has 12 tackles for loss and a team-high seven sacks.
Kicker Mason Shipley has made all 13 of his field goal attempts with a long of 47 and has not attempted a kick from 50 yards or longer. Punter Seamus O’Kelly averages 41.33 yards per punt with a long of 55.
South Alabama Offense
After a plus-2 turnover margin against Marshall, South Alabama is even in turnover margin through 11 games. The Jaguars have 17 giveaways (nine interceptions and eight fumbles) and 17 takeaways (10 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries).
Quarterback Carter Bradley has completed 203 of 302 passes (67.2 percent) for 2,477 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Caullin Lacy leads the receivers with 80 catches for 1,222 yards and six touchdowns. Jamaal Pritchett has 45 catches for 675 yards and six touchdowns, and tight end DJ Thomas-Jones has 17 catches for 165 yards.
La’Damian Webb has 1,007 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 186 carries, becoming the first player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in two seasons. Kentrel Bullock has 380 yards and three touchdowns on 77 carries, and Marco Lee Jr. has 216 yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries.
Against Marshall, South Alabama was stopped on several attempts from the 1-yard line, the last a leap by Webb that was ruled inches short of the goal line.
South Alabama Defense and Special Teams
Linebacker Quentin Wilfawn leads the Jaguars with 75 tackles, 44 solo, 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Trey Kiser has 63 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Jamie Sheriff and Brock Higdon have three sacks each, Khalil Jacobs has 6.5 tackles for loss and Sheriff has six.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with four interceptions, and Marquise Robinson has two. Yam Banks, Maurice Strong Jr., Jalen Jordan and Wesley Miller have one each.
Kicker Diego Guajardo has made 12 of 16 field goals (75 percent), including a season-long 47-yarder against Marshall. Two of his misses came from 40 to 49 yards and two on his only attempts from 50 or longer. Punter Jack Martin averages 39.71 yards per punt with a long of 54, 18 fair catches and 11 downed inside the 20.
Injury Report
Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones left the Marshall game on the first drive of the second half and entered concussion protocol. Tight end Jacob Hopper was also injured against Marshall. Both have reportedly practiced this week. Tight end Lincoln Sefcik will miss the rest of the season.
Jordan Davis was carted to the locker room before halftime against Marshall, and the extent of his injury has not been disclosed. Josh McCulloch, whom Davis replaced in the lineup, may be ready to return after suffering a knee injury in practice before the Oklahoma State game. Dontae Lucas missed part of last week’s game but is likely to play.
Bradley has been sidelined once this season, missing the Troy game after an injury against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Season So Far
South Alabama opened with a loss at Tulane, beat Southeastern Louisiana and Oklahoma State, lost to Central Michigan and James Madison, defeated Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss, lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy, and beat Arkansas State and Marshall.
