Sept. 2, 2006

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SAN MARCOS - Chase Wasson and Daniel Jolly combined for four rushing touchdowns, and Texas State got a key fourth-quarter stop in the game's final minute to beat Tarleton State 27-23 Saturday in front of 15,388 at Bobcat Stadium, which marked the school's fifth-best crowd and the highest opening day audience in school history.

Texas State (1-0) managed to stop Tarleton (0-1) after the Texans drove the ball to the Bobcat 34 yard line with less than a minute to play, as senior defensive back Dallas Coleman broke up a fourth-down Richard Bartel pass intended for tight end Hunter Storm with 39 seconds left in the game.

The Bobcats gained 335 yards of total offense, 220 of which came on the ground, while Tarleton State managed 391 yards of offense in the game. The Texans got 356 of their 391 yards through the air, including 348 passing yards from Bartel.

Wasson finished with 82 yards on the ground and 75 more through the air on 11-of-17 passing to finish with 157 yards of total offense. Bobcat running backs combined for 129 yards, led by Alvin Canady's 59 yards, 41 of which came on one play in the first quarter. Morris Crosby led all Texas State receivers with 42 yards on four catches.

Tarleton State opened the game with the ball but after 11 yards and one first down, the Texans were forced into a punt that landed at the Texas State 25. The end-over-end kick hopped to the 20, where Crosby attempted to pick the ball off of the turf. Crosby fumbled, giving Tarleton State the ball at the 16 yard line. Two plays later, Texas State forced a fumble of its own and recovered at the 17 to end the Texan scoring threat.

The Bobcats responded to the turnover, driving 83 yards in eight plays, culminating in a 13-yard Wasson touchdown run at the 8:40 mark that put Texas State on top 7-0. Wasson ran for 53 yards on the scoring drive, which took 2:56 off of the first-quarter clock.

Tarleton answered the Bobcat touchdown and tied the game two plays later, covering 78 yards and knotting the score at 7-7 on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Richard Bartel to Dustin Pleasant at the quarter's 7:33-mark.

Texas State regained the lead late in the second quarter, as Jolly completed a 10-play, 56-yard drive that lasted 4:54 with a one-yard touchdown plunge. The score was set up by a15-yard pass from Wasson to Cameron Luke and a 12-yard Stan Zwinggi run, but the Bobcats failed to convert on the point-after kick, making the score 13-7 with 4:19 to go in the second.

The Texans made a final first-half dash in the period's last four minutes, pushing the ball to the Bobcat five with 1:03 left on a 31-yard pass from Bartel to Jason Mathias. Tarleton lost three yards on its next two plays, moving the ball back to the Bobcat eight, and on third down, Bartel sailed a pass through the back-left corner of the end zone to bring up fourth down and a field-goal attempt.

Tarleton place-kicker Paul Williams hit the 25-yarder with 16 seconds left, cutting the Bobcat lead to 13-10 heading into the halftime locker room.

The Texans opened the second half with another opportunity to tie the score, but after driving the ball to the Bobcat 15, Williams missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt that would have tied the game. Tarleton would get a second shot, however, as Wasson fired an errant pass on Texas State's first play of the third quarter, giving Tarleton the ball at the Bobcat 25.

Tarleton would score six plays later on Williams' 30-yard kick, tying the game at 13-13 with 9:42 left in the period.

After forcing another Bobcat punt mid-way through the third quarter, the Texans took over at the Bobcat 49, and four plays later, Dustin Pleasant sprinted through the goal line on a 34-yard touchdown strike from Bartel, putting Tarleton on top 20-13.

With just more than a minute left in the third quarter, Tarleton State again regained the ball by forcing another Bobcat punt, but after an incomplete pass and a pair of runs that totaled 11 yards, Jeremy Castillo forced a Linn Nunn fumble at the 19 yard-line that was scooped up by Jervoress Crenshaw and returned to the Texan eight.

Wasson needed only one play to tie the game, running in from eight yards out to make the score 20-20 at the third quarter's 22-second mark.

Texas State forced three-straight incompletions on the next Tarleton possession, and with 9:43 remaining in the game, Jolley scored his second touchdown, plunging in from three yards out to put Texas State up 27-20. Wasson helped set up the touchdown, throwing for 28 yards while Zwinggi rushed for 18 yards in what proved to be the game-winning drive.

Tarleton slimmed the lead to four on a field goal with 6:51 left, but the Texans were unable to execute in the game's final minute, firing two incompletions on third and fourth down from the Bobcat 34.

Texas State continues its season next Saturday with a road contest at Kentucky, and the Bobcats return home Sept. 16 to take on Northern Colorado at Bobcat Stadium.