Oct. 6, 2007

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SAN MARCOS - Karrington Bush finished with 124 all-purpose yards and Andrew Ireland kicked a pair of field goals, but Texas State was overwhelmed by a McNeese State offense that put up 502 yards of offense to ruin the Bobcats' Southland Conference opener as Texas State fell 41-20 at home on Saturday.

No. 6 McNeese State remained undefeated on the year, improving to 5-0 and 1-0. Texas State is now 1-4 and 0-1.

Bradley George completed 18-of-33 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, while his counterpart Derrick Fourroux for the Cowboys completed 10-of-14 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

McNeese State used a big return on the opening kickoff to start from near midfield, marching 57 yards to the Bobcat 1-yard line. On third and less than a yard from the one, the Texas State defense looked to force a stop for fourth down, but a chain measurement gave the Cowboys a fresh set of downs inches from the goal. From there, Kris Bush found the end zone to cap the 11-play, 58-yard yard drive and give McNeese State a 7-0 lead with 11:13 left in the first.

The Bobcat running attack marched Texas State downfield on its first possession, as Bush carried five times for 41 yards on an 11 play, 57-yard drive that reached the Cowboy 14 before an incomplete pass on third down sent Ireland out for a 31-yard field goal that put Texas State on the board. The Bobcats cut the lead to 7-3 at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter.

Texas State quickly found itself in the red zone again when Sam Pier forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that Ric Palmer recovered for the Bobcats at the McNeese State 21. Morris Crosby scampered 18 yards on a reverse to move the ball to the three before George scanned back across the field and found Galen Dunk wide open on the left side of the end zone for a touchdown to give the `Cats a 10-7 lead with 3:49 remaining in the quarter.

McNeese State went back on top when Fourroux found daylight up the middle before bouncing outside for a 37-yard touchdown run. The Cowboy quarterback also completed a 23-yard strike to Carlese Franklin on the four-play, 77-yard drive that took only 1:21 off the clock. McNeese State missed the extra point to leave the score at 13-10 with 11:45 left in the first half.

After a Bobcat punt, the Cowboys found the end zone again, this time through the air as Fourroux found Quinten Lawrence for a 51-yard touchdown reception with 7:07 on the clock. The pass put McNeese State up 20-10 and highlighted a five play, 76-yard drive.

Neither team could get anything going for the rest of the half.

Texas State looked to cut the Cowboys' lead before the break. The Bobcats moved the ball into McNeese territory. George completed a 24-yard pass to Karrington Bush on third-and-13 from the Bobcat 23 and an eight-yard pass to Delbert Current moved the ball into Cowboy territory. Facing third-and-one, George would fumble the exchange from center and was tackled short of the first down marker on fourth and less than one.

McNeese would take possession with 1:20 to play and look to threaten.

A 35-yard catch by Elrick Jones brought McNeese State to the Bobcat 21 with under a minute remaining in the half. Texas State's defense held stout, forcing a turnover when Marcus Clark intercepted Fourroux at the two, keeping the game at 20-10 as both teams headed to the locker rooms.

The pick was the true freshman's second of the season.

The third quarter opened with the Cowboys striking quickly after forcing a punt, as Fourroux took only three plays to lead McNeese State to the end zone, finding Carlese Franklin from 36-yards to make it 27-10 less than three minutes into the quarter.

Texas State responded with a 12-play drive that moved the Bobcats from their own 20 to the McNeese 16, but a pair of incompletions forced the `Cats to settle for another Ireland field goal, this time from 33 yards out, making it 27-13 with 7:57 left in the third.

Completions of 20 and 37 yards by Fourroux again put McNeese State on the verge of scoring on its next possession, and Kris Bush pounded it in for his second score from two yards out to cap a five-play, 58-yard drive in only 1:03 that extended the lead to 34-13 with 6:54 remaining in the quarter.

The teams would trade punts before Texas State mounted a drive at the end of the third quarter that extended into the fourth, but George was intercepted by John Vigers at the McNeese 43. The Cowboys made the most of the turnover, as Jones scored his second touchdown, this time from seven yards out to grow the lead to 41-13 with 11:33 left in the game.

Texas State would score a touchdown with two seconds left when Clint Toon found Corey Scott for a six-yard score for the game's final points.

The Bobcats will have a short week of rest before traveling to Conway, Ark., for a Thursday night game at Central Arkansas. The game was moved to Thursday to be televised on Fox Sports Southwest and marks the Bears' first official Southland Conference home football game since joining the league. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.