Champaign, Ill. ­– Nineteen unanswered points in the second half by Illinois proved to be too much for the Texas State football team as the Bobcats fell by a score of 42-35 in Champaign, Ill. on Saturday evening. A near-two hour rain delay in the beginning of the second quarter put a damper on the contest.
 
The Texas State defense dominated play in the first half, allowing just six Illinois first downs compared to 17 for Texas State.
 
After Illinois scored on its opening play on a 75-yard run, the Bobcat offense got the ball rolling with 9:16 left in the first quarter. At that time, the Bobcats made a mark in the history books, recording the first points and the first lead over a Big 10 squad. Ben Ijah's three-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Jones capped off an eight-play, 55-yard drive by the Bobcats to give them the early 7-6 lead.
 
 
Texas State continued to extend its lead in the first quarter when Jafus Gaines notched his third TD reception of the season on an 11-yard pass from Jones. The Bobcats started with the ball on their own 28-yard line and moved the ball 72 yards en route to the touchdown.
 
Jones and his offense made the most of the getting the ball back with 6:59 on the clock as the Bobcats recorded the longest drive of the season. The 90-yard drive was helped near the goal line as an Illinois targeting penalty granted the Bobcats a first down on the two-yard line. Two plays later, Jones ran the ball in for his first rushing touchdown of the game. The key play in the scoring drive was a 27-yard completed pass to Ijah on third and two.
 
Moments following when the Bobcats extended their lead to 21-6 after the longest scoring drive of the 2014 season, Illinois quickly answered to cut the Bobcat lead to eight with 1:14 left in the first half. Illinois ran just five plays and 75 yards in just over a minute off the clock.
 
Illinois' momentum at the end of the first half carried into the third quarter as the Fighting Illini continued to score two more touchdowns with two unsuccessful two-point conversions to give themselves a 25-21 lead.
 
Colby Targun provided a spark in the third quarter for Texas State, intercepting the ball for a 48-yard return down to the Illinois 13-yard line. The Bobcats proceeded to score and take over the lead once again on a 12-yard pass to Ijah. Ijah's TD reception was his second of the game and third of his career.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats were hurt on a running into the kicker penalty which gave Illinois a first down. The Fighting Illini were in the midst of kicking a field goal to tie it up, but ultimately scored a touchdown to take the final lead of the game.
 
Upon increasing their lead to seven with less than six remaining, the Fighting Illini added seven more to go up by 14.
 
The Bobcats cut the Illinois lead to seven with just over a minute remaining, but an unsuccessful onside kick proved to be the end of the game for Texas State.
 
Jones finished the game with a career-high 336 passing yards, topping his previous career-best of 278 set against UAPB in the 2014 home opener. He also tied his career-high of four TD passes, a mark he set against UAPB in the home opener. The Bobcats ended the game with 475 yards compared to 486 by Illinois. The Bobcats also finished the game with 26 first downs compared to just 21 by the Fighting Illini.
 
The Bobcats will be back in action next Saturday at 7:00 pm. at Tulsa. The game can be seen on ESPNews.
 
 

Nothing like northern weather... @TXSTATEFOOTBALL hanging tough while this passes #BeatIllinois pic.twitter.com/o0tbTK6AFB

— TXST Bobcat Club (@txstbobcatclub) September 20, 2014