SAN MARCOS, Texas – Georgia State's offense, especially through the air, proved to be too much for the Bobcat defense Saturday night as the Panthers went on to beat Texas State, 41-19. The loss drops Texas State to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference action.
 
The Bobcats couldn't stop GSU quarterback Nick Arbuckle on a career day for the senior. He passed for 471 yards, the most since 2011 against Texas State, and four touchdowns, both career highs and school records. He led the Panthers to a school-record 644 yards, the second most allowed by Texas State this season.
 
Texas State scored two touchdowns, both by Robert Lowe, but the offense went 4-for-15 on third downs and turned the ball over three times including two interceptions.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Bobcats started the opening drive with a 12-yard completion to Ryan Carden, and, two plays later, Tyler Jones ran for 14 yards. After that, Texas State used a nifty option play to C.J. Best to gain 11 more yards. Junior kicker Lumi Kaba was able to put the Bobcats up, 3-0, with a new career-long field goal of 48 yards to give Texas State its first opening-drive score since Oct. 10 at UL Lafayette. Unfortunately, it would be the last lead of the day for the Bobcats.
 
Georgia State answered thanks to two big plays on the ensuing drive. The Panthers opened with a 44-yard pass to Robert Davis, and quarterback Nick Arbuckle found him later in the drive for a 34-yard touchdown to go up, 7-3.
 
The Bobcats benefitted from a pass interference call on the next drive to help set up another field goal from Kaba. This time, he nailed a 50-yarder for a new personal record and the longest field goal of the season for Texas State, pulling the Bobcats within one, 7-6.
 
As with the last field goal the Bobcats scored though, Georgia State answered with a touchdown drive. Arbuckle sparked the nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 25-yard run. Two plays later, he found Penny Hart for 20 yards, and Taz Bateman capped the drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown the next play.
 
Texas State looked to answer on the next drive and continued to find success with the option to Best. Jones took off around the right end and made the pitch to Best to finish off a 16-yard run. Jones used a traditional pass to Best on the next play, finding him in the slot. He proved to be slippery in the open field and made it a 29-yard completion with great moves.
 
From there, the Bobcats leaned on Lowe. He rushed for five yards then finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run to pull the Bobcats within two, 14-12. A failed two-point conversion by the Bobcats kept the Bobcats with a two-point deficit.
 
The Panthers made short work of the Texas State defense next drive with a 45-yard completion followed by a 24-yard catch from Donovan Harden. Two plays later, Georgia State scored with a pass to Harden in the middle to go up 21-12.
 
Texas State tried to turn the game around the next drive, forcing the team's first interception of the season. Defensive end Jeff Banks was able to tip an Arbuckle pass to start a game of hot potato between both teams. Stephan Johnson finally came down with it, but the Bobcats could not convert the turnover into points, going three-and-out.
 
After that, Georgia State scored another touchdown and followed with a field goal after intercepting an errant Jones pass for a 31-12 lead at halftime.
 
In the first half, the Panthers racked up 396 yards with 323 of them coming through the air. Georgia State's Robert Davis caught four passes for 129 yards in the first half alone. The Bobcats, however, held the ball just shy of five minutes longer than the Panthers and leaned on 75 yards rushing from Lowe. Best, caught five balls for 53 yards and rushed two times for 27 more. The Texas State offense, though, was only 1-for-7 on third down conversions while Georgia State's offense only faced two third downs the entire first half.
 
Georgia State started the second half with the ball and drove into the red zone, but Johnson stopped the Panthers with the second interception of his career, making the catch at the four-yard line. The Panther defense, though, held to get the ball back, and the offense drove for a touchdown and a 38-12 lead.
 
The Panthers added a field goal and an interception while Lowe scored another touchdown for the Bobcats before the game was over for a final score of 41-19.
 
WHO STOOD OUT: Robert Lowe scored both Texas State touchdowns and finished with a team-high 88 yards rushing on 17 carries … Three Bobcats finished with at least 60 yards receiving: Brandon Smith (69 yards), C.J. Best (63 yards), Ryan Carden (61 yards) … Carden matched his career high in catches (five) ans set a career best with 61 yards … Stephan Johnson recorded the team's first interception of the season after Jeff Banks deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage. It is Johnson's first career interception … Johnson caught his second career interception with 13:43 left in the third quarter … Lumi Kaba kicked a 48-yard field goal on the opening drive and added a 50-yard field goal with 4:23 left in the first quarter for a new personal record and season best for Texas State … Kaba added a 65-yard punt in the third quarter, his fourth 60+-yarder this season.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Bobcats have one more home game before ending the season with two on the road. Texas State will host UL Monroe on Nov. 19, a team that they defeated last year by a score of 22-18. UL Monroe fell tonight to Arkansas State by a 59-21 margin at home. The Warhawks are now 1-9 overall and 0-6 in Sun Belt Conference play. Texas State has now exhausted its chances of becoming bowl eligible (six wins).

UP NEXT: The Bobcats will host UL Monroe for at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night at Bobcat Stadium. Fans will be able to watch the game on ESPNU, and Texas State will honor the team's seniors before the game. After that, the Bobcats will travel to Idaho and Arkansas State to finish the season.