The Texas State football team looks to improve its overall record to 2-4 and its Sun Belt Conference record to 1-2 when the Bobcats host Georgia Southern in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU this Thursday night at 6:32 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium.
• Georgia Southern enters Thursday night's contest seeking its third straight win and improving its overall record to 5-1 this season after beating South Alabama 43-13 on Oct. 6. The Eagles also edged Arkansas State 28-21 on Sept. 29 after falling 38-7 at No. 2- ranked Clemson on Sept. 15. Georgia Southern opened the season with victories over South Carolina State and UMASS.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Mark Neely (play-by-play) and John Congemi (analyst) describing the action. The contest can be heard on the Texas State Bobcats Sports Network on TuneIn.com, AM 1300 the Zone in Austin, KTSW (FM 89.9) and AM 1160 in San Antonio.
Brant Freeman (play-by-play),
Bill Culhane (analyst) and Karina Medellin (sideline) will call the action.
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Texas State looks to improve its record to 2-1 in Bobcat Stadium for this season. The Bobcats won their home opener 36-20 against Texas Southern before dropping a 42-27 decision against Louisiana last Saturday night. The Bobcats have dropped their last three games after falling 42-27 against Louisiana on Oct. 6, 41-31 at South Alabama on Sept. 15 and 25-21 at UTSA on Sept. 22.
ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
The Eagles run a Gun/Pistol option offense that is the top rushing offense in the Sun Belt. Sophomore quarterback Shai Werts directs the offense and leads Georgia Southern in rushing with 454 yards and eight touchdowns on 85 carries. He also has completed 19 of 35 passes for 363 yards and four TDs. Wesley Fields is the top running back with 379 yards and three TDs on 70 carries. Slot receiver Wesley Kennedy leads the Eagles with seven catches for 152 yards.
TEXAS STATE VERSUS GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Texas State enters Thursday night's game wanting to even its series record to 2-2 against Georgia Southern. This marks the third time the two teams have met in Bobcat Stadium. The two schools split the first two games with the Bobcats winning, 50-35, on Nov. 26, 2005 in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. Georgia Southern posted a 28-25 win on Nov. 8, 2014.
TEXAS STATE STORYLINES
Texas State had its first 300-yard passing game of the season against Louisiana. The Bobcats completed 29 of 41 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns against the Ragin' Cajuns. Freshman quarterback
Tyler Vitt made his first career start and completed 28 of 39 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Vitt also led the Bobcats in rushing with 92 yards on 17 carries and caught a five-yard TD pass from
Hutch White.
Pro Football Focus has graded Texas State tight end
Keenen Brown as the nation's best tight end with a grade of 91.1. Brown, who mainly lined up as a fullback at Oklahoma State, joined Texas State's roster as a graduate transfer and has become one of the nation's top playmakers.
Brown enters the Georgia Southern game with 23 receptions for 346 yards and four touchdowns. He had four receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana. His two TDs are the most in a game by a Bobcat this season.
Hutch White became the first Bobcat and third Sun Belt player to record 11 receptions in a game when he caught 11 passes for 60 yards. White is an all-purpose player who plays wide receiver, returns punts and is the backup holder on field goal and extra-point attempts. He enters the Georgia Southern with 19 catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns this season. His two TD catches came at South Alabama and UTSA.
Tyler Watts caught a season-high five passes for 42 yards, including a 17-yard catch against Louisiana. He has 11 receptions for 88 yards this season. Watts also had four catches for 33 yards versus Texas Southern and had a three-yard run on a reverse at Rutgers. Watts has also returned eight kickoffs for 156 yards this season. He had a season-best of three returns for 66 yards at UTSA after recording three returns for 61 yards at South Alabama.
Texas State leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 12th in the NCAA FBS with two defensive touchdowns this season. The Bobcats returned an interception for a touchdown at Rutgers and a fumble for a TD against Texas Southern.
Texas State ranks 13th in the NCAA rankings and second in the Sun Belt Conference with six fumble recoveries this season after
Anthony J. Taylor recorded his first career fumble recovery at UTSA. The Bobcats have recovered a fumble in four of their first five games. Texas State had a season-high three fumble recoveries in its Sun Belt opener at South Alabama and that is the highest single-game total in the league this season.
The Bobcats enter Thursday night having forced 10 turnovers this season after
JaShon Waddy intercepted a pass against Louisiana.
Kordell Rodgers leads Texas State with two interceptions and
Jarron Morris has another. The 10 turnovers have already surpassed last season's total of nine turnovers gained.
For the second straight game, Texas State's rushing defense will be tested when the Bobcats play against Georgia Southern's Pistol option offense. Texas State enters the game ranked among the top 77 teams nationally in rushing defense after surrendering 300 yards for the first time this season against Louisiana. The Bobcats come into Thursday night's game giving up 168.4 yards rushing this season and that ranks fourth among Sun Belt Conference teams.
A preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team selection in 2018,
Bryan London II has made 29 consecutive starts and led Texas State with a season-high 10 tackles against Louisiana. He has led the Bobcats in tackles and registered nine-or-more tackles during all five games this season. London II had game-highs of nine tackles and eight solo tackles at UTSA. His eight solo stops are a season-high total. He also led the Bobcats with 10 tackles at South Alabama and nine stops against both Texas Southern and Rutgers.
Junior
JaShon Waddy is in his first season as a free safety after playing as a cornerback in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Waddy recorded the first interception of his career and had seven tackles (four solo stops) against Louisiana. He also had five tackles at South Alabama. He enters the Georgia Southern game with 16 tackles, including 10 solo stops, and three pass breakups.
NEXT WEEK
Following the Georgia Southern game, Texas State will travel to ULM on Oct. 20 before playing its annual Homecoming game against New Mexico State on Oct. 27. The Homecoming game will also be Texas State's Throwback game in which the Bobcats will be wearing throwback Southwest Texas State jerseys.
