The Texas State football team will be wearing throwback uniforms when it returns to Bobcat Stadium at 6:05 p.m. Oct. 27 for its annual Homecoming game against New Mexico State. The contest is the final non-conference game for the Bobcats this season.
For the first time since Texas State underwent a name change in 2003, the Bobcats will wear throwback uniforms as part of a special tribute to the teams from the Southwest Texas State era. From 1959-2002, the Bobcats won two NCAA Division II national championships in 1981 and 1982, as well as conference championships in 1963, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 (co-champion).
Texas State enters the game with a 1-6 overall record after dropping a 20-14 decision at ULM on Oct. 20. New Mexico State is 2-6 after falling 48-31 against Georgia Southern last Saturday.
The Texas State-New Mexico State 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.
The game will be broadcast on KNVA in Austin and ESPN3 with David Saltzman (play-by-play), Keith Moreland (analyst) and Megan Birdsong (sideline reporter) describing the action.
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Texas State has a 46-34-1 record in Homecoming games. This marks the third time in four years that the Bobcats play their Homecoming game against New Mexico State.
TXST seeks to even its non-conference record to 2-2 in 2018 against New Mexico State. Texas State won its first home game against Texas Southern (36-20) and fell 35-7 at Rutgers and 25-21 at UTSA.
The Bobcats also are looking to improve to 2-2 in home games this season after defeating Texas Southern and falling against Louisiana (42-27) and Georgia Southern (15-13).
ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State is 1-3 in road games after splitting its last two road contests. The Aggies won 27-20 at UTEP on Sept. 22 before falling 66-38 at Louisiana on Oct. 13. The other two losses came at Minnesota and Utah State.
Christian Gibson and Jason Hundley are the leading rushers for the Aggies. Gibson has run for 419 yards and six touchdowns on 61 carries. Hundley has rushed for 320 yards and four TDs on 74 carries and ranks 24th in the NCAA in all-purpose yards with an average of 129.4 yards per game.
Josh Adkins has started the last six games and completed 107 of 175 passes for 1,315 yards, seven touchdowns with four interceptions. Boone is the leading receiver with 34 catches for 422 yards and 1 TD. O.J. Clark has 32 catches for 293 yards and one TD, while Huntley had 30 receptions for 349 yards and two TDs.
Safety Ron LaForce leads New Mexico State in tackles with 100, while Mike linebacker Javahn Fergurson has 90.
Both Texas State and New Mexico State enter Saturday night's game with two blocked kicks the season. The Bobcats recorded their two blocked kicks against UTSA and South Alabama.
TEXAS STATE VERSUS NEW MEXICO STATE
In a series that began in 2012, Texas State is looking to even its record to 3-3 against New Mexico State. The two schools met for the first time on Dec. 1, 2012 when they were members of the WAC. Texas State won the first meeting, 66-28. The Bobcats also won 37-29 in Las Cruces in 2014 when the Aggies joined the Sun Belt Conference. Texas State has lost its last two home games against the Aggies on Nov. 7, 2015 (31-21) and Nov. 4, 2017 (45-35).
TEXAS STATE STORYLINES
Freshman quarterback
Tyler Vitt scored his second touchdown of the season when he rushed seven yards for a TD at ULM. Vitt completed 15 of 25 passes for 115 yards at ULM. He enters the New Mexico State having completed 75 of 114 passes for 765 yards and six touchdowns. He has thrown four interceptions,
Robert Brown, Jr. scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run with 7:18 left to play in the ULM game. He has rushed for 174 yards on 39 carries and leads the Bobcats with an average of 4.5 yards per carry this season.
Keenen Brown leads Texas State in receiving with 30 catches for 420 yards and four touchdowns after catching four passes for 50 yards at ULM. Brown had four catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana and season-bests of nine receptions and 124 yards at UTSA. He also had a TD reception against the Roadrunners.
Texas State's two fumble recoveries at ULM mark the second time this season that Texas State has recovered two or more fumbles in a game. The Bobcats had three recoveries at South Alabama and that is the highest single game total by a Sun Belt Conference team. Texas State also recovered one fumble each against Rutgers, Texas Southern, UTSA and Georgia Southern.
Ishmael Davis recorded his second fumble recovery of the season against the Warhawks, and he enters the New Mexico State game ranked second among Sun Belt Conference leaders. He also tallied a season-high of nine tackles against the Warhawks.
Nikolas Daniels recorded a career-high 11 tackles after he had 10 tackles against Georgia Southern. Daniels ranks fifth among the Sun Belt Conference tackling leaders after averaging 7.3 tackles per game in the first seven games this season.
Bryan London II had nine tackles against the Warhawks. He has recorded nine-or-more tackles in every game this season. He leads the Sun Belt Conference in tackles with an averaging of 9.6 per game. He enters the New Mexico State game with 299 tackles in his career.
The Bobcats rank 31st among NCAA FBS teams and third in the Sun Belt after collecting their 13th turnover of the season at ULM. In addition to the nine recovered fumbles, the Bobcats have intercepted four passes this season. TXST had three interceptions at Rutgers, which is tied for a single-game high for Sun Belt teams this season. The Bobcats also had one interception against Louisiana.
Junior
JaShon Waddy tallied four tackles and broke up a pass against ULM after he recorded the first interception of his career and had seven tackles (four solo stops) against Louisiana. He enters the New Mexico State game with 22 tackles, including 11 solo stops, 0.5 tackle for loss, and four pass breakups.
NEXT WEEK
Following the New Mexico State game, Texas State will travel to Georgia State for a Sun Belt Conference game that kicks off at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3. The game will be shown on ESPN3. The Bobcats return home to host Appalachian State at 3 p.m. on Nov. 10.
