PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Texas State football team opened the 2018 season with a 35-7 loss at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at HighPoint.com Stadium in the second annual "War before the Shore" game.

Rutgers, out of the Big Ten Conference, received the opening kick and wasted little time finding the endzone. The Scarlet Knights took 11 plays and 5:19 off the clock to travel 71 yards. Raheem Blackshear registered a total of 38 yards on the drive, collecting two receptions for 15 yards and five carries for 23 yards, including a nine-yard rushing score.

Following Texas State's opening drive, a 15-play, 59-yard drive that resulted in a blocked 51-yard field goal attempt, Rutgers took over at their own 46-yard line. Frankie Griffin swallowed up Artur Sitkowski for a sack on second down. Griffin worked the left tackle off the edge to force a fumble that was recovered by Rutgers. On the following play, a third-and-long, the Bobcat defense roughed Sitkowski following an incomplete pass to keep the Scarlet Knight drive alive. Five plays later, Jonathan Hilliman powered into the endzone from three yards out to give the home team a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Scarlet Knights scored its third touchdown just two plays after a Willie Jones III fumble. The sophomore coughed up the ball on a third down quarterback draw. The pigskin was scooped up by Elorm Lumor, who rumbled down to the Texas State three-yard line. Two plays later Sitkowski found Blackshear on an out route. Blackshear scampered into the endzone from nine yards out to give Rutgers a three-touchdown lead with less than eight minutes to play in the first half.

Texas State found the endzone for the first time in the 2018 campaign via a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown from Kordell Rodgers. The pick-six was the first from a Bobcat defender since Stan Kanu took an interception back for a score against ULM on Oct. 15, 2016. The sophomore broke sharply on an out-route right in front of the Bobcat bench, made the interception and tight-roped down the sideline for 51 yards to narrow the score to 21-7. Rodgers recorded his second interception of the contest, and third for the Bobcats in the game, during the fourth quarter. Rodgers became the first Bobcat since Stephan Johnson (Nov. 14, 2016 vs. Georgia State) to record a pair of interceptions in one game.

Rutgers answered the defensive score immediately, taking 13 plays and 5:47 to travel 75 yards and regain the 21-point advantage. The home team leaned heavily on the rushing attack following the drive-ending interception from Sitkowski. The touchdown drive culminated in an eight-yard plunge from Hilliman, his second of the contest.

The home team tacked on another score when Olakunle Fatukasi fell on a fumbled snap from true freshman quarterback Tyler Vitt. The score and ensuing extra point padded the Rutgers lead to 35-7.

Statistically, Jones III, making his first collegiate start at quarterback, paced the Bobcats in total yards. He completed 6-of-19 pass attempts for 79 yards and carried the ball 14 times for 33 yards. The Bobcat offense was marred by 14 penalties for 113 yards. TXST averaged just 38 yards in penalties for the 2017 season, the 10th lowest mark in the country.

Defensively, Sun Belt Conference preseason second team selection Bryan London II led the Bobcats in tackles. The junior captain registered nine tackles including five solo stops. Senior safety A.J. Krawczyk made eight stops including six solo. Griffin secured seven tackles, a pair of tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

For Rutgers, Sitkowski led the Scarlet Knights in passing. The true freshman connected on 20-of-29 pass attempts for 205 yards. He tossed one touchdown and three interceptions. The first interception came late in the second quarter when Jarron Morris, a true freshman, stepped in front of an out route in the endzone to halt a potential scoring drive. The take away marked the first pass a Bobcat has intercepted since Oct. 22, 2016, snapping a streak of 17-consecutive contests.

Texas State will be back in action on Sept. 8 against in-state foe Texas Southern. The game will mark TXST's home opener and kick time is slated for 6 p.m. CDT from Bobcat Stadium.

-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --