SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State football team (2-3) scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Nicholls Colonels (2-2) by a score of 24-3 on Saturday night at Bobcat Stadium.

The Bobcats secured back-to-back wins at home for the first time since 2013 when TXST triumphed over Georgia State (24-17) on Oct. 19 and South Alabama (33-31) on Oct. 26.

BOX SCORE
- Junior quarterback Gresch Jensen completed 22-of-29 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added a rushing score, his second score on the ground in as many weeks.
- Freshman tight end Micah Hilts hauled in four catches for a team-best 64 yards and a touchdown. His yardage total marked a season-high for the Colorado Springs, Colo, native.
- Sophomore running back Caleb Twyford followed his first-career 100-yard rushing game with 72 yards on 17 carries. He also tallied four catches for 19 yards.
- The Bobcat defense held Nicholls to 220 yards on 54 plays (4.1 yards per play). Senior linebacker Nikolas Daniels led the defensive attack with nine tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and a forced fumble.

KEY MOMENTS
- Jensen found Hilts on a pop route for a 12-yard touchdown with 9:20 to go in the third quarter. The score put the Bobcats up 10-3. The TD reception from Hilts marked the first of his career.
- Senior defensive back JaShon Waddy collected an interception off a deflected pass in the third quarter. Six plays after the pick, Jensen powered into the endzone on a one-yard QB sneak to increase the Bobcat lead to 17-3 with 6:42 to play in the third.
- Senior wide receiver Javen Banks wiggled free down the sideline for a 77-yard touchdown on a go ball from Jensen with 14:02 to play in the game. The score was the longest scoring play for the Bobcats since Jeremiah Haydel went 93 yards to the house at Georgia State on Nov. 3, 2018.

NOTABLES
- Texas State scored the first points of the game on a 36-yard field goal from graduate transfer kicker, and reigning Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, Joshua Rowland. The game marked the third time this season in which TXST hit the scoreboard first. The Bobcats are 2-1 in those three games.
- Senior wide receiver Mason Hays blocked a Nicholls punt in the second quarter. The play was the first blocked punt since Anthony D. Taylor blocked a Wyoming punt on Sept. 30, 2017.
- The 14 points scored by the Bobcats in the third quarter marked the first time this season Nicholls yielded a point in the third quarter. The Colonels held Kansas State, Prairie View A&M, and Stephen F. Austin scoreless in the opening frame of the second half in 2019.
- The interception from Waddy in the third quarter was the sixth of the season for the Bobcats through five games. Texas State recorded six interceptions in the entire 2018 season.
- Nicholls failed to score a touchdown in the game for the first time since Sept. 26, 2015 when the Colonels fell to the Colorado Buffalos by a score of 48-0. The shutout loss was the third game under current Nicholls head coach Tim Rebowe.

QUOTES FROM THE SIDELINE
- "The defense continued to play lights out all game tonight," coach Spavital said. "I was very pleased with how we responded in the third quarter, especially against a Nicholls team that has dominated their opponents in the third quarter this season. It was a defensive game and our defense was stout tonight."

UP NEXT
- Texas State will resume Sun Belt Conference play with a third-straight home game against ULM at 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 10. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

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