"Who is that guy?" Mahdi is Introducing Himself to the College Football World

“Who is that guy?”

For those that have watched a Texas State football game this season, especially in the last two weeks, that phrase can be audibly heard across the country from onlookers.

What’s sparking the question is the sight of a 5-9, 180-pound Texas State running back out of Plano East High School who is wearing a No. 21 jersey and dashing past opposing defenses for large gains. Big plays that are concluding in the end zone most of the time.

“That guy” is not an uncommon thing for No. 21 to hear. For all his life, Ismail Mahdi has been carving memories into people based on his play on his field. 

When people recall that player who put up 200 yards and multiple touchdowns, they look back at the game and say, “Who was that guy?”

And now that he’s making highlight plays for one of the nation’s most exciting teams, people are saying “oh, it’s that guy!” as they realize they may have seen this person before. And more often than not, they have seen him from being on the wrong side of what he is inflicting. He’s lightning fast and slippery in open space.

His bio says “Hometown: Murphy, Texas” but he was born in a Somalian refugee camp in Kenya.

And this season with the Bobcats in his new home of San Marcos, Mahdi is proving and reminding he’s not just “that guy.”

He’s currently leading the country in all-purpose yards, yards per carry, and is top-three in total touchdowns.

Mahdi is the guy.

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There is an ongoing civil war in Somalia. It started in the 1980s, and in the early 1990s, it got so bad that the country was deemed a “failed state” due to the absence of a central government. The United Nations attempted to intervene, but by 1995, it withdrew.

By 2000, a transitional national government was installed and a resolution seemed on the horizon. In 2005, the stoppage in conflict ended and the war intensified. 

Mahdi’s father is from Somalia, his mother was from Kenya. The Mahdis had to flee Somalia due to the war and ended up in a refugee camp in the bordering Kenya.

Ismail Mahdi (his first name is pronounced Is-mail, but he’s known on the team as “Ish”) made that journey from Somalia to Kenya – but as a yet-to-be-born child still inside his pregnant mother.

He was born on May 28, 2003. He was the fourth child in what would eventually be eight.

By late 2003, the Mahdi family began their journey to the United States. They first ended up in New York, and instead of going to Ohio or Minnesota – areas with dramatically different climates than Eastern Africa – they ended up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Ismail’s father and mother did not know much English. They were navigating the new life in a foreign country with four kids ranging in ages eight-months-old to eight-years-old.

“My dad told me it was hard because they had nobody around them to help support,” said Mahdi. “(My parents) didn’t speak English. They didn’t know what these people are going to do, how they are going to help them out, if everything is going to go smoothly here. 

“Luckily, the U.S. people came and helped us, took care of us. They did a lot of stuff for us to support us and at least give us a push.”

Mahdi’s father also had a close friend also from Somalia who helped them. The friend spoke English and was a lifeline to the Mahdi family, who only spoke Maay Maay and Swahili. The friend was a conduit to a new normalcy.

“He helped him out a lot,” said Mahdi. “He taught my dad English and the ins and outs of living in the United States. How to drive a car, deal with the traffic lights. The car here drives on the right side, so my dad had to get used to that.”

Mahdi’s first memory as a kid was Christmas. People in the community would bring the Mahdi children presents, such as his favorite a remote-control car and a football.

Mahdi’s first foray into sports started with soccer. His dad played back home, so it gave the Mahdi’s a sense of familiarity in the unknown.

But by Ismail’s second-grade year, the Mahdis moved from the Richardson area to Plano. That is where he started playing football. He was a quarterback until his sophomore year of high school. 

The international family found the nation’s favorite sport in no time.

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Mahdi missed his sophomore season in high school due to an injury. As a junior, he moved from wide receiver to running back and finished the breakout season with 1,607 total yards and 15 touchdowns. His team went winless, though.

As a senior, “Izzy,” as he was affectionally known in Plano, gained 20 pounds in the offseason and helped his team snap a stretch of 721 days without a win by scoring four touchdowns in a 34-17 victory over Wylie in early September.

Before that first win of the season in 2021, Mahdi had one game that left an impression. Mahdi and Plano East opened the year against Allen High School. A coach on the Allen sideline was Will Bryant, the current Texas State tight ends coach.

“I remember going into the game knowing nothing about Plano East,” said Bryant. “It was my first year coaching high school. We’re going in there, playing these guys, and we felt we had a pretty good team. And out of nowhere, from the jump, there is this little running back absolutely torching us. I’m up in the box at the time, and the head coach (Chad Morris) and me are going back and forth saying, ‘Why in the world can we not tackle this guy?’ He just ran all over us.”

Mahdi finished the season-opening game against Allen with 233 yards, 72 of which were gained on his lone rushing touchdown. Plano East lost, but Mahdi stood out.

“I remember we couldn’t tackle him in space,” said Bryant. “They literally ran one play. They would toss right, the tight ends would go down, down and the left side of the o-line would pull around, and you got that dude in space and we couldn’t touch him. We couldn’t tackle him. He was slippery. He would have two or three guys on him and he would slip off these tackles.

“College coaches would come in my office later on that year, because I did all the recruiting stuff for Allen, and they would ask about anyone that we played throughout the year that we need to look at. And every time I would say, ‘You need to go look at this darn guy at Plano East.’”

As a senior, Mahdi was an offensive weapon. He lined up once again at wide receiver against Marcus on senior night in November. He had a 201-yard rushing game against Plano West in late October. He had 233 total yards and three touchdowns against Flower Mound in early October. Against Lewisville, he lined up at Wildcat quarterback and had 190 rushing yards with two touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown.

Mahdi, who also ran track in high school (personal-best of 10.60 in the 100-meter dash), attended the local football camps in DFW to attempt to draw the attention of big-time programs. The eyes of the recruiters could not look past his size. He fielded only two Division I offers: one from Houston Christian (known as Houston Baptist back then) and Texas A&M-Commerce, which was coached by another familiar name: David Bailiff, former Texas State head coach and current special assistant to the head coach.

“Jack Welch (Texas A&M-Commerce’s running backs coach) and Bailiff talked to me a lot,” said Mahdi. “They really liked me. Bailiff really believed in me. He said I was going to play right away, and he was one of the guys who saw the potential in me. I have much respect for Bailiff.”

Mahdi chose HCU, and he had a noteworthy season for the Huskies. He was a Southland Conference Player of the Week, FCS Stats Perform National Player of the Week, and finalist for the Jerry Rice Award – which is presented annually to the top freshman at the FCS level.

“Give a lot of credit to those coaches,” said Mahdi. “They believed in me. They gave me an opportunity that not too many coaches wanted to do. They saw me come in and play as a true freshman. They saw the work I was putting in.”

However, one game that left a mark on Mahdi in 2022 was on November 5. HCU played at UIW. The opposing offense was led by Texas State head coach GJ Kinne and offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich.

UIW won the game, 73-20. The Cardinal offense had 520 total yards and quarterback Lindsey Scott – now a Texas State offensive assistant – had 7 touchdown passes among his 15 completions. 

On the other side, Mahdi finished with 98 all-purpose yards on 16 touches, including 87 rushing yards.

“Lots of points on the scoreboard,” said Mahdi on what stood out about the UIW offense that day. “Lots of explosive plays, and that’s the type of player I am. It was a ‘one-play’ offense.”

Not quite a month later, Kinne was hired at Texas State. Mahdi, who already put his name in the transfer portal, was receiving offers from the likes of UT Martin and Northwestern State. But on Dec. 12, he got an offer from Texas State, which was 10 days after Kinne officially took the job with the Bobcats.

“When we were looking at his tape (during the recruiting to Texas State process), and looking at what we had at the time, he was a ‘one-play touchdown’ type of guy,” said Kinne. “No matter where you’re at on the field, you get (Mahdi) the ball in space and get him some good running lanes, he can take it to the house.”

By Dec. 21, he was a Bobcat. He liked the idea of staying in Texas despite receiving offers from out-of-state schools. He signed his grant-in-aid as a rising sophomore transfer and was a member of Kinne and the new coaching staff’s initial nine-person newcomer class on the first day of the early signing period. 

“I’m always looking for those guys that score in one play," Kinne continued. "You can just see it in his film. Obviously, I’m not afraid to bring in ‘FCS players.’ I knew the talent was there, I knew the twitch was there. I thought that was something we needed on offense. We need guys that can score in one play. When we’re at our best, that’s what we have.”

Time would prove that Kinne and Co. found their guy.

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One of Mahdi’s distinct features is his smile. It fills the room and brings light to those around him.

But Mahdi’s spring was not one with smiles at times. He battled small injuries throughout. He showcased some of his skill set in the spring game, but there was something to be desired, especially by the Texas State coaching staff.

“The crazy thing was coming out of spring, I had a conversation with Ish,” said Eric Stephens Jr., Texas State running backs coach. “He was injured a lot in the spring. He flashed in the spring game, doing a lot of things that he’s doing now. But I told Ish, ‘If we have a game tomorrow, you might be redshirting.’ Coming out of spring, I didn’t foresee this. But in fall camp, he started showing some things that I saw towards the end of the spring when he got healthy. Next thing you know, he started staying at it and staying at it. He’s where he is today because of his tremendous work ethic and ability to persevere.”

The proverbial switch flipped for Mahdi by the time fall camp began in August.

He earned his way back into the running back rotation, and in the season opener against Baylor – in one of the program’s most distinguishable wins – he had a 65-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and helped give the Bobcats a 14-6 lead over the heavily-favored Bears.

“Doing what I do: execute,” said Mahdi about the big run against Baylor. “Putting the ball where it needs to be. I split through the hole, and all I saw was green grass, so I took off.”

Since then, Mahdi has accumulated a team-best 488 rushing yards in five games. He had a 216-yard game against Nevada on Sept. 23 and has scored 6 rushing touchdowns in the last 3 games entering Saturday’s game against Louisiana (2:30 pm, ESPNU).

He also has 934 all-purpose yards, which leads the country. He is also pacing the nation in all-purpose yards per game (186.8) and yards per carry (9.76). He is one of 16 FBS players this season to return a kickoff for a touchdown and his 9 total touchdowns are third-best in the country.

He became the first Bobcat to earn the Paul Hornung National Player of the Week Award after totaling 316 all-purpose yards and scoring 4 touchdowns at Southern Miss.

Mahdi is known for his explosive plays – and it has already shown this year. He is tied for third in the country with 12 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or more. He is tied for the nation’s lead with 9 rushes of 20 yards or more.

Overall, Mahdi has rushed the ball 50 times this year. More than a quarter of the time (14) those attempts have gone for 10+ yards, which is a top-3 rate among FBS players.

Mahdi is teaching Texas State fans, when he’s got the ball in his hands, they don’t want to get up or look away. At any moment, he could break out for a big play. They don’t want to miss that guy.

“He’s starting to get more confident,” added Stephens. “And it goes back to what I talked to him about at the end of spring. I asked him, ‘Where do you see yourself in the room?’ And I told him you got to start seeing yourself as No. 1 if you’re going to be the No. 1 guy. I think now he believes whenever he touches the ball it’s going to be a touchdown.”

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Mahdi’s header on his X/Twitter profile is an image of the NFL Draft stage with the words “On The Clock” above the empty podium.

There is no one in the image, but if you look closely enough, you can see what Mahdi sees: dreams of playing at the next level.

Mahdi’s eyes have an intense focus to them. Outside of his smile, it is the first thing one will notice. Whether you see it through his facemask on the field as he is racing past, or in a conversation in the South End Zone Complex at Bobcat Stadium, Mahdi is focused on what is ahead.

As a sophomore, Mahdi moved to live with his guardians, Dustin and Charlyne Keith. Dustin took Mahdi under his wing alongside their other son.

“He was the one who took me to football camps and showed me the world,” said Mahdi. “I was basically his son. He played a big part in my life. The man I am today is because in large part of being around him.”

Mahdi’s mother passed away in the spring of 2021. Complications from being a dialysis patient, kidney disease, and a bout with COVID-19 left Mahdi, his seven siblings and father in shock with the death.

All the adversity and different paths he has had to take is expected for Mahdi at this point. Before he was even born, he was on the move. He and his family have lived a life of adapting, trying to find their new normal.

Through it all, Mahdi has remained true to himself – and not falling prey to the lack of expectations of those that see him walk on a field for the first time may have for him.

His stature may be small, but his ceiling is high. Like on the football field, when he has clear lanes and open space, he finds where he needs to be. 

“I have a chip on my shoulder,” said Mahdi. “I want to always show people I can be that guy.”