SAN MARCOS, Texas – TJ Finley had five total touchdowns and the Texas State defense forced two turnovers and came through with two key fourth-down stops as the Bobcats beat Georgia Southern, 45-24, on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium to become bowl eligible for the first time in nine years.
 
Texas State (6-3, 3-2 SBC), which is in line for its first ever trip to a bowl game with the victory, got its sixth win of the season with the 21-point decision over Georgia Southern (6-3, 3-2 SBC). The six wins are the most in a season for Texas State since 2014, which was the last time it was eligible for a bowl game.
 
Finley had three passing touchdowns and two rushing in the first 35 minutes of the game to lead a Texas State offense that totaled 487 yards. Finley was 25-of-31 passing with 301 yards, which was his third 300-yard game of the season.
 
Finley's top target was Joey Hobert, who tied the Texas State program record for catches in a single game with 13. The junior wide receiver caught all 13 passes thrown his way and finished with a season-high 141 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Bobcat defense slowed a Georgia Southern offense that entered the game ranked 24th in the country in total offense. The Eagles only had 108 yards of offense and 10 points in the first half, and they finished with 375 total yards.
 
The Bobcats opened the game with a five play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by a 23-yard connection between Finely and Hobert. Texas State extended the drive on third-and-seven when Finley found Kole Wilson for a 37-yard pass that took the ball into Georgia Southern territory. On the next play, Hobert beat his man and found the end zone untouched to make it 7-0 two-and-a-half minutes into the game.
 
Georgia Southern took the lead at 10-7 on a 39-yard rushing touchdown by Jalen White on a third-and-15 with less than four minutes to go in the first quarter. Ben Bell got a sack-fumble on second-and-seven to force the Eagles into the third-and-long, but on a draw play checked into at the line of scrimmage, White escaped past the Bobcat defense for the big play.
 
The lead was the only one of the evening for the Eagles, though, as Texas State responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up nearly minutes on the clock. The drive was extended when Georgia Southern was called for running into the punter on a fourth-and-five from the Texas State 30-yard line. The Bobcats used the penalty by going the remaining 70 yards down the field, most of which was gained by Finley going 8-of-9 passing on the drive and finding Konner Fox for a 3-yard touchdown pass that helped make it 14-10.
 
The Finley-to-Fox touchdown started a stretch of six straight scoring drives for the Bobcats. Finley connected with Wilson for an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter and Mason Shipley hit a 31-yard field goal with 2:04 to go in the second to make it 24-10 Texas State. Finley then added in two rushing touchdowns on back-to-back Bobcat drives that helped Texas State pull away to 38-10 with 9:52 left in the third quarter.
 
The 38-point run by the Bobcat offense culminated with a one-yard, over-the-top rushing touchdown by Donerio Davenport that made it 45-10 with 2:34 remaining in the third.
 
The Texas State defense, meanwhile, had stops on six straight Georgia Southern drives as the Bobcat offense was in rhythm. The Bobcats forced a turnover on downs twice when the Eagles were on Texas State's side of the field while also inducing two punts and an interception by Brian Holloway.
 
The Bobcats got their final takeaway of the game – a fumble recovered by Holloway – on Georgia Southern's final drive when the Eagles were inside Texas State's 10-yard line.
 
The defense finished with three sacks and five tackles for loss. The five TFLs increased Texas State's season total to 78.0, which is a new FBS program record for most in a campaign.
 
 
From Head Coach GJ Kinne
Opening statement…
Obviously really proud of our players and really proud of our staff. I am really proud of the administration, university and everyone involved. That was a big time win for us (against) a really good opponent. And we wanted to as a team, we wanted to get this done for everyone involved at home. And that's what we challenged our guys to do. And they went out and got it done. So just really proud of them and everything. You know, been through coaching change, roster turnover, spring ball, fall camp – just to be at this point and to have six wins is obviously one of the goals we had and (I'm) really happy for those guys and a bunch of really excited kids and coaches.
 
On if this was a complete-effort win…
Yeah, I thought we did I thought you know, besides the turnover in the first half whatever happened there. We'll have to look at it on film, and then the kickoff return. I thought we played really well obviously in the second half, you got to do things to bleed the clock and play complementary football there. I thought besides the Baylor game, and I thought it was pretty clean.
 
On if reaching bowl eligibility was the main goal of the season…
"Oh no. You look back over the schedule and look at those games I mean, you're three or four plays away from having a couple more wins there. So, I'm excited about where we're at. And the good thing is we're not done yet. We got some more games to play, and we got a really good football team."  
 
On this win causing a "hangover" for next week's game…
It's usually 24 hours, but we might extend this one to 48. We're going to enjoy this one, so we'll worry about next week next week.
 
On jumping into the river…
That was fun. It's one of those deals where, for a couple of weeks now we've been waiting to get that sixth win and, you feel a sense of relief, you do. Just to get that one and now you can play free and better watch out.
 
On TJ Finley's performance…
I think when he plays a clean game like that, and he takes care of the ball and uses his legs. He has all the physical tools. He has the mental tools. It's still his first year in the system. First year in the system and to do what he's doing is pretty outstanding in a really good league. I think that's one of the things that as coaches we sit around and we're waiting on when is that easy one coming? This is a really good league with some really good coaches and you gotta bring it every week. So you know, just really proud of TJ and the way he's handled his business. Just really proud of him.
 
 
Stats To Know
The win was Texas State's largest margin of victory ever in a Sun Belt game at home.
 
The win also snapped a five-game losing streak to Georgia Southern. The last time Texas State beat the Eagles was in the first round of the 2005 Division I-AA Playoffs.
 
The Bobcats are 4-1 at home this year and have won 8 of their last 11 at Bobcat Stadium.
 
Saturday's win was the first time Texas State beat a team with a winning record in the month of November since 2014.
 
TJ Finley became the first Bobcat to have 300 yards passing in 3 games in a season since 2016.
 
Ismail Mahdi finished with 99 yards on 20 rushing attempts. Mahdi's 953 rushing yards this season are the second-most in Texas State's FBS history.
 
Mahdi now has 1,483 all-purpose yards this year, which are the 10th-most in Texas State history.
 
Konner Fox's touchdown in the second quarter was the first touchdown catch by a Texas State tight end since October 2020 (Jackson Lanam, vs. South Alabama).
 
 
Texas State's Standout Performers

• QB TJ Finley: 25-of-31, 301 yards, 3 TDs, 12 rushing attempts, 18 yards, 2 TDs
• WR Joey Hobert: 13 rec, 141 yards, TD
• RB Ismail Mahdi: 20 att, 99 yards
• RB Donerio Davenport: 11 att, 75 yds, TD
• LB Brian Holloway: 7 tackles, INT, FR
• DE Ben Bell: 4 tackles, 2.0 sacks, FF
• S Kaleb Culp: 9 tackles
• S Shawn Holton: 9 tackles

 
 
Up Next
Texas State will play a road game for the first time since early October when it travels to Coastal Carolina for a 2:30 pm CT/3:30 pm ET game on Nov. 11.