Texas State Falls 59-21 at Eastern Michigan

TXST Athletics

After a slow start, the Texas State football team was looking to rally in the third quarter against Eastern Michigan before a fumble and two penalties stopped the momentum at Rynearson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Bobcats were trailing 28-14 when quarterback Brady McBride threw a 29-yard touchdown pass Javen Banks and Seth Keller kicked the extra point to pull Texas State back to within seven points.

However, the rally was halted when the Bobcats were called for a pair of 15-yard penalties and fumbled the ball in its backfield on a running play.

The first penalty came on the scoring play that pulled the Bobcats to within seven points. As a result, the Texas State was penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff, giving Eastern Michigan possession on its 43-yard line. The Eagles took advantage of the short field by scoring a touchdown on a 22-yard TD run by Jawon Hamilton.

Texas State came back to drive the ball 40 yards down to EMU’s 31-yard line before a fumble on a handoff exchange was recovered by the Eagles and returned to Texas State’s 30-yard line to set up a 36-yard field goal by Chad Ryland.

Later, the Bobcats appeared to have stopped EMU on downs at Texas State’s 39-yard line, but they were called for pass interference on the play. The Eagles scored a touchdown two plays later when Ben Bryant threw a 24-yard pass to Latrell Fordham to put the game out of reach.

Eastern Michigan scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score 59-21.

THE BOXSCORE

Texas State did accumulate 300 yards on offense. Brady McBride completed 16-of-25 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. In addition, the Bobcats gained 113 yards rushing on 37 attempts. Brock Sturges rushed for 68 yards on 14 carries, while Calvin Hill ran for 58 yards on 10 carries.

Javen Banks led the Bobcats with four receptions and two TD catches. He had 38 receiving yards. Trevis Graham, Jr. led the Bobcats with four receptions for 69 yards and had one TD.

Issiah Nixon and Sione Tupou led the Bobcats with seven tackles. Nixon had a quarterback sack, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble.

EMU had 500 yards on offense with 247 yards rushing and 257 yards passing. Darius Boone rushed 13 times for 86 yards. Ben Bryant completed 20 of 33 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 52 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts. Dylan Drummond had five receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown and threw a 13-yard TD pass in the first quarter.

HOW IT BEGAN

Eastern Michigan took an early 14-0 lead when the Eagles ran for a pair of touchdowns, and Chad Ryland added the two extra points. The first TD came on a four-yard run up the middle by Samson Evans, and the second was a 39-yard run around the right end by quarterback Ben Bryant.

Following Bryant’s TD run, Texas State scored its first touchdown following a 60-yard kickoff return by Donnovan Moorer. After running the ball to the five-yard line on a quarterback keeper, Brady McBride threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Javen Banks, and Seth Keller added the extra point to pull Texas State to within 7 (14-7).

Eastern Michigan increased its lead to 21-7 when Bryant hit Dylan Drummond on a 12-yard fade route in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass, and Ryland kicked the extra point.

The Eagles added their fourth touchdown before halftime when Drummond threw a 13-yard pass to tight end Thomas Odukoya on a wide receiver screen.

The Bobcats answered when McBride threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Trevis Graham, Jr. on fourth down, and Keller added an extra point to make the score 28-14 at halftime.

Texas State scored the first points in the third quarter and closed to within 28-21 when Brady McBride threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Javen Banks with 10:56 left to play in the third quarter.

That was as close as the Bobcats would get as Eastern Michigan pulled away with the win.

WHAT’S NEXT

Texas State (1-3) returns home to host South Alabama in its Sun Belt Conference opener on Oct. 9 at Bobcat Stadium. The kickoff time and television coverage will be announced on Sept. 27.