San Marcus, TX – The Texas Southern Tigers showed they are ready to win despite the outcome of tonight’s match-up against Texas State . TSU fought for 60 minutes and if it were not for some costly miscues, the final score could have looked a lot different. The Tigers went blow for blow with the Bobcats through the first half. Texas State scored on their opening drive to go up 7-0. The Tigers responded on their second possession with a 76 yard, 10 play drive that ended with Bobby Reid (#1) completing a 21 yard pass to Andrew Thomas (#28). They tied the game at 7. Texas State reached the end zone again on a 38 yard run for a 14-7 lead. Kydarian Wilkins (#13) intercepted a pass at the top of the second quarter to set-up the Tigers’ second touchdown of the game. William Osborne (#2) scored on a 15 yard pass from Reid to tie the game at 14.
The Bobcats came back and scored back-to-back touchdowns for a 28-14 advantage. The Tigers added six points when Reid scored on a 10 yard run. A miscue killed the extra point attempt and left TSU down 20-28. Texas State got seven more points before the first half ended and Texas Southern went into half-time trailing 20 – 35. The Bobcats started the third quarter by scoring on a 39 yard run for a 42 – 20 advantage.
Reid and Osbourne hooked up for the second time in the game for a 28 yard touchdown pass. TSU now trailed 26 -42.
Texas State came back with a 63 yard touchdown run (49-26). The Tigers got their second rushing TD of the game on a 2 yard run by Lucas Caparelli (#22). TSU cut the deficit to 33-49. Texas Southern’s last score came on 10 yard pass to Brian Haith (#5). The final score…TSU 39, Texas State 63. “We’re getting better each week and we’ll be alright if we keep lining up right and making plays,†said head coach Johnnie Cole. “We added a new lineman this week which gave Bobby more time than he’s used too. He’s feeling more comfortable in our system and it’s starting to show on the field.†Reid had his best game of the season tonight, going 64-38-0 for 481 yards and four touchdowns in the air while rushing for 54 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown. Several other players had breakout games as well. Caparelli had nine carries for 50 yards and one touchdown. Osbourne had 11 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two kickoff returns for 38 yards. Haith had eight receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown. Thomas had four catches for 54 yards and one touchdown. Tight end Roland Robins (#80) had six receptions for 78 yards. Defensively, DeJuan Fulghum (#44) had a season high 12 tackles (5 solo) with two TFL (2 yards) and a fumble recovery. Curtis Thomas (#9) had a sack for 18 yards and Wilkins had an interception return for 13 yards. The Tigers return to conference play on October 11th when they head to Baton Rouge , Louisiana to face Southern University. Kick off is at 5:30 pm.
