SAN MARCOS, Texas – Joshua Rowland kicked a 31-yard field goal with just over six minutes remaining in regulation on Saturday, and when the University of South Alabama's field-goal attempt from 28 yards out with a little more than a minute to go sailed wide left Texas State earned a 30-28 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the Jaguars at Bobcat Stadium.

It was the third field goal of the day for Rowland, who also connected from 20 and 41 yards in the first half.  In between, Tyler Vitt threw for 373 yards and three scores with Hutch White catching 10 passes for 165 yards to help the Bobcats improve to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in the league.

Desmond Trotter was 13-of-17 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and both Tra Minter and Carlos Davis scored while combining to record 149 rushing yards for the Jags (1-8, 0-5 Sun Belt).  Nick Mobley paced South's defense with 10 total stops, Travis Reed added seven along with an interception and Jeffery Whatley was credited with 2½ tackles for loss as well.

Texas State 30, South Alabama 28 (final stats)
South Alabama/Texas State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Bobcats opened the scoring on a 20-yard Rowland field goal, but the Jags led at the end of the opening quarter after Davis' three-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes to go in the period.
-Another late touchdown — this time on a 22-yard pass from Trotter to Davyn Flenord — gave the Jaguars a 14-13 lead at the break.
-Texas State scored a touchdown on each of its first two possessions of the third quarter, finishing with 186 yards in the period after posting 245 in the opening half.
-Minter gave USA its last lead on a six-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes left in the contest, but the Bobcats answered less than three minutes later with Rowland's final field goal.
-Texas State finished with 415 total yards, but the Jag defense limited the Bobcats to just 42 yards on 34 attempts.
-South posted 348 yards, with Trotter accounting for 198 after adding 34 yards on the ground.

NOTES
-TXST has won all three meetings between the two schools in San Marcos, regaining a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Jaguars.
-It marked the second time this season that South's offense has put together four or more touchdown marches covering at least 70 yards.
-The 42 rushing yards allowed by the Jag defense were the fewest the unit has surrendered since New Mexico State recorded 40 in the 2017 season finale.
-The Bobcats' first touchdown march of the game in the second quarter was the first scoring drive put together by an opponent of 90 or more yards since Troy did it on Oct. 23 last season.
-With the performance — his sixth in a row leading the team on the ground this fall after ending up with 87 yards — Minter moved up to fifth on the school's season rushing record list as he now has 744 yards on the year.
-Not only did Davis score his first touchdown as a Jag, he posted a career-high 63 yards rushing and had multiple receptions in a game for the first time as well.
-Reed's interception was his team-leading third of the season, and his seven tackles surpassed a career high set at ULM earlier this season.
-It was the first time in his career that Riley Cole has been credited with a sack in back-to-back contests; he has now finished with five or more stops in each of the last four outings.
-Flenord's touchdown in the second quarter was his first since the Jaguars' opener at Nebraska.
-Trotter was making the first start of his career for the Jaguars.
-Mobley has recorded 10 or more tackles four times this fall — although it was his first game in double figures in the category since USA played Georgia Southern on Oct. 3 — while it was the fifth occasion this season that he has led the team in the category.
-Jack Brooks posted the highest average of his career with a 47.8 mark on five punts, which included a pair that ended up inside the TXST-20.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "It's a very disappointing loss. We gave ourselves a chance to win the game; a play here or a play there and it could have been a different outcome for us. Obviously we didn't [make one of those plays] so we've got to keep grinding, keep pushing and find a way to make one more play."
On the offense's performance today: "We went with Desmond today. Cephus [Johnson] has been toughing it out on a bad ankle. Desmond definitely gave us a spark and I thought he threw the ball well. I know we completed some balls and we were able to get some touchdowns in the red zone. I wish we could've gotten one more touchdown; we shouldn't have left it to a field goal. Once we were in field goal range though, I definitely thought we were going to make it and win the game, but we're not quite there yet."
On Texas State's big plays on third downs: "Going into the game, we knew that Texas State was a big screen team and they hurt us with that. They popped us with a screen on the first series which kept their drive alive and led to a field goal, which was the difference in the final score. We had a hard time getting off the field on third down."

Junior LB Riley Cole
On the defense: "We weren't able to make plays defensively and we gave up some big plays that hurt us. We just need to make plays when we're out there."
On the defense controlling Texas State's run game: "It was just about gap responsibility. Everyone was hitting on all cylinders and we just shut down the run."
On third downs: "Texas State just kept hitting us deep and we obviously weren't getting back there to cover fast enough. Their quarterback had a lot of time, that was on us as a defense."

Redshirt freshman QB Desmond Trotter
On making his first start: "I felt comfortable out on the field today. All throughout practice [last week] and the bye week, I just told the guys that I was going to bring the energy. You can't come out there playing slow, so all I wanted to do was play with energy and our guys were able to execute and make plays."
On what the offense can take from this performance as they head down the final three games of the season: "We can learn from today's game and we can use it as a boost, because now we know what type of team we can be. The defense knows that we can help them out. The defense is really good and all we have to do [as an offense] is score points and they'll stop the other team."

Up next: The Jags return home for a game next Saturday against Louisiana — the current leaders of the Sun Belt's West Division — that is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. (CST).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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