Texas State pulls off stunning 42-31 upset against Baylor

The start of college football season was an embarrassing one for Baylor, as the Bears suffered a 42-31 loss against Texas State at McLane Stadium on Saturday. Baylor led only briefly as it struck first with a field goal in the opening quarter, but it would quickly fall apart.

The Bobcats responded to that field goal with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive as Auburn transfer quarterback TJ Finley led them down the field. He capped off the drive by connecting with Ismail Mahdi for a 10-yard score.

The Bears managed to kick another field goal a few drives later to make the score 7-6, but that was as close as it would get. Texas State responded to that field goal by scoring touchdowns on its next three drives to take a 28-13 lead into halftime.

Baylor looked to have some life to open up the second half as it scored a touchdown in just three plays when Blake Shapen hit Drake Dabney for a 53-yard touchdown connection. Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain and get a stop as Texas State came right back with another touchdown on the ensuing drive to again make it a two-touchdown deficit.

The Bears were never able to get the lead down to single digits again.

Finley put together an impressive debut for the Bobcats to finish 22-of-30 passing for 298 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 18 yards and another score on the ground. Texas State spread the wealth at receiver as eight different players came away with at least one catch.

Shapen finished with a respectable stat line as well to 21-of-31 passing for 304 yards and a pair of touchdown, both of which went to Dabney. However, he didn’t get any help from his defense. Baylor gave up 454 yards to the Bobcats and also shot itself in the foot with penalties, being called for nine for a total of 45 yards.

The Bears defense had several chances to force a turnover on downs but failed every time as the Bobcats went a perfect 4-for-4 on their fourth down conversions. They also achieved a first down on nearly half of their third down attempts.

Two years removed from winning the Big 12 title, the heat is now on Baylor and Dave Aranda coming off a 6-7 finish a year ago. They didn’t do themselves any favors with Saturday’s performance and now face a much tougher foe in Week 2 when Utah comes to Waco.