SAN MARCOS —  In the end, Southern Miss’ defense was just too much for Layne Hatcher and the Texas State Bobcats to overcome.

Hatcher did what he could, throwing for 254 yards and two touchdowns. That included a 74-yard strike to Ashtyn Hawkins with 81 seconds left that gave the Bobcats a 14-13 lead.

But Southern Miss QB Zach Wilcke found Chandler Pittman for a 53-yard TD on 4th-and-4 with under a minute left to give the Golden Eagles (4-3 overall, 2-1 Sunbelt) the victory.

Although this is the Golden Eagles' first season in the Sun Belt, their display of athleticism, like Southern Miss’ punter Mason Hunt’s evasion of multiple tackles from Texas State to kick the ball to the Texas State 25-yard line, should show opponents that they will not just lay down.  

In fact, the Golden Eagle's defense prevented the Bobcats from moving the ball all night. Hatcher was sacked four times for a total loss of 25-yards. The Bobcats also had 20 carries for minus 6 yards and averaged -.3 yards per rush. 

“We couldn’t establish anything like it’s fourth down and one, and we can’t even get a yard on some of those,” Texas State head football coach Jake Spavital said.

 And on top of that, Texas State (3-5 overall, 1-3 Sunbelt) could only convert 2 out of 14 third-down plays to first downs for the entire game. 

“It gets frustrating because we know we have to call plays based off of what our kids are capable of doing at times,” Spavital said. “Which gets a little bit frustrating because if you can’t protect and you got to try to help with protection then you’re not going to get very many guys out when they’re dropping in coverage, so you gotta kind of work on that.”

The Bobcats will head into a bye-week to prepare for Louisiana-Monroe on November 5 at Malone Stadium. 

The Golden Eagles have a short week and will take on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at home on Thursday, October 26 at 6:30 p.m.