Texas State manages to fend off Lamar in 34-27 season-opening win

SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Jordan McCloud threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns and Texas State used a fast start to hold off Lamar for a 34-27 season-opening win on Saturday.

The Bobcats built a 15-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a field goal early in the second extended the lead to 18 points which Texas State took to intermission.

Texas State led 34-17 with 5:29 left when McCloud threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Joey Hobert. Following a missed point-after attempt, Lamar marched 75 yards in five plays capped by Robert Coleman's 9-yard touchdown to Jayden Boyd with 4:11 left to reduce the Cardinals' deficit to 34-24.

Lamar's defense forced a three-and-out before Bobcats' punter David Nunez mustered just a 28-yarder to give Lamar the ball at its own 44-yard line. Chris Esqueda kicked a 27-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining to make it 34-27.

The Cardinals recovered the on-side kick but never advanced the ball beyond midfield.

Ismail Mahdi ran for 156 yards on 28 carries and his 1-yard plunge at the end of the first made it 15-0 for Texas State.

Coleman threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns for Lamar.

Texas State is coming off a historic 2023 season that saw the program win its first bowl game, in its first appearance, a 45-21 victory over Rice in the SERVEPRO First Responder Bowl.

The Bobcats set an FBS-program record with eight wins.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

The Associated Press