The difference in the recent past between Baylor and Texas State could not be greater. The Bears have spent time in the AP Top 10 in three of the last five seasons. Meanwhile, the Bobcats are coming off back-to-back four-win seasons.
However, on Saturday evening, the greater Texas-based program between the two was the one in San Marcos.
Texas State defeated Baylor 42-31 in Waco, the Bobcats’ first win over a Power 5 foe since moving up to the FBS level for the 2012 season. The Bears entered the game favored by 27.5 points, even on the heels of a 6-7 season.
It was the first game with Texas State for new head coach G.J. Kinne, hired after leading Incarnate Word to a school-record 12 wins and taking the school to the FCS semifinals in 2022 in his only year with the program.
1-0#EatEmUp #TakeBackTexas pic.twitter.com/cRDQ8PUzFc
— Texas State Football (@TXSTATEFOOTBALL) September 3, 2023
Kinne, 34, may be best known among college football fans for his tenure as Tulsa's quarterback. He passed for 9,472 yards from 2009 to ’11, and was named Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year his junior season.
Quarterbacking the Bobcats in the contest was TJ Finley, who spent 2020 with LSU and the past two seasons with Auburn. Finley completed 22 of 30 pass attempts for 298 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for a score.
