HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Ismail Mahdi had 317 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns, including returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and Texas State staved off a Southern Miss comeback attempt to beat the Golden Eagles, 50-36, on Saturday at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
The Bobcats (4-1, 1-0 SBC) opened up its conference schedule with a win for the fourth time in the last five years thanks to taking a 42-10 lead into halftime. Southern Miss (1-4, 0-2 SBC) pulled within a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, but the Texas State defense got a stop and Malik Hornsby took a quarterback keeper in for a 14-yard touchdown to seal the game.