Winning field goal makes Seth Keller Texas State's favorite feller

SAN MARCOS — Texas State outlasted Arkansas State 16-13 Saturday night, ending its four-game losing streak on a last-second field goal at Bobcat Stadium.

The two teams combined for 15 punts and six field-goal attempts. The Bobcats made all three of their kicks, the Red Wolves were 2-for-3, and the Bobcats won by three.

“Another wild game. What else would you expect from us right now?” Texas State coach Jake Spavital said. “I can tell you we talked in here after losing four straight in kind of heartbreaking ways; we talked about how our kids will keep showing up. They are going to keep fighting and keep playing for themselves.”

Texas State (4-7, 2-5 Sun Belt) lost its lead with 31 seconds left when Arkansas State (3-8, 1-6) tied the game 13-13 on a 23-yard field goal by Dominique Zvada.

“A lot of teams would run that out and probably play for overtime,” Spavital said. “I saved one timeout instead of freezing them two times in a row, and I was good with that. We checked it down to Lincoln (Pare) and burned a timeout with 15 seconds left, so I knew I had an opportunity for three shots."

After back-to-back 21-yard completions from Layne Hatcher to Drue Jackson and then to Donnovan Moorer, plus a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on Hatcher's pass to Moorer, Texas State was on Arkansas State's 12-yard line with five seconds left.

Seth Keller hit the winner with two seconds left, his third field goal of the day.

“I felt a lot of relief. Thanked the Lord that it went through,” Keller said. “I pray every day that he puts me in a position to help the team. Looking at the ULM game, coming up short because of my kick, I was pretty down, but the team uplifted me the entire time.”

More: Rock-solid Kyle Hergel has been Mr. Reliable on Texas State's offensive line

Texas State opened the game with Keller's 25-yard field goal but didn't score again until the fourth quarter. The Bobcats nearly went up 10-0 in the second quarter on Alonzo Edwards Jr.'s 24-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but video reviews brought the play back. Edwards had forced the ball away from Jeff Foreman near the sideline, and he picked the ball up while in bounds, but it was ruled that Foreman was out of bounds while still touching the ball, so the Red Wolves got it back.

“I thought we had a defensive touchdown there for a minute,” Spavital said. “Really curious to watch the tape on that one because I thought it was a touchdown from my vantage point.”

The Red Wolves went on to miss a 51-yard field goal on that drive but found the end zone on their next drive on a 25-yard pass from James Blackman to Johnny Lang. Arkansas State took that 7-3 lead into halftime.

Zvada connected on a 56-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 10-3 before the Bobcats tied it 10-10 on a 2-yard run by Pare in the fourth. Keller's 49-yard field goal put Texas State up 13-10 with 3:17 left. It was the junior's longest career kick; he's one field goal away from tying the school record for career field goals.

Pare led the Bobcats in rushing with 75 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Hatcher went 23-for-36 for 196 yards, while Moorer led the team in receiving with six catches for 54 yards. Blackman finished 22-for-40 for 237 yards and a touchdown, while Lang led the Red Wolves with 36 yards rushing, along with four catches for 35 yards and a score.

With one game left, Texas State has tied its win total from last season. A potential fifth win over Louisiana on Saturday would be the most for the Bobcats since they went 7-5 in 2014.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Whew! Texas State avoids overtime, beats Arkansas State on final kick