Arkansas State beat Texas State 31-30 in a game that featured 41 fourth quarter points
JONESBORO, Ark. — Jaylen Raynor scored on a four-yard run with seven seconds left, and Arkansas State beat Texas State 31-30 in a game that featured 41 fourth quarter points.
Raynor completed his final 20 passes – including five on the final drive – to lead ASU to its second victory of the season and first in Sun Belt competition.
Texas State running back Lincoln Pare scored with one minute to play to give the Bobcats a 30-24 lead, but a missed PAT opened the door for the Red Wolves.
Clune Van Andel knocked the PAT through following Raynor’s TD, and a final stand by the Arkansas State defense on a lateral play was all it took for the Red Wolves to earn a much-needed victory.
The Red Wolves are now 2-4 (1-1 SBC) while Texas State fell to 3-2 (0-1 SBC).
Relive the thrilling finish‼️#WolvesUp🐺 I #PoundTheRock🪨🔨 pic.twitter.com/egXORbpavn
— Arkansas State Football (@AStateFB) October 5, 2025
“16 years as a head coach, and you all have little endings of games that you always remember, but never anything like this,” said Arkansas State head coach Butch Jones. “When (Texas State) got the ball down there, we let them score, and then when they missed the extra point, there was a belief.”
Perhaps no player on the home sideline had as much belief as Raynor, who was the face of Arkansas State’s game-winning drive.
“As a quarterback, you have to put the ball in play,” Jones said. “You’re the point guard of our offense. I did not realize in the moment that he had 20 straight completions. But I know those completions in the two-minute drive were obviously very big. He got us out of some things with his legs. He moved the chains. That was critical.”
After a four-game losing skid, the win gives ASU some much-needed momentum before a two-game road trip.
“The fans that didn’t show up, negative fans, they just missed arguably one of the greatest wins in Arkansas State football history,” Jones said.
Texas State struck first, as quarterback Brad Jackson ran up the middle for an easy 24-yard score that made it 7-0. Following a sequence of punts, Arkansas State answered. After breaking a 33-yard run that got the Red Wolves into Bobcat territory, Raynor scored from 13 yards out on third-and-eight to tie the game at 7-7.
Neither team made much noise offensively in the second quarter. Arkansas State took a 10-7 lead on a 51-yard field goal from Clune Van Andel, but Texas State answered with a 31-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-10 with 5:29 to go in the first half.
After a second quarter that saw a combined six punts, the two teams went into the locker room tied at 10.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. Texas State punted twice and the Red Wolves did so thrice, but it was ASU who came up with the biggest defensive stand of the period. With Texas State in the red zone, Arkansas State held on fourth-and-short, denying the Bobcats and keeping a potential scoring drive from coming to fruition.
The Bobcats took the lead with 12:05 to go following a nine-play, 89 yard drive. Titus Lyons caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jackson.
Arkansas State responded in kind, with Raynor finding Hunter Summers in the back corner of the end zone for the score that tied the game at 17 with 6:40 to play.
The Bobcats responded with a scoring drive, however, going 75 yards in seven plays with Lincoln Pare scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 3:45 to go.
Raynor and the Red Wolves came back with their most clutch drive of the season, going 80 yards in eight plays. Raynor found Kenyon Clay for a touchdown with 1:20 to play and tying the game at 24.
On the first play of the next possession, Texas State QB Brad Jackson broke a 64-yard run to get Texas State into the red zone. Lincoln Pare scored, but the PAT was no good, leaving the Bobcats with a 30-24 lead with one minute to go. Jackson ended the game with 11 consecutive completions.
The Red Wolves have 10 days off before traveling to South Alabama on Oct. 14.
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