Texas football: 5 things to know about the Texas State Bobcats in Week 1 matchup
· Yahoo Sports
On Saturday afternoon,Texas football welcomes Texas State to Royal-Memorial Stadium for the first game of the 2026 season for both programs.
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Texas State and fourth-year coach GJ Kinne are coming off a 7-6 season that ended with a 41-10 win over Rice in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Bobcats will play Texas and fellow Lone State State programs UTSA, North Texas and Incarnate Word in nonconference play before turning their attention to their debut season in the Pac-12.
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Here are five things to know about the Bobcats:
1. Texas State to represent the new-look Pac-12 for the first time
Texas has lost seven of its last 10 games against teams from the Pac-12, but this won't be a showdown against a program from your father's Pac-12. After a 13-year run in the Sun Belt, Texas State joined the Pac-12 this summer as the conference reshuffled its lineup following a realignment-related exodus of teams in 2024.
MORE:Texas State officially joins Pac-12, eyeing loftier heights
In the Pac-12, Texas State will compete against fellow newcomers Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. Also competing for a conference championship are Oregon State and Washington State, which are the only remaining links between the Pac-12's old and new versions.
2. Texas State QB Brad Jackson is coming off a record-setting season
Texas State is led by third-year quarterback Brad Jackson, who was an all-conference honoree in the Sun Belt. Last season, Jackson threw for 3,224 yards and 21 touchdowns while posting a 71.3 completion percentage that ranked fifth among qualified FBS-level quarterbacks. He also rushed for a school-record 17 touchdowns.
Texas State receiver Beau Sparks (11) celebrates a touchdown during the game against Eastern Michigan at Texas State University on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)3. The Texas State passing attack has two top targets
Ten schools enter this season with at least two names on the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the best receiver in college football. Texas is one of those schools since Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo made the cut. Texas State is also included in a group that also features Cal, Colorado, Houston, Oklahoma, Oregon, LSU, Miami and Tennessee.
MORE:Texas State football WRs drawing NFL attention as Bobcats continue preseason camp
The Texas State receiving corps is be led by 5-foot-11, 181-pound Beau Sparks and the 5-9, 175-pound Chris Dawn Jr., both of whom exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in 2025. Those are two of the four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in Texas State's history, and Sparks also set the standard for Bobcats receivers last year with his 84 receptions.
Rice quarterback Patrick Crayton Jr. (left) looks to pass as Texas State linebacker Terrence Cooks II rushes in during the first half of the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)4. Former Texas linebacker is among Texas State's defensive returnees
Among the returnees on the Texas State defense is linebacker Terrence Cooks II, who was one of Tom Herman's last recruits at Texas. Cooks appeared in one game for new UT coach Steve Sarkisian in 2021 before transferring to TCU, where he spent three years. Last season he compiled 36 tackles for a Texas State defense that allowed 29 points and 382.9 yards per game.
5. How often has Texas played Texas State?
The Longhorns and Bobcats will be making up for lost time this weekend. Texas and Texas State's football programs have played just once before, and that matchup happened 96 years ago. Behind the play of Ernie Koy Sr. and Bull Elkins, Texas opened the 1930 season with a 36-0 win over the Bobcats in a game that the American-Statesman then described as "something of a cross between a regular game and a scrimmage."
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