Note: This story is featured in the 2026 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Summer Magazine, which you can order here.

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DCTF’S TAKE  

Texas State begins a new era in the Pac-12 as a dark horse to win the conference and claim the G6 spot in the College Football Playoff. The Bobcats return a core nucleus of stars on the offensive side of the ball, led by QB Brad Jackson and a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn Jr. Their ability to compete in the Pac-12 likely comes down to improvements under new defensive coordinator Will Windham. 

Head coach G.J. Kinne raised the floor in San Marcos by taking the Bobcats to three straight bowl games. The next step is to raise the ceiling and compete for a conference title. That requires more consistency, especially in the month of October where Kinne is 3-8 at Texas State.  

THE OFFENSE  

Texas State returns its starting quarterback for the first time in the G.J. Kinne era. Brad Jackson passed for 3,224 yards and 21 touchdowns while adding 744 yards and 17 touchdowns – the most by any FBS QB in Texas last season – during his first year as a starter.  

Keeping him in San Marcos and out of the transfer portal provides a shot in the arm for the Bobcats’ chances to compete in the PAC-12 in Year 1. And the scary news for opposing defenses is that Jackson believes he can make a major jump forward as a sophomore now that he’s established as QB1 and has 13 games of experience under his belt.  

“A place I can improve is my pocket presence and being confident in a dirty pocket,” Jackson said in the spring. “For me, it is not depending so heavily on my athleticism every play. It is my job to get our playmakers the ball and that can require more patience in the pocket on my part.”  

The two most established weapons are wide receivers Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn Jr. The Bobcats were the only FBS team in the country to post two 1,000-yard receivers and both return after combining for 1,207 yards and 14 touchdowns on 149 catches. Zechariah Sample, an Arizona State transfer who Texas State tried to sign out of Katy Jordan High School, and Kylen Evans, who played some as a redshirt freshman last season for the Bobcats, are battling it out for the third receiver spot. Tucker Cusano is also in the mix.  

A deep tight end room should allow Texas State to use more two-tight end sets in 2026. A healthy Blake Smith unlocks the offense and takes pressure off finding a premier WR3. Ty Stamey, now in his second year with the Bobcats after transferring in from Louisiana, is TE2. Jake Simpson and Arvis Battle Jr. provide Texas State with four legitimate options at the position.  

The running back room is looking for new faces to step into larger roles with Lincoln Pare and Greg Burrell gone from the 2025 squad. Those two combined for 55 percent of the carries and 62 percent of the team’s rushing yards last year. Burrell was projected to be RB1 before he was dismissed from the team during the spring for off-field issues.  

Jaylen Jenkins is an Allen product who was one of the best return specialists in the Sun Belt last season. Torrance Burgess Jr. transferred in from UTEP with running back coach Barrick Nealy ahead of last season and played in four games before injuries cut the year short. Former Rice running back Taji Atkins, who redshirted last season, and redshirt freshman Cole Pryor are also in the mix.  

The offensive line might be the lone question mark on offense, but not for lack of talent. Sully Burns is a known commodity and will start at either left or right tackle. Justin DeLeon is expected to start at center. That leaves three spots up for grabs and those battles are expected to extend into fall camp.  

The Bobcats did reload through the transfer portal with former Power Four players such as William Boone (North Carolina), Jaylen Early (Missouri), Rasheed Jackson (TCU), and Cameron Schultz (Jones College). A breakout player to watch up front is Bamidele Badusi, who looks the part at 6-foot-6 and 328 pounds. Redshirt freshman Ameer Ross is another name to know.  

BY THE NUMBERS  

19 – Number of scrimmage plays over 50 yards racked up by the Texas State offense, which was four more than any other team in the country.  

3,968 – Total yards recorded by QB Brad Jackson in his first season as a starter, which was seventh most in America and led the Sun Belt Conference.  

2 – Texas State was the only team in the FBS with two 1,000-yard receivers. Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn Jr. combined for 2,207 yards receiving.  

KEEP AN EYE ON  

Building depth at quarterback is a difficult challenge when a young star such as Brad Jackson is firmly established as QB1. But head coach G.J. Kinne says he’s more confident in the backup quarterback situation than he’s been in the previous three years leading the Bobcats.  

Boston College transfer Shaker Reisig is the favorite to emerge as the primary backup and Kinne said he’d start for 90 percent of G6 programs. The staff also believes they hit on redshirt freshman Gavin Parkhurst, who was a late addition in the 2025 class who was previously committed to Rice.  

BREAKOUT CANDIDATES  

WR Kylen Evans – The redshirt sophomore was battling for the third wide receiver spot in the spring after starting six times last year and recording 15 receptions for 211 yards and one touchdown. He’s played in 18 games over two seasons with the Bobcats and was a two-time all-district selection at Frisco Emerson High School.   

RB Taji Atkins – The 5-foot-8, 181-pound sophomore redshirted last year in his first season at Texas State after transferring in from Rice. He’s a speedy, shifty running back who averaged 6.6 yards per carry on 24 attempts over five games with the Owls in 2024. Atkins was a district MVP at Spring Westfield.  

PROJECTED STARTERS  

QB Brad Jackson 6-0, 197, Soph. San Antonio Reagan  

RB  Torrance Burgess Jr. 5-8, 176, Jr. Pearland Dawson   

WR Beau Sparks 5-11, 177, Sr. El Paso Franklin  

WR Chris Dawn Jr. 5-9, 175, Sr. Mesquite Horn 

WR Zechariah Sample 5-10, 175, Soph. Pickens, Miss.  

TE Blake Smith 6-4, 250, Sr. Southlake Carroll 

LT Sully Barnes 6-7, 327, Sr. Plano  

LG William Boone 6-6, 374, Jr. Conyers, Ga.  

C Justin DeLeon 6-3, 319, Jr. H.M. King  

RG Jaylen Early 6-4, 315, Sr. Duncanville  

RT Rasheed Jackson 6-7, 339, Jr. Duncanville  

K Dylan Cunanan 5-9, 183, Jr. Phoenix, Ariz.  

THE DEFENSE  

Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne made a change at defensive coordinator, replacing Dexter McCoil with Will Windham after the Bobcats allowed 33.4 points per game in conference play last year, which ranked 13th out of 14 teams in the Sun Belt. Windham arrives from South Alabama, where he spent five years, including the last two as defensive coordinator and play caller.  

“I believe in the players, so whatever our players can do is what we’re going to do,” Windham said of his scheme, which is a Cover-3 base. “We believe in front multiplicity and coverage simplicity. We’re trying to mix up fronts to make it confusing for offensive linemen in the run game and in pass pro while keeping it very simple for our players.”  

With an explosive offense on the other side of the ball, Texas State doesn’t need to be the ’85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens on defense to be successful. But what the unit must improve on is turnovers. The Bobcats only caused 12 turnovers last year, which was 106th in the country. The unit only recovered three fumbles in 13 games. And while a new scheme will help create havoc, Windham believes improved effort is the biggest key to causing turnovers.  

“From watching tape of last year, creating more unit pride in terms of how we play and playing hard all the time will help create negative plays,” he explained. “Part of it is scheme and part of it is building that mentality. Football is a grown-up game of keep away. They have the ball; we need to get it.”  

Improving the talent along the defensive line was priority No. 1 for the new defensive staff and the Bobcats feel like they hit on most of the portal additions, headlined by defensive tackle Tae Woody. Bryce Carter, who was injured last year against Southern Miss, has a chance to be a breakout player in the interior of the defensive line. Other names to know include J.P. Deeter, Phillip Bradford, Kaleb James, and Chancellor Owens. Jarvarius Bell is a young player to watch.  

DonTerry Russell is expected to become the team’s ace pass rusher and he was compared to former standouts such as Ben Bell and Khalil Alexander. JoJo Landry is expected back from a fluke ACL injury that he suffered early in the season last year against Eastern Michigan. Ta’Derius Collins, Mekhi Buchanan, and Blake Isbell were other edge rushers mentioned by the staff.  

Terrance Cooks II is back to lead the linebacker room and he’s starting to turn potential into production. The staff raved about Javante Mackey, a former Freshman All-American at Arkansas State. Jordan Sample, Ayden Jones, Cole Nilles, and Tice Williams are in the mix at linebacker, as well.  

The cornerback room is tall and long, led by Trez Moore, who should start on one side of the field. Dexter Ricks Jr. is experienced and Craig Royal returns after serving as CB3 for the Bobcats last year. Chris Jones, Cordarian Powell, and Skyler Davis provide depth.  

Getting Ryan Nolan back was paramount for the defense and he’ll likely start at boundary safety, a key position in Windham’s scheme. Jayden Lawton moved to safety from corner and he’s competing with guys like Chase Davis, Jayden Bradley, and Michael Patterson, a SFA transfer, for the other starting spot at safety.  

BY THE NUMBERS  

42.8 – The average number of points allowed by the Texas State defense during a four-game losing streak in October.  

96 – Number of tackles for loss by the Bobcats defense in 2025, which was most in the Sun Belt and second-most by a G5 team.   

12 – The number of forced turnovers by Texas State, which was 106th in the country and 12th in the Sun Belt ahead of only ULM and Georgia State.  

KEEP AN EYE ON  

Amarion Atwood and Will Mitchell give the Bobcats two capable options at nickel. Atwood, a junior from Mesquite Horn, started eight times for Texas State last year, recording 30 tackles, a fumble recovery, three pass breakups, and two quarterback hurries. He was a member of Texas State’s 2023 recruiting class and was a high school teammate of standout wide receiver Chris Dawn Jr. Mitchell started twice last season before suffering a season-ending injury. He’s a sophomore from Fort Bend Marshall who signed with Texas State in 2024.   

BREAKOUT CANDIDATES  

DT Tae Woody – The 6-foot-4, 303-pound senior from Louisiana took an interesting route to Texas State. He was a four-star recruit who began his college career at Florida State before transferring to UAB and then ULM, where he played in nine games last season. Expect him to anchor the defensive line in 2026.  

DE Jo’Laison Landry – Better known as “JoJo”, Landry started the first game of 2025 before being sidelined with an ACL tear he suffered on a fluke play against Eastern Michigan. It’s an injury that might’ve kept him in San Marcos for an extra year because Kinne believes he was poised for a breakout season.  

PROJECTED STARTERS  

DE DonTerry Russell 6-5, 228, Sr. Jackson, Miss.  

DT Tae Woody 6-4, 303, Sr. Welch, Ala.   

DT Bryce Carter 6-3, 309, Sr. South Chesterfield, Va.  

DE Jo’Laison Landry 6-4, 260, Jr. C.E. King  

LB Terrence Cooks II 6-2, 231, Sr. Alvin Shadow Creek 

LB Javante Mackey 6-2, 251, Jr. Chicago, Ill.  

CB Trez Moore 6-1, 186, Sr. St. Louis, Mo.  

CB Dexter Ricks Jr. 5-11, 178, Sr. Milledgeville, Ga.  

NB Amarion Atwood 6-1, 182, Jr. Mesquite Horn 

BS Ryan Nolan 5-10, 187, Sr. Gainesville, Fla. 

FS Michael Patterson 5-10, 169, Jr. Fort Bend Marshall  

P Thomas Flintoff 6-3, 212, Fr. Melbourne, Austrailia