No. 5 Texas vs. Texas State preview: Longhorns open season against in-state foe
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After months of anticipation, the No.5 Texas Longhorns return to the field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon, opening their 2026 season against the Texas State Bobcats.
Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. Central on ESPN.
After a tremendous offseason portal haul and the addition of a new defensive coordinator, head coach Steve Sarkisian and company enter the season with expectations as high as they have been in years — with the newcomers added to a talented returning corps, the expectation is to make a title run.
This journey begins against in-state foe Texas State, a heavy underdog with a talented and uptempo offense.
“A ton of respect for GJ Kinne and the job he’s done at Texas State, I think they’re 35-18 overall, they’ve kind of elevated as a program — they’re now in the Pac-12 — and he’s got a really good football team. That’s a veteran team, a lot of fourth-, fifth-, sixth-year players,” Sarkisian said on Monday.
Building on three straight years of bowl eligibility after previously failing to make a bowl in their first 11 seasons at the FBS level, the Bobcats join the new-look Pac-12 Conference with the hope of establishing themselves as a competitive team, even against stiffer competition. Now in his fourth season, Kinne has Texas State trending in the right direction.
The Bobcats had one of the most prolific offenses in the country a year ago and are a program beginning to turn heads as one to reckon with. At the very least, the program is trending in the right direction after a decade of mediocrity. Much of that is the result of Kinne, a head coach with a unique tie to the Longhorns.
Back in the mid-2000s, as Vince Young was setting the country on fire, Kinne received an offer to play quarterback for the Longhorns as a member of the 2007 recruiting class. After some recruiting drama, Kinne eventually committed to and signed the Longhorns.
Unfortunately for Kinne, a small-town and relatively unknown quarterback by the name of Colt McCoy took over the starting quarterback role before Kinne enrolled, which ultimately led Kinne to transferring after a lone redshirt season in Austin.
Kinne landed on his feet at Tulsa, a critical stopping point that shaped his offensive philosophy. At Tulsa, Kinne was coached in a power spread scheme under Gus Malzahn, Herb Hand, Chad Morris, and Mike Norvell.
Now at the helm in San Marcos, Kinne has synthesized a range of influences into a lethal offense that features wide splits, quick tempo, and explosive plays.
Last season, Texas State was 7-6 despite out-gaining opponents by 88 yards per game. A 1-4 record in one-score games proved to be costly in otherwise highly-successful season that featured a breakout quarterback and two 1,000-yard receivers.
When the Bobcats travel down I-35 on Saturday, they’ll challenge the Longhorn defense, particularly the secondary, despite many pundits predicting a sizable win for Texas.
Offense
The Bobcats run a variant of the Art Briles veer and shoot that Kinne inherited from Josh Heupel when he and Malzahn arrived at UCF in 2021, an up-tempo scheme that gives their offense a numbers advantage in many scenarios thanks to wide splits and intentional formation design. A year ago, they ranked fifth nationally in yards per game and 15th in offensive SP+.
The offense returns 71 percent of its production, namely starting quarterback Brad Jackson and his two most explosive receivers, Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn.
“Obviously, starts with the quarterback — Brad Jackson’s a heck of a player. Nearly 4,000 yards a year ago.He can he can hurt you with his arm. He can kill you with his legs. He’s got two fantastic receivers in Sparks and Dawn, and those guys can hurt you in their own rights,” Sarkisian said.
The Bobcats will be rebuilding the ground game this year as their top three rushers all departed, leaving questions marks around who will support Jackson in the backfield. Regardless, the experience of Jackson and creativity of Kinne will provide a test to open the season.
Quarterback
Jackson returns as the clear superstar on the team and a name to know in the national quarterback landscape. A true dual threat, Jackson threw for 3,223 yards and 21 touchdowns last season while leading the team with 17 touchdowns on the ground, along with 744 yards. He is on the watch list for numerous awards, including the Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, and Maxwell Award.
Listed at 6’0, 200 pounds, Jackson began his high school career at Cypress Creek in Houston before finishing his schooling at San Antonio Reagan.
He committed to the Bobcats after an unofficial visit during the summer of his junior year and enrolled early the following January. A redshirt season began his time in San Marcos before bursting onto the scene last season.
Wide receiver
Aside from Jackson, senior wide receivers Beau Sparks (84 rec., 1,200 yards) and Chris Dawn (65 rec., 1,007 yards) are two other names to know. The combo combined for 149 receptions and 2,207 yards while each crossing the 1k mark individually, giving Kinne and Jackson a true 1-2 threat.
Sparks leads the duo. A year ago, his 1,200 yards ranked sixth in the country while his 10 touchdowns tied for 12th. Listed at 5’11 and 181 pounds, the El Paso native has flown under the radar of national media despite putting up video game numbers last year.
Meanwhile, Dawn slotted at 21st in the nation in total yards last year. A somewhat smaller route runner, Dawn has proved to be elusive despite getting targeted less frequently than Sparks, forcing 22 missed tackles and gaining 8.1 yards after contact per reception in 2025.
Behind Sparks and Dawn, the door is open for another wide receiver to step up as redshirt sophomore Kylen Evans was the third-most productive wideout with 15 receptions for 211 yards and a touchdown.
Running back
The biggest question surrounding Texas State’s offense may come in the backfield, where the Bobcats must replace the production of Lincoln Pare and Greg Burrell, who combined for 1,799 rushing yards last season, with Pare alone accounting for 1,128 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Bobcats have senior Torrance Burgess Jr. returning after a knee injury caused him to miss the majority of last season. Burgess had 60 carries for 367 yards and two touchdowns for the Bobcats in 2024 while rushing for 620 yards and two touchdowns on 124 carries in 2023 at UTEP.
Senior Jaylen Jenkins is also expected to compete for carries after returning kicks last year while Rice transfer Taji Atkins turned some heads in the spring after arriving from Houston.
Offensive line
Senior Sully Burns returns at left tackle after starting all 13 games a year ago and will be the veteran presence up front. At 6’7 and 327 pounds, Burns gives the Bobcats an imposing anchor on the outside.
Justin DeLeon will also be a key piece after making six starts at right guard last season. The former highest-rated recruit in program history is expected to move to center in 2026, giving Texas State another experienced player to build around.
Beyond that, little certainty is expected as three starting spots are replaced. Kinne brought into numerous transfers to compete for starting spots: Jaylen Early, William Boone and Rasheed Jackson all transferred from Power Four programs, while Cameron Schultz arrived from UTSA.
Despite the reload, Texas State is expected to field a physically imposing starting five, even if it takes some time to gel properly.
Tight end
At tight end, fifth-year Blake Smith is hoping to finish his college career on a positive note after multiple stops and an injury have derailed his career thus far. Smith spent his first three years at Texas A&M before transferring to Oklahoma.
In his first year in San Marcos, Smith missed the entire season due to injury while only seeing action in nine games last year as a result of an injury. He’ll be a name to know on Saturday.
As a whole, the biggest threat is ultimately Jackson. If he is able to create plays with his legs as the Bobcats create space for option plays with the wide splits of the wide receivers, the Texas State offense is explosive.
How the Longhorns handle his running abilities will dictate the success of the offense. Sparks and Dawn will likely make a few splash plays, but if Jackson and the run game is limited, the effect of the two-star wideouts will be minimal in influencing the outcome of the game.
Another potential factor? The tempo. Texas State finished just outside the top 20 last season in seconds per play and will stress the alignment, assignment, and communication of the Texas defense.
“I think we need to own the tempo, right? And I think that that starts with communication, getting the call and getting lined up. I think it’s imperative we get our cleats in the dirt, ready to play, and we’ve got our eyes in the right spot,” Sarkisian said.
Defense
The 2026 Texas State defense is expected to be a work in progress. With first-year defensive coordinator Will Windham now at the helm, the Bobcats will undoubtedly have some growing pains, particularly given the amount of production that was lost in the offseason.
Losing production hurts, but a full revamp from top to bottom was possibly the best path forward for the Bobcats after the defense surrendered 30.6 points per game last season, including a whooping 42.6 during a five-game losing streak.
In the game against the Longhorns, Windham will likely be testing out a variety of new faces and defensive looks as he and the defense try to get their bearings this season.
Defensive line
The fellas up front have depth and size as the projected two deep at the interior spots average 304 pounds for the Bobcats. The expected leader is senior Tae Woody, a ULM transfer listed at 6’4, 303 pounds.
Behind Russell and Woody are junior Phillip Bradford, junior Chancellor Owens, and senior Bryce Carter.
Each is expected to see significant snaps, particularly in the early part of the season. Bradford racked up 5.5 sacks at McNeese last season while Carter had 12 tackles and 3.5 TFLs as a Bobcat before an injury ended his season.
On the outside, senior DonTerry Russell and redshirt junior JoJo Landry will be tasked with setting the edge and hurrying the quarterback. Russell had a strong season last year, accumulating 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.
In 2024, Landry made 33 total tackles, 19 solo and 4.5 sacks while forcing 2 fumbles. He had a season-ending injury in the first game last year, but has generated buzz this offseason as a possible breakout candidate.
After recording just 25 sacks a year ago and hiring a new defensive line coach alongside a new DC, expectations on the quality of this group are murky, though the amount of depth is promising.
Linebacker
The linebacker room returns the most production on the defensive side of the ball while adding a few key pieces that should excited Bobcat faithful. Redshirt junior Ayden Jones made 55 tackles in nine starts last season and will be the leading returning tackler in this group — he’s expected to set the tone for the linebackers.
Fifth-year Terrence Cooks II, who started his career at Texas, is not far behind Jones, racking up 50 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, and two sacks while seeing action in all 13 games. He’ll be moving into a starting role after a productive season last year.
Transfer Javante Mackey is expected to be a plug-and-play addition after showing promise last year at Arkansas State in limited snaps. If he develops into a serviceable linebacker in the middle, the defense will almost certainly improve.
All in all, the linebacker group has enough promise to expect improvement this year. However, in the opener against the Longhorns, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this group gets a bit rattled and overmatched at the point of attack.
Secondary
The Bobcat secondary currently has a lot of moving pieces, some with experience, many hoping to prove themselves. What it looks like on Saturday is unclear, although a healthy rotation of players is expected.
The leader of the backend is safety Ryan Nolan, who was second on the team in tackles last season and opted to return to San Marcos after exploring options in the transfer portal. He notched an impressive 79 tackles, three TFLs, four QB hits, and two pass breakups last year.
At the other safety spot, sophomore Jayden Bradley and fifth-year Jayden Lawton have been competing for the starting role. Bradley had a productive spring and has the potential to be a successful Bobcat down the road, though his lack of experience is worrisome. Phil Steele recognized Bradley as a preseason second-team allconference player.
At the nickel position, senior Amarion Atwood will continue to hold the role after starting eight games last year.
The two corners are seniors Trez Moore and Craig Royal Jr. Their veteran presence is a strength of the group as both have spent multiple years in collegiate programs.
When it’s all said and done, the Bobcat defense is going to look rather different this season. I’d expect a couple miscues on Saturday as the Texas State coaching staff adjusts to game speed while trying to implement a new system that features multiple looks. Growing pains are almost a certainty.
Special teams
Last season, the Bobcats finished No. 61 in special teams SP+ with some help from coverage units that performed well on punts and kickoffs.
After losing talented place kicker Tyler Robles to Washington, the Texas State kicker is Dylan Cunanan, a transfer from Toledo who connected on 8-of-10 field goals last year. Thomas Flintoff, an Aussie, is expected to handle punting duties.
Sparks returned punts last year, but didn’t provide much value, while Jenkins handled kickoffs, notching a 100-yard return for a touchdown last season. His speed will be dangerous.
Texas State has a lot to be excited about — a brand new defensive coordinator in a new conference with a productive returning quarterback and one of the best 1-2 wide receiving duo in the country. There’s reason to be optimistic and expect improvement from last year.
However, the talent gap between the two rosters on Saturday is large, and it is the first game of the year — the Texas State team on Saturday will likely look much different than in the final regular season game, so against a quick, physical Longhorns roster, the Bobcats will have their hands full with the spread currently sitting at 29.5 points on FanDuel.
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