Texas State Preview

The Bobcats proved last year that they are a worthy opponent that can challenge ASU, but can their current team also put a scare into the Sun Devils tomorrow night in Tempe? Let’s examine the Sun Devils’ upcoming opponent.

Texas State Offense

With veteran quarterback Jordan McCloud out of eligibility, redshirt freshman Brad Jackson has taken over as the starter for Texas State. Through two games, Jackson has impressed, averaging 250 passing yards per game with five touchdowns and just one interception, along with 82 net rushing yards and two scores.

A versatile athlete and an accurate thrower with a similar toolkit as Sam Leavitt when playing to his potential, Jackson hasn’t shown many freshman faults through the very early stages of his TSU career.

Several Bobcat running backs should see action on Saturday, headlined by Lincoln Pare, who has enjoyed an excellent opening to the 2025 season.

Across two games, Pare averages 119 rushing yards per game on 7.2 yards per carry with two touchdowns and also has four receptions for 33 yards. He ran for 167 yards in the opener against Eastern Michigan and then 71 yards against UTSA, scoring one rushing touchdown in each game.

Joining Pare are Torrance Burgess, Greg Burrell, and Jaylen Jenkins. Jenkins has earned the most reps of this group so far, as he has 12 carries for 126 yards with two touchdowns – an eye-popping 10.5 yards per carry average.

At wide receiver, Beau Sparks is off to a sensational start to the year, as he’s totaled 12 catches for 237 yards (19.8 avg.) with five touchdowns. He opened the year with a four-touchdown day against Eastern Michigan and followed that with 155 yards on five receptions with a score versus UTSA.

Sparks figures to be joined in the starting lineup by Mavin Anderson, Chris Dawn, Jr., and Kylen Evans.

Dawn, Jr. ranks second on the team in all major receiving categories with seven receptions for 159 yards. Evans has two receptions for 20 yards, while Anderson has yet to catch a pass.

At tight end, either Blake Smith or Titus Lyons should be the top two contributors for Texas State. Through two games, Smith has two catches for 18 yards, and Lyons has a two-yard reception.

The Bobcat offensive line is expected to start with Dorion Straw at left tackle, either Emeka Obigbo or Lysander Moeolo at left guard, Brock Riker at center, Tellek Lockette at right guard, and Sully Burns at right tackle.

Texas State’s line has some absolutely massive size as Moeolo clocks in at 6-6, 366, and Obigbo measures 6-5, 374.

Texas State Offense Summary

Though they were tasked with ushering in a new QB1, Texas State’s offense has been incredibly strong and balanced through two games, with Jackson playing efficient and effective ball and both Pare and Sparks averaging well over 100 yards per game in their respective roles.

As a team, Texas State averages 6.6 yards per carry, creating a strength-against-strength matchup of ASU’s run defense versus the Bobcat ground game.

Even if ASU is able to bottle the TSU rushers, much greater effort must be made from the Sun Devils in terms of quarterback pressure and not allowing breakdowns to cause big plays in the pass game.

Texas State Defense

Operating primarily out of a 4-2-5 defensive set, the Bobcat defensive front figures to start either Tymere Jackson or Jo’Laison Landry at defensive end, Kalil Alexander at Edge, either Kamren Washington or Bryce Carter at defensive tackle, and either Jordan Sanders or Amipeleasi Langi, Jr. at nose tackle.

Jackson and Alexander tie for the high among Bobcat defensive linemen with six total tackles each so far, with Jackson adding 2.0 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry, and Alexander chipping in 1.5 tackles for loss as well. Langi has four tackles, including half a TFL. Washington has two tackles and two quarterback hurries. Carter has one tackle, which was a share of a tackle for loss, and one quarterback hurry.

Sanders has added two tackles – both TFLs – through two games, while Landry has not recorded any statistics thus far in 2025.

Treylin Payne is slated to start at linebacker and will be joined by either Ayden Jones or Michael Boudoin II.

Through two games, Payne leads the team with 17 tackles and has a pass breakup, while Jones and Boudoin each have eight tackles through two games.

In the secondary, Canden Grogan, Trez Moore, Jaden Rios, and Khamari Terrell are all options to start at cornerback, with Ryan Nolan starting at free safety, Bobby Crosby at strong safety, and either Amarion Atwood or Will Mitchell II at nickel defensive back.

Nolan ranks second on the team with 14 tackles and has two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup, while Crosby ranks third on the team with 11 tackles with two pass breakups.

Mitchell has added seven tackles with two pass breakups, Rios has five tackles, including 1.5 for loss with a sack, Grogan has three tackles on the year, and Atwood has one tackle so far.

Moore and Terrell have not yet recorded any statistics in 2025.

Texas State Defense Summary

As impressive as the Texas State offense has been through two games, the defense is comparably concerning, as the Bobcats allow 31.5 points per game in contests against Eastern Michigan and UTSA, while also yielding 194 rushing yards per game with five touchdowns.

With the exception of a few quarters of play so far, ASU’s offense has looked tremendously unsettled and out of rhythm, so the hope this weekend is that the Sun Devils can enjoy an offensive reset against a struggling Bobcat defense.

Texas State Special Teams

Either Tyler Robles or Michael James figures to handle placekicking duties, with David Nunez as Texas State’s punter.

Robles has handled all field goal duties this year with a perfect 3-for-3 rate so far, with a long of 50 yards. Nunez averages 41.5 yards on his six punts so far.

In the return game, Beau Sparks is listed as the top punt returner, with four Bobcats listed as options as kickoff returners. Sparks has two punt returns for 33 yards – one of which went 32 yards – while Jaylen Jenkins is the team’s top kickoff returner with a 27.2-yard average on five kickoff returns.

Overall Summary

An intriguing team with an upcoming move to the Pac-12 Conference, Texas State is very well coached by third-year front man G.J. Kinne, who played his college football under Todd Graham at Tulsa and has guided the Bobcats to back-to-back 8-5 seasons and bowl game victories.

The 2025 season has been a bit of a reload for the Bobcats, as between graduation and transfers, Texas State has lost all eight players who earned some measure of all-conference accolades in 2024.

The early returns for Texas State have been a big thumbs up on offense but a large thumbs down on defense.

It’s no secret that ASU desperately needs a “get right” game after a heartbreaking loss at Mississippi State, following a lackluster effort in the team’s season-opening win over Northern Arizona.

As we know, Texas State gave ASU everything it could handle last year in San Marcos, with the Sun Devils needing a furious second-half comeback to narrowly escape with a victory last September.

With this year’s contest in Tempe, the primary topic on the minds of Sun Devil fans is whether a four-quarter display of the “real” Sun Devils will be seen on Saturday, and if this weekend’s game can be a catalyst to shifting to a level of execution and confidence like last year’s ASU squad had.

However, further skids and inefficient play – even if it results in a less-than-thrilling win – will only increase the already prominent concerns that the 2025 Sun Devils will have a very difficult time coming anywhere close to maintaining the standard built by last year’s team.