Texas State kicks off new Pac-12 era with trip to Austin

The No. 5 Texas Longhorns kick off the 2026 season hosting a team from right down the road, as the Texas State Bobcats take a short trip up Interstate 35 for the Sept. 5 matchup.

While the Bobcats don’t have the same name recognition as the Ohio State Buckeyes, whom the Longhorns will face in week two, Texas State should not be overlooked, especially with the program’s recent success.

The Bobcats head into their matchup against the Longhorns after another season that closed with a bowl game victory, defeating the Rice Owls, 41-10, in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

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Under head coach G.J. Kinne, Texas State boasts a positive record, 23–16, ahead of his fourth year at the helm. And in his three years in San Marcos so far, Kinne has led the Bobcats to three straight bowl game victories, the only bowl game wins Texas State has in its program’s history.

With this momentum behind the Bobcats as they make their way into Austin, the team will also begin a new era in the recently reshaped Pac-12 Conference, fresh off a move from the Sun Belt Conference.

Kinne has pointed out that the move to the Pac-12 has more advantages than just playing new teams in a different conference.

“It has just a different feel to it,” Kinne said in a July 16 interview. “The recruits take notice. We signed our first four-star recruit ever in school history last year … but I think a large part of that was due to the Pac-12. When he committed, the Pac-12 was the hashtag (in his social media post).”

Texas State no longer plays the likes of the Troy Trojans or the Marshall Thundering Herd. It now shifts to facing western opponents in its conference schedule. The San Diego State Aztecs, Colorado State Rams and Utah State Aggies make up Texas State’s first three conference games, each also in their inaugural Pac-12 seasons.

While the Bobcats will be traveling to new places and have a fresh logo on their jersey, their starting quarterback won’t be changing, as redshirt sophomore Brad Jackson remains under center.

Jackson heads into the 2026 season following a breakout season which earned him an All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team selection and Armed Forces Bowl MVP. He enters Austin having been named a preseason first-team All-Pac-12 player by Phil Steele. 

“He just continues to get better every day,” Kinne said about Jackson on Aug. 26. “He’s just one of those guys that, when your quarterback is that consistent — when his off-the-field life is as consistent as it is, his preparation, his work ethic — and then you combine that with his ability, he’s a really special player.”

Jackson will have two explosive offensive weapons returning by his side.

Senior wide receivers Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn, Jr. were both named to the 2026 Biletnikoff Award Watch List after being crucial pieces of the Bobcats’ offense in 2025, each amassing over 1,000 receiving yards. They could pose an immediate challenge for a revamped Texas secondary with several new faces.

The Bobcats unite key returners with a new era in the Pac-12, and that will all begin when they face the Longhorns for the first time since 1930 and the second time in the matchup’s history.