Texas State Is No a Longer a College Football Secret

SAN MARCOS, Texas — Texas State finally got the Roadrunner off its back.

The Bobcats emphatically beat visiting UTSA, 49-10, to defeat their backyard rival for the first time in six meetings Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 28,000 at UFCU Stadium.

It’s the latest landmark win for a Bobcats program that beat Big 12 member Baylor and blasted Rice in the First Responder Bowl last season. Next week, Texas State (2-0) gets a chance at another signature win when Arizona State comes to town for a Thursday night nationally televised game (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“A huge win for the program. Really excited to get one in the win column versus those guys,” Bobcats coach G.J. Kinne said. “It was important. Huge in recruiting. Huge for the university. Huge for these guys. I just thought it took a lot of grit and a lot of mental toughness. … These coaches have been grinding on UTSA for a really long time. Really, every recruiting move we made, every personnel decision we made (last offseason) was, ‘Hey, does this allow us to beat UTSA?’”

UTSA (1-1) entered the game ranked No. 8 in the Athlon/Football Scoop Group of 5 Coaches Poll , while Texas State was unranked. But when the teams lined up, the Bobcats outmuscled the Roadrunners convincingly on both sides of the ball. Texas State is certain to enter the rankings when the next poll is released Monday.

Jordan McCloud, last season’s Sun Belt Conference player of the Year at James Madison, was cool and efficient under center while guiding a balanced offensive attack for the Bobcats. The seventh-year senior, who also previously played at South Florida and Arizona, recorded 309 yards on 18-of-27 passing with two touchdown passes, plus 33 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. The Bobcats tallied 504 yards of total offense and limited the Roadrunners to 334 yards.

“Our No. 1 emphasis this week was to be the hammer and not the nail,” McCloud said. “Punch them in the mouth early, and I think we did a good job of that.”

Bobcats running back Lincoln Pare, who missed the 2023 season due to injury, rumbled for 112 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Chris Dawn Jr. added 150 receiving yards (including 116 yards after the catch) and two touchdown catches. Jordan Polk racked up 11 tackles for the Bobcats defense.

Kinne and Bobcats cornerback Josh Eaton admitted Texas State deliberately held back some of the playbook on both sides of the ball in Week 1’s 34-27 win over Football Championship Subdivision program Lamar.

“This week, we talked about discipline, discipline, discipline,” Eaton said. “We knew if we were the most disciplined team, they couldn’t even play with us. They didn’t have a chance. That’s what we came out and displayed today.”

Roadrunners quarterback Owen McCown, son of former NFL QB Josh McCown, was limited to 105 yards 10-of-23 passing. He was relieved by Eddie Lee Marburger, who totaled 147 yards on 14-of-27 passing, although much of that production came after the score was no longer in doubt. UTSA was held to 82 rushing yards on 30 carries.

The I-35 Showdown represents one of the best rivalries in the Group of 5. Separated by barely 50 miles, Texas State and UTSA have vastly different histories on the gridiron. The Bobcats began playing intercollegiate football in 1904 under the institute’s original name, Southwest Texas State Normal School. They won Division II national championships in 1981 and ’82 as Southwest Texas State under coaching great Jim Wacker and eventually rose to the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2012.

Conversely, UTSA fielded its first football team in 2011 and became a full-fledged FBS member the following season. Despite a much shorter history, the Roadrunners surged to relevance in the Group of 5 ranks in less than a decade. Both Texas State and UTSA earned their first bowl game victory in 2023, setting the stage for one of the top Group of 5 matchups of the season.

Making the current rivalry even more spirited is the close friendship between Bobcats coach Kinne and UTSA coach Jeff Traylor . Kinne played quarterback for Traylor at Gilmer High in east Texas, and they later coached together at SMU and Arkansas.

“I love coach Traylor. He’s a mentor. He’s a hell of a coach, hell of a person, hell of a dad, hell of a husband,” Kinne said. “Nothing will change (between us). One of us had to lose today. I lost last year, and we got ’em today. I know it’s tough for him. I know he’s not feeling good. But I promise you this: Those guys will bounce back and have a really good year.”

The Bobcats boast four players named to Athlon’s All-Sun Belt Conference preseason team : McCloud, all-purpose runner Ismail Mahdi, wideout Joey Hobert and defensive end Ben Bell. Behind that group, Texas State appears to be equipped to contend for a Sun Belt title .

The holy grail for every Group of 5 team is a berth in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. For the first time, the G5 is guaranteed at least one spot in the sport’s postseason extravaganza this year. But despite Saturday’s big win, McCloud said the Bobcats are keenly focused on the process and not the desired destination.

“We’re going to enjoy this one. It’s a big confidence booster,” McCloud said. “We knew how good we were. We just had to go out and prove it. … Obviously we have a big goal, but we can’t get to the big goal unless we accomplish our goal each and every week.”

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