Texas State is the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt West Division title following the release the coaches poll. The Bobcats received nine first place votes ahead of Troy.
Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
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Quarterback Jordan McCloud was named preseason first team all conference.
Photo submitted by Texas State Athletics
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Texas State had seven players earn preseason all-conference honors with five making the first team.
Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
Texas State is the favorite to win the Sun Belt West Division following the release of the preseason polls.
The Bobcats received nine out of the 14 first place votes and earned 92 points overall. Behind Texas State is Troy who received four first place votes and 68 points. In third place is Louisiana with one first place vote and 66 points.
In the Sun Belt East Division, App State is the pres-season favorite to win after receiving 12 firstplace votes and earning 96 points. James Madison earned two first-place votes and 79 points.
While the team earned first place votes, the players themselves were earning all-preseason nominations.
The Bobcats earned eight preseason honors including six first-team selections.
Quarterback Jordan McCloud, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, earned first team all-conference honors. McCloud passed for 3,657 yards and 35 touchdowns in the lone season with James Madison before transferring to Texas State in the spring.
Running back Ismail Mahdi also earned first team all-conference honors both at running back and all-purpose. Mahdi ran for 1,331 yards on 223 carries and 10 touchdowns. Mahdi also returned 22 kickoff attempts for 563 yards and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Joey Hobert was the third Bobcat to earn first-team all-conference preseason honors. Hobert caught 76 passes for 895 yards and eight touchdowns.
The trio of McCloud, Mahdi and Hobert are the returning leaders in the Sun Belt Conference in passing, rushing and receiving yards.
Kicker Mason Shipley also earned first-team all-conference preseason honors as kicker. Shipley was 15-15 on field goal attempts while being 5859 on extra points.
Defensive end Ben Bell rounded out the Bobcats first-team all-conference preseason honors on defense. Bell made 57 total tackles last year including 32 solo and a Texas State FBS record of 10 sacks.
Earning second-team all-conference preseason honors is wide receiver Kole Wilson. Wilson caught 66 passes for 747 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Safety Kaleb Culp also earned second-team allconference preseason honors. Culp made 81 total tackles last season including 48 solo tackles and four fumble recoveries.
Texas State will start the 2024 season at home against the Lamar Cardinals.
Kickoff is set for Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. from UFCU Stadium in San Marcos.
cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
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