OP/ED
It was the end of an era for Texas State, which wrapped up the 2025 season in their final year in the Sun Belt with a 41-7 win over the Rice Owls in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The Bobcat fans showed up in force with over 28,000 in attendance, making it the third largest attended bowl game of the season featuring two G5 teams as Texas State has turned the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex into “San Marcos North”.
The 2025 season will be remembered as truly a roller coaster season with so many ups and downs it’s a wonder many fans didn’t get sick from the ride.
The Bobcats started off hot with a 3-1 start which was highlighted by Texas State’s first ever win against UTSA inside the Alamodome. With over 45,000 in attendance, the Bobcats became just the third team to beat Jeff Traylor at the Alamodome, who boasted a ridiculous 293 home record before the 2025 season.
As high as Texas State was flying before conference play, it soon came crashing down.
The Bobcats dropped their next five games as Texas State was now on the verge of missing a bowl game altogether after looking like the West Division favorite.
The glaring issue with the Bobcats became the defense, which gave up over 40 points in four games. To add salt to the wound, four of the five losses came within one possession, two of which came in overtime.
But the lowest point of the season came following the Bobcats’ loss to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, when a brawl broke out between both sides following the conclusion of the game. Six Texas State players were suspended.
With the Bobcats on the verge of an utter collapse, Texas State rose from the ashes and emerged anew.
Texas State rattled off three straight wins, beating Southern Miss, Louisiana Monroe and South Alabama to clinch bowl eligibility before defeating Rice to seal the program’s third consecutive winning season.
The Bobcat defense found their groove, holding their last four opponents to less than 30 points while the offense continued to dominate.
The defining characteristic of the Bobcats this year was the recordbreaking offense Texas State put on the field.
Losing both their leading passer, three of their leading receivers, leading rusher and hot-shot offensive coordinator, the Bobcats not only continued where they left off in 2024 before rewriting the Texas State record book.
The highlight soon became the superstar freshman quarterback in Brad Jackson.
Jackson broke both the single season record for most rushing touchdowns in a single season and most total offense in a single season. The record holders for both? Running back Claude Mathis and quarterback Barrick Nealy, two of the greatest players in the history of Texas State football.
The duo of juniors Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn Jr. also broke records becoming just the second and third receivers in program history to have over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. It also marked the first time in program history that two wide receivers both had over 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.
With all three players returning for the 2026 season, Texas State now enters their first season of the Pac-12 with perhaps the best offense in the conference.
The Bobcats needed to enter the new era of Texas State Athletics with some momentum come July 2026 when the move to the Pac-12 became complete.
Ending on a four-game winning streak, Texas State found the momentum they desperately needed.
