On Saturday Oct. 18, Texas State lost its third straight conference game, falling to Marshall in double overtime and effectively ending its conference title hopes just a week after a devastatingly close homecoming match-up.
Despite considerable hype in the preseason and early weeks, Texas State is floundering as the season progresses, highlighting key vulnerabilities in its program despite increased attention from the university administrators. The Bobcats are aiming to be a serious contender on the field, but without overhauls to its program, their competitiveness remains questionable.
Ahead of its planned entry into the Pac-12 Conference in July 2026, Texas State must seriously evaluate and adjust its football strategy or risk becoming ineffective.
Texas State has invested heavily in its football program, paying head coach G.J. Kinne over $1.5 million for the 2025 season and making significant investments since 2022. Despite these expenditures and the push to join a more competitive conference, Texas State’s football team has struggled immensely in the 2025 season.
Texas State has the pieces to be a key player, but it has critical issues to address before that can happen.
The Bobcats’ defense is holding the team back under defensive coordinator Dexter McCoil Sr., and without changes, they are likely to carry this losing record into the Pac-12.
The defense has played a meaningful role in all the Bobcats’ losses, namely in the secondary. Despite ranking among the top 25 teams in sacks, they sit at 102nd in total defense out of 134 teams, allowing 394.7 yards per game, and 109th nationally in creating turnovers.
When asked about the defenses poor performance last game at a press conference, Kinne seemingly brushed off the defensive shortcomings.
“I thought we played well enough on defense this past week to win,” Kinne said, “We got to do better … to put these guys in better positions on offense and special teams to go win the game.”
Kinne’s focus on the offense raises eyebrows, especially after freshman quarterback Brad Jackson’s best game of the season, and ignores the defense’s pitfalls. Marshall was able to put 40 points on the board with little push-back, and Texas State needs to take decisive action to remedy this.
This doesn’t mean Texas State is entirely ineffective; the team has made significant strides in its offensive game. The Bobcats are 14th nationally in total offense, averaging 476.2 yards per game; 17th in third-down conversion percentage, converting 51% of the time; seventh in rushing offense with 250 yards per game; and 24th in passing efficiency.
The stats paint the Bobcats as an aggressive contender, and show considerable improvements in the offensive game since Kinne came on board in 2022. Standout players, like wide receiver Beau Sparks, are helping the Bobcats, but the team’s record shows it needs improvement elsewhere to truly become competitive.
Ahead of entering Pac-12, several teams in the conference are making notable staff changes. Colorado State fired head coach Jay Norvell, and Oregon State dismissed head coach Trent Bray, with similar moves occurring across other programs. Texas State must undergo similar changes, specifically on defense, to remain competitive against teams willing to overhaul their programs where Texas State has not.
The teams future could improve further with new talent, Texas State is poised for its best recruiting class in years. The top four highest-rated commits in program history are all part of the 2026 class, but all remain verbal commitments, and the team’s performance could affect recruiting as these recruits aren’t obligated to take the field next season.
At this point in the season, Texas State must go beyond simply regrouping and take a top-down look at where these shortcomings are coming from. The Bobcats need to lean into their strengths offensively, with more adaptive play calling that goes beyond just the book and develop a more disciplined plan defensively ahead of challengers. Without these changes, Texas State risks falling flat in the face of a more competitive conference.
-Andrew Bencivengo is a business management junior
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