SAN MARCOS– Texas State (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season against Arizona State (2-1), a team that reached the College Football Playoff last year. Although the score was lopsided, Texas State showed resolve by fighting until the end.
The first half in Tempe was one Bobcat fans will want to forget. Texas State managed just three points, a 39-yard field goal from Tyler Robles that briefly tied things at 3-3. But Arizona State wasted no time answering. Sun Devil quarterback Sam Leavitt found Jordyn Tyson on a 30-yard strike, and Tyson made it highlight-reel worthy—leaping over a Bobcat defender on his way into the end zone. From there, the Cats never caught their footing.
By halftime, Arizona State was firmly in control with a 20-3 lead. Texas State had a chance to trim it down, but Robles’ 54-yard try clanged off the upright, sending Sun Devil fans into a frenzy while the Bobcats walked to the locker room searching for answers.
Head coach GJ Kinne leaned on his signature uptempo, hurry-up offense in spurts, and it did move the chains a few times. But costly mistakes piled up. A completion to Beau Sparks ended in a strip tackle that ASU pounced on, halting one of the few promising drives of the half.
For the first time all season, Brad Jackson looked like what he is—a true freshman quarterback. After two games of poise beyond his years, the inexperience showed under the desert lights. Jackson rushed several throws, while the defense compounded the struggles with missed tackles and shaky communication. All correctable issues, sure, but in Tempe they added up fast.
The second half didn’t start much better. Arizona State nearly housed the opening kickoff before a holding call saved the Bobcats some embarrassment. Still, the Sun Devils capitalized moments later with a 27-yard halfback screen to stretch the margin to 27-3.
Finally, some life from the Bobcats. Midway through the third quarter, Brad Jackson and the offense pieced together their first true drive of the night — a 15-play, 59-yard march capped by a crafty 7-yard keeper from Jackson that cut the deficit to 27-9. Texas State rolled the dice on a two-point try, but the conversion came up short. Still, the drive gave the maroon and gold faithful a glimpse of what this offense can look like when it finds its rhythm.
The spark came courtesy of running back Lincoln Pare, who ripped through the Sun Devil front for an 18-yard burst that set the tone for the series. But just as quickly as the Bobcats built momentum, Arizona State stole it back. On the very next possession, ASU running back Raleek Brown broke free on a gut-punching 75-yard sprint to the end zone, untouched from start to finish. Just like that, the Sun Devils stretched the lead to 34-9 and slammed the door on any thoughts of a comeback.
On the next possession, Texas State looked poised to chip away at the deficit with a steady, organized drive deep into Sun Devil territory. But on fourth-and-1, a botched snap led to Arizona State reclaiming the ball.
At that point, all GJ Kinne and his staff could do was roll their eyes and shake their heads. The Bobcats knew the challenge they were walking into under the desert lights. This wasn’t just any opponent — Arizona State was fresh off a College Football Playoff run last season, a team that nearly knocked off Texas and punched a ticket to the semifinals.
Well into the fourth quarter, the Texas State defense finally got a stop, forcing Arizona State to punt. The Bobcats answered with one of their best drives of the night — a 14-play, 51-yard march capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brad Jackson to Kylen Evans. That trimmed the deficit to 34-15, though the Cats once again came up empty on the two-point try.
Say what you want, but this Texas State squad refused to quit. It wasn’t the performance the Bobcat fans hoped to see, but the late score showed the fight and resilience Kinne’s group has.
Late in the fourth, ASU turned to backup quarterback Jeff Sims, a speedy and elusive option who closed things out. Starter Sam Leavitt finished with 188 passing yards on 15-of-25 attempts and two touchdowns, while also adding 59 rushing yards. But the real difference-maker was running back Raleek Brown, whose explosive runs broke the game open and kept the Bobcats chasing.
Texas State quarterback Brad Jackson finished with 184 passing yards on 25-of-36 attempts, tossing one touchdown and adding another on the ground. His longest run of the night came on a 24-yard scramble — a reminder of the freshman’s mobility and dual-threat upside.
Running back Lincoln Pare provided the bulk of the ground game, churning out 61 yards on 13 carries, including an 18-yard burst. The rest of the backfield was bottled up by a stout Sun Devil defense.
Beau Sparks led the receiving corps with 70 yards on 10 catches, while Pare added 36 more through the air, including a 19-yard grab. Kylen Evans hauled in Jackson’s lone touchdown pass, and Chris Dawn Jr. was limited to just one catch after taking a hard hit early. It was clear the staff wanted to spread the ball around more, with tight ends and secondary targets seeing extra looks, but Arizona State had answers at every level.
Defensively, Ryan Nolan once again led the Bobcats with seven tackles, while Donterry Russell got home for a sack. Still, the unit struggled to contain ASU’s speed and playmaking, particularly out of the backfield with Raleek Brown.
All told, it was a deflating night for Texas State — especially coming off the emotional high of last week’s I-35 rivalry win over UTSA. But the Texas State fans understood the challenge. Facing a College Football Playoff-caliber squad in the desert was always going to be an uphill climb, and the Sun Devils played like a team with no margin for error.
Oddly enough, Texas State finished with the same number of first downs as Arizona State with 21 each. That was largely the result of the Bobcats’ methodical, time consuming drives versus ASU’s quick strike explosiveness.
“We played smart football. We limited the explosives, which was the plan,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said to the media. “We wanted them to have to drive the field. We succeeded. We played hard, we ran the ball, and our quarterback played well. It was a really good football game.”
The final stat sheet showed Texas State with 303 total yards of offense compared to Arizona State’s 433. Through the air, the numbers were nearly identical with 184 yards for the Bobcats and 188 for the Sun Devils. On the ground, though, it was all ASU, which racked up 245 rushing yards against Texas State’s 119.
One bright spot for the Bobcats came in the penalty department. In a hostile road environment, Texas State was flagged just once for 10 yards. That is an impressive mark and something Kinne’s group can build on moving forward. The Cats did lose the turnover battle 2 to 0, and time of possession leaned slightly in ASU’s favor, but from a coaching perspective there are plenty of takeaways that should translate into adjustments next week.
Next up for the Bobcats is a home date with Nicholls in the annual Battle for the Paddle. The rivalry goes back to the days when both schools were members of the Gulf Star Conference and later the Southland Conference. The quirky nickname was born in 1998, when heavy rains in San Marcos postponed the game and coaches joked that fans would need a boat and a paddle to make it to the stadium. When the game was eventually played, Texas State pulled out a 28 to 27 win and claimed the first paddle trophy.
Nicholls returns to San Marcos this Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Bobcat Stadium, where the weather forecast looks clear and no paddles will be required.
