Texas State Bobcats football | |||
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First season | 1904; 120 years ago | ||
Athletic director | Don Coryell | ||
Head coach | G. J. Kinne 2nd season, 15–10 (.600) | ||
Stadium | Bobcat Stadium (capacity: 30,000) | ||
Field surface | FieldTurf Revolution 360 with CoolPlay | ||
Location | San Marcos, Texas | ||
NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
Conference | Sun Belt Conference | ||
Division | West | ||
Past conferences | WAC (2012) Independent (2011) Southland (1987–2010) Gulf Star (1984–1986) Lone Star (1932–1983) TIAA (1922–1931) Independent (1904–1921) | ||
All-time record | 541–504–25 (.517) | ||
Bowl record | 1–0 (1.000) | ||
Claimed national titles | Division II: 2 (1981, 1982) | ||
Conference titles | 14 | ||
Rivalries | UTSA (rivalry) Nicholls (rivalry) Sam Houston (rivalry) | ||
Colors | Maroon and gold [1] | ||
Fight song | Go Bobcats! | ||
Mascot | Boko the Bobcat | ||
Marching band | The Pride of the Hill Country | ||
Outfitter | Adidas | ||
Website | TxStateBobcats.com |
The Texas State Bobcats football program Texas State University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. They play in the Sun Belt Conference. The program began in 1904 and has an overall winning record. The program has a total of 14 conference titles, nine of them being outright conference titles. Home games are played at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. [2]
Given that the school has grown to become the seventh-largest university in Texas (2021), and one of the 75 largest universities in the United States, it has now taken its football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA football.
The team became a member of the FBS Western Athletic Conference in 2012. After only one season in the WAC, Texas State moved to the Sun Belt Conference. Texas State joined the league in July 2013 and began conference play for the 2013–14 academic year.
Athletic Director Dr. Larry Teis stepped down as athletic director of Texas State Athletics on August 31, 2021, and Mr. Don Coryell, Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director of External Operations, assumed the role of interim Athletic Director Beginning September 1, 2021. [3]
Southwest Texas State Normal School [4] first fielded a football team in 1904. [5] Oscar W. Strahan, for whom the current basketball arena is named, was hired as the university's first director of athletics, and served as the team's first head football coach from 1919 to 1934. [6] He compiled an impressive 72–52–10 record and won three championships (1921, 1924, 1929). Strahan led Texas State into the T.I.A.A. in 1922 and then as a founding member of the Lone Star Conference in 1932. Joe Bailey Cheaney served as head football coach at Southwest Texas State from 1935 to 1942. The Bobcats went 23–42–6 during Cheaney's tenure. Cheaney was asked to resign following the 1942 season. The university did not field a football team from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. Head coaches George Vest, Milton Jowers, R. W. Parker, and Jack Henry all had tenures as Texas State's head coach. Vest led the team to a conference championship in 1948, while Parker won co-championships in 1954 and 1955. Jowers, for whom Jowers Center (home of the Department of Health and Human Performance) is named, served as head coach twice (1951–1953 and 1961–1964). He compiled a 48–18–2 record, winning over 72% of his games, including a conference championship 10–0 season in 1963.
Bill Miller was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in 1965. [5] During his tenure, the Bobcats compiled a record of 86–51–3. [7] Miller retired in 1978 as the school's winningest head coach in its history and the second longest tenured head coach. [7]
Miller was succeeded by Jim Wacker, who led the Bobcats to two consecutive NCAA Division II national championships in his final two seasons (The school had moved to the NCAA a short time earlier). [8] Wacker left Southwest Texas State to accept the position of head coach at TCU after the 1982 season. [8] Wacker left the Bobcats with a 42–8 record, which included a 13–1 mark in 1981 and a 14–0 mark in 1982.
John O'Hara succeeded Wacker, coaching Southwest Texas State for seven seasons. [9] Under O'Hara's leadership, the Bobcats shared the conference title and made the playoffs in 1983, losing in the first round. O'Hara was the driving force behind moving Southwest Texas State out of Division II and into Division I-AA, where the Bobcats faced much tougher competition on the field and on the recruiting trail. After the 1989 season, O'Hara joined the football staff at the University of Iowa, where he remained until his sudden death in 1992 at the age of 48.
Dennis Franchione followed O'Hara, and under his tutelage, the Bobcats had a 6–5 record in 1990 and a 7–4 mark in 1991. Franchione left the Bobcats after two seasons to accept the position of head coach at New Mexico. [10]
To replace Franchione, the Bobcats promoted Jim Bob Helduser from an assistant coach to head coach. Under Helduser's leadership, the Bobcats compiled a record of 20–34–1. Helduser was approached by Franchione to join his staff at Texas Christian University as offensive line coach, an offer Helduser accepted.
Minnesota offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse was hired by his alma mater to serve as head coach following Helduser's departure. [11] In 2000, DeBesse's Southwest Texas Bobcats rolled up the school's best record in a decade (7–4) and earned a No. 25 national ranking. [11] However, mediocrity forced DeBesse out after the 2002 season, as the school's administration had grown weary from mediocre recruiting and play.
Manny Matsakis left Texas Tech as the Special Teams Coordinator to become the head coach of the Bobcats in 2003, but he only lasted one season. In his lone season, Texas State compiled a 5–7 record. Matsakis left Texas State after the 2003 season due to management issues associated with the football program and a draft investigation report that found violations of NCAA regulations. Additional athletic department officials were sanctioned. [12]
TCU defensive coordinator David Bailiff was hired as Matsakis' replacement on February 5, 2004. [13] In his first season as the Bobcats' head coach, he guided them to a 5–6 record. In 2005, they finished the regular season 9–2 and were Southland Conference Champions. They then won two games in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, eventually losing to Northern Iowa. In 2006, the Bobcats' were again 5–6. Bailiff left Texas State after three seasons to accept the head coaching position at Rice. [14]
Brad Wright was promoted from running backs coach to head coach of the Bobcats football program after Bailiff's departure. [15] Under Wright's tutelage, the Bobcats compiled a mediocre 23–23 record. Fan support and administration restlessness led the Wright's firing following a 4–7 campaign in 2010. [16]
Following Brad Wright's dismissal, Texas State University engaged Parker Executive Search to help them find their next head football coach. Finalists included former Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins, Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Bobby Jack Wright, former Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster, and Dennis Franchione. [17]
On January 7, 2011, Franchione was named head coach of Texas State's football program and signed a five-year contract valued at $350,000 per year. [18] This was Franchione's second tenure with Texas State, having previously coached at what was then Southwest Texas State in 1990 and 1991. His second tenure at Texas State was slightly less successful, as he led Texas State into Football Bowl Subdivision level football in 2012, joining the Western Athletic Conference. [19] Texas State then negotiated membership in the more stable Sun Belt Conference beginning in 2013, [20] after the WAC stopped sponsoring football. [21] Franchione retired from coaching following the 2015 season. [22] His second tenure with the Bobcats produced a 26–34 record. [23]
Former North Carolina head coach Everett Withers was hired as Texas State's head coach on January 6, 2016. [24] Withers, who was serving as head coach at James Madison in the FCS at the time of his hiring, is the first African American to hold the position of head football coach at Texas State University. [25] In 2016, Withers' first season, the Bobcats compiled a 2–10 record. [26] The Bobcats broke the all-time attendance record at their home opener on September 24, 2016, with 33,133. [27] In 2017, Withers' second season, the Bobcats again recorded a 2–10 record. Withers entered the 2018 season with an overall record of 4–20. Withers was fired as the head coach for football on November 18, 2018, with a 7–28 record as head coach. Defensive Coordinator Chris Woods became the interim head coach for the season finale.
On November 28, 2018, Jake Spavital was hired to replace Withers as Texas State's head coach. [28] Spavital previously served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at West Virginia from 2017 to 2018. The Bobcats lost to twelfth-ranked Texas A&M 41–7 in the program's first game under Spavital. Under the direction of Jake Spavital, the Bobcats improved their rushing output by 65 percent, averaging 131.2 yards per game, and averaging 369.7 total yards and 27.7 points per game. These totals were the most yards gained for the Bobcats since 2015 and the most points scored since 2014. The third-youngest head coach in the NCAA Division I FBS in 2021, Spavital took the reins at Texas State on November 30, 2018, after overseeing some of the nation's most prolific offenses. He is Texas State's 20th head coach since the program began. Texas State fired Spavital following the 2022 season. In four years, Spavital's teams went 13–35 overall and did not appear in a bowl game. [29]
On December 1, 2022, G. J. Kinne was hired to replace Spavital as Texas State's head coach. [30] Kinne previously served as head coach of The University of the Incarnate Word, as well as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for University of Central Florida. In his first season, Kinne led the Bobcats to an 8–5 record and their first bowl game appearance in the program's history. Texas State defeated Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, 45–21, on December 26th, 2023.
In 2005, Texas State split the Southland Conference title with rival Nicholls State, and advanced to the Division I-AA football playoffs for the first time, losing in the semifinal to eventual national runner-up Northern Iowa, and finishing with an 11–3 record.
In 2008, Texas State overcame a 21–0 deficit to win the Southland Conference championship with a 48–45 overtime victory against Sam Houston State, its first outright league title since 1982.
Texas State joined the WAC effective July 1, 2012. [42] Then, on July 1, 2013, season, Texas State moved to the Sun Belt Conference. [43]
Year | Coach | Record | Championship |
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1981 | Jim Wacker | 13–1 | NCAA Division II National Champions |
1982 | Jim Wacker | 14–0 | NCAA Division II National Champions |
Texas State has won 14 conference titles, with nine outright and five shared. [44]
Year | Coach | Conference | Overall record | Conference record |
---|---|---|---|---|
1921 | Oscar W. Strahan | Texas Normal championship | 7–0 | 5–0 |
1924 | Oscar W. Strahan | Texas Teachers College championship | 5–3 | 5–1 |
1929 | Oscar W. Strahan | Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 6–1–2 | 4–0–2 |
1948 | George Vest | Lone Star Conference (NAIA) | 8–1 | 4–0 |
1954† | R. W. Parker | Lone Star Conference (NAIA) | 6–3–1 | 5–0–1 |
1955† | R. W. Parker | Lone Star Conference (NAIA) | 6–1–2 | 5–1 |
1963 | Milton Jowers | Lone Star Conference (NAIA) | 10–0 | 6–0 |
1971† | Bill Miller | Lone Star Conference (NAIA) | 8–1–1 | 7–1–1 |
1980 | Jim Wacker | Lone Star Conference (Division II) | 8–3 | 5–1 |
1981 | Jim Wacker | Lone Star Conference (Division II) | 13–1 | 6–1 |
1982 | Jim Wacker | Lone Star Conference (Division II) | 14–0 | 7–0 |
1983† | John O'Hara | Lone Star Conference (Division II) | 9–2 | 6–1 |
2005† | David Bailiff | Southland Conference (Division I FCS) | 11–3 | 4–1 |
2008 | Brad Wright | Southland Conference (Division I FCS) | 8–5 | 6–2 |
† Co-championship
The Bobcats have been to one bowl game, having a record of 1–0.
Prior to 2023, they were bowl eligible twice since moving up to Division I-FBS. In 2013, Texas State went 6–6 in the first year the Bobcats were eligible to win a conference title or attend a bowl game after their 2-year FCS to FBS transition. In 2014, Texas State finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three way tie for fourth place. Although eligible, they were not selected to participate in a bowl game; the Bobcats were the only eligible 7–5 FBS team not to receive a bowl bid.
In November 2023, the Bobcats became bowl eligible after winning 45–24 against Georgia Southern. [45] In December, it was announced that the team would play its first-ever bowl game against the Rice University Owls at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on December 26. [46]
Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | G. J. Kinne | First Responder Bowl | Rice | W 45–21 |
Texas State has participated in one bowl game, and has a record of 1–0.
Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | G.J. Kinne | First Responder Bowl | Rice | W 45–21 |
The Bobcats have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs two times with an overall record of 2–2.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals | Georgia Southern Cal Poly Northern Iowa | W 50–35 W 14–7 L 37–40 |
2008 | First Round | Montana | L 13–31 |
The Bobcats have appeared in the Division II playoffs three times with an overall record of 6–1. They are two time National Champions (1981, 1982).
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game | Jacksonville State Northern Michigan North Dakota State | W 38–22 W 62–0 W 42–13 |
1982 | Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game | Fort Valley State Jacksonville State UC Davis | W 27–6 W 19–14 W 34–9 |
1983 | Quarterfinals | Central State | L 16–24 |
Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current Sun Belt opponents:
Opponent | Won | Lost | Percentage | Streak | First | Last |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appalachian State | 1 | 6 | .143 | Won 1 | 2004 | 2022 |
Arkansas State | 4 | 7 | .364 | Lost 1 | 2013 | 2023 |
Coastal Carolina | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost 4 | 2017 | 2023 |
Georgia Southern | 2 | 5 | .286 | Won 1 | 2005 | 2023 |
Georgia State | 4 | 4 | .500 | Lost 1 | 2013 | 2021 |
James Madison | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost 1 | 2022 | 2022 |
Louisiana | 0 | 11 | .000 | Lost 11 | 2013 | 2023 |
Louisiana–Monroe | 7 | 13 | .350 | Win 1 | 1986 | 2023 |
Marshall | 0 | 0 | – | - | - | - |
Old Dominion | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost 1 | 2024 | 2024 |
South Alabama | 5 | 4 | .556 | Won 1 | 2013 | 2023 |
Southern Miss | 2 | 2 | .500 | Won 1 | 2013 | 2023 |
Troy | 1 | 13 | .071 | Lost 12 | 1996 | 2023 |
Totals | 23 | 65 | .261 |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(June 2017) |
Texas State football maintains two rivalries with the UTSA Roadrunners and the Sam Houston State University Bearkats. They also have a number of defunct rivalries caused by conference realignment.
Beginning in 1915, Texas State and Sam Houston Bearkats football played annually until a major conference realignment caused the rivalry to go defunct in 2011. However, due to another major conference realignment, the rivalry has since been renewed for the 2024 season at NRG Stadium where the Bearkats won 40-39 in front of a crowd of 27,225. The Bobcats lead the series 50-38-5, but the Bearkats hold a lead in the series since both teams moved to division I in 1986 at 17-9-1. As of September 2024, there is no future game scheduled in this rivalry series.
Texas State and UTSA faced off for the first time in the football continuation of the I-35 Maroon/Orange Rivalry between the two schools in the Alamodome on November 24, 2012. The Bobcats lost the game to the UTSA Roadrunners by a score of 38–31. UTSA leads the series 5–0. [47]
As of the end of the 2021 FBS season, Nicholls leads the series 16–15.
Announced schedules as of August 19, 2024. [48]
2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vs Lamar | vs Eastern Michigan | at Texas | at Texas A&M | at Kansas State | vs Army | at North Texas | at UTSA |
vs UTSA | at UTSA | vs UTSA | vs UTRGV | vs UTSA | at UTSA | vs UTSA | vs UTEP |
vs Arizona State | at Arizona State | vs North Texas | at UTSA | at UTEP | at TCU | vs UTRGV | |
vs Sam Houston (in Houston, TX) | vs Nicholls | vs UIW | vs Ohio | vs Texas Southern | at Army |
Dennis Wayne Franchione is a former American college football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school was known as Southwest Texas State University, and resumed from 2011 to 2015. Franchione has also served as the head football coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas (1981–1982), Pittsburg State University (1985–1989), the University of New Mexico (1992–1997), Texas Christian University (1998–2000), the University of Alabama (2001–2002), and Texas A&M University (2003–2007). In his 27 seasons as a head coach in college football, Franchione won eight conference championships and one divisional crown.
The Texas State Bobcats are the sports teams that represent Texas State University. Currently, they compete in the Sun Belt Conference in NCAA Division I. The Bobcat has been the mascot of Texas State University since 1921, when the university adopted the name from the recommendation of a committee formed to raise school spirit. Though considerably smaller than mountain lions, bobcats are known for their stubborn fierceness and great courage. The football squad used the bobcat for the first time in 1921 and went undefeated with a 7–0 season. Texas State had several officially recognized live bobcat mascots until the 1970s.
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS.
The Sam Houston Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white. Sam Houston sports teams participate in NCAA Division I in Conference USA (CUSA), having joined that conference on July 1, 2023 after spending 34 years in the Southland Conference and two years in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). SHSU's primary rival is Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and tensions between the two schools can run high before major sporting events that pit one against the other.
The UTSA Roadrunners football program represents the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the sport of American football. The Roadrunners compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference. They are coached by Jeff Traylor, who started in 2020. The Roadrunners play their home games at the Alamodome, which has a seating capacity of 65,000 but whose capacity for UTSA games is normally restricted to 36,582.
The 2011 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University–San Marcos in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by Dennis Franchione in the 1st year of his second stint as the Bobcats' head coach and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. Despite playing seven games against teams from their former conference, the Southland Conference, they were technically an FCS independent as they transitioned to the Football Bowl Subdivision. They will become a member of the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 and become a full FBS member in 2013. They finished the season 6–6.
The 2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team represented the University of Texas at San Antonio in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the second season for football at UTSA and their first as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Larry Coker returned as the team's coach for a second season. The team played its home games at the Alamodome. This was the second of a two-year FCS to FBS transition period for UTSA, so they were not bowl-eligible. It was UTSA's only season in the WAC, as they joined Conference USA on July 1, 2013. They finished the season 8–4, 3–3 in WAC play to finish in fourth place.
The 2012 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University–San Marcos in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats were led by head coach Dennis Franchione, in his fourth overall year, and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. This was Texas State's only season as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference for all sports in 2013–14. It was the second year of their transition from the FCS to the FBS, so they were not eligible to win the WAC regular season title or participate in a bowl game until 2013. They finished the season 4–8, 2–4 in WAC play to finish in fifth place.
The 2010–13 Sun Belt Conference realignment refers to the Sun Belt Conference dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013.
The 2013 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats were led by head coach Dennis Franchione, in his fifth overall year, and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. This was the Bobcats first season in the Sun Belt Conference, and it was the first year the Bobcats were eligible to win a conference title or attend a bowl game after their 2-year FCS to FBS transition. Despite finishing the season with a record of 6–6 the Bobcats were not invited to a bowl game.
The I-35 Rivalry is a college rivalry between the Texas State University Bobcats (TXST) and the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA). It is named for the Interstate Highway that connects San Marcos, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas, the respective sites of both universities.
The 2014 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats were led by head coach Dennis Franchione, in his sixth overall year, and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. They were a member of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three way tie for fourth place. Although eligible, they were not selected to participate in a bowl game; the Bobcats were the only eligible 7–5 FBS team not to receive a bowl bid. This was the second season in a row the Bobcats were bowl eligible but were not invited to a bowl game.
The 2016 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Everett Withers. The Bobcats were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 0–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place.
The 2017 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Everett Withers. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place.
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The 2018 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas, and competed in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Everett Withers. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place in the West Division.
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