TXST FOOTBALL
Texas State begins their campaign for the 2025 season with spring practice starting this week. With several players having graduated or transferred out, the Bobcats will have many new faces, 23 transfers and eight enrollees, on the team, looking to uphold and improve on last season’s 8-5 record.
Here are some key areas to look out for during spring practice.
1) STARTING QUARTERBACK
Texas State will have a new starting quarterback with the graduation of Jordan McCloud, who passed for 3,227 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 278 yards and seven touchdowns. The Bobcats added three quarterbacks from the transfer portal in Holden Geriner, from Auburn, Gevani McCoy, from Oregon State, and Nate Yarnell, from Pittsburgh, along with returning sophomore quarterback Brad Jackson.
Of the four quarterbacks, McCoy has the most experience, playing three years at Idaho before transferring to Oregon State. McCoy has passed for 7,159 career yards and 46 career touchdowns. Last season at Oregon State, McCoy passed for 1,300 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 328 yards and five touchdowns.
2) FINDING PLAYMAKERS
Similar to the quarterback position, the Bobcats will have to replace several players both in the backfield and out wide with the loss of running back Ismail Mahdi and receivers Jaden Williams, Joey Hobert and Kole Wilson.
At running back, both Lincoln Pare and Torrance Burgess Jr are back. Pare rushed for 554 yards on 95 carries and eight touchdowns while Burgess rushed for 367 yards on 60 carries and two touchdowns. Looking to make an impact in the room is running back Greg Burrell. A transfer from UNLV, Burrell rushed for 366 yards on 65 carries and three touchdowns last season.
The top returning receivers for the Bobcats are Chris Dawn Jr. and Beau Sparks. Dawn caught 37 passes for 418 yards and six touchdowns and Sparks caught 25 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Transfers Shemar Kirk from Miami [FL], Quincy Brown from Nicholls and Tyrin Smith from Cincinnati will look to compete for a starting role while sophomores Kylen Evans, Jordan Martin, Junior Thornton and junior Issac Norris will also be in the mix.
3) RE-TOOLING DEFENSE
The Bobcats will have to replace several defensive starters, including 10 of the 15 top tacklers on defense.
Returning for the Bobcats are top tacklers Ryan Nolan and Kalil Alexander. Nolan was second in total tackles with 52 along with 30 solo tackles. Alexander had 40 total tackles and led the team in sacks with 6.5.
To help build up the defense, the Bobcats added several Power 5 transfers along with high end FCS players.
Defensive lineman Kryan Bourda from Arizona State and Michael Nwokocha from Syracuse will look to shore up the line of scrimmage while Chantz Johnson from Texas A&M, Ayden Jones from Prairie View A&M and Cole Niles from Bryant will balance the linebacker room.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
