Bobcats Outlast North Texas in an in-state Shootout

By Solomon Nash

KTSW Sports Reporter

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State secured its first win of the 2026 season as they downed the North Texas Mean Green 49-35 in a contest where defense was optional. Leading the way for the Bobcats was running back duo Torrance Burgess Jr. and Davian Jackson, the two combined for 291 yards on the ground and 4 touchdowns. 

The ‘Cats got off to a hot start in this game as Brad Jackson found Chris Dawn Jr. for a 12 yard touchdown pass. The two wouldn’t stop there as they connected in the endzone again the next drive, but this time Jackson found Dawn for 39 yards down the field to give the Bobcats a 14-0 lead midway through the first. 

We asked Head Coach GJ Kinne about getting Jackson going in the air early after last week’s rough game, “Yeah I mean Brads a stud we all know that last week a fluke, and I just knew going into today that no matter who we were playing he was gonna be great.”, said Kinne. 

The Mean Green finally answered with their own 75 yard scoring drive, but Texas State would respond with an 85 yard scoring drive capped off by a 1 yard score from Davian Jackson giving the cats a 21-7 heading into the second quarter. 

North Texas came alive during the second quarter as they put together two scoring drives to even things up at 21-21. 

Jackson would give the lead back to the Cats as he found Blake Smith for a 41 yard touchdown pass. The Eagles would retort with a 75 yard drive in under three minutes to end the half 28-28. 

The game would take a brief pause of action before Jackson punched it in at the one yard line once again to give his second rushing touchdown of the day. The Cats lead 35-28 late in the third quarter. 

Then in the fourth quarter it was (Brad) Jackson throwing to (Davian) Jackson for a 16 yard touchdown pass to give the freshman his hattrick. 

UNT would cut it back to seven after finding their running back Jaheim White in the end zone to make it a 42-35 ballgame with five minutes left in the ballgame. 

Jackson would deliver the dagger after he broke out for a 57 yard rushing touchdown to give “Diamond” his fourth total touchdown of the afternoon and hand Texas State their first win in the new Pac 12 in high scoring 49-35 fashion. 

Both teams had 605 yards of offense with Texas State having 336 of those on the ground. Burgess had a career day with 214 yards on 25 carries. 

We asked Kinne about how he felt about his team’s performance with all the pressure they had going into this game, “Yeah Backs against the wall we feel the pressure and hear it; we just gotta block it out and perform and we did against a real good team that’s gonna win a lot of games.”, said Kinne. 

The Bobcats will look to defend their home one last time before conference play begins as they will host Incarnate Word at 5 p.m. on Saturday 9/26.