Spavital credits SMU's Dykes for career help

It’s been 11 years since Texas State and SMU have played each other in football, with the only other meeting going the Mustangs' way in Dallas 47-36.

Saturday night's game in Dallas will reunite Bobcats coach Jake Spavital with SMU's Sonny Dykes. Spavital was Dykes' offensive coordinator at Cal during the 2016 season, Dykes' final one with the Bears. Spavital, after spending the past three years at West Virginia, is in his first season with the Bobcats; Dykes is in his third with SMU.

"I knew after spending a year with (Spavital) that he would get an opportunity to be a head coach,” Dykes said. “Not surprised that he’s done a good job. ... We just shared the same principles. He comes from an Air Raid background with (Arizona Cardinals coach) Kliff Kingsbury. He has ties to Kliff, and he’s worked with (Houston coach) Dana Holgorsen and kind of that whole group of guys that were raised on the Air Raid.

“He’s a really sharp guy, somebody that knows how to move the ball. One thing I was really impressed with Jake was calling a game and game-planning. He does a really good job doing that. He’ll have some good stuff for us. We’ll have to play really good defense to try and stop him."

Spavital credits Dykes for mentoring him early in his career.

Dykes “has been a very important part of my career,” Spavital said. “I’ve learned a lot from that guy. Just him being around and his father (Spike) and the lineage of the entire Dykes family, I’ve been fortunate to be a part of that.

“I still laugh because I watched all the mannerisms he has on the sidelines because those have not changed. The way he yells at the referees and everything is always a fun deal.”

Volleyball: The Bobcats (3-4) went 2-1 at the Long Beach State Classic last weekend. They opened with a five-set win over Long Beach State before being swept by UCLA. They finished the tournament with a sweep of Georgia on Saturday.

The Bobcats will play three matches in the Texas A&M Invitational this weekend.

Soccer: After starting the season 4-0, the Bobcats are now 4-1-1. They suffered a 2-1 loss to UTEP and tied New Mexico State 1-1 after two overtimes last weekend. Texas State will be on the road Friday with a match against Northwestern State before returning home to face McNeese State on Sunday. The Bobcats will open conference play next Thursday at home against South Alabama.