The Teams: No. 21 Tarleton State Texans (0-0, 0-0 UAC) vs. McNeese Cowboys (0-0, 0-0 SLC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (24,000)
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN2 (Lowell Galindo, Fozzy Whittaker)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens, Ty Walker)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
All eyes will be on Tarleton State on Saturday, as the Texans essentially kick off the 2024 college football season.
 
Tarleton’s game, set for 2:30 p.m. CT, will be nationally broadcast on ESPN2, with Lowell Galindo and Fozzy Whittaker on the call. The game can be heard on Tarleton Sports Network at 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas, with Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens and Ty Walker leading the broadcast.
 
GAME DAY FESTIVITIES
It will be one of the most exciting games in Tarleton State Football history, a packed day full of fun and activities.
 
Texan Alley opens at 8 a.m. for tailgaters. The Pointe-du-Hoc rally will be at 11:30 a.m. at Rudder Way Statue. From there, the march will carry on to the Texan Rider statue unveiling ceremony outside of the west side ticket office. The ceremony will commence at noon, and feature several key speakers, including Tarleton State President Dr. James Hurley.
 
Memorial Stadium gates will open right after the ceremony concludes. The Sound and the Fury will perform at 2:15 p.m., followed by the national anthem. At about 2:23 p.m., the New Student Run will flood the field, as thousands are expected to run the length of the field to help lead the Texans onto the field.
 

Shortly after that, Tarleton State will take the field and be seen nationwide on ESPN2. Chancellor John Sharp will conduct the coin toss as Tarleton State celebrates him for his outstanding nearly 14 years with the Texas A&M University System.
 
Single-game tickets can be purchased and claimed at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. Tarleton State students, fans and staff can also show their Texan card at the gate to gain entry for this game only, as Tarleton State tries to expedite the line for entry due to the pregame ceremony. For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the fifth all-time meeting. This marks the third time in Tarleton’s five D1 seasons the Texans have opened against the Cowboys. Tarleton won 52-34 at McNeese to start 2023 after losing 40-37 in 2OT to start spring 2021.
• McNeese went 1-10 last year, with its win a forfeit by NW State.
• The Cowboys scored a season-high 34 points against Tarleton last year. In four of their five games after, they scored 10 or fewer points.
• Four of SFA’s losses have been by 2-7 pts, including the last three.
• Last year, McNeese had the second worst rushing defense in FCS (249.2 YPG). Tarleton had the 12th best rushing offense (200.4 YPG).

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton State will kick off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT, marking the second college football game across all of the nation in 2024. It will be the first CFB game played in the United States in 2024, as Florida State and Georgia Tech will kick off at 11 a.m. CT in Ireland, broadcast on ESPN.
• The Texans and Cowboys will play in one of just seven college football games of the weekend, dubbed Week 0.
• This is the first time Tarleton State Football will appear on linear television, set to play on ESPN2. It will be the third time in Tarleton Athletics history a program will play on linear television (M. Basketball on ESPNU twice).
• With a win, Tarleton would set its longest winning streak at the D1 level at five and surpass its previous long streak in its D1 era of four set March 6-27, 2021. The Texans last won five in a row when they started 2019 11-0.
• This is the fourth time in nine seasons that Tarleton State will face McNeese in its season opener.
• The Texans have won four of their last six season openers, and are 2-2 in season openers in their D1 era.
• The Texans went 8-3 last year, their most wins in a single season since becoming an NCAA Division I program. They became just the fourth D1 reclassifying institution to win 8+ games in a season since 2004 (North Dakota State twice in 2006-07, Central Arkansas twice in 2006 and 2008, North Dakota in 2011).
• Tarleton has rattled off six straight winning seasons, going 48-18 (.727) since 2018.

 
NATIONAL STAGE
Tarleton State will be on the national stage to start its 2024 campaign. The Texans season opener will broadcast on ESPN2, marking the first time in program history that they will play on linear television. This will be the third time in Tarleton Athletics history a game will be played on linear television. Tarleton State Men’s Basketball faced Grand Canyon on ESPNU on Jan. 15, 2022, then took on UT Arlington in the WAC Tournament Semifinals on ESPNU this past season on March 15.
 
Not only will all eyes be on the Texans due to the game being on ESPN2, but also because Tarleton State and McNeese will play one of just seven college football games in the first weekend of 2024. This weekend, dubbed Week 0, there are two games featuring solely FBS opponents, three games featuring solely FCS opponents, and two games featuring an FBS team vs. an FCS team. So, the Texans and Cowboys will play in one of just seven college football games on the opening weekend. They’ll also square off in the second college football game altogether in 2024, with a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff. The first game will begin at 11 a.m. CT between No. 10 Florida State and Georgia Tech. However, that game will be played internationally, set for Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. That means Tarleton State will host the first college football game played in the United States in 2024, across all three NCAA divisions. Shortly after kick-off, Montana State and New Mexico will kick at 3 p.m. CT.
 
RESPECT THAT!
In the two polls recognized by the NCAA for the FCS, Tarleton State was ranked No. 21 in both. First, Tarleton State was ranked No. 21 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Preseason Poll, then the Texans were ranked No. 21 in the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
 
Last year, the Texans ended their regular season with a splash and found themselves in the conversation for being ranked for the first time at the NCAA Division I level. They were as high as No. 16 in the College Football Poll, and in the two NCAA recognized polls, they were No. 27 and No. 28, respectively.
 
This is the first Tarleton State has been ranked since becoming an NCAA Division I program. The Texans were ranked No. 3 nationally at the very end of their NCAA Division II days in November 2019.
 
FAMILIAR FOE
The Texans know the Cowboys well, having played them three times in the season opener over the past eight seasons, including twice over the past four. All three recent matchups have been starkly different games…
 
In 2023 (Sept. 2), the Texans exploded for their most points in a season opener in 21 years, scoring 35 unanswered in the second half to roll McNeese on the road 52-34. Tarleton State dominated in nearly every area, outgaining McNeese 554-278 in total yardage. Tarleton passed for 344 yards and rushed for 210, earning 30 first downs to McNeese’s 18. The Texans scored seven touchdowns total, six on offense and a late Patrick Jones pick-six to seal the deal. Running back Kayvon Britten had a hat trick in his Texan debut, scoring three touchdowns on the night, two on the ground (19 carries for 82 yards) and one receiving (two catches for 25 yards). This marked the first win by the Texans over McNeese in program history, snapping an 0-3 start to the series that began in 1949.
 
In 2021 (Feb. 13), it was the first NCAA spring football game in over a century with temperatures in the 20s at Memorial Stadium. The official low temperature in Stephenville on that date was 19 degrees. The projected high temperature for Saturday’s game is 99 degrees, so there could potentially be an 80-degree difference between stops in Stephenville for McNeese. In 2021, the Texans fell at home to McNeese 40-37 in double overtime on Cowboy QB Cody Orgeron’s walk-off 19-yard touchdown run. The Texans had a 31-17 lead with three minutes left in the game when McNeese scored on a touchdown pass to cut it to a one-score difference. The Cowboys then recovered the onside kick and found the end zone once again with 35 seconds on the clock that forced the game to overtime. Adrian Guzman drilled his third field goal of the game in the second overtime, a 45-yard attempt, before Orgeron scored on a 19-yard run.
 
In 2016 (Sept. 3), it was head coach Todd Whitten‘s first game in his third stint with the Purple and White. The D2 Texans played at FCS No. 9 McNeese and fell 33-3.
 
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
In the United Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the Texans were picked to finish second out of nine teams in the UAC this upcoming season. The Texans slated narrowly behind the preseason favorite Central Arkansas. The Bears led the field with 77 points, earning five of nine first-place votes, while the Texans secured 74 points and three first-place votes. There was a large separation from the top-two teams and the rest of the field, with Southern Utah in third at 54 points. Austin Peay netted the other first-place vote, finishing fifth in the poll.
 
Running back Kayvon Britten was named the UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, then was later named to the 2024 FCS Preseason All-America First Team by Stats Perform, and was one of 35 players in FCS to be named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List. Britten was a UAC First Team All-Conference running back a season ago, also logging 2023 FCS Football Central All-American Third Team and Phil Steele FCS 2023 All-American Fourth Team accolades. He was one of the best running backs in the nation, finishing with 1,150 yards on 183 carries (6.3 yards per rush) and 16 rushing touchdowns. Britten scored in 10 of Tarleton’s 11 games, averaging 104.6 rushing yards per contest, plus he added 106 receiving yards and a touchdown on 11 catches, finishing with 17 total touchdowns on the season. Conference-wise, Britten was first in rushing touchdowns (third in the FCS) and total touchdowns (tied-fifth in FCS), second in total rushing yards (ninth in FCS), second in rushing yards per game (tied-11th FCS) and second in yards per rush (21st in FCS). Across Texan Football program history, he had the sixth most rushing yards in a single-season and the eighth most rushing yards per game in a single-season. Since 1977, he finished with the tied-third most rushing touchdowns in a single-season in program history, tied with Gaylon Bowser’s 16 rushing scores in 1987, only behind Xavier Turner’s 22 touchdowns in 2018 and Derrick Ross’ 22 touchdowns in 2004.
 
Britten was one of five Texans to earn a spot on the Preseason All-Conference teams. Wide receiver Darius Cooper and center Tuli Teuhema joined Britten on the Preseason All-Conference Offensive Team, defensive lineman Brandon Tolvert made the Preseason All-Conference Defensive Team, and return specialist Deangelo Rosemond was voted on the Preseason All-Conference Specialist Team. Britten, Cooper and Rosemond were unanimous selections. Cooper joined Britten as a 2024 FCS Preseason All-American by Stats Perform.
 
RECLASSIFICATION SUCCESS
There’s no way around it, the Texans had one of the most impressive reclassification periods in NCAA history. The Texans posted a winning season in every year of reclassification, just the third team since 2004 to do so. The Texans also posted the third highest winning percentage in a reclassification period since 2004 at .610:
1. North Dakota State: .750 (33-11, 2005-08)
2. Central Arkansas: .630 (29-17, 2006-09)
3. Tarleton: .610 (25-16, 2020-23)
 
PURPLE OUT
Tarleton State is proclaiming Saturday’s game to be a Purple Out, requesting fans wear the signature color of the 125-year old university. The Texans will follow suit by wearing all purple for the game, which could spell success for the team. Last year, the Texans were an undefeated 7-0 when wearing their traditional purple helmets. The Texans have won eight straight games when wearing their purple helmets dating back to the 2022 season, last losing in them on Nov. 12, 2022, at Utah Tech.
 
THEIR JORDAN YEAR
Last season was a special year for Tarleton State, as the Texans set several records and won several awards in 2023…
 
– Tarleton posted its most wins in a season since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, going 8-3 overall, 4-2 in conference play. The Texans finished tied-second in the United Athletic Conference, despite being picked to finish sixth in the 2023 Preseason UAC Coaches Poll, and would have likely received an FCS playoff at-large bid, if eligible.
 
– Todd Whitten earned the inaugural United Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award and become one of 20 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which recognizes the national coach of the year in Division I FCS. It was Whitten’s seventh Coach of the Year award at TSU.
 
– A major milestone in Whitten’s career came on Sept. 30 when the Texans defeated Southeastern Louisiana for his 100th win as Tarleton State’s head coach. This made him the 12th coach among current D1 schools in Texas to reach 100 wins with one program.
 
– The Texans finished on a four-game winning streak. The two road wins came by a combined three points, while the two at home were each won by 42 points. Perhaps the most entertaining of the bunch was the season finale against Abilene Christian, where Whitten helped engineer a 16-point fourth quarter comeback. This was the team’s largest comeback win in the D1 era.
 
– Nine players earned All-Conference honors, four on the first team and five on the second team .
– Offensively, Tarleton ranked first in the conference in yards per play (6.4, 11th most nationally), first in rush yards per game (201.7, 12th nationally), first in rush touchdowns (25, 16th nationally), second in points per game (33.3, 13th nationally), second in yards per game (430.5, 14th nationally) and second in yards per rush (5.2, 17th nationally).
 
– Defensively, the Texans had the most defensive touchdowns in the conference (four, tied-fourth nationally), were first in fumbles recovered (11, tied-ninth nationally), first in yards per play (4.8, 17th nationally), first in sacks (26, tied-28th nationally), tied-third in takeaways (18, tied-36th nationally), tied-third in tackles for loss (65, tied-39th nationally), and fourth in scoring defense (24.5 points per game, tied-46th nationally).
 
– On special teams, Tarleton was first in kickoff return (24.3 yards per return, eighth nationally) and second in punt return (18.2 yards per return, fourth nationally).
 
– Tarleton State saw an average of 18,697 fans through the turnstiles across five home games, slating them fourth among 129 FCS programs in average attendance.
 
BEST IN TEXAS
Since the start of the 2018 season, Tarleton has been one of the best scholarship football programs in the entire state of Texas. The Texans enter Saturday’s game with a .727 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the highest mark across all of the NCAA Division I and II programs in the state. Tarleton is the only Texas D1 or D2 institution with all six winning seasons since 2018. They have 48 wins since the start of 2018, the second most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program, only behind Texas, who has played in 10 more games. The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

 
IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
After a season that felt a bit shorter than usual with no bye week, five home games and no playoff eligibility despite the Tarleton State football team going 8-3, that all changes this season. The Texans will have six home games and 12 games overall with two bye weeks in the middle, making it their longest regular season in program history.
 
The Texans have 12 regular season games on the docket, six at home and six true road games. The 12 marks the most regular season games in program history. Tarleton State has played 12 or more games in a season nine times, with each of those times featuring 10 or 11 regular season games plus playoff games or bowl games. They last played 12 games overall in 2019, their final NCAA Division II campaign in which they went 11-1, won the Lone Star Conference and made the playoffs.
 
With 91 days separating Tarleton’s season opener and regular season finale, this will be the longest regular season on record in program history. Tarleton’s Aug. 24 season opener will serve as the earliest game played in a calendar year by the program since at least 1975 (not including the Spring 2021 pandemic season). The earliest date on record for Tarleton is Aug. 25, when the Texans hosted East Central in 2007, a 44-7 Tarleton win. Since at least 1975 when dates started being recorded, and not including the 2020 season played in the spring of 2021, Tarleton’s Aug. 24 season opener will be the seventh time they’ve started the season before September, and their Nov. 23 regular season finale will be the latest Tarleton regular season game, a day beyond their previous known latest game of Nov. 22, 1975.
 
Like last year, all games will be on Saturdays again this season. All 12 of Tarleton’s opponents are NCAA Division I programs, the most the Texans will have ever played against in a single-season in program history, surpassing their 10 played last year.
 
OFFENSIVE LOYALTY
Tarleton State has been a rare program in the modern college football era that hasn’t been affected by the transfer portal much. In fact, the Texans are slated to have 10 of their 11 same offensive starters begin Saturday’s game. Tarleton State lost just one offensive starter to the transfer portal, wide receiver Jaden Smith, who went to Nevada. Houston transfer Cody Jackson is penciled in to replace Smith.
 
GOOD WORK GETS NOTICED
In July, head coach Todd Whitten announced that defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix had been promoted to Assistant Head Coach. In addition to helping the Texans to their best record as an NCAA Division I institution in 2023 at 8-3, Nix’s defense led the United Athletic Conference in yards per play allowed (4.76), defensive touchdowns (four, tied-fourth in FCS) and fumbles recovered (11, tied-ninth in FCS). The Texans held four opponents to 17 points or fewer and had three defensive players named to All-UAC honors under Nix last season. Nix is the first Assistant Head Coach under Whitten since the head coach returned to the helm in Stephenville in 2016.
 
COORDINATE TOGETHER
Ahead of the spring football season, the Texans promoted Adam Austin to offensive coordinator and Scott Carey to co-offensive coordinator. Austin will be the Texans’ offensive play caller in 2024. He has served as the quarterbacks coach, a role he will maintain, the last three seasons. Over the past three seasons, Austin’s quarterbacks have consistently put up elite performances. Victor Gabalis ranked first in yards per completion in the conference, as well as fourth in overall passing efficiency last season. His best game was in Tarleton’s 59-17 romping of Stephen F. Austin, where he threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-19 passing. In Austin’s first two seasons at Tarleton, his quarterbacks produced seven 300-plus yard performances, including the most in the Western Athletic Conference in 2022 with five. Also that season, the Texans finished third in the WAC with 24 passing touchdowns, throwing for 2,883 yards across 11 games, averaging 262.1 passing yards per contest.
 
Carey was also promoted to co-offensive coordinator, in charge of the run game. Carey has been on the Tarleton coaching staff the past six seasons, leading the offensive line, a role he will maintain. The offensive line has powered a run game that has been a staple with Carey at the helm, posting the best rushing offense in the conference last season with 201.7 rushing yards per game (12th in the FCS) and 25 rushing touchdowns (16th in the FCS). Carey’s OL played a part in the Texans’ best year of total offense at the D1 level in 2022 as the Texans averaged 436.8 yards per game and 6.1 yards per play, with both marks being tops in the Western Athletic Conference. Over the past six seasons, the Texans have had eight First Team All-Conference offensive linemen, five on Second Team All-Conference, and five honorable mentions.
 
WELCOME TO STEPHENVILLE
On National Signing Day, Tarleton State announced the addition of 19 new players to their 2024 roster. The Texans added four linebackers, three defensive backs, three defensive linemen, three offensive linemen, two quarterbacks, two running backs, one tight end and one wide receiver. That’s 10 on the defensive side, and nine offensive players. Of the 19 additions to the 2024 roster, 10 are joining the team straight from high school, and nine are transfers.
 
New players who could be in the mix early, according to the two-deep, are Vililami Wolfgramm, Branson Tita-Nwa, Caden Holt, Kyle Jackson, Bam Smith, AJ Owens and Omar Emmons. Wolfgramm transferred over from Kilgore College, Tita-Nwa from Fullerton College, Caden Holt from Blinn College, Jackson from Modesto Junior College, Smith from Navarro College, Owens from Hutchinson Community College and Emmons from Mississippi Valley State. Emmons was named to the 2023 College Football FCS All-America Team at safety after logging 46 tackles (24 solo), two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one blocked kick, six pass breakups and three tackles for loss.
 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (eight FBS, three FCS) have a better winning percentage than Tarleton since 2018 (Cincinnati, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Appalachian State, North Dakota State, James Madison, Princeton). So among some of the other elite programs, Tarleton has a higher W% than the likes of Michigan, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Oregon, Iowa, USC, LSU, etc.
 

 
10: Offensive lineman Kariem Al Soufi brings a unique background to Tarleton coming from Germany. Al Soufi is one of just 10 players in FCS who is from Germany, and he is one of three international football players in the United Athletic Conference. He is the only UAC player from Germany, and he is just one of three German FCS players playing for a Texas School (two from Stephen F. Austin).
 
1: Whitten is the only coach at any NCAA level actively coaching in his third stint at his current school. He is just one of 37 coaches at any NCAA level to have three non-consecutive tenures at one school and he is the second coach in with three stints at Tarleton State (W.J. Wisdom, 1920-22, 1924-28, 1930-35).
 
12: Last year, Whitten became just the 12th head coach among all current NCAA Division I schools in Texas to reach 100 wins with one program: TCU’s Gary Patterson, Texas’ Darrell Royal, Houston’s Bill Yeoman, Texas’ Mack Brown, Rice’s Jess Neely, Commerce’s Ernest Hawkins, Sam Houston’s Ron Randleman, Baylor’s Grant Teaff, Texas A&M’s R.C. Slocum, North Texas’ Odus Mitchell, and TCU’s Dutch Meyer.
 
GETTING PERSONAL
Across the country, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (eight FBS, three FCS) have a better winning percentage
 
UP NEXT
Tarleton will be back on the big stage, this time on the road, as the Texans head to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears at 6 p.m.