STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton football team took on No. 20 West Texas A&M Saturday night under the lights of Tarleton Memorial Stadium and were handed a 44-13 loss by the Buffaloes.

The Texans did not wait for the Buffaloes to get comfortable defensively, as quarterback Nick Stephens hooked up with freshman receiver Clifton Rhodes for a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.  That marked the longest play of the season thus far.  After just 15 seconds of play, Tarleotn held a 7-0 lead.

On the next drive, West Texas marched down the field and tied the game up with a one yard run by Khiry Robinson.

Jerry Owens would give the Texans back the lead with a 28-yard field goal that capped off a nine play, 75 yard drive.  Tarleton led 10-7 with 9:09 to go in the first.

The Texans' defense held the Buffaloes on their next drive, and forced a punt.  The West Texas kick put Tarleton in tough field position though, and eventually were forced into a safety by the Buff defense.  That made it a 10-9 game as the first quarter came to a close.

The WTAMU offense broke open their first drive of the second quarter and scored on another rush by Robinson, this time from two yards out.  The Texans found themselves trailing for the first time in the game, 16-10.

Owens added his second field goal of the game at the 4:55 mark, after hitting a 40-yard field goal which ended a 6:02 drive.  Tarleton marched 64 yards on 13 plays, but had to settle for the field goal.

The Texans entered the half down three, 16-13.

The Buffaloes came out in the second half and scored on their first drive on a 10-yard pass from Dustin Vaughan to Nathan Slaughter, and ticked off 4:06 from the clock.  The score put Tarleton in a double-digit deficit as the Buffs' offense began to gain momentum.

The Texans threatened a few more times  in the game, but were hold scoreless over the last 34:55 of the contest.  WTAMU would go on to score three more times and extend their lead to 31 points.

Tarleton fell to the No. 20 team in the nation, 44-13, after fighting valiantly in the first half.  The Texans drop to 1-4 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.  West Texas A&M is now 3-1 on the year and 3-0 in the LSC.

Nick Stephens finished the game with 17-of-32 passing for 199 yards and a touchdown.  He hooked up with Rhodes for 112 yards on four catches and a score, which marks the freshman wideout's fourth 100-yard game of the season. 

Courtney Vaughan and Brandon Lowery both rushed for 26 yards to lead the ground game.

Owens hit two field goals and averaged 39.8 yards per punt.

The Texan defense was led by Marquis Wadley, who recorded 12 tackles, and Logan Johnson, who picked up two sacks and four tackles.

Next up, Tarleton will travel to Wichita Falls on Saturday, Oct. 8 to take on the Mustangs of Midwestern State at 7 p.m.

For more information regarding the 2011 Tarleton football season, check out TarletonSports.com.