Texans set to face Cardinals in final LSC road game

Vaughn Smith has rushed for 533 yards on the season.

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SAN ANTONIO - The Tarleton Texans (3-4, 3-3 LSC) hit the road for the final time against Lone Star Conference foes as the team travels to San Antonio to face the Incarnate Word Cardinals (2-6, 1-4 LSC) this Saturday, Oct. 27. Kickoff between the Texans and Cardinals is set for 7 p.m. at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium in San Antonio.

QUICK HITS

The Texans lead the all-time series 2-0 over the Cardinals since Incarnate Word joined the league in 2010.
This will be Tarleton's first time to play the Cardinals on the road. The Texans previous two wins over Cardinals came in Stephenville (41-27, Nov. 6, 2010; 48-10, Oct. 29, 2011).
The Texans have averaged nearly 45 points a game when playing against the Cardinals and have outscored UIW 99-37.
Last season the Texans were up 38-0 before UIW reached the end zone at the 7:59 mark of the third quarter. Tarleton netted 523 yards of offense, while the defense held the Cardinals to under 200 yards passing.
Tarleton running back Vaughn Smith (RB, Jr, Menlo Park, Calif.) surpassed the 500-yard barrier last week with his 103 yards on the ground against the Javelinas. Smith becomes the 11th straight Texan to rush for more than 500 yards in a season.
Jake Fenske (QB, SR, Round Rock) appeared in just his fourth game for the Texans when he entered last week's game at quarterback. The redshirt-senior completed a career-high 21 passes for 234 yards and connected with Arhur Buckingham (WR, Sr, Pilot Point) midway through the third quarter for his first-ever passing touchdown as a Texan.
Fenske will make his first-career start at quarterback for the Texans this Saturday. Running back Zach Henshaw (RB, Fr, Fischer) was still listed as “day-to-day” heading into the game.
The Cardinals have lost two straight games heading into Saturday's contest. UIW's last win came back on Oct. 6, in a 31-9 victory over A&M-Commerce in San Antonio.

THE SERIES
        The Texans trail 6-19 in the all-time series against the Javelinas, but have won two of the previous three contests, which includes a 57-56 double-overtime win over TAMUK in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division II playoffs.
        Tarleton took last season's game, 41-34, over the Javelinas in Kingsville. The Texans are just 2-9 when playing the Javelinas in Stephenville, with its last win at Memorial Stadium coming back on Oct. 6, 2007 (31-21).

HEAD COACH CARY FOWLER
        Tarleton head coach Cary Fowler is in his third year at the helm of the Texan Football program. Fowler took over the team in January 2010 after then-head coach Sam McElroy departed to Texas Tech for an assistant coaching position.
        Fowler went just 3-8 with the Texans in his first campaign as head coach in 2010. But the team and his coaching staff bounced back in 2011 with a 6-5 mark, which included going 5-3 in Lone Star Conference play and winning its final five games of the regular-season.
        Fowler heads into this weekend's game with an overall record of 12-16 and a 1-1 mark against the Javelinas.

UIW HEAD COACH LARRY KENNEN
        Larry Kennen returned to coaching for the first time since 1997 where he was the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Kennen has been serving as an NFL Coaches Association Executive Director since 1998.
        Prior to his stint with the Patriots, Kennen served also served on the coaching staff for the Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns. His NCAA coaching experience involves serving as an offensive coordinator for Southern Methodist and Nevada, as well as serving as an assistant coach for UNLV and Colorado.
        He was the head football coach at Lamar University from 1979-81 before heading to the NFL. In his three years at Lamar, Kennen compiled a career record of 24-18-3.

LAST WEEK
        The Texans dropped to 29-23 overall in Homecoming contests following a 35-23 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville in Stephenville last weekend.
        The Texans opened the game with a touchdown from Vaughn Smith, but the Javelinas came right back with a touchdown (extra point missed) and a field goal to take a 9-7 lead. The Texans got back on the board with a touchdown from Aaron Doyle, but TAMUK put the ball into the end zone with 42 seconds left before the break to take a 15-14 lead at halftime.
        The Javelinas scored 14-unanswered points to open-up the second half and never looked back. Tarleton pulled within seven points of the Javelinas with 5:38 left to play in the third quarter on a Arthur Buckingham receiving touchdown from Jake Fenske, but Javelina all-purpose back Jonathan Woodsen returned a 93 yard kickoff return to ice the game for the Javelinas.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
        The Cardinals have won just two games this year, having defeated just Texas College 19-12 to open the season and then A&M-Commerce, 31-9, on Oct. 6 in San Antonio. Its victory over the Lions is just UIW's lone LSC win this season.
        The Cardinals are averaging just 15.9 points a game and are giving up more than 27 points to opposing teams. UIW averages less than 275 yards per game, while giving up nearly 370 yards to opponents.
        One of the LSC's best running backs last season, Trent Rios is averaging just 53.2 yards per game this season. The tailback has rushed for a net-total of 266 yards in five games for the Cardinals. He does however lead the team with three scores on the ground.
        Zach Rhodes and Taylor Woods share quarterback duties for the Cardinals. Rhodes leads the squad with 148.9 yards per game passing average and Woods follows with nearly 56 yards per contest. Rhodes has completed 89 passes and has six interceptions on the season.
        Andrew Mocio has hauled in 28 passes for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He averages 30.2 yards per game.

DEFENDING THE RUSH
        Tarleton ranks second in the Lone Star Conference in rushing defense, giving up just 128.8 yards to opponents on the ground. The Texans rank 39th in the nation in the same category.
        The Texans had its best performance of the season against the rush against A&M-Commerce, holding the Lions to just 20 yards on the ground. The Lions headed into the locker room with minus-two yards on the ground at halftime.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
        Aaron Doyle has found 13 different receivers this season and has completed at least one pass to 10 different receivers in three of Tarleton's seven games.

RUNNING BACKS NEARING 500 YARDS ON THE GROUND
        Tarleton running back Vaughn Smith (RB, Jr, Melno Park, Calif.) surpassed the 500-yard mark last weekend and Zach Henshaw (RB, Fr, Fischer) is nearing 500 yards rushing for the season. Smith enters Saturday's contest with 533 net-rushing yards, while Henshaw needs 101 yards on the ground to break 500-yards.
        Tarleton has now had at least one, 500-yard rusher in 16 of the past 17 seasons.

CATCH THIS
        Clifton Rhodes III (WR, So, Fort Worth) has a pair of 100-yard receiving games this season and Jeken Frye (WR, Jr, El Paso) recorded his first 100-yard game of the season this past week at A&M-Commerce. Rhodes has a total os six 100-yard receiving games after tallying four games with a 100 yards or more last season.

CATCH THIS TOO
        Rhodes III leads the LSC averaging 6.6 receptions per game, while Frye ranks ninth in the league with 4.5 catches per contest. Rhodes III is third in the LSC with 77.1 receiving yards per game.
        Rhodes III enters Saturday's contest with 540 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns. Jeken Frye enters the game with 332 receiving yards and a score.

GIVE ME FIVE... HUNDRED
        The Texan offense has accumulated over 500 yards of total offense twice this season. Tarleton tallied a season-high 564 yards against Eastern New Mexico and 556 yards against Abilene Christian.

ISAAC PUNTS
        Tarleton punter Isaac Arellano (K, So, Euless) is currently ranked second in the LSC with a 42.5 punts per game average. That average ranks 13th in the nation as well.
        In 27 punts this season, Arellano has booted six of them for 50 yards or more, has seven kicks inside the opponents 20-yard line and has just three touch backs.

COMING OFF A LOSS
        The Texans are now 2-2 this season when coming off a loss. Tarleton went 2-3 following a loss last season, but since the 2007 season the Texans are 12-9 in its following contest preceding a loss.

WINNING THE 1ST QUARTER
        The Texans finally picked up a win this season when leading after the first quarter. The Texans led 10-0 over the Lions this past weekend in Commerce en route to a 46-10 victory. Previously this season, Tarleton had first quarter leads over Abilene Christian (14-7) and Delta State (14-8), but would end up losing both contests.

BARNES KICKS HIS WAY INTO RECORD BOOKS
        Blake Barnes (K, Fr, Stephenville) kicked five field goals in Tarleton's 46-10 win over A&M-Commerce a few weeks ago, tying a school record for most single-game field goals in the process. Barnes tied the mark, which was first set by Trampus Wilson back on Sept. 4, 1993 against East Central. J.W. Boren made five field goals as well back on Oct. 21, 2000 against Abilene Christian.
        Barnes' game-tying field goal on Saturday came from 38-yards out and it followed a one hour and 50 minute lightning delay.

HONORED BY THE LSC
        Texan kicker Blake Barnes was named last week's LSC Co-Special Teams Player of the Week, following his school-tying, five field goal performance in Commerce last Saturday. Barnes tied Tarleton's all-time record for most field goals in a game, sharing the record with Trampus Wilson and J.W. Boren.
        Barnes became the third Texan to earn POW honors this season as both Jerome Regal (Offensive POW) and Marquis Wadley (Defensive POW) both earned the weekly honor following Tarleton's 20-17 win over Midwestern State in the first game of the season.

UP NEXT FOR THE TEXANS
        The Texans will remain on the road next week as the team travels to Florence, Ala., to face North Alabama as part of the LSC-GSC First-and-10 challenge. The game is set to begin at 3 p.m. at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala. The contest will be webstreamed live on ESPN3.com.

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