- Complete Game Notes
- Live Stats

THIS WEEK
    The Tarleton Texans (2-1, 2-1) will have its first true road test this weekend as the team travels to Canyon to face the Lone Star Conference-leading West Texas A&M Buffaloes (3-1, 2-0) this Saturday, Sept. 29. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

COACH TO CURE MD
    This is Coach to Cure MD week, all throughout college football. Coaches around the country are joining forces this week to support the Coach to Cure MD program. Both head coaches, Cary Fowler and Don Carthel, will be wearing patches on their sleeves this weekend to raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

To donate $5 to Coach To Cure MD, text the word “CURE” to 90999 (standard text message rates may apply), or visit coachtocuremd.org to make a donation.

THE SERIES
    Saturday's contest will mark the 22nd meeting between the two teams, in a series that began back in 1990. West Texas A&M leads the all-time series 12-9 and have won seven-straight games over the Texans. Tarleton's last win over the Buffs came back on Oct. 30, 2004, when Tarleton downed WT 34-14 in Canyon.
    Overall, the Texans are just 4-6 when playing the Buffs at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. Heading into his third game against the Buffs, head coach Cary Fowler brings in a 0-2 record in contests against WT.

PREVIOUS MEETING
    Tarleton scored on the first play of the opening drive against WT last season, back on Oct. 1, but it was all WT after that. The Texans held a 10-9 lead after one quarter of play, but the Buffs then out-scored the Texans 34-3 over the next three quarters en route to 44-13 win.

LAST WEEK
    Tarleton took a 21-10 lead into the locker room last weekend and never looked back, finishing off the visiting Greyhounds 35-23 in front of a crowd of 6,437 fans.
    The Texans had two 100-yard rushers in the contest for the first time since Sept. 12, 2009. Vaughn Smith (RB, Jr, Menlo Park, Calif.) rushed for a career-high 167 yards an a pair of scores, while Zach Henshaw (RB, Fr, Fischer) netted 113 yards on the ground and his first collegiate touchdown of his career.
    Aaron Doyle (QB, Jr, Evant) completed 19 of his 34 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday. Clifton Rhodes III (WR, So, Fort Worth) was Doyle's main beneficiary on the night, collecting 10 of his passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.
    Tarleton recorded over 500 yards of offense for the second-straight week, with 324 rushing yards and 240 passing yards. The 564-yard performance was a season-high for the Texans.

SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES
    The Buffs picked up its first shutout of the 2012 season. The last time WT shutout an opponent came last season when the Buffs downed A&M-Commerce 49-0 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium on Nov. 12, 2011.
    WT was held scoreless in the first quarter, but so were the Cardinals, and the Buffs then jumped out to a 10-0 lead heading into the halftime break. The Buffs scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter - a passing TD from Dustin Vaughan to Lance Ratliff and a blocked punt return from David Christmas - on the way to the 24-0 shutout over Incarnate Word.
    The Buff defense held UIW to just 146 total yards, while the offense racked up over 350 yards on the other side of the ball.
    Vaughan's line looked almost identical to Tarleotn's QB line, as he completed 19 of 32 passes for 243 yards and a pair of scores. Ratliff had just two catches on the night, but both of them went for touchdowns, while led the team with nine catches for 86 yards receiving.

HOLDING OFF JOHNNY WISHBONE
    Tarleton's defense stymied ENMU's wishbone offense on Saturday, allowing the Greyhounds to just 139 yards on the ground. In the two previous games heading into its meeting with Tarleton, ENMU rushed for 301 yards against Sul Ross State and 244 yards against UIW.

ON THE RHODES AGAIN
    Clifton Rhodes III (WR, Jr, Fort Worth) posted another 100-yard receiving day last Saturday, with 10 catches for 111 yards. The sophomore wideout tallied nine catches for 106 yards the previous week against Abilene Christian.
    Rhodes had four 100+ yard receiving games last season, giving him six total in his young career.

GIVE ME 5... HUNDRED (AGAIN)
    For the second-straight week the Texan offense accumulated over 500 yards of total offense. This past Saturday in Stephenville, Tarleton netted a season-high 564 yards in the 35-23 win over ENMU. In Tarleton's 31-34 loss to ACU the week before, the Texans tallied 556 yards of total offense.
    The last time a Texan offense netted back-to-back 500-yard weeks came during the 2007 season. Tarleton tallied 591 yards against Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 20, 2007, in a 40-10 thumping of the Greyhounds. The Texans then turned around to net 602 yards of total offense on Oct. 27, 2007, in a 63-70 defeat against Abilene Christian.

NEW BACK(S), NO PROBLEM
    The Texans were without the LSC's leading rusher last Saturday, handing the ball off to junior college-transfer Vaughn Smith and true freshman Zach Henshaw. Both runners netted over 100-yards rushing on the evening, giving Tarleton three-consecutive games with at least one, 100-yard rusher.

HOW THEY RANK
    Tarleton's offense moved up 17 spots in the national rankings for total offense, following its 564-yard performance. The Texans now rank 9th overall, with 491.33 yards per game average. The Texans have averaged 240.00 yards on the ground (17th) and 251.00 yards through the air (45th).
    Defensively, the Texans rank 67th in total defense as they allow 346.33 yards per game. Tarleton ranks 75th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 24.67 points per contest after just two games this season.
    
HOW THE PLAYERS RANK
    Clifton Rhodes III is tied for 16th overall with 7.67 catches per contest. He also ranks tied for 37th nationally with 88.00 yards receiving per game. Blake Barnes (K, Fr, Stephenville) is tied for sixth in the nation with 1.37 field goals made per game. Rufus Johnson (DE, Sr, Dallas) is in a tie for 24th overall with 1.00 sacks per game average.

COMING OFF A LOSS
    The Texans went 2-3 following a loss last season, but with last Saturday's win Tarleton is now 11-7 when playing after a defeat since the 2007 season.

HONORED BY THE LSC
    Following Tarleton's first week of play, two Texan players earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Week accolades.  On the offensive side of the ball, Jerome Regal got the nod for his 33-carry, 152-yard and two touchdown perfomance.  Defensively, Marquis Wadley showed why he was the leading tackler in the LSC in 2011.  The junior from Mesquite had a game-high 12 tackles, seven of which were solo, and picked off Kelsey's pass with 47 seconds to go on the game-tying drive attempt.

UP NEXT FOR THE TEXANS
    Tarleton returns home next Saturday, Oct. 6, for its first non-conference game action of the season. The Texans will host the Delta State Statesmen, who are now 1-3 overall following its Thursday night loss to Abilene Christian, 34-28.