The Game
The Tarleton State Texans (5-2, 4-1 LSC) will hit the road one last time for the 2013 regular season, traveling to Kingsville to take on the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas (2-5, 0-4 LSC) in Lone Star Conference action at Javelina Stadium. The Texans and Javelinas are set to kickoff from Kingsville at 7 p.m.
 
Covering the Game
Saturday's contest will be broadcast live on KSTV (93.1 FM) with Casey Hogan calling play-by-play and Mike Young joining him for color commentary. Joanna Hensley will provide reports from the sideline for the broadcast team. The game can also be found online at www.kxtr.net and clicking the "Listen Live" link.
 
A live video feed will be available as well by logging onto JavelinaAthletics.com and clicking the "Live Video" link at the top of the page. Live Stats will be provided as well and can be found online at JavelinaAthletics.com as well.
 
LSC TITLE Up For Grabs
The Texans still have an opportunity to clinch at least a share of the Lone Star Conference title with a win over the Javelinas on Saturday. A win would give Tarleton a 5-1 record in conference play and just two non-conference games remaining on the schedule.
 
Heading into this week's slate of games, four teams had just one conference loss - Tarleton, West Texas A&M, Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico.
 
WT, MSU both have two LSC games remaining, while ENMU plays conference foes in the final three weeks of the season. WT will host ENMU this Saturday before MSU heads to ENMU next weekend (11/9). ENMU will then play its final game at A&M-Commerce on 11/16 and WT meets MSU in Wichita Falls that same day.
 
Scouting the Javelinas
Texas A&M-Kingsville entered the season picked to finish fourth in league behind West Texas A&M, Midwestern State and Tarleton, but the Javelinas bring in a five-game losing streak into Saturday's contest and are currently tied for last place in the conference with a mark of 0-4.
 
The Javelinas are 2-5 overall with wins over Central Washington and McMurry. TAMUK also has a triple overtime win that it picked up over Monterrey Tech at the Lone Star Football Festival, but the win does not count in the overall standings since MT is not an accredited NCAA sponsored team.
 
In its three wins this season, TAMUK averaged37.6 points per game, but in its current five-game losing streak the offense has averaged just 14.4 points per game in that span. The Javelinas have been outscored 215-72 during the course of the five-game losing streak as well.
 
David Calloway is in his first season as head coach of the Javelinas, having been promoted from defensive coordinator to head coaching duties in December 2012. Calloway guided the Javelina defense for the past six seasons, turning TAMUK into one of the top units against the run in his tenure. The Javelinas have led the Lone Star Conference in rushing defense four of the last five years, which includes last season.
 
Heading into Saturday's game, the Javelinas rank last in the LSC in scoring offense (20.7 ppg), scoring defense (37.3 ppg) and total offense (288.7 ypg), but rank second in the league in total defense giving up just 349.3 yards per game. The Javelina defense is giving up just 19.6 first downs a game to opposing teams.
 
TAMUK has had four different starting quarterbacks this season with Ronnie Ford getting the start last weekend against Eastern New Mexico. Ford has completed 47 of his 99 passes for 447 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
 
Cornelius Shackelfor leads the rushing attack for the Javelinas, having gained 306 yards on 67 carries and two touchdowns. Greg Pitre is right behind him with 285 yards on 42 touches and a pair of scores. Robert Armstrong leads the receiving corps with 42 catches on the season for 382 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Defensively the Javelinas are led by Matt Severe with 60 total tackles and 27 of those coming unassisted. Three different TAMUK players have 2.0 sacks on the season, while five different players have had at least one interception on the year.
 
Series History
The Javelinas lead the all-time series 20-6 and have won four of the previous six meetings, including last season's 35-23 win over the Texans in Stephenville.
 
Tarleton is just 3-10 overall when facing the Javelinas in Kingsville and just 2-9 against them in the regular season. Tarleton's last win over TAMUK was a 41-34 victory in Kingsville back on Oct. 22, 2011. The only other win for a Texan team over the Javelians in Kingsville during the regular season, was a 31-21 victory back on Oct. 6, 2007.
 
Head coach Cary Fowler is 1-2 against the Javelinas, heading into Saturday's game.
 
A win over The Javelinas Would...
• Snap Tarleton's current two-game losing streak.
• Snap a one-game losing streak to the Javelinas.
• Push Tarleton's record to 5-1 in LSC play and give the Texans at least a share of the LSC regular-season championship.
• Give the Texans a 5-1 road record for the 2013 season.
 
Last Time Out For The Texans
The Texans dropped its first Lone Star Conference game of the season, falling 22-20 in a Homecoming contest against A&M-Commerce last Saturday night at Tarleton Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.
 
Down 20-14 late in the fourth quarter, A&M-Commerce's Harrison Stewart found Hayden Marsh from 25 yards out to tie the game 20-20 and Marcus Fore followed with a two-point conversion to give the Lions a 22-20 lead with 3:06 left to play in the game.
 
The Texans drove the field to set up a 39-yard field goal try for Blake Barnes with 1:10 remaining, but his kick sailed wide-right and A&M-Commerce ran out the rest of the clock to secure the win.
 The Lions (6-2, 2-2 LSC) snapped a four-game losing streak to the Texans (5-2, 4-1 LSC) and secured the President's Trophy for the first time since it was introduce to the series in 2010. Tarleton lost at home for the first time this season and fell to 29-24 all-time in Homecoming contests since becoming a senior college in 1961.
 
Notables From Last Saturday
• The Texans missed its final three field goal attempts in the game. It was the first time a Texan team has missed at least three field goals in a game since Nov. 12, 2011 against Angleo State (missed four).
• Tarleton allowed the opposing offense to pass for 300-yards or more in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 8 and 15 (MSU, A&M-C).
• Tarleton's 20 points were its lowest output since scoring 20 points against Midwestern State in last season's season-opener.
• Zach Henshaw racked up a career-high 137 receiving yards and accumulated over 100 all-purpose yards for the second straight game.
• Tarleton fell to 9-9 overall in October games under head coach Cary Fowler.
• The Texans were held scoreless in the fourth quarter for the first time since Sept. 29, 2012.
• The Texans snapped a six-game winning streak in LSC games.
• The Lions captured the President's Trophy for the first time since the trophy was introduced into the series in 2010.
 
Texans under Fowler
The Texans are now 20-19 under head coach Cary Fowler. The Texans were just 4-13 in Fowler's first 17 games, but since then the Texans have won 16 of the last 22 contests under him.
 
Texans in The Polls
The Texans fell out of this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll following Saturday's 22-20 loss to A&M-Commerce. The Texans also fell out of the D2Football.com Poll as well.
 
AFCA Poll History
The Texans had been ranked inside the AFCA Top-25 for 82 different weeks since becoming a member of the NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton was ranked inside the AFCA Poll for five straight weeks this season before falling out this past Monday.
 
Tarleton's first-ever ranking inside the AFCA Top-25 Poll was a No. 24 national ranking on Nov. 6, 2001. The Texans went on to finish that season ranked No. 10 in the nation.
 
The Texans earned its highest ranking in school history in 2002, from Sept. 9-24, after earning the No. 6 spot for three consecutive weeks.
 
Career Night for Meyers
Sophomore wide receiver Le'Nard Meyers had a career game against West Texas A&M as he tied a career-high with nine catches and set career-highs in yards (178), long reception (63) and touchdowns (2).
 
Fenske Sets Career mark
Senior quarterback Jake Fenske set a new single-season career-high as he tossed his 12th touchdown pass of the season last week against West Texas A&M. Fenske recorded 11 TD passes last season.
 
Wadley Among LSC Leaders in Tackles
Senior linebacker Marquis Wadley, last week's reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week, ranks second in the league with 11.2 tackles per game. He heads into Saturday's game with 67 total tackles and 38 of them coming unassisted.
 
Henshaw's All-Purpose Night
Sophomore running back Zach Henshaw eclipsed the 100-yard barrier in all-purpose yardage for the second straight game and the fifth time in his career. He had 100 or more all-purpose yards in three games last season.
 
Texans against ranked Opponents
Since 2000, Tarleton is 12-22 when playing against ranked opponent, with six of those wins coming against a top-25 ranked MSU team. The Texans are 6-2 all-time against the Mustangs when they have been ranked.
 
The Texans are 0-7 all-time when facing a nationally ranked WTAMU team.
 
Texans in the LSC
The Texans are 97-134 (.417) all-time against opponents in the LSC. Tarleton had won six straight LSC games dating back to last season before Saturday's loss. The Texans are currently 4-1 in LSC play this season.
 
For the Record
The Texans ran 106 offensive plays at Delta State last Saturday, which broke the previous school record of 102 plays that was set against West Texas A&M back on Oct. 12, 1996.
 
Tarleton ran 66 passing plays and 40 rushing attempts in the contest.
 
Tarleton's Scoring Streak
The Texans have now scored a touchdown in 34 straight games dating back to the 2010 season. The last time a Tarleton team was held without a TD came in a 65-3 loss to Abilene Christian back on Sept. 25, 2010.
 
Tarleton has scored at least a field goal or touchdown in 45 straight games heading into Saturday's game.
 
Texans in October
Following last weekend's loss at A&M-Commerce, the Texans moved to 2-2 in 2013 and 9-9 all-time in games played during the month of October under head coach Cary Fowler.
 
The Texans are 42-34 all-time in the month of October since joining the LSC and NCAA Division II in 1994. The last time a Texan team went undefeated in the month of October came back in the 2006 season.
 
Dominating the November Schedule
The Texans will be looking to improve to 6-1 overall in November under head coach Cary Fowler with a win over the Javelinas this Saturday.
 
Tarleton has won four consecutive games in the month of November dating back to the 2011 season.
 
The Texans are 24-17 overall in the month of November since joining the LSC and NCAA Division II in 1994.
 
30-Points to victory
The Texans are 17-4 overall when putting up at least 30 points or more under head coach Cary Fowler. That record includes an 8-0 mark when scoring 40 points or more. Tarleton was 5-2 last season when eclipsing the 30-point barrier.
 
Winning the Ground Attack
Under head coach Cary Fowler, the Texans are now 14-7 when out-rushing the opposition. Tarleton is just 6-13 over the past four seasons when the opposing team out-gains the Texans in rushing yardage.
 
Passing Precision
Jake Fenske notched a 91.7 passing percentage in week two against Midwestern State after completing 11 of his 12 passes in the game. His only incompletion of the contest was an interception that came deep into the end zone at the beginning of the second quarter.
 
Fenske set a single-season school record in 2012 with a 66.2 pass-completion percentage. After taking over at quarterback in the final four games last season, Fenske completed 102 of his 154 passes.
 
Aaron Doyle finished the season with a 62.7 completion percentage, which ranks third best in a single-season. He connected with 153 of his 244 passes last year.
 
Local Area Texans
The 2013 Texan Football squad boasts seven players (Alex Sanchez, Blake Barnes, Chase Varnado, Brayden Coverdale, Kade Cole, Nick Perez and Kody Travis) from Stephenville, with a pair of players (Cody Burtscher and Jared Thames) from Glen Rose and one player (Tyler Wright) from Granbury.
 
Wearing No. 96
Sophomore defensive end Patrick Bettiol was awarded the Zach Shaver Award this past spring and he will honor the memory of the former Texan by donning the No. 96 this season.
 
Shaver passed away from a traumatic brain injury on Mar. 29, 2010. As a memorial to Shaver, each year a Texan player is chosen to wear the No. 96 jersey because of their dedication, their attitude, their heart and their love for the game of football.
 
Texans in the National Spotlight
Tarleton had a handful of former players in the national spotlight this offseason and it began with former defensive end Rufus Johnson (2011-12) going to the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Johnson recorded four tackles in four preseason games with the Saints and will serve on New Orleans' practice squad to start the 2013 NFL season.
 
Former Texan quarterback Nick Stephens (2010-11) played in two preseason games for the Dallas Cowboys, which included the national televised Hall of Fame Game on NBC.
 
Former running back Derrick Ross (2004-05) and former kicker Garrett Lindholm (2006-09) squared off against each other in the Arena Football League's Arena Bowl this past August. Lindholm was named the AFL's Kicker of the Year, while Ross became the AFL's career leader in rushing yards.
 
Texans picked 3rd in LSC Poll
Tarleton State was picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference after receiving one first-place vote for a total of 99 points. West Texas A&M was the top choice to repeat as the LSC football champion according to the preseason poll.
 
Preseason honors
The Texans had nine different players earn preseason All-American honors prior to the 2013 campaign.
 
Dashaun Phillips (1st Team) and Blake Barnes (3rd Team) were each tabbed D2Football.com Preseason All-Americans, while Jerome Regal (2nd Team), Marquis Wadley (2nd Team), Barnes (2nd Team), Zach Henshaw (3rd Team), Lucas Love (HM), Nick Perez (HM), Clifton Rhodes III (HM), Desmond Jackson (HM) and Phillips (HM) were all named to the USA College Football Preseason All-American Team.
 
Up Next for the Texans
The Texans return home next Saturday, Nov. 9, to host Southwestern Oklahoma. Tarleton leads the all-time series 14-10 over the Bulldogs, but the two teams have not met since Nov. 26, 2009. The Texans have won six consecutive games against SWOSU, including a 66-3 victory over the Bulldogs in Stephenville the last time out.