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FRISCO, Texas – Tarleton State running back Jerome Regal rushed for 251 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner as the Texans defeated Abilene Christian 41-34 in double overtime Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
 
Regal became just the 10^th player in Tarleton school history to rush for over 200 yards and the first since Roderick Smith's 204-yard effort in 2009. His 251 yards are third-most in school history, behind a pair of 260-plus yard rushing games from Derrick Ross.
 
The Texans (3-0) snapped a three-game losing streak to the Wildcats (3-2) and defeated a NCAA Division I, Football Championship Subdivision member for the first time since downing Stephen F. Austin 27-24 back on Sept. 1, 2007.
 
Bubba Tandy pulled in his second touchdown of the season to give Tarleton the first score of the day. His touchdown catch 2:21 left to play in the first quarter completed a five-play, 54-yard drive and Blake Barnes capped it off with his extra point.
 
ACU quarterback John David Baker threw his first interception of the 2013 season on ACU's ensuing drive, with the pass going directly into the hands of Desmond Jackson. Jackson returned the interception 51 yards for a pick-six and Barnes' PAT pushed Tarleton's lead to 14-0 with 1:11 left to play in the first quarter.
 
Jackson recorded Tarleton's last interception return for a touchdown, which came against Angelo State back on Nov. 12, 2011.
 
The Wildcats got on the board with 10:55 left to play in the first half with a 36-yard field goal from Nik Grau. Following a Tarleton fumble a few possessions later, ACU would score its first touchdown of the day when Baker found Jonathan Parker from three yards out. Grau's extra point then made it a four-point game in favor of the Texans with 4:25 left to play in the second quarter.
 
The Texans would make-up for the turnover on its next possession as Regal found the end zone for the second time this season, capping off an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:54 off the clock. Barnes made the PAT and the Texans took a 10-point lead into the locker room, up 21-10 at the break.
 
ACU led in time of possession in the first half, 19:45 to 10:15, but the Wildcats converted just 4-of-10 on third downs and 1-of-2 on fourth downs.
 
ACU's Charcandrick West scored from one-yard out midway through the third quarter to pull the Wildcats within four points of the Texans, but Tarleton came right back with a touchdown of its own on the very next possession to make it an 11-point game again when Jake Fenske found Jeken Frye from five yards out. Barnes' PAT made it a 28-17 game with 1:49 left to play in the third quarter.
 
The Wildcats made it a 28-24 game with 12:57 left to play when Baker ran the ball in from the 10-yard line. ACU got the football right back when Nick Finney picked off Fenske's screen pass attempt and the Wildcats took its first lead of the game at the 11:39 mark when West scored from two yards out. Grau's PAT pushed ACU's lead to 31-28.
 
Following a pair of possessions from both squads, Tarleton got the ball back with 1:42 left to play from their own 27-yard line. Fenske completed four passes and then ran for five more yards to get the ball into Wildcat territory.
 
 On a 2^nd-and-five play, Fenske was forced to throw the ball away before ACU committed an offsides penalty setting up the Texans with a 3^rd-and-short situation. Fenske's pass to Clifton Rhodes III was broken up by Thor Woerner, but on fourth down Fenske found Tandy for a first down from the ACU 25-yard line with 29 seconds left to play and just one timeout remaining.
 
Fenske's next pass was just off target towards Le'Nard Meyers and then on second down he found Frye for a eight-yard gain to the ACU 17-yard line. ACU again found themselves offsides giving Tarleton a 1^st-and-10 from the Wildcat 12-yard line.
 
With 12 seconds left to play Fenske's first attempt from the 12-yard line was hurried and his next pass to Rhodes was batted down at the goal line setting up a 29-yard field from Barnes. ACU called a timeout just before Barnes got his first kick through the uprights, but he came right back and punched it through with four seconds left on the clock.
 
ACU's kick return ran the clock out and Tarleton headed into overtime for the first time since Nov. 14, 2009 – a triple overtime win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
The Wildcats would take possession of the ball in overtime and Baker's first pass attempt drew a pass interference call on the Texans to give ACU the ball inside the 10-yard line. The Texan defense managed to keep the Wildcats out of the end zone, but Grau connected on a chip-shot field goal to give ACU a 34-31 lead.
 
The Texans took over from the 25-yard line with Collin Strahan behind center and his first rushing attempt went for a yard setting a 2^nd-and-9 situation. Strahan's first pass of the overtime period was complete to Frye for seven yards and then on 3^rd-and-2 he handed the ball off to Regal for no gain on the play.
 
On 4^th-and-2, the Texans sent out Barnes for a 34-yard field goal and his attempt was good, tying the game at 34-34 and giving the Texans the ball first in the second overtime period.
 
Strahan stayed in at quarterback for the Texans in the second overtime period, but his first pass was incomplete towards Rhodes. He then completed his next pass to Tandy for six yards to set up a third down play where the Texans took the ball to the 16-yard line to set up a 4^th-and-1 situation.
 
The Texans went for it on fourth down and Strahan's pitch to Regal went eight yards for a first down. Following a handoff the Texans were called for a false start penalty pushing the ball back to the 13-yard line. Strahan was forced out of the pocket setting up a 3^rd down play and then he handed the ball off to Regal for a nine-yard score. Barnes' PAT was good giving the Texans a 41-34 lead and ACU taking over for the final possession of the second overtime period.
 
ACU managed to get a first down on its first play from scrimmage, but Tarleton's Jake Blount sacked Baker for a 15-yard loss to make it second down and 25 yards to go. Baker then completed a pass to Taylor Gabriel for 11 yards, but his next pass was over the head of his next target to give ACU a fourth down.
 
On 4^th-and-9 from the 14-yard line, Baker completed a screen-pass and it looked the receiver looked to be tackled, but he wasn't and Tarleton was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty for running onto the field. In the midst of the play, ACU committed an illegal forward pass, offsetting the play and giving the Wildcats one more try.
 
Baker was forced out of the pocket and had to heave a pass into the end zone, but it was off target and the Texans came away with the double overtime victory over the newly minted NCAA Division I member Wildcats, 41-34.
 
The Texans netted 484 total yards of offense in the contest with 290 yards on the ground and 194 yards through the air. ACU tallied 361 yards of total offense with 131 yards rushing and 230 yards passing.
 
Fenske finished the game completing 16 of his 32 passes for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Strahan went 3-for-6 for 35 yards. Strahan accounted for 22 yards rushing in the game as well.
 
Meyers led the Texans in receiving, catching eight passes for 82 yards and Tandy added another 40 yards receiving as well. Regal caught three passes for 33 yards in the game giving the sophomore back 284 all-purpose yards.
 
Baker completed 24 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown and he also led the ground game with 87 yards for the Wildcats. Taylor led ACU in receiving with 67 yards on the night.
 
Marquis Wadley, Charles Moore and Blount led the defensive effort for the Texans with eight tackles each. Eight different Texans recorded at least five tackles on the night.
 
The Texans, who have won six consecutive games dating back to last season, will return to action next Saturday, Oct. 5, against Eastern New Mexico. The Texans and Greyhounds are scheduled to kickoff at 3 p.m. (CST) from Blackwater Draw, N.M.