STEPHENVILLE - Tarleton amassed 658 yards in an 84-47 rout over Oklahoma Panhandle State at Memorial Stadium, setting a new school record for points in a game.
The Texans' offense had no issues with the blistering 50-degree temperatures and 20-mph winds with a light rain throughout the night, especially when it came to quarterback
Zed Woerner throwing the football.
Woerner threw for 413 yards on 29-of-40 attempts for a career-high five touchdowns. It's the sophomore's second career 400-yard passing game.
The running game was just as effective for Tarleton (2-5) as they ran 245 yards with seven of the 12 touchdowns coming on the ground.
The first four Tarleton touchdowns of the game came via the rush, with
Jabari Anderson starting the offensive outburst with an 11-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the game that came after Anderson's 58-yard run on the first play of the game.
It was only the start of Anderson's career night, as the sophomore running back tallied 140 yards on the ground - his second career 100-yard game - and finished with a personal-best three touchdowns. Anderson had a second-quarter touchdown from two yards out to give Tarleton a 28-21 lead and a 7-yard fourth-quarter score.
Joseph Sadler found the end zone twice in the first quarter for Tarleton, giving the Texans a lead each time on a 2-yard run to make it 14-7 and 1-yard run to make it 21-14.
The score was tied at 21 at the end of the first quarter, but Tarleton never trailed in the game. Leading 28-21, Woerner connected with
Kason Fornes for a 19-yard touchdown that made it 35-21. The duo wasn't done, however, as Woener teamed up with Fornes less than two minutes later on a 34-yard strike that gave Tarleton a 42-21 lead.
Fornes finished with a career-high 65 yards on four receptions and the two touchdowns.
OPSU (4-3) converted on a 27-yard pass from quarterback Shane Truelove to Andrew Hernandez as time expired in the first half, giving Tarleton a 42-27 lead heading into the locker room.
The Aggies opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that cut into Tarleton's lead at 42-27.
Tarleton answered with a 14-0 run of its own in the third quarter on a 59-yard pass from Woerner to
Le'Nard Meyers and Sadler dashing his way up the middle for a 35-yard touchdown that gave the Texans a 56-33 lead.
Meyers finished with 99 yards on six receptions and added his second touchdown of the game on a 6-yard pass from Woerner in the fourth quarter.
Tarleton led 56-40 heading into the fourth quarter when Woerner threw his fourth touchdown of the game to
Dominique Martin from 15 yards out for a 63-40 lead. Martin was the game's leading receiver with 109 yards - also a career high - making the junior the fifth Texan on offense to set a career high in an offensive statistic.
Sadler's 6-yard run with 1:09 left in the game was the record-breaker for Tarleton. It was the junior's fourth rushing touchdown of the game, making him the first Texan with four rushing touchdown since Derrick Ross accomplished the feat in 2004. Sadler added 118 yards on the ground, giving Tarleton two 100-yard rushers for the first time since 2014 when
Collin Strahan and
Zach Henshaw topped the 100-yard mark.
Tarleton's 84 points surpassed the old mark of 80 points set last season against A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 11.
In addition to the record-breaking performers for Tarleton's offense,
Cooper Cole had 73 receiving yards on six receptions and
Bubba Tandy had 38 yards on three catches.
Defensively for Tarleton,
Cody Burtscher posted a team-best 11 tackles including a sack. Tavaris Ownes (nine tackles) and
Tyrique Murray (five tackles) also posted sacks for the Texan defense.
Chase Varnado had three quarterback hits on the night and a forced fumble in the fourth quarter that led to the final Tarleton touchdown.
Tarleton will travel to Angelo State (5-3, 2-3) on Saturday, Oct. 31 to take on the Rams.