STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton lost to No. 18 Texas A&M-Commerce 63-0 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
Commerce had a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on a pair of touchdown passes by Harrison Stewart to Justice Luce for seven yards and Gabe Rodriguez to Derrick Macon from 15 yards out.
Trailing 28-0 in the second quarter, Tarleton quarterback
Derek Kiser completed three passes to
Le'Nard Meyers to get to the Commerce 28. Kiser rushed 14 yards and
Jabari Anderson set up a first and goal at the 10. However, Kiser's pass to
Kason Fornes on fourth down fell incomplete as the Texans couldn't find the end zone.
Meyers caught all four of his passes in the game on Tarleton's final drive of the first half and finished with 42 yards to lead the Texans.
Commerce scored 21 points in the third quarter highlighted by a pair of touchdown passes from Stewart to Macon and Darby Smith.
Tarleton (0-4, 0-3 in the Lone Star Conference) punted six times on the evening, with
Isaac Arellano averaging 42.5 yards per punt, including a long of 56.
Kiser and
Alex Craig split snaps at quarterback with Kiser going 6-of-13 for 28 yards and an interception and Craig went 5-of-13 for 58 yards and two interceptions. Starting quarterback
Zed Woerner exited the game on the second play of the game due to an apparent injury.
Daniel McCants, who leads the Texans in rushing, had a team-high 44 yards on 11 carries.
Jabari Anderson added 41 yards on eight carries.
Commerce (4-1, 3-0) scored on a 90-yard touchdown run by Theo Wofford and another Luce touchdown reception in the fourth quarter for the Lions' final points.
Tarleton had 216 yards of total offense (130 rush, 86 pass).
Defensively,
Brandon Moore and
Cody Burtscher led the Texans with nine tackles each.
Chase Varnado added eight tackles and three tackles for a loss along with Tarleton's only sack.
It was Tarleton's largest defeat in school history and the first time the Texans have been shutout since 2008 and the first home shutout since 2006.
Tarleton will travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville to take on the Javelinas on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.