WICHITA FALLS – Tarleton was defeated by Midwestern State on the road 63-46 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, dropping to 0-3 on the season and 0-2 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
Freshman running back Daniel McCants got the Texans off to a quick start when he took a handoff and raced down the left side and scored on a 43-yard run to give Tarleton a 7-0 lead with 6:42 left in the first quarter.
 
McCants, who entered the game ninth in the nation in all-purpose yards per game with 195, accounted for 334 yards (214 kick return, 83 rushing, 37 receiving) for the Texans. McCants led Tarleton in rushing yards on the game.
 
Midwestern State (4-0, 2-0) scored the next 28 points on a pair of touchdown runs by quarterback Hagen Hutchinson and two touchdown passes from Hutchinson to take a 28-7 lead into the locker room.
 
Blake Barnes converted a 44-yard field goal that was set up by a 58-yard kickoff return by McCants to open the second half.  It was Barnes' longest field goal of the season and his first 40-yarder of the year.
 
On the ensuing drive by Midwestern, Tarleton's Brayden Coverdale blocked the Mustangs' punt from their own 40 that rolled to the end zone and was recovered by Kason Fornes for the touchdown to cut MSU's lead to 28-17 with 12:35 left in the third quarter.
 
MSU went on a 21-0 run in the next seven minutes to pad their lead to 49-17 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.  Hutchinson added another touchdown run in the process to finish with six total touchdowns (3 pass, 3 rush).
 
Quarterback Zed Woerner threw three touchdowns in the second half to McCants (19-yarder), Le'Nard Meyers (seven-yarder) and to Dominique Martin (28-yarder) with Martin's making it a 63-40 game with four minutes left.
 
It was Meyers' second touchdown reception on the season as the senior finished with nine receptions for a game-high 146 yards. Meyers now has eight career 100-yard receiving games, moving him into third place on the all-time list. Devin Guinn holds the Tarleton record with 10.
 
Woerner went 27-of-39 passing for 272 yards and three touchdowns for a 153.2 rating.
 
Sophomore quarterback Alex Craig came in for Woerner in the fourth quarter and completed all six of his passes for 74 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Leonard. The first passing score and first receiving score for Craig and Leonard, respectively.
 
Cooper Cole caught eight passes for 76 yards giving him back-to-back games with at least seven receptions.
 
Kevin Baker led Tarleton in tackles for the second straight game after he recorded 12 total tackles (six solo). Baker entered the game sixth in the nation in in solo tackles per game, averaging 7.5.
 
Tarleton's offense amassed 503 yards on the game with 157 rushing yards and 346 passing. It was the second straight game the Texan offense surpassed the 500-yard mark.
 
It was the 50^th straight game Tarleton has scored a touchdown dating back to the 2010 season.
 
Tarleton will return home to take on Texas A&M-Commerce on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. for family weekend in Stephenville.