The Teams: Tarleton Texans (2-3, 0-1 WAC) at Dixie State Trailblazers (0-5, 0-0 WAC)
Where: St. George, Utah
Stadium: Greater Zion Stadium
Time: 8 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Devin Dixon, Andy Thompson)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Kyle Crews, Keltin Wiens)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Under the winningest head coach in Tarleton football history Todd Whitten, the Texans haven't had to respond to losses very often. However, when necessary, Tarleton has consistently responded well following a loss, avoiding consecutive losses in a single-season since 2017. On Saturday, the Texans will head to Dixie State to take on the Trailblazers at Greater Zion Stadium at 8 p.m. CT.  
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Devin Dixon and Andy Thompson on the call. The game can be heard on Tarleton Sports Network at 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas, with Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Kyle Crews and Keltin Wiens leading the broadcast.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is Tarleton's second WAC game of the season, its first since the season-opener against Stephen F. Austin. This is Dixie State's first conference game of the year, the first of three in a four-week stretch.
• Tarleton and Dixie State squared off twice last season in their first ever meetings. The Trailblazers won the first battle in Stephenville 26-14, as they forced five Texan turnovers. Tarleton got its vengeance at St. George later in the year 37-15, racking up 514 total yards.
• DSU is 0-5 this season and has been outscored 206-58 (losing by 29.6 PPG). Four losses have come to teams in the AFCA FCS Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton had its first scheduled regular season bye week since 2007 this past week.
• The Texans have not lost or won consecutive games yet this season. They lost their most recent game.
• Since 2018, this is the seventh time the Texans have faced an opponent riding a five-game losing streak or worse. Tarleton is 6-0 in such games, outscoring its opponents 275-73 (33.7 average margin of victory).
• With a win against Dixie State, Tarleton would improve back to .500 on the season. Tarleton hasn't fallen more than a game below .500 since 2016.
• In the last game, Devin Hafford had an interception, marking his fifth takeaway of the season. That's tied for the most takeaways across the entire FCS (Western Illinois' Michael Lawson also has five). Across NCAA Division I football, Hafford has the tied-second most takeaways -- Illinois' Kerby Joseph is the only player with six in the FBS.
• With just four tackles against Dixie State, Ronnell Wilson (325 tackles) will surpass Marquis Wadley (328 tackles, 2011-13) for third on Tarleton's all-time tackles leaderboard. Wilson is 15 tackles short of surpassing Robert Ivey (339 tackles, 1985-88) for second-most. Tally Neal (1975-78) is first in Tarleton history at 613.

 
ROUND MOUND OF REBOUND
Under head coach Todd Whitten, and no we're not saying he looks like Charles Barkley, the Texans have not let losses fester. Tarleton has not lost consecutive games in a single-season since 2017, last doing so to end the year in which the team played No. 4 ranked Midwestern State, No. 8 ranked Texas A&M- Commerce, and Central Oklahoma in the Corsicana Bowl. Since that span, the Texans have always responded to a loss with a dominant win in the next game, when given the chance to in the same season. This season, Tarleton has followed up both losses with a 54-7 win against Fort Lewis and a 40-21 win over New Mexico Highlands. Looking at games following in-season losses since 2018, the Texans rebound by winning by 29.3 points on average. Tarleton will look to continue that trend on Saturday at Dixie State.
 
The Texans haven't lost consecutive road games since their season finale in 2016 and their season opener in 2017. It hasn't been since the start of 2016 that they've lost consecutive road games in a single season, and not since 2011 that they've been swept on a multi-game road trip. Tarleton hasn't fallen more than a game below .500 since early 2016, in which the Texans began 0-2 and 1-3.
 
DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS
The Texan defense has been strong once again this season. Opponents have had an even rougher time when it comes to second halves in particular. When defensive coordinator Marcus Patton and his staff have gotten a chance to see the opposition's game plan, the Texans have made their adjustments in the locker room and played lockdown D in the second half. The Texan defense has not allowed a touchdown scored in the second half in each of the last two games, and across the season, they've only allowed three touchdowns in second halves, two of which were scored by Southern Utah on Sept. 18. That's three touchdown-less second half performances in five games by the Texan D.
 
Defensively, Tarleton has allowed 19.2 points per game, as 12 points were scored by the opposing defenses on turnover returns. As a team, the Texans' are allowing 21.6 points per game, third fewest in the WAC. Defensively, the Texans have only had one not-up-to-standard performance, their matchup against Southern Utah in which they allowed 40 points. Outside of that, no team has scored more than 21 points, with Fort Lewis managing just seven. The Texans have forced nine turnovers (five interceptions, three fumble recoveries and a safety).
 
POUND THE ROCK
In recent memory, when the Texans do well on the ground, they do well on the scoreboard. When churning out 200 or more rushing yards in a game this season, the Texans are 2-0, and 0-3 when failing to reach the 200-yard mark. Since Whitten returned to the Tarleton sidelines, the Texans have rushed for 200 or more yards in a game 30 times, going 29-1 in such games. The loss? It was actually against Dixie State last season.
 
In 2021, Tarleton is averaging 193.8 rushing yards per game, a mark that would put them 22nd in the FCS, if not for reclassification. They've produced 969 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per run, a would-be 13th best mark in the FCS.
 
Individually, Wright has posted two 100+ rushing yard games. At 6.33 yards per carry, he'd be averaging the 17th most in the FCS.
 
THE LB DUO
Starting linebackers D.J. Harris and Ronnell Wilson are great friends off the field and constant competitors on the field. In fact, they host a competition between themselves on who can tally the most tackles in a season. Harris is winning the battle in 2021 so far with his team-leading 49 tackles (22 solo). Wilson is second on the team with 35 total tackles (18 solo). The top two Tarleton tacklers are third and fourth on the WAC's tackle leaderboards, both in total tackles and tackles per game (9.8 per for Harris, 7.0 per for Wilson). Harris is on pace for about 108 tackles on the season, coming fairly close to cracking Tarleton's top-10 list for tackles in a single season.
 
BITSON'S BIG SEASON
Tariq Bitson has been Tarleton's No. 1 receiver virtually all season, leading the way with 21 receptions, 429 receiving yards and three touchdowns. His 429 receiving yards is the second highest mark in the WAC and would be 28th in the FCS if not for reclassification. He's averaging 20.4 yards per catch, a mark that would put him 20th in the FCS, most in the WAC by a wide margin. He's had two 100+ yard receiving games this season, including a 136-yard night against New Mexico Highlands. That was largely due to Tarleton's longest play of the season thus far, an 84-yard catch and run that was stopped at the 1-yard line on the very first offensive play of the game. That's the eighth longest reception of any player in the FCS this year.
 
Against Southern Utah, Bitson caught a touchdown on each of Tarleton's first three drives of the game. He finished with six catches, 82 yards and three TDs. Bitson fell just one touchdown short of tying the team record for receiving touchdowns in a game. He is the first Tarleton player with three receiving touchdowns in a game since Zimari Manning at Western New Mexico on Nov. 16, 2019. He's one of 13 players at the FCS level this year to have 3+ touchdown catches in a game.
 
HAFFORD AMONG THE FEW
Devin Hafford has been one of the top defensive players not just for Tarleton in 2021, but across NCAA Division I football. To begin the year, the defensive back had two fumble recoveries at Stephen F. Austin. He became the only Tarleton player in at least the past 10 years to recover multiple fumbles on defense in a single game, and was one of two FCS players with multiple fumble recoveries in the first week. Against SUU, Hafford had two interceptions, returning one back 35 yards for a touchdown. In the Texans' last game, he picked off yet another pass.
 
At five takeaways, he has the tied-most across the entire FCS (Western Illinois' Michael Lawson also has five). Across NCAA Division I football, Hafford has the tied-second most takeaways -- Illinois' Kerby Joseph is the only player with six in the FBS. Hafford is one of just two players across both FCS and FBS with multiple takeaways in multiple games this year, along with Villanova's Christian Benford.
 
WAC WEEKLY AWARD
Through six weeks of college football, two Tarleton players have earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors...
 
In Week 2, linebacker D.J. Harris was named the Ticketsmarter WAC Defensive Player of the Week for his dominant performance against Fort Lewis. Harris had 13 tackles (six solo), a forced safety, 1.5 sacks, 3.0 tackles for a loss and three quarterback hurries.
 
In Week 4, defensive back Greg Eggleston Jr. was named the Ticketsmarter WAC Defensive Player of the Week for his two-interception game against New Mexico Highlands. He's the first Tarleton freshman (true or redshirt) to have two interceptions in a single game since Dee Collins had two picks against Southwestern Oklahoma State in 2008 as a redshirt freshman.
 
BEST OF THE WAC
Tarleton is prominently featured across the top of the Western Athletic Conference stat leaderboards this season...
Steven Duncan:
- 2nd in completion percentage (.639)
- 3rd in total passing yards (984)
- 3rd in total completions (83)
- 3rd in passing yards per game (196.8)
- 4th in total touchdown passes (six)
Daniel Wright Jr.:
- 2nd in total rushing yards (380)
- 2nd in rushing yards per game (76.0)
- T-2nd in total rushing touchdowns (two)
- 3rd in average yards per carry (6.3)
- 3rd in total all-purpose yards (504)
Jayy McDonald:
- T-2nd in total rushing touchdowns (two)
- 3rd in rushing yards per game (62.8)
- 4th in average yards per carry (6.1)
- 4th in total rushing yards (251)
Khalil Banks:
- T-2nd in total rushing touchdowns (two)
Tariq Bitson:
- 1st in average yards per reception (20.4)
- 2nd in total receiving yards (429)
- 2nd in receiving yards per game (85.8)
- T-4th in total receiving touchdowns (three)
- 5th in total receptions (21)
D.J. Harris:
- 3rd in total tackles (49)
- 3rd in tackles per game (9.8)
Devin Hafford:
- T-1st in interceptions (three)
- T-1st in fumble recoveries (two)
- T-3rd in pass breakups (five)
Ronnell Wilson:
- 4th in total tackles (35)
- 4th in tackles per game (7.0)
Greg Eggleston Jr.:
- T-4th in interceptions (two)
Marsean Fisher:
- T-1st in pass breakups (six)
Adrian Guzman:
- 2nd in field goal makes (five)
- T-3rd in extra-point makes (17)
Jake Walrath:
- 1st in punts inside the 20 (eight)
- 2nd in average yards per punt (42.9)
 
THE BEST IN TEXAS
Since the start of the 2018 season, there has not been a better scholarship football program in the entire state of Texas than Tarleton State University. The Texans enter Saturday's game with 30 wins since the start of 2018, tied for the most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program. The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

#	School	League	Wins
1.	Tarleton	WAC	30
	Texas A&M	SEC	30
3.	Texas	Big XII	29
4	Sam Houston	WAC	28
	SMU	AAC	28
6.	Baylor	Big XII	25
7.	A&M-Commerce	LSC	24
8.	TCU	Big XII	21
9.	Houston	AAC	20
	UTSA	C-USA	20
	West Texas A&M	LSC	20
	Angelo State	LSC	20

 
MILESTONE WATCH
4: Ronnell Wilson (325) is four tackles away from surpassing Marquis Wadley (328, 2011-13) for third on Tarleton's all-time tackles leaderboard.
 
15: Ronnell Wilson is 15 tackles short of surpassing Robert Ivey (339, 1985-88) for second place. Tally Neal (1975-78) is first at 613.
 
20: Steven Duncan is 20 passing attempts away from 150 on the year. At 150, he's eligible for TSU's completion percentage leaderboard. At 63.9, he'd have the second best in a season in Tarleton history, trailing Jake Fenske's 66.2 mark in 2012.
 
1: In Tariq Bitson's short Tarleton career, he's already had four 100+ receiving yard games. He needs one more to have the tied-11th most such games in Texan player's career.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
It's homecoming! Tarleton will head back home to host Midwestern State in the school's homecoming game on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The Texans will look to pack Memorial Stadium as they aim for their fourth straight win against the Mustangs.