The Teams: Tarleton Texans (0-1 FCS Independent) vs. New Mexico State (0-0 FBS Independent)
Where: El Paso, Texas
Stadium: The Sun Bowl
Time: 4:00 p.m. CT
TV: FOX Sports Arizona; Comcast New Mexico; FloFootball.com
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Just over a week from its first game as a Division I program, Tarleton Football is ready for its next 'first' as the Texans head west to El Paso to take on FBS New Mexico State at 3 p.m. MT / 4 p.m. CT. Fans will not be permitted to attend. The game will be played at The Sun Bowl at UTEP, according to New Mexico State head coach Doug Martin during his weekly press conference.
 
The game will be aired on television on FOX Sports Arizona and Comcast New Mexico. For local fans outside of that area, the game will be available for pay-per-view on FloFootball.com. The Tarleton Sports Network presented by the North Texas Ford Dealers will have the radio call online at TarletonSports.com/watch or on the airwaves at 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the first meeting between Tarleton State University and New Mexico State Univeristy on the football field.
• This is the first-ever game for Tarleton Football against an FBS-level opponent.
• The game was originally scheduled to be played in Las Cruces, but due to government restrictions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the game will now be held at The Sun Bowl in El Paso and backed up to Sunday, February 21 at 3 p.m. MT.

 
QUICK HITS

• Sunday's game will feature the hat trick of Todd Whitten's history. In addition to his accolades as the head coach of Tarleton State, Whitten also spent four seasons as New Mexico State's Quarterback Coach under his former mentor, Jim Hess. The game will be played at The Sun Bowl in El Paso, where Whitten spent five seasons over two different stints as an assistant coach with UTEP.
• This will be the first game in Tarleton's senior college era not to be played on a Thursday or Saturday
• New Mexico State competes as an FBS Independent football program. This will be the first game in Tarleton's history against an FBS-level opponent. The Aggies are a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with Tarleton in all other sports, but have no immediate plans to drop to FCS when the WAC renews football next season.
• Todd Whitten enters the game as Tarleton's all-time wins leader (79) and win percentage (.681). While every new victory is a milestone, with his next win, he will become the first Texan coach in school history to reach 80 career victories for the purple and white.
• Whitten is also closing in on the program mark for most games coached at Tarleton. He and W.J. Wisdom are the only coaches in program history to be on the sidelines for more than 100 games. Wisdom coached 121 games in his career (71-35-15) while Whitten is at 117 and counting (79-38). The late Buddy Fornes just missed the 100-game mark, finishing his Tarleton career with 99 games.
• Four defensive players – Ronnell Wilson, Devin Hafford, Tre Johnson and Erick Willis – will lead Tarleton onto the field as the only remaining players from Whitten's first signing class back in 2016.

 
NEW DIVISION WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE
INDEPENDENT, FOR NOW: Tarleton State University made the jump to NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference last July and is currently in its first year of a four-year transition period. The WAC stopped sponsoring football back in 2012, making Tarleton an independent football program for the spring 2021 season. However, the WAC has announced an expansion that will bring four football-playing schools into the WAC as early as July 1, 2021 – Lamar, Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. This move will bring football back to the Western Athletic Conference at the FCS Level.
 
EYES ON FBS: With the revival of the WAC at the FCS level, the question remains of – will the WAC return to its former FBS glory days? The answer is simple: that's the plan. In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Tarleton President Dr. James Hurley said, "Our goal going into this is to immediately start laying out a plan among the presidents and athletic directors to develop a strategic plan to become an FBS conference. That work will start Day 1. We understand that realistically this is going to be at least a five-year process."
 
WELL, HELLO: Tarleton and New Mexico State are new rivals within the Western Athletic Conference, however, the Aggies Football team is their only program not affiliated with the WAC. The Aggies are an FBS-level independent program
 
NOTABLES
TARLETON DOMINATES PHIL STEELE PRESEASON ALL-INDY TEAM: The reputation of Tarleton Texan Football precedes itself as the Texans had 11 players named to the Phil Steele 2020 FCS Preseason All-Independent Team in July – the most of any of the four FCS Independent programs recognized. J.F. Thomas (WR) was named the Independent Preseason Player of the Year by Steele while the following players were named to the All-Indy Team – Khalil Banks (RB), Kendall Dearth (OG), Zach Perry (OT), Chris Radford (DL), Jordan Wells (DL), Ronnell Wilson (LB), Erick Willis (LB), Benjie Franklin (DB), Devin Hafford (DB) and Stephen Reeves (DS).
 
WILSON, HAFFORD NAMED DCTF 2020 PRESEASON ALL-TEXAS SMALL COLLEGE: Tarleton Football senior All-American defenders Ronnell Wilson and Devin Hafford were named to Dave Campbell's Texas Football 2020 Preseason All-Texas Small College team last June. To qualify, a player must participate at a four-year institution in Texas that plays below the FBS level. The All-Texas Small College team consist of NCAA FCS Division 1 programs, Division II and Division III.
 
TARLETON vs. D1 TEAMS: Since joining the NCAA in 1994, Tarleton played 14 games against NCAA Division I opponents and have five wins in those games. Tarleton's last win against an NCAA Division I opponent came in the 2019 season opener when the Texans defeated Stephen F. Austin 37-26 in Nacogdoches. Todd Whitten has two wins against D1 competition during his D2 tenure at Tarleton – a 39-20 win at Sam Houston State in 2003 and the 2019 win at SFA.
 
STOUT TEXAN DEFENSE: When Todd Whitten tasked defensive coordinator Marcus Patton in taking over the stop troops in 2016, he inherited a defense that ranked last nationally in nearly every statistical category. As the Texans prepare to enter the Division I ranks, they'll do it as one of the elite defenses in the entire country – returning three All-Americans and five seniors with key roles in the turnaround. Tarleton is coming off back-to-back seasons in which they ranked among the top 10 in the nation in scoring defense. The Texans return three All-Americans – Ronnell Wilson, Devin Hafford and Jordan Wells. Wilson and Hafford, as well as Chris Radford, Erick Willis and Tre Johnson, still remain from the first recruiting class of the Whitten/Patton era.
 
NUMBER CHANGES: Two Texans will don new numbers following last week's home opener:

• Devin Hafford will wear No. 0 when wearing the road whites. Hafford plans to permanently move to No. 0 when the purple 0 jersey order is received.
• Marvin Landy switched from No. 81 to No. 24 prior to last weekend's kickoff vs. McNeese State.

 
GETTIN' BACK TO THE GROUND GAME: Todd Whitten's primary goal on offense since returning to Tarleton in 2016 has been emphasizing a dominant rushing attack. That has been the case over most of the last two seasons, but has missed the mark of late. Since the start of the 2018 season, Tarleton has rushed for over 200 yards as a team in 22 of 26 games and are a perfect 22-0 when topping the 200-yard team rush mark. However, the Texans are 1-3 over the last two seasons when failing to run for two centuries worth of ground yardage. Tarleton has failed to reach 200 yards rushing in three straight games, dating back to last season.
 
GOOD START FOR BRIDGES: Braelon Bridges joined some elite Tarleton company by topping the 100-yard rushing plateau in his collegiate debut. He becomes the first Texan since Roderick Smith in 2006 to top 100 yards on the ground in his collegiate debut. Smith ran for 182 yards on 11 carries against Southeastern Oklahoma on Sept. 9, 2006 after not recording a rush against Texas State in the 2006 opener.
 
100-YARD RUSHER IN OPENER: Saturday was the third consecutive season that Tarleton has had a 100-yard rusher in the season opener. Daniel McCants topped the century mark in each of the last two openers and Bridges added to the streak Saturday night. Prior to 2018, the last time Tarleton had a 100-yard rusher in the season opener came against West Texas A&M in 2014 when Zach Henshaw (107) and QB Collin Strahan (124) both did it.
 
BIG NIGHT FOR BRIDGES: Braelon Bridges becomes the sixth player to have a 100-yard rushing game since Whitten returned in 2016, joining Daniel McCants (12), Xavier Turner (10), Joseph Sadler (4), Adam Berryman (3) and Khalil Banks (1). Bridges is the first Tarleton rusher not named Daniel McCants to rush for 100 yards since Khalil Banks (168) on Sept. 7, 2019.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will return home to host fellow WAC and FCS Independent transition school Dixie State at Memorial Stadium. The game will kick off at 2 p.m. CT in Stephenville and will be aired on ESPN+. Limited tickets remain available for purchase at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. Due to COVID-19-related limitations, Memorial Stadium will only seat 50-percent of its capacity. Student tickets remain free of charge, but Tarleton students with a valid ID will need to order a ticket through the ticket software. Walk-up ticket sales are not permitted this spring. All tickets must be purchased online in advance.