The Teams: Tarleton Texans (3-2 FCS Independent) vs. Midwestern State (1-0 LSC)
Where: Stephenville, TX
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: Tarleton Sports Network
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton is back in Stephenville for its long-awaited 60^th annual homecoming football game Saturday night against longtime rival Midwestern State Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Texans and Mustangs will renew one of the state's oldest rivalries when the teams kickoff at 6 p.m.
 
The game will be broadcast on the Tarleton Sports Network presented by the North Texas Ford Dealers, which can be found online at TarletonSports.com/Watch. The game will also be carried on 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas. Tickets are available and must be purchased in advance. Walk-up ticket sales are not permitted this spring. All tickets must be purchased online in advance at TarletonSports.com/Tickets.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• Tarleton owns the all-time lead in the series 22-12-1, including a 12-4 advantage in Stephenville. Tarleton and Midwestern State began competing in football in 1925 as junior college rivals and have squared off in every season since 2004. Tarleton has won the last two meetings, including a 35-34 overtime win to clinch the 2018 LSC Championship.
• The Texans had their biggest win of the series last year when Tarleton thrashed Midwestern State 66-7. It was the biggest victory in the series since the first-ever meeting in 1925 (TSU, 55-0).

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton is coming off a redemption victory in St. George, Utah as the Texans got the last laugh of the spring season against future WAC rival Dixie State. The Texans responded to an early season bump in the road by defeating Dixie State in blowout fashion 37-15. Two Trailblazer touchdowns in the final minutes of the game brought the final score closer than the game would indicate.
• Todd Whitten enters the game as Tarleton's all-time wins leader (82). While every new victory is a milestone, the win against New Mexico State made him the first Texan coach in school history to reach 80 career victories for the purple and white.
• When the Texans took the field in St. George against Dixie State on March 13, 2021, Coach Todd Whitten tied W.J. Wisdom for the most games coached in Tarleton State University history with his 121st game on the sidelines for the purple and white. He will take over as the longest-tenured head coach in program history Saturday. Whitten and Wisdom are the only two coaches in program history with over 100 career games spent as the head coach.
• There will be a postgame firework show after the game to celebrate homecoming.

 
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."
• WAC-ASUN CHALLENGE: Officially titled the WAC-ASUN Challenge, the Western Athletic Conference and ASUN Conference have agreed on a football scheduling alliance that will allow for the seven institutions to be eligible for an automatic qualification into the 2021 NCAA FCS Playoffs.

 
KEEP AN EYE ON
NOBODY BETTER IN TEXAS: Since the start of the 2018 football season, there has not been a better scholarship football program in the entire state of the Texas than Tarleton State University. The Texans enter Saturday's game with 26 wins since the start of 2018, which is tied with Texas A&M for the most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program. Tarleton has a chance to take the lead in the category with one more victory this season since the Big XII has already completed a full season. The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

#	School	League	Wins
1.	Tarleton	FCS Ind.	26
	Texas A&M	Big XII	26
3.	Texas	Big XII	25
4.	SMU	AAC	22
5.	A&M-Commerce	LSC	21
6.	Baylor	Big XII	20
7.	TCU	Big XII	18
8.	North Texas	C-USA	17
	West Texas A&M	LSC	17
10.	Angelo State	LSC	16
11.	Houston	AAC	15
	Sam Houston	SLC	15
13.	UTSA	C-USA	14
	Midwestern State	LSC	14

 
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.
• OUT OF THE POLLS, STILL RECEIVING VOTES: The Texans fell out of the national top 25 poll but received 15 votes in this week's rankings. The Texans were ranked No. 22 in the nation earlier this season.
• TARLETON VS. D1 TEAM: Since joining the NCAA in 1994, Tarleton played 17 games against NCAA Division I opponents and have seven wins in those games, including wins this season over FBS New Mexico State and FCS Dixie State. Todd Whitten has four wins against D1 competition during his tenure at Tarleton.
• 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.
• THE PATTON EFFECT: When Marcus Patton accepted the job as Tarleton's defensive coordinator in the spring of 2016, he inherited a Texan defense that had given up 296.3 rushing yards, 263.3 passing yards and 559.6 total yards per game – last in the nation at the D2 level.
• Over the 2018-19 seasons, Tarleton had cut those numbers essentially in half. While boasting a 23-2 record over the last two years, Patton's defense is allowing 102.0 rushing, 193.5 passing, and 295.6 total yards per game.
• FROM D2 DESPAIR TO D1 DEFENSE: When Todd Whitten returned to Tarleton as head coach following the 2015 season, his first hire was defensive coordinator, Marcus Patton. The request was simple: fix the nation's worst Division II defense.
• Tarleton ranked last or near the bottom of every defensive statistical category in the nation in 2015. Whitten and Patton went to work in recruiting the type of players that could turn things around – enter Ronnell Wilson, Devin Hafford, Tre Johnson and Erick Willis.
• Those four Texans signed on as part of Tarleton's 2016 recruiting class and have since turned Tarleton into one of the nation's most feared defenses in Division II during the last two undefeated regular seasons and now will take the field for Tarleton at the NCAA Division I level.
• 300 THROUGH THE AIR: QB Steven Duncan threw his first 300-yard passing game for the purple and white last weekend against Dixie State. His 347 yards against Dixie State were not only a career best for this time at Tarleton, but his collegiate career. It was his second collegiate 300-yard passing performance, topping a 304-yard effort on August 29, 2019 against Central Arkansas while he was at Western Kentucky.
• MOVING INTO THE TOP 10: Ronnell Wilson (259) is 70 tackles away from passing Marquis Wadley (328) as Tarleton's NCAA-era tackles leader and third all-time. With 6 more PATs (points after touchdowns), kicker Christian Hernandez (83) will move into a tie for third all-time with Paul Williams (89).

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will host Northeastern State next Saturday for Legends Night at Tarleton. Tarleton State University will recognize the 1994 Tarleton Texan Football team, which was the first team to transition when the Texans made the move from NAIA to NCAA Division II. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Stephenville. Limited tickets remain available for purchase at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. 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.