The Teams: Tarleton Texans (4-2, 1-1 WAC) vs. Southwest Baptist Bearcats (3-4, 1-2 GLVC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (John Liddle, LaDarrin McLane)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
For the first time in nearly a month, Tarleton Football is returning to Stephenville. The Texans will host the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Saturday for their "Pink Out" game to support breast cancer awareness.
 
The game, set for 7 p.m. CT, will be broadcast on ESPN+, with John Liddle and LaDarrin McLane 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 and Keltin Wiens leading the broadcast.
 
GAME DAY FESTIVITIES
Memorial Stadium in Stephenville will be rocking for some time to come, starting this Saturday, the first of a three-game homestand for the Texans.
 
Texan Alley opens at 8 a.m. for tailgaters, and all parking lots open at 3 p.m. The Pointe-du-Hoc rally will be at 3:40 p.m. at Rudder Way Statue, not long before stadium gates open at 54 p.m.
 
From 5:30-6:30 p.m., "Happy Hour" will commence, with all beer for sale inside the stadium at half-price, including Texas Rider – Revolver Beer.
 
There will be an exclusive student entrance for this game that opens at 6 p.m. at the northeast gate of the stadium. At 6:30 p.m., the cannon will fire, signaling that kickoff is 30 minutes away.
 
For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the third ever meeting between these two programs, the most recent happening in 2016. The all-time series is split 1-1.
• Southwest Baptist beat Tarleton on a game-winning field goal with nine seconds remaining in 2016, a season they went 10-2 in, en route to a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Since then, SBU has not had a winning record.
• Saturday should be a strong QB battle: Tarleton's Beau Allen has the tied-eighth most passing touchdowns (15) in the FCS, and SBU's Cooper Callis has the tied-ninth most pass TD (18) in NCAA Division II.

 
QUICK HITS

• Saturday's game is Tarleton's Pink Out, the Texans' annual themed game to support breast cancer awareness. The game, presented by Longhorn Lockers, will include 1,000 free shirts divvied up to fans in attendance.
• Tarleton just had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Texans haven't lost straight games since the 2020 season finale and 2021 season opener, and haven't lost back-to-back games in the same season since '17.
• This is the first of three straight home games for Tarleton. The Texans have had three-game homestands in each of the previous two seasons, going 2-1 each time. Tarleton is 2-0 at home this season with an active four-game home winning streak. It's their longest home winning streak since taking 13 straight between 2018-19.
• For the first time since Sept. 10, Tarleton didn't score 40+ points in its last game. Out of the 163 D2 teams, SBU is No. 130 in average points allowed, giving up 34.1 points per game this year.
• Tarleton has gone with a new lead back, starting Derrel Kelley III in the RB position each of the last two games. At 6.19 yards per rush, only 20 FCS players are averaging more per carry than Kelley.
• D.J. Harris continues to be a tackling machine, leading the WAC this year at 9.8 tackles per game. Only 16 FCS players average more. Harris has three 10+ tackle performances in five games played this year.

 
HOME COOKIN'
Tarleton has almost always excelled at home, and under head coach Todd Whitten, they are nearly unbeatable. Under Whitten's tutelage at Tarleton, the Texans sport a 55-18 (.753) record at Memorial Stadium. Since 2018, the Texans are 23-5 (.821) in Stephenville, winning their last four home games by an average of 23.3 points on average. It's been almost a month since the Texans played at home last, winning 41-6 against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 17. In that contest, Beau Allen threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for a score. Deangelo Rosemond had two rushing touchdowns, and Jaden Smith led the receiving core with seven catches for 129 yards and a touchdown. Now the Texans will host four of their last five games of the year at Memorial Stadium, two of them against fellow WAC opponents.
 
BEARCATS BEFORE BEARKATS
All eyes might be on Tarleton's matchup next week against recent national champion Sam Houston for homecoming, but it's important not to overlook this week's opponent, Southwest Baptist. The Bearcats came into Memorial Stadium in 2016 and beat the Texans 31-28 on a field goal with nine seconds left. That year, the Bearcats advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs, losing to No. 21 Colorado School of Mines 63-35 in Bolivar. Despite Tarleton's loss that night on Sept. 10, 2016, the Texans had several impressive individual performances. Quarterback Zed Woerner completed 24-of-35 (.686) passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns, spreading the scores to Bubba Tandy, Del'Michael High and Joseph Sadler. Defensively, Tarleton had five players record 10+ tackles by very notable guys in program history; Ronnell Wilson (13), Treston Ridge (12), Chase Varnado (12), EJ Speed (11) and Cody Burtscher (11).
 
NO. 4 IN THE POWER RANKINGS
Last week, Tarleton's game at Stephen F. Austin featured the top two teams in the first edition of the ASUN-WAC Power Rankings. With SFA winning the game, Tarleton dropped in the rankings but is still well-respected, checking in this week at No. 4. SFA continues to hold the top spot, with Abilene Christian at No. 2 and Austin Peay at No. 3. Eastern Kentucky is at No. 5 below Tarleton, followed by a big drop in ratings to the next five, with Central Arkansas at No. 6, Southern Utah at No. 7, Kennesaw State at No. 8, Utah Tech at No. 9 and North Alabama at No. 10. Looking purely at the WAC standings. Tarleton is third behind ACU (2-0) and SFA (1-0).
 
OFFENSIVE PROWESS
Tarleton has shown to be explosive on the offensive side of the football, and throughout the year, has been one of the top units in the Western Athletic Conference. Overall, Tarleton averages the second most points per game (32.7), owning the tied-second most touchdowns (24). In yardage per game, no team is better, with Tarleton leading at 452.7 yards per game and 6.38 yards per play. Most of the Texans' production this year has come in the passing attack, where they lead the WAC at 294.5 yards per game, and 16.7 yards per completion. Tarleton has the second most passing touchdowns at 15, trailing only SFA's 18, who has played one more game so far this year.
 
STADIUM COMPLETE
Tarleton announced Thursday that the Memorial Stadium expansion project is complete. raising capacity from a temporary 16,600 to a permanent 24,000. Memorial Stadium underwent a $26 million renovation in 2019, and now with the 2022 expansion, towering bleachers with a new scoreboard cover the north end zone. Field suites have relocated to the south endzone underneath the video board to create an exciting, enclosed game day atmosphere. Tarleton will open the new seating on Oct. 29 for the Texans' homecoming game vs. Sam Houston. The Texans are starting a "Full House" initiative with the goal of bringing over 20,000 fans to the gates when they take on the Bearkats.
 
Last year, Tarleton set a new school attendance record, hosting 16,216 fans inside Memorial Stadium for the Texans' 17-14 win over rival Midwestern State in their homecoming game. Throughout 2021, Tarleton led the Western Athletic Conference in total attendance and attendance per game.
 
#BEAUKNOWS
Beau Allen has matched the incredible hype he faced going into the season. Through six games, Allen is looking like, and playing like, a star QB, leading the WAC in pass touchdowns (15), pass yards per game (294.5), pass efficiency (149.5), yards per completion (16.7), and yards per attempt (9.1). He also has the most 400+ yard games (one) and the most 300+ yard games (four).
 
On Oct. 8 in Tarleton's 42-40 win at Southern Utah, Allen threw for a career-high 406 passing yards, adding three touchdowns, while leading the team in rushing with 55 yards on 11 attempts. His 406 yards passing are the 11th most in Tarleton Football history and the 12th 400+ yard game in program history. His 406 are also the most thrown by a WAC QB this year and the 12th most in a game at the FCS level this season.
 
In the game prior,  Tarleton's 43-28 win at North Alabama, Allen earned WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for a then-career-high 316 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while adding 32 yards on seven carries.  His four touchdown passes are tied for the most TD passes by a WAC QB this season, and his 86-yard pass to Jaden Smith during the game is the longest pass in the conference this year.
 
In four of his first five games to start his Tarleton career, Allen threw for 300+ yards and multiple touchdowns. He already has the 10th most 300+ yard games in program history, and he is the first to have four 300+ yard performances in his first five Tarleton games.
 
In Allen's season debut, his 300 yards passing were the most in a Tarleton season-opener since Ben Holmes had 375 at SFA on Sept. 7, 2019, while his three touchdown passes were the most in a Tarleton season-opener since 2007, when Scott Grantham fired three scores against East Central. As for Texans making their first career start at QB, Allen is the first to throw for 300 yards since Zed Woerner (302) against Angelo State on Nov. 1, 2014.
 
Affectionally given the social media hashtag of #BeauKnows by his Kentucky Wildcat family, Beau Allen originally joined his hometown college as a four-star prospect by both ESPN and Rivals. At Lexington Catholic High School, he ranked as high as the No. 3 QB in Kentucky, and a top-15 QB across the nation overall. He won the Paul Hornung Award his senior year, given to the top high school player in Kentucky, starting all four years at the prep level, compiling 11,439 passing yards and 127 touchdowns, top-five marks in the state all-time. At Kentucky, he primarily spent his time in the No. 2 QB role, playing in five total games, completing 11-of-19 (.579) passes for 132 yards, plus a rushing touchdown. Allen chose Kentucky over offers from Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Maryland, Washington State, West Virginia, Marshall and Duke, among others. He said he picked Tarleton as his transfer school mostly because of the coaching staff, with ties to head coach Todd Whitten and pass game coordinator/QB coach Adam Austin, who was part of Eastern Kentucky's staff tasked to recruit Allen to Richmond.
 
TRIPLE THREAT
The overwhelming majority of Tarleton's passing attack has centered around three receivers -- Jaden Smith, Darius Cooper and Gabe Douglas. Of the 1,767 yards through the air, those three have accounted for 1,486 of those yards, 84.1 percent.
 
On a game-by-game basis, Smith has proven to be one of the top players in the country. Through just six games into his Tarleton tenure, Smith has 36 receptions for 684 yards and seven touchdowns. Through a national perspective, only three FCS players are averaging more receiving yards per game than Smith, who is at 114.0 YPG (Texas A&M-Commerce's Andrew Armstrong is at 119.7 YPG, Utah Tech's Joey Hobert is at 118.3 YPG, and Fordham's Fotis Kokosioulis is at 114.3 YPG). Including FBS, only seven players across all of NCAA Division I are averaging more. Looking at TD's, only six FCS and 11 total D1 players have more receiving touchdowns than Smith. Through a conference perspective, Smith has the most touchdown receptions, the second most receiving yards, and the third most receptions. Through a team perspective, he's one TD away from the top-10 of Tarleton TD receptions in a season, with five games to go.
 
Cooper had a career-best performance against Southern Utah on Oct. 8, going for 131 yards and two touchdowns, one of them coming on an outstretched two-try haul-in. He's third in the WAC in receiving yards per game (85.5) and tied-third in receiving touchdowns (five).
 
Douglas had one of the best plays of the season on Oct. 8 at Southern Utah, out-maneuvering his defenders and overpowering the last one to get into the endzone. He had two catches for 55 yards and a score on the day. He's eighth in the WAC in receiving yards per game (48.2), so the trio of Smith, Cooper and Douglas are all in the top-eight of the WAC receiving leaderboard.
 
TURNAROUND TODD
Tarleton head coach Todd Whitten is in his 13th season at the helm of the Texans. He's already the winningest head coach in program history, with opportunities this season to keep building on his historic career. Since joining the purple and white, Whitten has taken his Texan teams to a 94-47 (.667) record. In its senior college history, Tarleton is now above .500 all-time at 319-317-3. So, Whitten has boosted the Texans from a .455 winning percentage to .502, a hard feat to manage since the senior college sample size is 600+ games deep.
 
Across the college landscape, Whitten is one of the top coaching minds, and has been for a while. Among active NCAA Division I coaches (both FBS and FCS), Whitten has the 38th most total wins at 119. Next in line at No. 37? Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher at 120.
 
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 a .776 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the highest mark across all of the NCAA Division I and II programs in the state.  The Texans have 38 wins since the start of 2018, the most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program. Tarleton is one of three Texas D1 or D2 schools with all four winning seasons since 2018, along with Texas A&M and Sam Houston. The Texans have the fewest amount of losses among Texas D1/D2 schools since 2018 at 12.  The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Tarleton	WAC	.760
2.	Sam Houston	WAC	.740
3.	Texas A&M-Commerce	LSC	.727
4.	Angelo State	LSC	.708
5.	Texas A&M	SEC	.685
6.	Texas	Big 12	.625
	Baylor	Big 12	.625
8.	SMU	AAC	.623
9.	West Texas A&M	LSC	.609
10.	Midwestern State	LSC	.585

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Tarleton	WAC	38
2.	Texas A&M	SEC	37
	Sam Houston	WAC	37
4.	Texas	Big 12	35
	Baylor	Big 12	35
6.	Angelo State	LSC	34
7.	SMU	AAC	33
8.	Texas A&M-Commerce	LSC	32
9.	UTSA	C-USA	31
10.	Incarnate Word	SLC	30

 
NICE TO BE RECOGNIZED
On Oct. 10, Tarleton took home their fourth WAC weekly award of the year, with Donovan Banks named the WAC Defensive Player of the Week after his vital 41-yard interception return for a touchdown in Tarleton's win at Southern Utah. This was Banks' first career weekly award, as the senior scored his first career touchdown. Through seven weeks of the season, Tarleton has won four awards.
 
In Week 4 after Tarleton's 43-28 win at North Alabama, Beau Allen won Offensive Player of the Week and Adrian Guzman took Special Teams Player of the Week. This marked Allen's first career weekly award, and for Guzman his third, the second of the season. Allen completed 18-of-29 (.621) passes for a career-high 316 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while adding 32 yards on seven carries. Guzman was perfect on the day, going 2-for-2 on field goals from 35 and 20 yards out, plus 5-of-5 on extra points.
 
In Week 2, Guzman brought home Tarleton's first WAC weekly honor of the season, named WAC Special Teams Player of the Week following his efforts at TCU. Guzman made his lone field goal attempt, a career-long 47-yarder, and both of his extra points in Fort Worth. His 47-yard successful try made back-to-back weeks for Guzman setting new career-longs in field goals.
 
LEADING THE WAC
Several Texans are atop WAC leaderboards this season...
Beau Allen:
  - 1st in passing touchdowns (15)
  - 1st in passing yards per game (294.5)
  - 1st in passing efficiency (149.5)
  - 1st in yards per completion (16.7)
  - 1st in yards per attempt (9.1)
  - 2nd in total passing yards (1,767)
Donovan Banks:
  - T-1st in interception return touchdowns (1)
Jalen Carr:
  - 2nd in passes defended (six)
Darius Cooper:
  - 3rd in yards per catch (19.7)
  - 3rd in receiving yards per game (85.5)
  - T-3rd in receiving touchdowns (5)
  - 5th in total receiving yards (513)
  - 5th in receptions per game (4.3)
  - T-5th in total receptions (26)
Gabe Douglas:
  - 2nd in yards per catch (20.6)
Adrian Guzman:
  - 1st in field goal percentage (100.0)
D.J. Harris:
  - 1st in tackles per game (9.8)
Segun Ijiyera:
  - T-2nd in forced fumbles (2)
Patrick Jones:
  - T-2nd in interceptions (2)
  - 8th in tackles per game (6.5)
Jaden Smith:
  - 1st in receiving touchdowns (7)
  - 2nd in total receiving yards (684)
  - 2nd in receiving yards per game (114.0)
  - 2nd in receptions per game (6.0)
  - 3rd in total receptions (36)
  - 4th in yards per catch (19.0)
 
CHANGE IN SCHEME
With new personnel comes fresh ideas and different habits. The Texans have a brand-new defensive coordinator, Tyrone Nix, who has incorporated a 3-4 defensive formation, different from Tarleton's 4-3 defense last year.
 
Nix has been a Division I coach for over 25 years, serving as the defensive coordinator for five previous D1 programs, including Ole Miss and South Carolina. He has spent 17 years as a defensive coordinator at the D1 level, holding that title at UTSA (2020), Middle Tennessee (2012-16), Ole Miss (2008-11), South Carolina (2005-07) and Southern Miss (2001-04). His other titles and stops include outside linebackers coach at Ole Miss (2019), safeties coach at Virginia Tech (2018), defensive analyst at Texas A&M (2017), and numerous defensive position titles among his full tenure at Southern Miss from 1995-2004. In all, Nix has coached at seven different Division I programs, spending 15 years in Conference USA, nine years in the Southeastern Conference, one year in the Atlantic Coast Conference and one year in the Sun Belt Conference. He's a former Broyles Award finalist, given to the nation's top assistant coach. In the SEC, Nix elevated as high as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at both Ole Miss, under head coach Houston Nutt, and at South Carolina, under head coach Steve Spurrier.
 
SPORTSCENTER SMITH
As strong of a Tarleton debut Beau Allen had in Week 1, Jaden Smith may have topped him. Smith caught three touchdowns, hauling in 11 receptions for 95 yards in Tarleton's win last week. His first TD grab was an OBJ-like skying one-hander, No. 4 on SportsCenter's Top-10 Plays countdown.
Smith transferred to Tarleton from Montana State, where he played the last two seasons. In just one game in Stephenville, he almost surpassed all of his numbers across 16 games for the Bobcats; 13 receptions for 173 yards and one touchdown.
His three touchdowns scored are:

• The tied-fourth most TD receptions in a game in NCAA Division I this season (FBS and FCS).
• The tied most receiving TDs scored in a game in the WAC this season.
• The most touchdowns scored in a game by a Texan since Sept. 18, 2021 (Tariq Bitson vs. Southern Utah).
• The most touchdown receptions in a Tarleton season opener in at least the past 10 years.

His 11 receptions are:

• The tied most receptions in a game in the WAC this season (Utah Tech's Joey Hobert).
• The most receptions by a Texan in a game since March 13, 2021 (Tariq Bitson vs. Dixie State).

 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 13 NCAA Division I teams (eight FBS, five FCS) have a better winning percentage than Tarleton since 2018 (Cincinnati, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Appalachian State, Kennesaw State, North Dakota State, James Madison, Princeton, Dartmouth). So among some of the other elite programs, Tarleton has a higher W% than the likes of Michigan, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Oregon, Iowa, USC, LSU, etc.
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Princeton	Ivy	.914
2.	Ohio State	Big 10	.909
3.	Alabama	SEC	.905
	North Dakota State	MVFC	.905
5.	Clemson	ACC	.903
6.	Georgia	SEC	.867
7.	Cincinnati	AAC	.860
8.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.825
	James Madison	SBC	.825
10.	Oklahoma	Big 12	.814
11.	Dartmouth	Ivy	.794
12.	Appalachian State	SBC	.783
	Kennesaw State	ASUN	.765
14.	Tarleton	WAC	.760

 
6: Only six D1 teams (five FBS, one FCS) averaged more points than Tarleton (38.0 PPG) from 2018-21 (Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, UCF, Eastern Washington).
 
10: 10 D1 teams (five FBS, five FCS) allowed fewer points than TAR (18.3) from 2018-21 (Georgia, Clemson, Cincinnati, Iowa, San Diego State, North Dakota State, Dartmouth, James Madison, Princeton, Kennesaw State).
 
5: Not considering reclassification rules on leaderboards, Tarleton was one of five D1 teams in both top-15s of scoring and defense from 2018-21 - (Clemson, James Madison, Princeton, Kennesaw State).
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
It will be Tarleton's Homecoming, and the Texans are ready to host a "Full House" for their game against Sam Houston on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. CT. The Memorial Stadium expansion project is complete, and the Texans are aiming to get over 20,000 fans in to watch what should be one of the best games of the season.