The Teams: Tarleton Texans (5-5, 1-3 WAC) vs. Houston Christian Huskies (2-8, 1-5 SLC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (24,000)
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (John Liddle, Hek'Ma Harrison)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
The Texans are on the brink of cementing their status as one of the top reclassifying programs to hit the gridiron. They'll battle the Houston Christian Huskies at home on Saturday to fight for a win that would conclude their third straight winning season to begin their NCAA Division I era.
 
The game, set for 2 p.m. CT, will be broadcast on ESPN+, with John Liddle and Hek'Ma Harrison 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
It will be a brisk November afternoon on Saturday, so in better words, perfect football weather for Tarleton's final game of the season.
 
Texan Alley opens at 8 a.m. for tailgaters, and all parking lots open at 11 a.m. The Pointe-du-Hoc rally will have a new time on Saturday, scheduled for 10:40 a.m. at Rudder Way Statue.
 
Gates will open at noon. From 12:30-1:30 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 1 p.m. at the northeast gate of the stadium.
 
For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the first all-time meeting between these two programs.
• A win Saturday would be monumental for both programs. Tarleton needs a win to start their reclassification period with three straight winning seasons. Houston Christian needs a win to finish 3-3 on the road -- they've never had a .500 or better road record in program history.
• HCU has lost six straight, last winning on Oct. 1 at Lamar 37-34.
• HCU allows the tied-17th most points in the FCS at 35.6 PPG.
• Experience is no problem with these two head coaches. They've led as head coach in 328 combined games across 13+ years each.

 
QUICK HITS

• This is Tarleton's final game of the year. With a win, Tarleton would lock up its third straight winning season to start its NCAA Division I era. The Texans can become just the fourth program since 2004 to start the reclassification period with three straight winning seasons (North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Central Arkansas). In that time frame, Tarleton owns the fifth best W% (.552) among schools done with reclassification or with a year left.
• Tarleton will bid adieu to and celebrate these 14 seniors on Saturday; Zechariah Hopkins, Mookie Douglas, Gabe Douglas, Michael Irons, Donovan Banks, Blaine Hoover, Antwoine Ware, Audley Isaacs Jr., Jaicorious Johnson, Segun Ijiyera, Kendall Dearth, Austin Whitehead, Shawn McFarland and Dionte Brooks.
• With a win Saturday, Tarleton would snap a three-game skid. The Texans haven't lost four straight since 2015, and under head coach Todd Whitten, have suffered a four-game losing streak just once, in 2004.
• Beau Allen threw for 397 yards in Tarleton's last game, his fifth 300+ yard game of the year. He has the tied-third most 300+ yard games in a single-season in program history, tied with Steve Kelley (2001), only behind Kevin Vickers (seven, 1994) and Cliff Watkins (six, 2003). He has tied Ben Holmes (2017-19) and Nick Stephens (2010-11) for the eighth most 300+ yard games in a Texan QB's career.

 
RECLASSIFICATION SUCCESS
Usually for programs reclassifying from the NCAA Division II level to Division I, it's a struggle. It's challenging to recruit with the certainty of no postseason play. Fans can become disengaged, knowing the regular season games will amount to no championship, win or loss. Plus for some, Tarleton included, the schedule features a majority of Division I programs when it was a rarity to play them before. So for Tarleton to be on the brink of its third straight winning season to start its reclassification period, there should be no other word uttered except for this -- success.
 
With a win Saturday, the Texans will conclude their third of four reclassifying years 6-5, cementing their third straight winning season. In fact, since 2004, only four reclassifying programs have started the period with three straight winning seasons; North Dakota State and South Dakota State both did it all four years from 2005-08, while Central Arkansas had three straight to start in 2006-08 before going 5-7 the fourth year in 2009. That's nationwide mind you. Let's compare that to other locally relevant programs. Abilene Christian had just one winning season in all four years of their reclassification period from 2013-16. Incarnate Word had two winning seasons, their first and third years, of the reclassification window. And Utah Tech, who is on the same timeline as Tarleton? They are already guaranteed to finish with a losing record this year for the third straight time.
 
As for overall record, only four programs had or have (through three years) a higher winning percentage than Tarleton. Entering Saturday, the Texans are .552 (16-13) over the past three seasons. The only higher ones:
1. North Dakota State: .750 (33-11, 2005-08)
2. Central Arkansas: .630 (29-17, 2006-09)
3. South Dakota State: .600 (27-18, 2005-08)
4. Bryant: .591 (26-18, 2008-11)
5. Tarleton: .552 (16-13, 2020-current)
 
SAYING GOODBYE
Saturday will be the last collegiate game for 14 of Tarleton's veteran players, as the Texans will celebrate everything the group has done for the program. Off the field, all have shown great leadership, while on the field, each has brought this to the team:
Zechariah Hopkins (2019-22):
Best season was 2020, where he had one touchdown, 30 tackles (17 solo), 3.0 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and nine QB hurries.
Mookie Douglas (2022):
Brand new to the team this year, Douglas has rushed for 362 yards on 82 carries and four touchdowns.
Gabe Douglas (2020-22):
Showcasing top highlight-type plays, his best season was in 2020 (25 receptions for 465 yards and three TD).
Michael Irons (2022):
In his lone year, Irons started nine games, leading the team in pass breakups (eight), sixth in tackles (42).
Donovan Banks (2019-22):
Preseason All-WAC and a WAC Defensive Player of the Week award this year, posting three interceptions, five tackles for loss, 46 tackles and four pass breakups.
Blaine Hoover (2022):
Transferred from UIW and recorded 38 tackles, 2.5 TFL, a sack, a pass breakup and two QB hurries.
Antwoine Ware (2020-22):
Had his best season this year, going for 20 receptions and 246 yards in 10 games.
Audley Isaacs Jr. (2022):
After five seasons played at Temple, Isaacs has six tackles in three games played this year.
Jaicorious Johnson (2018-22):
Had his best year in 2018, going for 15 tackles, 1.5 TFL and three QB hurries in 10 games.
Segun Ijiyera (2022):
Has the second most sacks (2.5) and the second most TFL (8.0) on the team, owning 31 tackles, four QB hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup.
Kendall Dearth (2018-22):
Saturday will mark his 50th career game in five seasons at Tarleton on the offensive line. Was All-LSC Second Team in 2019, one of five Texans named Preseason All-WAC this year.
Austin Whitehead (2020-22):
Has started every game at center the last two years. Saturday will mark his 30th game at Tarleton.
Shawn McFarland (2022):
Played in six games this year, scoring his first TD vs. ACU.
 
NEARING TARLETON LORE
Over 10 games played this year, several Texans have had monumental seasons thus far. With one game to play, the following is in reach for a lot of players this season:
Top-10 Single-Season Passing Yards:
Beau Allen (2,629) is nine passing yards short of reaching the leaderboard. Steve Kelley is in 10th with his 2,638 passing yards in 200. Allen could also surpass Ben Holmes (ninth with 2,659 yards in 2018), Chad Cole (eighth with 2,675 yards in 1997) and Scott Grantham (seventh and sixth at 2,882 yards in 2007 and 2,985 yards in 2009, respectively). If Allen throws for 400 yards, he will finish with the fourth most passing yards in a single-season in program history, as he'd also surpass Nick Stephens (fifth at 3,005 in 2011) and Kevin Vickers (fourth at 3,008 in 1994).
Top-5 Single-Season Passing Yards Per Game:
Beau Allen (262.9) is currently in the No. 5 spot on the leaderboard, just surpassing Steve Kelley's 262.4 yard average set in 2001. Allen needs 256 yards on Saturday to stay above Kelley, and 376 yards on Saturday to match the No. 4 spot, Nick Stephens' 273.2 average in 2011.
Top-10 Single-Season Passing Touchdowns:
Beau Allen (20) is now tied-ninth with four other players for the most passing touchdowns in a single-season in program history. With one more, he'll be in ninth by himself, with two more, he'd tie Zed Woerner (2017) at eighth with 22 touchdowns, and with four more, he'd finish with the tied-fifth most TD's in a single-season in program history with Woerner (2016), Scott Grantham (2007) and Kevin Vickers (1994).
Top-10 Single-Season Rushing Yards:
Derrel Kelley III (765) is 204 rushing yards short of reaching the leaderboard. Alfred Knox is in 10th with his 969 rushing yards in 1972.
Top-10 Single-Season Receiving Yards:
Darius Cooper (908) is 42 receiving yards short of the leaderboard. Harlan Wunsch (1968) is 10th at 950 yards, Jeremy Madkins (2003) is ninth at 952 yards, Colin Yovcom (1994) is eighth at 954 yards, and Ryland Bailey (1994) is seventh at 996 yards).
Top-10 Single-Season Receiving Yards Per Game:
Darius Cooper (90.8) is currently eighth on the leaderboard. In 10th is Bubba Tandy at 83.0 (2014), so if Cooper has at least five receiving yards Saturday, he'll finish in the top-10.
Top-10 Single-Season Receiving Touchdowns:
Jaden Smith (nine) is currently 10th on the leaderboard. He's one short of tying four other players for the sixth most touchdowns in a single-season in team history; Del'Michael High (2016), Jeremy Madkins (2006), Will Moody (2003) and Damien Jackson (2001).
 
DK ON A ROLL
Derrel Kelley III has been on another level since late September, going for 100+ yards in four games. Since Sept. 24, six games worth, Kelley has rushed for 703 yards, 100.4 yards per game. Kelley's three-game streak of rushing for 100+ yards just ended in Tarleton's last game, making it the longest such stretch by a Texan since Daniel McCants had three straight towards the end of the 2019 season. McCants actually had 200+ yards in each of those games.
 
Now Kelley sits at 765 rushing yards on the season, already the most rushing yards in a season by a Texan since 2019 (McCants had 1,457 rush yards that year). Kelley's 765 rush yards are the second most in the WAC this year, only behind Utah Tech's Quali Conley at 1,034 yards. Kelley ranks 41st at the FCS level in total rushing yards.
 
#BEAUKNOWS
Beau Allen matched the incredible hype he faced going into the season. Through 10 games, Allen leads the WAC in pass touchdowns (20), 300+ yard games (five) and pass yards per attempt (8.3). He's second in pass yards (2,629), pass yards per game (262.9),  and third in pass efficiency (140.4).
 
In four of his first five games to start his Tarleton career, Allen threw for 300+ yards and multiple touchdowns, becoming the first to have four 300+ yard performances in his first five Tarleton games. Last week, he had 397 passing yards. So now with five 300+ yard games on the year. He already has the eighth most 300+ yard games in program history and the tied-third most 300+ yard games in a single-season in program history, tied with Steve Kelley (2001), only behind Kevin Vickers (seven, 1994) and Cliff Watkins (six, 2003). He has tied Ben Holmes (2017-19) and Nick Stephens (2010-11) for the eighth most 300+ yard games in a Texan QB's career.
 
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 second most thrown by a WAC QB this year and the 24th 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 86-yard pass to Jaden Smith during the game is the longest pass in the conference this year.
 
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, Allen originally joined his hometown college as a four-star prospect by 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.
 
BEST IN TEXAS
Since the start of the 2018 season, Tarleton has been one of the best scholarship football programs in the entire state of Texas. The Texans enter Saturday's game with 39 wins since the start of 2018, the tied-most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program (Sam Houston). They have a .722 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the third-highest mark across all of the NCAA Division I and II programs in the state (Sam Houston, Angelo State).  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 list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Sam Houston	WAC	.736
2.	Angelo State	LSC	.731
3.	Tarleton	WAC	.722
4.	Texas A&M-Commerce	LSC	.688
5.	Texas A&M	SEC	.638
6.	Incarnate Word	SLC	.635
7.	Baylor	Big 12	.633
8.	SMU	AAC	.632
9.	Texas	Big 12	.610
10.	Midwestern State	LSC	.600

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Tarleton	WAC	39
	Sam Houston	WAC	39
3.	Baylor	Big 12	38
	Angelo State	LSC	38
5.	Texas A&M	SEC	37
6.	Texas	Big 12	36
	SMU	AAC	36
8.	UTSA	C-USA	34
9.	TCU	Big 12	33
	Incarnate Word	SLC	33
	Texas A&M-Commerce	LSC	33

 
RECORD CROWD IN COMPLETE STADIUM
Tarleton unveiled their recently completed stadium at their homecoming game against Sam Houston, and set a new program attendance record by seeing 20,237 fans through the turnstiles. They bested last year's program record of 16,216 who attended Tarleton's homecoming game against Midwestern State.
 
Tarleton's Memorial Stadium expansion project raised 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.
 
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 leads the WAC in yards per game (428.8), is second in yards per play (6.02) and third in scoring (29.2 points per game). After some recent big games on the ground, Tarleton is second in the WAC in rushing yards per game at 161.0.
 
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 another opportunity Saturday to keep building on his historic career. Since joining the purple and white, Whitten has taken his Texan teams to a 95-50 (.655) record. In its senior college history, Tarleton is right at .500 all-time at 320-320-3. So, Whitten has boosted the Texans from a .455 winning percentage to .500, 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 tied-37th most total wins at 120, tied with Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher.
 
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 10 games 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 pass touchdowns (20)
  - 1st in pass yards per attempt (8.3)
  - 2nd in total passing yards (2,631)
  - 2nd in passing yards per game (263.1)
  - 2nd in pass yards per completion (14.6)
  - 3rd in pass efficiency (140.4)
Donovan Banks:
  - T-1st in interceptions (3)
Darius Cooper:
  - 2nd in yards per catch (18.9)
  - 3rd in total receiving yards (908)
  - 3rd in receiving yards per game (90.8)
  - T-3rd in receiving touchdowns (8)
  - 4th in total receptions (48)
  - 4th in receptions per game (4.8)
  - 5th in all-purpose yards (912)
Adrian Guzman:
  - T-3rd in field goal percentage (75.0)
D.J. Harris:
  - 8th in tackles per game (7.3)
Patrick Jones:
  - T-4th in interceptions (2)
  - 9th in tackles per game (6.0)
Derrel Kelley III:
  - 2nd in total rushing yards (765)
  - 2nd in rushing yards per game (76.5)
  - 3rd in rushing touchdowns (6)
  - 3rd in yards per rush (5.8)
  - 6th in all-purpose yards (885)
Deangelo Rosemond:
  - 1st in total kick return yards (406)
Jaden Smith:
  - 2nd in receiving touchdowns (9)
  - 4th in total receiving yards (821)
  - 4th in receiving yards per game (82.1)
  - 5th in total receptions (47)
  - 5th in receptions per game (4.7)
  - 5th in yards per catch (17.5)
Qua'Shawn Washington:
  - 2nd in tackles per game (8.5)
  - 2nd in tackles for loss per game (1.4)
 
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.	Ohio State	Big 10	.915
2.	North Dakota State	MVFC	.909
3.	Princeton	Ivy	.897
4.	Alabama	SEC	.894
5.	Clemson	ACC	.892
6.	Georgia	SEC	.873
7.	Cincinnati	AAC	.852
8.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.836
9.	James Madison	SBC	.800
10.	Oklahoma	Big 12	.790
11.	Kennesaw State	ASUN	.764
12.	Appalachian State	SBC	.762
13.	Dartmouth	Ivy	.744
14.	Tarleton	WAC	.722

 
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).