The Teams: No. 16 Tarleton State Texans (8-3, 5-2 UAC) vs. Central Arkansas Bears (6-5, 3-4 UAC)
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, Ty Walker)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
The Texans are making their playoff push on Saturday in their regular season finale, looking to knock off Central Arkansas to improve to an impressive 9-3 overall mark.
 
Tarleton's 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, Keltin Wiens and Ty Walker leading the broadcast.
 
GAME DAY FESTIVITIES
Texan Alley opens at 8 a.m. for tailgaters. The Pointe-du-Hoc rally will be at 10:40 a.m. at Rudder Way Statue. Memorial Stadium gates will open at 12 p.m.
 
On the field pregame, the Sound and the Fury will perform at 1:42 p.m., then Texan Football's 24 seniors will be celebrated at 1:46 p.m. The national anthem will be performed at 1:54 p.m. At 1:57 p.m., the Texan Rider will lead the Texans onto the field, and kickoff is scheduled for 2:02 p.m.
 
Single-game tickets can be purchased and claimed at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. Tarleton State students, fans and staff can also show their Texan card at the gate to gain entry. For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the third all-time meeting. Tarleton won the first 24-3 in the 2021 season finale, then won at No. 18 UCA last season 25-23.
• The Bears have lost three straight, their longest skid since Nov. 13, 2021, through Sept. 10, 2022 (a loss to Tarleton was in that slide). This is UCA's longest single-season skid since 2018.
• UCA has dropped three straight road games, last winning Sept. 21.
• UCA was ranked as high as No. 5 in the polls earlier this season.
• Nationally, UCA is No. 11 in total offense (445.6 YPG). The Bears are the tied-sixth most penalized team in the nation at 8.55 per game.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton is fighting for a spot in the FCS Playoffs. There are 10 conference champions and 14 at-large program that make the playoffs. With a win Saturday, Tarleton would improve to 9-3. Last year, there were nine playoff teams with 9+ wins, seven teams with eight wins, seven teams with seven wins and one team with six wins.
• Tarleton could become the first team to earn an FCS Playoff spot in its first year of postseason eligibility following reclassification since 2009 (South Dakota State).
• With a win Saturday, Tarleton would set its most wins in its D1 era at nine. The nine wins would mark head coach Todd Whitten's fifth time reaching nine wins at Tarleton in his 15 seasons at the helm.
• Tarleton is No. 16 in both the Stats Perform FCS Poll and AFCA Coaches Poll.
• The Texans have lost two straight home games. They haven't lost three straight since their home playoff game on Nov. 23, 2019, and first two NCAA Division I home games Feb. 13 and Feb. 27, 2021.
• This is Tarleton's first day game at home since the 2022 season finale. Tarleton won that 49-7 vs. HCU.
• Kayvon Britten just set a new program single-season rushing record, breaking a 20-year record. He's now at 1,596 rushing yards, surpassing Derrick Ross' 1,560 in 2004. Darius Cooper is 33 yards short of tying the program record for career receiving yards (Clifton Rhodes III, 2,757 from 2011-14).   

 
EYES ON THE PLAYOFFS
The Texans are in great shape with one regular season game remaining to make the FCS Playoffs in their first year eligible. Tarleton is slated at No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS Poll and AFCA Coaches Poll.
In some of the metrics used by the FCS Playoff Committee, here's where the Texans stand nationally:
- W/L record: 8-3 with the tied-13th most wins and the tied-19th best winning percentage (.727)
- Massey Ratings: 20th
- KPI: 27th
- Strength of Schedule: 48th
 
This is the first year the Texans are eligible for the postseason in their NCAA Division I era, and they could become the first program since South Dakota State in 2009 to make the playoffs in that very first year. Tarleton was a mainstay in the playoffs at the end of their NCAA Division II days, earning a spot in the postseason in their final three seasons (2017-19). In 2017, Tarleton played in the Corsicana Bowl, losing 38-31 against Central Oklahoma. In 2018, Tarleton won 58-0 against Azusa Pacific in the NCAA Playoff opener, then beat Texas A&M-Commerce 34-28 in the second round before losing 13-10 at No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato in the quarterfinals. In 2019, Tarleton fell 23-16 to Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
In Tarleton's NCAA era, the Texans have played in the playoffs five times (2019, 2018, 2009, 2003, 2001) and have received five bowl invitations.
 
SENIOR DAY
The Texans will celebrate 24 seniors before the game on Saturday; Kariem Al Soufi, Kayvon Britten, Dillon Brooks, Fred Brown II, Deonte Bryant, Tramaine Chism, Darius Cooper, Layton Ernst, Isaac Garcia, Adrian Guzman, Derrel Kelley III, Kasyus Kurns, Caimyn Layne, Nijel McGriff, Fischer Ohrt, Benjamin Omayebu, Dawson Otto, Charles Perkins, Malik Pete, Ty Rawls, Donta Stuart, Tuli Teuhema, Kyle Weber and Jed Whitney.
 
Of those 24, five have spent their entire collegiate careers at Tarleton State; Cooper, Guzman, Kelley, Weber and Whitney.  Weber is the longest active member of the Texan Football team, playing in his sixth season. He is the lone active student-athlete across Tarleton Athletics to have been part of both the NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I eras.
 
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Several Tarleton players have either set records this season, or can this Saturday...
Kayvon Britten:
- Just set a new single-season program rushing record, now at 1,596 rushing yards.
- Has set a new single-season rushing attempt program record, now at 261 rushing attempts, surpassing Derrick Ross' 254 in 2004.
- Set a single-game rushing yard program record on Sept. 21 at North Alabama with 273, surpassing Derrick Ross' 269 rushing yards vs. Western New Mexico on Sept. 10, 2005.
- Tied a single-game touchdown scoring program record on Sept. 21 at North Alabama with four.
- With 100+ rushing yards Saturday, he will tie most 100-yard rushing games in a Texan player's career at 14 (Roderick Smith, 2006-09).
- Is one of three in program history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons (Derrick Ross, Daniel McCants).
Darius Cooper:
- With 11 receiving yards on Saturday, he will become second player in program history (Devin Guinn, 2007 and 2009) to have multiple seasons with 1,000 receiving yards.
- With 34 receiving yards on Saturday, he will break the program's career receiving yard record. Cooper sits at 2,724 career receiving yards, only behind Clifton Rhodes III's 2,757 from 2011-14.
- With 100 receiving yards on Saturday, he will tie the program career record for 100-yard receiving games at 12 (Zimari Manning, 2018-19).
- At 23 career receiving touchdowns, Cooper is fifth in the program ranks. In fourth sits Jeremy Madkins at 25 (2003-06).
Deangelo Rosemond:
- At 1,222 career kick return yards, Rosemond is third in the program ranks. In second sists Daniel McCants at 1,593 (2015-19).
 
WHITTEN THE WINNER
Tarleton State Football head coach Todd Whitten does one thing better than most -- win. The Texans are now 8-3 on the season, the tied-most wins Tarleton has secured in its D1 era, with two games to play. Tarleton has already locked up its seventh straight winning season, and across Whitten's 15 years at the helm of the Texans, he's taken his team to .500 or better 14 times. Whitten is now 137-84 (.620) across 20 seasons as a collegiate football head coach, owning the 46th most wins among all active NCAA football head coaches, with the next man in front at 140 wins (New Mexico head coach Bronco Mendenhall).
 
BRITTEN CLOSE TO HISTORY
Nationally, Britten is now second in the country in both total rush yards (1,596) and rush yards per game (145.1), trailing Southern Utah's Targhee Lambson (1,757, 159.7 per) in both categories. Britten is tied-fifth nationally with 15 rushing touchdowns.
 
On Oct. 5 at Southern Utah, Britten crossed the 1,000-yard mark in the sixth game of the year. Only five FCS players have reached 1,000 yards in fewer games; South Dakota State's Zach Zenner in 2012, Portland State's Charles Dunn in 2000, Sacramento State's Charles Roberts in 1999, Siena's Reggie Greene in 1997, and Butler's Arnold Mickens in 1994.
 
Britten was named the FCS Offensive National Player of the Week and UAC Offensive Player of the Week against North Alabama after 273 rushing yards and four touchdowns, averaging 13.0 yards per carry. Britten surpassed Derrick Ross' 269 yards rushing vs. Western New Mexico on Sept. 10, 2005. Britten's 273 rushing yards are the most in a single-game across FCS and second most across all of NCAA Division I this season, with the FBS leader at 278 (Auburn's Jarquez Hunter). Britten's four rushing touchdowns are the tied-third most in a game at the FCS level this season. Britten tied the program record in scoring with his four touchdowns, joining six others. Before Britten, the most recent to score four times in a game was Xavier Turner on Oct. 20, 2018. In the second quarter at North Alabama, Britten scored his first touchdown on a 96-yard run, which marked the longest run in program history. It's the third longest rushing play across D1 this year, just a yard short of UIW's Dekalon Taylor (Sept. 21) and Saint Francis' DeMarcus McElroy (Sept. 14).
 
Career-wise, Britten has now logged over 4,000 rushing yards between two seasons at Arkansas Pine-Bluff (1,294 in 19 games) and two seasons at Tarleton (2,746 in 22 games). Since Derrel Kelley III has 2,000 rushing yards with the Texans, Britten and Kelley have become the third duo across FCS who each have rushed for 2,000 yards for the same program, joining UCA's ShunDerrick Powell/Darius Hale, and William & Mary's Bronson Yoder/Malachi Imoh.
 
NEAR THE TOP
Tarleton is shining on the national stage, near the top of the nation as a team by placing...
- Tied-1st in Fumbles Lost (1)
- T-2nd in Turnover Margin (+1.2 per)
- 3rd in Kick Return Defense (14.3 yds allowed per)
- 6th in Red Zone Offense (.941)
- 6th in Punt Return Defense (2.7)
- T-7th in Turnovers Gained (24)
- 8th in Pass Yards per Completion (14.3)
- Tied-8th in Interceptions (14)
- Tied-8th in Fumbles Recovered (8)
- 9th in Net Punting (41.2 yards)
- Tied-9th in Fumble Recoveries (10)
- 11th in Sacks Allowed (1.1 per)
- 13th in Rushing Offense (202.2 rush yards per game)
- 21st in Tackles for Loss Allowed (4.4 per)
- T-21st in Turnovers Lost (11)
- 32nd in Red Zone Defense (.756)
- 36th in Scoring Offense (28.8 PPG)
 
Individually, Tarleton has top-25 student athletes at...
- 1st in Yards Per Completion (Victor Gabalis) at 14.9
- 2nd in Rushing Yards (Kayvon Britten) at 1,596
- 2nd in Rush Yards Per Game (Kayvon Britten) at 145.1
- T-4th in Fumble Recoveries (Kasyus Kurns) at three
- T-5th in Rushing TD's (Kayvon Britten) at 15
- T-5th in FF (Kasyus Kurns and Ty Rawls) at three
- 7th in All-Purpose Yards (Kayvon Britten) at 151.7 per
- 7th in Receiving Yards (Darius Cooper) at 989
- 8th in Yards Per Reception (Darius Cooper) at 19.4
- 11th in Receiving Yards Per (Darius Cooper) at 90.0
- 11th in Yards Per Pass Attempt (Victor Gabalis) at 8.7
- 15th in Yards Per Reception (Darius Cooper) at 18.9
- T-15th in Scoring (Kayvon Britten) at 8.2 Points Per
- 19th in Rush Yards Per Carry (Kayvon Britten) at 6.11
- 20th in Tackles for Loss Per (Brandon Tolvert) at 1.3
- T-20th in Receiving TD's (Darius Cooper) at 9
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saturday night's game between the top two teams in the United Athletic Conference, Tarleton State and Abilene Christian, lived up to the billing at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville. The battle between the two heavyweights went in favor of the Wildcats on a last-minute touchdown.
 
The Texans kicked a go-ahead field goal with under two minutes to play, but the Wildcats drove 75 yards in 1:29 of game time to score a touchdown with 19 seconds to play to win 35-31. Tarleton had a decent chance at a Hail Mary attempt as time expired, but the ball knocked around and hit the turf.
 
The game lived up to the hype, with six lead changes and two ties. It was a one-possession game through the entirety, and turnover free. The two quarterbacks combined for 695 passing yards and six touchdowns, and the top two running backs combined for 238 rushing yards. ACU had the advantage in total yardage 544-486 and time of possession 35:54 to 24:06.
 
Texan QB Victor Gabalis completed 15-of-20 for 304 yards and three touchdowns, a 75-yard strike to Darius Cooper, a 58-yard connection to Cody Jackson, and a 22-yard find to Cooper again. Kayvon Britten rushed for 101 yards on 22 carries (4.6 YPC) and Braelon Bridges rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
 
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 a .727 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the second highest mark across all of the NCAA Division I and II programs in the state. Tarleton is the only Texas D1 or D2 institution with all six winning seasons since 2018. They have 56 wins since the start of 2018, the third most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II programs. The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span are as follows:
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Angelo State	LSC	.733
2.	Tarleton State	UAC	.727
3.	Incarnate Word	SLC	.692
4.	Texas	SEC	.686
5.	SMU	AAC	.679
6.	Sam Houston	C-USA	.658
7.	Texas A&M	SEC	.651
8.	UTSA	C-USA	.586
9.	TCU	Big 12	.560
10.	Baylor	Big 12	.553

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Texas	SEC	59
2.	SMU	AAC	57
3.	Tarleton State	UAC	56
4.	Angelo State	LSC	55
5.	Texas A&M	SEC	54
	Incarnate Word	SLC	54
7.	UTSA	AAC	51
8.	Sam Houston	C-USA	50
9.	TCU	Big 12	47
	Baylor	Big 12	47

 
LAST TIME AGAINST
Nothing about the conditions surrounding Tarleton State's game at Central Arkansas in 2023 were favorable, but the Texans cemented their fourth straight winning season with an upset bid over No. 18 Central Arkansas on the road 25-23. It was a downpour in Conway, Arkansas, on the Bears' homecoming weekend, and the Texans spoiled the festivities more by snapping UCA's four-game winning streak. This was Tarleton's first game against an FCS ranked opponent since joining the subdivision, and they defeated a Bears' team who was 4-0 at home and ranked seventh in total offense at 455.6 yards per game. The Texans outgained the Bears 376-347, winning the time of possession 32:55 to 27:05.
 
Kayvon Britten stole the show in the United Athletic Conference showdown between two of the conference's top running backs, rushing for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries (7.1 YPC). His first touchdown was a 38-yard, Marshawn Lynch-like "Beast Mode" run with several alterations and a plow over the defensive back at the end. He also opened the fourth quarter with a 59-yard score to give the Texans the game's first two-possession lead, 22-10.
 
The Texan defense held off UCA at the end as the Bears wouldn't go quietly. Down eight, Central Arkansas scored a touchdown after a 72-yard march in 1:45 with 14 seconds remaining. But needing the two-point conversion for the tie, Tarleton's Caimyn Layne got to UCA QB Will McElvain quickly and forced him into a spinning incompletion to seal the win for the Purple and White. UCA tried a unique onside kick by booting it over Tarleton's line, but Tarleton gobbled it up and Texan QB Victor Gabalis went in victory formation to send the Texans home with the win.
 
Tarleton's defense held UCA at bay for most of the night, earning six tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, seven pass breakups, a blocked field goal, and that final two-point try stop. Blake Smith had a team-high 12 tackles. Devin Sterling had two tackles for loss among his six total. Ty Rawls had a sack, with Rawls adding two pass breakups. Bryson Collins was credited with the field goal block to end the first half, adding four tackles and a TFL on the night.
 
One of the biggest storylines was how Tarleton would handle UCA RB ShunDerrick Powell. Powell entered as the conference leader in rushing yards per game, and ran for 204 yards plus three touchdowns on 13 carries just a year prior against Tarleton while with North Alabama. This time around, Tyrone Nix and his defense shut him down to just four yards on six carries.
 
UAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Tarleton has garnered five UAC Player of the Week awards through Week 10.
 
In Week 0, Texan running back Kayvon Britten and punter Adrian Guzman were named the UAC Offensive and Special Teams players of the week, respectively, while defensive back Kasyus Kurns was named the UAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Britten rushed for the second most yards across all of college football, finishing with 164 yards on 25 carries, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. He was three yards short of the highest rushing total in the nation. Kurns had one of the best defensive games a player can have in Week 0, scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery, recovering two fumbles in total, forcing one fumble, adding a tackle for loss and six total tackles. His scoop and score marked the first fumble return touchdown by a Texan since March 6, 2021, vs. Mississippi College (both Zech Hopkins and Benjie Franklin). He also became the first Tarleton State player since 2014 to come up with two takeaways and a touchdown in the same game (Devin Figures vs. McMurry on Oct. 25). Kurns added an interception in Week 1 and now has the most takeaways across the FCS with three. Guzman had a solid day punting in Week 0, averaging 46.3 yards across his six boots, launching two 50+ yards and two inside the 20.
 
In Week 4, Britten earned his second weekly honor of the season after he set the program's single game rushing record with 273 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He broke a nearly 20-year-old program rushing record set by Derrick Ross on Sept. 10, 2005. Britten's four touchdowns were tied for the most by an FCS running back this season and his 273 rushing yards were just four yards shy of his career-high set during his time at Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
 
In Week 5, linebacker Ty Rawls was named the UAC Defensive Player of the Week, his first conference weekly award since joining the Texans. Rawls had a fumble recovery, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and six total tackles in Tarleton State's 36-33 home win vs. Southeastern Louisiana. His forced and recovered fumble marked a crucial part of the game, key to Tarleton's 15-point swing from trailing by five to leading by 10. When the Texans were down 19-14, they scored to go up 22-19, and three plays later, Rawls forced the takeaway. On the very next play, the Texans scored again to lead 29-19. Rawls' fumble recovery was the second of his career, and it marked his first career forced fumble.
 
RECLASSIFICATION SUCCESS
There's no way around it, the Texans had one of the most impressive reclassification periods in NCAA history. The Texans posted a winning season in every year of reclassification, just the third team since 2004 to do so. The Texans also posted the third highest winning percentage in a reclassification period since 2004 at .610:
1. North Dakota State: .750 (33-11, 2005-08)
2. Central Arkansas: .630 (29-17, 2006-09)
3. Tarleton: .610 (25-16, 2020-23)
 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (seven FBS, four FCS) have a better win percentage than Tarleton since 2018 (Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, North Dakota State, James Madison, South Dakota State, Florida A&M, Dartmouth). So among some 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	.882
	Alabama	SEC	.882
3.	Georgia	SEC	.880
4.	North Dakota State	MVFC	.876
5.	Clemson	ACC	.837
6.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.828
7.	South Dakota State	MVFC	.815
8.	James Madison	SBC	.812
9.	Oklahoma	SEC	.739
10.	Florida A&M	SWAC	.735
11.	Dartmouth	Ivy	.729
12.	Tarleton State	UAC	.727

 
4K: Kayvon Britten just surpassed the 4,000-yard mark in career rushing, split between his time at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Tarleton State. For context, the program career rushing record is 3,389 yards by Ricky Bush in 1979-82.
 
1: Tarleton's pass game has been of a "big-hitter" mentality. This past Saturday, Tarleton had three pass touchdowns that spanned 75 yards, 58 yards and 22 yards. Victor Gabalis now ranks first across the entire FCS in pass yards per completion with 14.9
 
10: Offensive lineman Kariem Al Soufi brings a unique background to Tarleton coming from Germany. Al Soufi is one of just 10 players in FCS who is from Germany, and he is one of three international football players in the United Athletic Conference. He is the only UAC player from Germany, and he is just one of three German FCS players playing for a Texas School (two from Stephen F. Austin).
 
1: Whitten is the only coach at any NCAA level actively coaching in his third stint at his current school. He is just one of 37 coaches at any NCAA level to have three non-consecutive tenures at one school and he is the second coach in with three stints at Tarleton State (W.J. Wisdom, 1920-22, 1924-28, 1930-35).
 
53: With his first kick in the first quarter of his first game, Michael James made a 53-yard field goal. It marked Tarleton's first 50+ yard field goal make in 15 years. The last 50+ yard field goal make by Tarleton State was from 64 yards out in 2009.
 
UP NEXT
The Texans will await to see where they will play in the 2024 FCS Playoffs. If granted a seed between Nos. 9-16, Tarleton State will host a playoff game on Nov. 30, and if granted a seed between Nos. 17-24, they will travel for a playoff game on the same day.