The Teams: No. 20/21 Tarleton State Texans (1-1, 0-0 UAC) at Houston Christian Huskies (0-1, 0-0 SLC)
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Husky Stadium (5,000)
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Jordan Smith, Brandon Kruse)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens, Ty Walker)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton State will face a seemingly much improved Husky team compared to the first time the two teams played, as HCU finished 6-5 last year with a 3-2 home record and a 34-19 win at Southeastern Louisiana. The Texans hosted the Huskies in 2022 and beat them 49-7.
 
Tarleton's game, set for 6 p.m. CT, will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Jordan Smith and Brandon Kruse 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.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the second meeting and first in Houston. The Texans ended their 2022 campaign with a 49-7 win against HCU. Tarleton led 28-0 after the first quarter on the heels of two pick-sixes. 
• HCU dropped its season opener at SMU 59-7. The Mustangs led 28-0 after the first quarter, rushing for 369 yards on 54 attempts (6.8 YPC). Through Week 1, HCU ranks third worst in rush defense.
• The Huskies went 6-5 last year, their first winning season in program history. Before last year, they had logged more than two wins just twice (2019, 2016). Their first official season was in 2014.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Texans will start their third different quarterback in their third game of the season. This is the first time since at least 2008 the Texans have had three starting quarterbacks in a single season overall. Daniel Greek will get the nod on Saturday after completing 7-of-13 passes for 80 yards at Baylor. Tarleton's normal starting QB Victor Gabalis has a thumb injury. Last week's starting QB Jaden Pete left the game with a knee injury.
• Tarleton State just had its longest winning streak of its NCAA Division I era snapped at five.
• Tarleton State has the tied-best turnover margin in the FCS at +5 (Norfolk State, Nicholls). The Texans were +4 in Week 0 (three fumbles, one interception) and +1 in Week 1 (two interceptions to one pick thrown).
• The Texans have won four of their last five road games against FCS opponents, with that lone loss coming in double overtime at Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 14 last year.
• The Texans were ranked 20th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll and 21st in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll after Week 1. They were ranked 21st in both polls in the preseason.
• Tarleton defensive back Kasyus Kurns has the tied-most takeaways in the FCS with three. If he earns a takeaway on Saturday, he will become the second Tarleton player in the D1 era to record a takeaway in three straight games (Devin Hafford, 2021). Kurns recovered two fumbles in Week 0 and logged an interception in Week 1.

 
UNDER CENTER
Tarleton State will be without starting quarterback Victor Gabalis for the second straight game on Saturday. "Victor is in good shape -- as [good as] you can be I guess with a thumb injury like he has," head coach Todd Whitten said on Aug. 28 . "They repaired a ligament in his thumb, and we can think he's going to miss about the next three Saturdays. Luckily one of those is an open week. Everybody involved has felt really good, so he'll be back, he'll be back to full speed, and I think sooner rather than what we initially thought, so we got some really good news on Vic." Gabalis has started 12 games under center for the Texans, leading them to a 9-3 record.
Jaden Pete got the start on Saturday but lasted just three drives before leaving with a knee injury.
 
Daniel Greek spelled Pete and looked poised in the pocket, especially against a Power Four conference team. Greek completed 7-of-13 passes for 80 yards. It marked Greek's sixth career game played at Tarleton State as he appeared in five games last season, completing 6-of-10 passes for 24 yards in relief of Gabalis. Greek arrived at Tarleton in 2023 after playing two seasons at Mississippi State from 2021-22.  He was recruited by the Bulldogs as a three-star prospect per ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports.com. He was the Division 1 District 1 Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2018 playing for Liberty Christian School. Across his career there, he threw for 5,245 yards and 47 touchdowns. Maybe more impressively, he had a 4.2 GPA.
 
RESPECT THAT!
In the two polls recognized by the NCAA for the FCS, Tarleton State was ranked No. 20 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll and 21st in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll after Week 1. They were ranked 21st in both polls in the preseason.
 
Last year, the Texans ended their regular season with a splash and found themselves in the conversation for being ranked for the first time at the NCAA Division I level. They were as high as No. 16 in the College Football Poll, and in the two NCAA recognized polls, they were No. 27 and No. 28, respectively.
 
This is the first Tarleton State has been ranked since becoming an NCAA Division I program. The Texans were ranked No. 3 nationally at the very end of their NCAA Division II days in November 2019.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Without its starting quarterback, Tarleton State never found its offensive footing playing up a division, and the Baylor Bears took down the Texans 45-3. The Texans had 181 yards of offense. The Bears jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
 
"I'm extremely proud of our football team, I thought we played really hard," head coach Todd Whitten said postgame. "They would have scored 100 points if they could have today, I guarantee you. We got everything they had, they left their best players in there until the end, the game was certainly out of hand. But that's OK, it makes us better as well. I'm proud of our guys."
 
The Bears were on the offensive to start, taking it 66 yards in the first 83 seconds to go up 7-0. Baylor had a 32-yard touchdown catch to go up 14-0, then on the second play of Tarleton's next drive, QB Jaden Pete threw a pick-six. He injured his knee on the play and did not return.
 
Tarleton's defense held Baylor back for the most part after the first, allowing 442 yards throughout, forcing two turnovers and getting a sack. Kasyus Kurns earned his third takeaway with an interception. Ty Rawls had his interception in the third quarter erased after a penalty, but followed up later in the frame with an INT that stood. Caimyn Layne had the sack with a team-high six tackles.
 
With 10 minutes to play in the second quarter, Baylor went ahead 28-0 on a Dawson Pendergrass 1-yard rush. The Texans had their best drive of the first half to close following Kurns' INT, going 73 yards before having to settle for a field goal, but Michael James' 24-yard attempt sailed wide left, leaving the score 28-0 at the break.
 
The Texans picked up where they left off to start the third, driving down to the Baylor 17-yard line before facing another field goal try. Adrian Guzman nailed the 34-yard attempt down the middle to put points on the board for the Purple and White. Baylor responded with a 17-yard touchdown connection to make it 35-3 Bears. Baylor added a field goal and a touchdown on back-to-back drives in the fourth to make the final 45-3.
  
SEASON'S STANDOUTS
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.
 
In Week 0 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. After Week 1, Britten sits in third across the FCS in total rush yards at 232, nine yards behind Montana State's Scottre Humphrey and a yard behind Montana State's Adam Jones. If Britten runs for 268 yards or more on Saturday, he would become the first Tarleton player since 2005 to rush for 500 yards across the first three games of a season (Derrick Ross).
 
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. He has the tied-most fumble recoveries in FCS at two and he has the tied-fourth most interceptions with one. If he earns a takeaway on Saturday, he will become the second Tarleton player in the D1 era to record a takeaway in three straight games (Devin Hafford, 2021). Kurns recovered two fumbles in Week 0 and logged an interception in Week 1.
 
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.
 
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)
 
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
In the United Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the Texans were picked to finish second out of nine teams in the UAC. The Texans slated narrowly behind the preseason favorite Central Arkansas. The Bears led the field with 77 points, earning five of nine first-place votes, while the Texans secured 74 points and three first-place votes. There was a large separation from the top-two teams and the rest of the field, with Southern Utah in third at 54 points. Austin Peay netted the other first-place vote, finishing fifth in the poll.
 
Running back Kayvon Britten was named the UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, then named to the 2024 FCS Preseason All-America First Team by Stats Perform, and was one of 35 players in FCS to be named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List. Britten was a UAC First Team All-Conference running back a season ago, also logging 2023 FCS Football Central All-American Third Team and Phil Steele FCS 2023 All-American Fourth Team accolades. He was one of the best running backs in the nation, finishing with 1,150 yards on 183 carries (6.3 yards per rush) and 16 rushing touchdowns. Britten scored in 10 of Tarleton's 11 games, averaging 104.6 rushing yards per contest, plus he added 106 receiving yards and a touchdown on 11 catches, finishing with 17 total touchdowns on the season. Conference-wise, Britten was first in rushing touchdowns (third in the FCS) and total touchdowns (tied-fifth in FCS), second in total rushing yards (ninth in FCS), second in rushing yards per game (tied-11th FCS) and second in yards per rush (21st in FCS). Across Texan Football program history, he had the sixth most rushing yards in a single-season and the eighth most rushing yards per game in a single-season. Since 1977, he finished with the tied-third most rushing touchdowns in a single-season in program history, tied with Gaylon Bowser's 16 rushing scores in 1987, only behind Xavier Turner's 22 touchdowns in 2018 and Derrick Ross' 22 touchdowns in 2004.
 
Britten was one of five Texans to earn a spot on the Preseason All-Conference teams. Wide receiver Darius Cooper and center Tuli Teuhema joined Britten on the Preseason All-Conference Offensive Team, defensive lineman Brandon Tolvert made the Preseason All-Conference Defensive Team, and return specialist Deangelo Rosemond was voted on the Preseason All-Conference Specialist Team. Britten, Cooper and Rosemond were unanimous selections. Cooper joined Britten as a 2024 FCS Preseason All-American by Stats Perform.
 
OFFENSIVE LOYALTY
Tarleton State has been a rare program in the modern college football era that hasn't been affected by the transfer portal much. In fact, the Texans had 10 of their 11 same offensive starters begin Saturday's game from a season ago. Tarleton State lost just one offensive starter to the transfer portal, wide receiver Jaden Smith, who went to Nevada. Keylan Johnson replaced Smith as a starter on Saturday.
 
GOOD WORK GETS NOTICED
In July, head coach Todd Whitten announced that defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix had been promoted to Assistant Head Coach. In addition to helping the Texans to their best record as an NCAA Division I institution in 2023 at 8-3, Nix's defense led the United Athletic Conference in yards per play allowed (4.76), defensive touchdowns (four, tied-fourth in FCS) and fumbles recovered (11, tied-ninth in FCS). The Texans held four opponents to 17 points or fewer and had three defensive players named to All-UAC honors under Nix last season. Nix is the first Assistant Head Coach under Whitten since the head coach returned to the helm in Stephenville in 2016.
 
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 .721 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the 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 49 wins since the start of 2018, the third most wins in the state by an NCAA Division I or II program, behind Texas (who has played nine more games) and SMU (who has played eight more). The list of the top scholarship programs in Texas over that span:
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Tarleton State	UAC	.721
2.	Angelo State	LSC	.708
3.	Incarnate Word	SLC	.676
4.	Texas	SEC	.662
5.	SMU	AAC	.658
6.	Sam Houston	C-USA	.642
7.	Texas A&M	SEC	.622
8.	UTSA	C-USA	.603
9.	Midwestern State	LSC	.571
10.	Texas A&M-Commerce	SLC	.567

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Texas	SEC	51
2.	SMU	AAC	50
3.	Tarleton State	UAC	49
4.	UTSA	AAC	47
5.	Texas A&M	SEC	46
	Incarnate Word	SLC	45
	Angelo State	LSC	46
8.	Sam Houston	C-USA	43
9.	Baylor	Big 12	42
	TCU	Big 12	42

 
IT'S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
After a season that felt a bit shorter than usual with no bye week, five home games and no playoff eligibility despite the Tarleton State football team going 8-3, that all changes this season. The Texans have six home games and 12 games overall with two bye weeks in the middle, making it their longest regular season in program history.
 
The 12 games mark the most regular season games in program history. Tarleton State has played 12 or more games in a season nine times, with each time featuring 10 or 11 regular season games plus playoff games or bowl games. They last played 12 games in 2019, their final NCAA Division II campaign in which they went 11-1, won the Lone Star Conference and made the playoffs.
 
With 91 days separating Tarleton's season opener and regular season finale, this is the longest regular season on record in program history. Tarleton's season opener serves as the earliest game played in a calendar year by the program since at least 1975 (not including the Spring 2021 pandemic season). The earliest date on record for Tarleton is Aug. 25, when the Texans hosted East Central in 2007, a 44-7 Tarleton win. Since at least 1975 when dates started being recorded, and not including the 2020 season played in spring 2021, Tarleton's Aug. 24 season opener is the seventh time they've started the season before September, and their Nov. 23 regular season finale is the latest Tarleton regular season game, a day beyond their previous known latest game of Nov. 22, 1975.
 
Like last year, all games will be on Saturdays again this season. All 12 of Tarleton's opponents are NCAA Division I programs, the most the Texans will have ever played against in a single-season in program history, surpassing their 10 played last year.
 
COORDINATE TOGETHER
Ahead of the spring football season, the Texans promoted Adam Austin to offensive coordinator and Scott Carey to co-offensive coordinator. Austin will be the Texans' offensive play caller in 2024. He has served as the quarterbacks coach, a role he will maintain, the last three seasons. Over the past three seasons, Austin's quarterbacks have consistently put up elite performances. Victor Gabalis ranked first in yards per completion in the conference, as well as fourth in overall passing efficiency last season. His best game was in Tarleton's 59-17 romping of Stephen F. Austin, where he threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-19 passing. In Austin's first two seasons at Tarleton, his quarterbacks produced seven 300-plus yard performances, including the most in the Western Athletic Conference in 2022 with five. Also that season, the Texans finished third in the WAC with 24 passing touchdowns, throwing for 2,883 yards across 11 games, averaging 262.1 passing yards per contest.
 
Carey was also promoted to co-offensive coordinator, in charge of the run game. Carey has been on the Tarleton coaching staff the past six seasons, leading the offensive line, a role he will maintain. The offensive line has powered a run game that has been a staple with Carey at the helm, posting the best rushing offense in the conference last season with 201.7 rushing yards per game (12th in the FCS) and 25 rushing touchdowns (16th in the FCS). Carey's OL played a part in the Texans' best year of total offense at the D1 level in 2022 as the Texans averaged 436.8 yards per game and 6.1 yards per play, with both marks being tops in the Western Athletic Conference. Over the past six seasons, the Texans have had eight First Team All-Conference offensive linemen, five on Second Team All-Conference, and five honorable mentions.
 
THEIR JORDAN YEAR
Last season was a special year for Tarleton State, as the Texans set several records and won several awards in 2023...

• Tarleton posted its most wins in a season since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, going 8-3 overall, 4-2 in conference play. The Texans finished tied-second in the United Athletic Conference, despite being picked to finish sixth in the 2023 Preseason UAC Coaches Poll, and would have likely received an FCS playoff at-large bid, if eligible.
• Todd Whitten earned the inaugural United Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award and become one of 20 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which recognizes the national coach of the year in Division I FCS. It was Whitten's seventh Coach of the Year award at TSU.
• A major milestone in Whitten's career came on Sept. 30 when the Texans defeated Southeastern Louisiana for his 100th win as Tarleton State's head coach. This made him the 12th coach among current D1 schools in Texas to reach 100 wins with one program.
• The Texans finished on a four-game winning streak. The two road wins came by a combined three points, while the two at home were each won by 42 points. Perhaps the most entertaining of the bunch was the season finale against Abilene Christian, where Whitten helped engineer a 16-point fourth quarter comeback. This was the team's largest comeback win in the D1 era.
• Nine players earned All-Conference honors, four on the first team and five on the second team.
• Offensively, Tarleton ranked first in the conference in yards per play (6.4, 11th most nationally), first in rush yards per game (201.7, 12th nationally), first in rush touchdowns (25, 16th nationally), second in points per game (33.3, 13th nationally), second in yards per game (430.5, 14th nationally) and second in yards per rush (5.2, 17th nationally).
• Defensively, the Texans had the most defensive touchdowns in the conference (four, tied-fourth nationally), were first in fumbles recovered (11, tied-ninth nationally), first in yards per play (4.8, 17th nationally), first in sacks (26, tied-28th nationally), tied-third in takeaways (18, tied-36th nationally), tied-third in tackles for loss (65, tied-39th nationally), and fourth in scoring defense (24.5 points per game, tied-46th nationally).
• On special teams, Tarleton was first in kickoff return (24.3 yards per return, eighth nationally) and second in punt return (18.2 yards per return, fourth nationally).
• Tarleton State saw an average of 18,697 fans through the turnstiles across five home games, slating them fourth among 129 FCS programs in average attendance.

 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (eight FBS, three FCS) have a better winning percentage than Tarleton since 2018 (Cincinnati, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Appalachian State, North Dakota State, James Madison, Princeton). 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.	Alabama	SEC	.893
2.	Georgia	SEC	.892
3.	Ohio State	Big 10	.882
4.	North Dakota State	MVFC	.862
5.	Clemson	ACC	.831
6.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.821
7.	James Madison	SBC	.816
8.	Princeton	Ivy	.800
9.	Oklahoma	SEC	.772
10.	Cincinnati	Big 12	.740
11.	Appalachian State	SBC	.738
12.	Tarleton State	UAC	.721

 
9: The Texans just had their nine-game winning streak snapped when wearing their purple helmets. It marked their first loss in their purple helmets since Nov. 12, 2022, at Utah Tech. They were 7-0 in purple helmets in 2023.
 
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 at Tarleton, kicker Michael James split the uprights on 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 on Nov. 14, 2009, by Garrett Lindholm at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
UP NEXT
Tarleton State will have their first of two bye weeks during 2024. After the open week, which is Sept. 14, the Texans will play their third straight road game, opening United Athletic Conference play at North Alabama on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. CT.