STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Following a record season for Tarleton State Football in which the Texans made it to the second round of the FCS Playoffs, they announced their 2025 schedule on Wednesday.
 
The Texans will play 12 regular season games for the second straight year, six at home at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville, and six true road games. Their 2025 slate will begin on Aug. 23 at Portland State, and the regular season will conclude on Nov. 22 at home against Austin Peay.
 
"Last season was an incredible year, one of the best in program history, and it proved that we have an elite program that is continuing to rise," head coach Todd Whitten said. "Our 2025 campaign has not gotten any easier, with a strong non-conference slate and eight UAC games in a conference that showed how tough it is last season. This is the one of the best eras in Tarleton State Football history, and I know with hard work this offseason, we can have another special year in 2025."
 
Last year, the Texans became the fifth team in the history of the FCS Playoffs to win their first playoff game at the FCS level in their first year eligible after reclassifying from NCAA Division II. The Texans finished 10-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play, reaching double-digit wins for the sixth time in program history. They ended the season ranked No. 12 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and No. 13 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.
 
The 2025 campaign will mark the 10th time the Texans will play 12 or more games in a season, but just the second time they have 12 regular season games, doing so in back-to-back years. The 2025 season will also tie Tarleton State's 2024 campaign for longest regular seasons by number of days at 91.
 
For the second straight season, Tarleton State will be one of the few teams featured in the Week 0 slate, as the Texans will head west to face Portland State in Hillsboro, Oregon, on Aug. 23. That will be the earliest game played in a calendar year by the program since at least 1975 (not including the Spring 2021 pandemic season). Tarleton played its Week 0 contest on Aug. 24 last year, beating McNeese 26-23 at Memorial Stadium, seen on ESPN2. The earliest date on record for Tarleton State before that was Aug. 25, 2007, a 44-7 Texan win against East Central. The 2025 game between the Texans and Vikings will be the first meeting between the two.
 
Tarleton State's second opponent will be nearly 3,000 miles from its first, as the Texans head from Oregon to New York to play Army on Aug. 30. This will mark Tarleton State's first game against an FBS team outside of the Big 12, as the American Athletic Conference program will host the Texans at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York. Army is coming off of one of its best seasons in program history, going 12-2 overall and 9-0 in conference play. The Black Knights won a program-record 12th game with their Independence Bowl victory over Louisiana Tech. Tarleton State Athletics will be hosting a Texan Football VIP Experience at West Point that weekend. All Texan Nation members interested in being part of an incredible trip to witness the Texans play at Army in West Point are encouraged to sign up to receive information as it becomes available at www.tarletonsports.com/vip.   
 
The Texans' home opener at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville will be against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 6. The Texans hosted the Delta Devils in 2022 for their season opener, winning 29-13 on the first day of September. As Tarleton State has made customary, its home opener will be a Purple Out, with the Freshman Run occurring pregame.
 
On Sept. 13, the Texans will play their first United Athletic Conference game on the road against Central Arkansas at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas. Tarleton State has fared well against UCA, owning a 3-0 record against the Bears, all games played over the last four seasons. This will be Tarleton State's second trip to Conway, as the Texans beat a No. 18 ranked Bears team on Oct. 28, 2023, 25-23 in a downpour.
 
Sept. 20 will mark Family Weekend in Stephenville, with Tarleton State hosting Chattanooga for the duo's first meeting. The Mocs out of the Southern Conference have posted five straight winning seasons, including an 8-5 campaign in 2023 that featured a run to the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
 
The Texans will have their first of two open weeks on Sept. 27 before their classic series against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds will play another chapter on Oct. 4 in Stephenville for Tarleton State's Legends Game. The conference foes are 2-2 over the past four years, with the combined margin of victory sitting at nine points. Last season marked the second straight one-point result, as Tarleton State left Cedar City, Utah, with a 38-37 overtime win.
 
On Oct. 11, Tarleton State will head to St. George, Utah, to take on Utah Tech. The Texans just blanked the Trailblazers 42-0 on Homecoming last year to take a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. Tarleton State has played at Greater Zion Stadium twice before, going 1-1.
 
On Oct. 18, Homecoming will feature a conference game between Tarleton State and West Georgia at Memorial Stadium. This will be the Wolves' first trip to Stephenville after starting their run in the UAC last season. Tarleton State won 38-21 in Carrollton, Georgia, this past season on UWG's Senior Day.
 
Tarleton State will make its third trip to Richmond, Kentucky, on Oct. 25 to face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. This has been one of Tarleton's toughest tests of late, with the Colonels spotting a 3-0 record against the Texans, twice winning at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond. EKU was one of three UAC teams, alongside Tarleton State and Abilene Christian, to make the FCS Playoffs last year.
 
Speaking of the Wildcats, the Texans will head to Abilene on Nov. 1 to face the reigning UAC champions at Wildcat Stadium.  Tarleton and ACU are coming off of an all-time battle that decided the conference championship last season, with ACU scoring its game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds left. Last time in Abilene, Tarleton State scored 17 straight in the fourth quarter to win 31-30 in 2023.
 
After another open week on Nov. 8, Tarleton's final two regular season games will be at home on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22. First, the Texans will host North Alabama on Military Appreciation, a Lions team that Tarleton now owns a 4-1 all-time record against. On Senior Day, the Texans will host Austin Peay for the first time. Tarleton State beat the 2023 UAC champions last year in Clarksville, Tennessee, 27-17.
 
The full 2025 Tarleton State Football schedule can be seen below:
 

Date	Opponent	Theme	Location
Aug. 23	Portland State	Week 0	Hillsboro, OR
Aug. 30	Army	VIP Experience at West Point	West Point, NY
Sept. 6	Mississippi Valley State	Purple Out	Stephenville, TX
Sept. 13	Central Arkansas*		Conway, AR
Sept. 20	Chattanooga	Family Weekend	Stephenville, TX
Sept. 27	BYE
Oct. 4	Southern Utah*	Legends Game	Stephenville, TX
Oct. 11	Utah Tech*		St. George, UT
Oct. 18	West Georgia*	Homecoming	Stephenville, TX
Oct. 25	Eastern Kentucky*		Richmond, KY
Nov. 1	Abilene Christian*		Abilene, TX
Nov. 8	BYE
Nov. 15	North Alabama*	Military Appreciation	Stephenville, TX
Nov. 22	Austin Peay*	Senior Day	Stephenville, TX

 
Dates and times subject to change | Home games in bold | * UAC Game