The Teams: No. 3 Tarleton State Texans (7-0, 3-0 UAC) vs. No. 23 West Georgia Wolves (5-2, 2-2 UAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (John Liddle, LaDarrin McLane, Kendra Sheehan, Blaine Tamez)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens, Ty Walker)
Game Sponsor: National Farm Life
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
It's Homecoming at Tarleton State, and lots of events will fill the agenda for Texan Nation. The Homecoming Game, presented by National Farm Life, will feature an undefeated No. 3 ranked Texans team looking to improve to 8-0 against a ranked West Georgia squad.
 
Tarleton State and West Georgia will square off at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with John Liddle, LaDarrin McLane and Kendra Sheehan 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, with 105.3 The Fan's Bryan Broaddus guest hosting, as well.
 
GAME DAY FESTIVITIES
Texan Alley opens at 8 a.m. for tailgaters. The Pointe-du-Hoc rally will be at 2:40 p.m. at Rudder Way Statue, with special guest Texas State Representative DeWayne Burns helping lead the event. Memorial Stadium gates will open at 4 p.m., and in Texan Alley, Kyle Park will play a concert from 4-5:30 p.m.
 
The Sound and the Fury will perform at 5:42 p.m., followed by the national anthem. A parachutist will then land on the field with a game ball, followed by the Texan Rider leading the Texans onto the field at 5:58 p.m. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:02 p.m.
 
Single-game tickets can be purchased and claimed at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. Fans should add their tickets to their mobile wallet before arriving on campus.
 
Texan students should now use the Corq app to attend Tarleton State Athletics' games and events for free.
 
For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley. General Admission ticket holders and students should enter at the north and east sides, and reserved ticket holders should enter at the west side. Fans with GA tickets in the north end zone can enter through right lane at the north and east gates, while students with the Corq app should enter through the left lane at the north and east gates.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the second all-time meeting. West Georgia joined the UAC last year, and the Texans defeated the Wolves 38-21 in Carrollton. Victor Gabalis went 20/28 with 241 yards and 2 TD in the game.
• UWG has dropped two straight after opening the season 5-0. Both losses came against ranked opponents; #21 APSU and #19 ACU. The Wolves' 5-0 start was their best since 2018, and they're 3-1 on road.
• UWG is a balanced team, a would-be 27th in FCS in scoring defense (22.0 PPG) and a would-be No. 38 in scoring offense (29.4 PPG).
• The Wolves have played four QB's this year. Colton Fitzgerald made his first start on Saturday, going 19/37 with 279 yards and a TD.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Texans are ranked No. 3 in both the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll and AFCA Coaches Poll for the sixth straight week. Only North Dakota State and South Dakota State rank ahead of the Texans in both polls.
• The Texans have started 7-0 for the first time in their NCAA Division I era. They last started 7-0 in 2019, a season they started 11-0. They are one of two 7-0 FCS programs across all of NCAA Division I, along with the FCS' Lehigh.
• TSU is enjoying its longest winning streak in its D1 era (seven games). Since 2023, Tarleton State is 25-7 (.781).
• With a win Saturday, Tarleton State would improve to 4-0 at home. It would mark the Texans' first time starting 4-0 at home in their NCAA Division I era, the first since starting 5-0 at home in 2019. Tarleton State is 69-23 (.750) at home all-time under head coach Todd Whitten.
• The Texans' program record streak of scoring 50+ points finally ended at four games, but Tarleton State has an active five-game streak of scoring 40+ points, and have scored 40+ points in six of seven games this season, 30+ in all seven. They are fourth in the country in scoring offense (47.4 PPG) and have the most points (332).
• The Texans are best in the country in both average turnover margin (+2.29) and total turnover margin (+16).
• James Paige totaled 5 TD in the Texans' last game, rushing for four, the ninth player in team history to score four.

 
HOMECOMING COURT FIELD
Homecoming is a special time on Tarleton State's campus, and it's been a special time on the field for Texan Football. Over the past eight seasons, the Texans have gone 7-1 on Homecoming, and under head coach Todd Whitten, the Texans are 12-3 in such games. The last two Homecoming games have been extra special, as the Texans have outscored their opponents 84-0, shutting each of them out 42-0 (Utah Tech in 2024, Morehead State in 2023). The Texans outgained those two opponents in yardage 1,011-354, with a 589-91 yard advantage on the ground.
 
This Saturday, Tarleton State has big plans for the day. Texan Alley will get an extra boost of fun with a Kyle Park concert from 4-5:30 p.m. At around 5:50 p.m., a parachuter will soar through the sky and deliver the game ball as he/she parachutes onto the field from a helicopter. After the Texan Rider runs onto the field, the debut of a new "run-out" feature will provide further elevated pregame entertainment, and the usual fireworks shows both in the sky and on the field are set as well.
 
DIFFERENT PAIGE, SAME STORY
Tarleton State's usual starting running back Tre Page III missed the last game due to injury, along with Caleb Lewis, as the duo has provided a two-headed monster attack. Quarterback James Paige, who has spent time at the running back position over the past few games, spelled the both of them and carried the load for Tarleton State this past Saturday, scoring five total touchdowns, with four rushing, adding 114 rushing yards on 30 carries (3.8 YPC). Paige became the ninth player in program history to score four touchdowns in a game, technically the second quarterback to do so, joining Steve Kelly's four-touchdown scoring game against Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 13, 2001. Paige did most of the work as a running back, a feat that five Texan RB's have accomplished, the most recent by Kayvon Britten last year. Paige's four rushing touchdowns are the tied-most in a single-game at the FCS level this season, and were the most by any FCS player in the nation this week. These were all career-high marks for Paige; rushing touchdowns, rushing yards and passing touchdowns.
 
PERFECT START
It's just over the halfway point of the season for Tarleton State Football, and it's been a perfect start for the Texans. The team is a spotless 7-0, 3-0 at home and 4-0 on the road. The Texans have won a pair of nationally televised games (42-0 at Portland State on ESPN2 during Week 0, 30-27 OT at Army on CBS Sports Network during Week 1), have set record crowds at Memorial Stadium, and are ranked No. 3 in the national polls for the sixth straight week. The Texans have now started 7-0 for the third time under head coach Todd Whitten (2025, 2019, 2018) and for the seventh time in program history (also 2007, 1990, 1978, 1935). Between 2018-19, the previous two times Tarleton State started 7-0 (and 8-0), the Texans finished a combined 23-2 (.920). Tarleton State is one of two NCAA Division I programs to start 7-0 thus far, joined by Lehigh.
 
Offensively, the Texans are one of the best teams in the nation, ranked No. 4 in scoring (47.4 points per game), No. 6 in team passing efficiency (176.2), No. 7 in sacks allowed (0.71 per game), No. 8 in rushing offense (231.4 yards per game), and No. 11 in total offense (466.7 YPG). The Texans have just three turnovers on the year, tied-fifth fewest in the FCS. Tarleton State has thrown just one interception this season, tied-third fewest in the FCS.
 
Defensively, Tarleton State has been elite, especially in getting the football. The Texans have 19 takeaways this season, the most in the country by far, with the next closest team at 15 (Dayton). The Texans are best in the country in average turnover margin at +2.29, and are best in total turnover margin at +16 (next closest is +13, Dayton). The Texan defense has scored four touchdowns themselves, tied- most in the nation with EKU. The Texans have allowed just three passing touchdowns on the year across seven games. Tarleton State is No. 12 in scoring defense this season, allowing just 18.4 points per game. The Texans are also No. 33 in total defense, allowing 344.0 yards per game, second best in the conference. It's been a full effort by the Texans on defense, with eight players recording a fumble recovery, seven players with an interception, five players at 5.0+ TFL, five with a sack.
 
OFFICIALLY TOP-THREE
Tarleton State Football has been No. 3 in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls for six straight weeks, the two major national rankings used at the FCS level. But the ranking that determines every team's playoff fate comes via the Division I Football Championship Committee. The committee agreed that Tarleton State is No. 3 across all of the FCS on Wednesday in its initial FCS Top 10 ranking release.
 
Live on ESPN2 Wednesday during College Football Live, the committee released its first of two "snapshots" of how teams stack up at this point of the season. Tarleton State Football was announced as the No. 3 team in the Top 10, only behind North Dakota State and South Dakota State. The rest of the Top 10 is No. 4 Montana State, No. 5 Montana, No. 6 UC Davis, No. 7 Lehigh, No. 9 North Dakota, No. 9 Monmouth and No. 10 Tennessee Tech. 
 
The Division I Football Championship Committee plans to announce another midseason look at its FCS Top 10 ranking on Wednesday, Nov. 5, also during the College Football Live broadcast at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2. That will come following Week 10, just three weeks away from selections for the Division I Football Championship.
 
This year in selecting at-large teams, the FCS championship committee considers each team's won-lost record, their strength of schedule, Regional Advisory Committee rankings/feedback and games reviewed by the committee on video. A secondary tool are four metrics that may be considered, all including only games from the current season (KPI, Massey Ratings and ESPN's two Football Power Indexes).
 
The 2025 championship field will consist of 11 automatic qualifiers and 13 at-large selections. The FCS Selection Show will air November 23 at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.
 
The 2026 FCS Championship game will be held January 5, 2026 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.
 
NATIONAL FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Tre Page III has burst onto the scene this season as a redshirt freshman, and he shined again in his last game, an Oct. 4 performance at home against Southern Utah. Last week, Page was named the Stats Perform FCS National Freshman Player of the Week.
 
Page recorded 198 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries (10.4 YPC) in Tarleton State's 52-42 home conference win over Southern Utah. This was a career-night for the redshirt freshman, who set a new career-high in rushing yards (198), plus tied his career-high in rushing touchdowns (two, also Aug. 23 at Portland State this season). Page's 198 rushing yards mark the tied-12th most in a single game across the FCS this season. He is now 10th in the nation in rush yards this season (673), and tied-20th in rushing touchdowns (six). He's second in yards per carry at 7.83, just barely behind Alcorn's Jacorian Sewell at 7.85 yards per carry.
 
This is the second national weekly award that Tarleton State has garnered this season. On Sept. 1, Tarleton State was named the Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week following wins at Portland State and Army.
 
UAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
In addition to Page's national recognition, he was also named the UAC Freshman of the Week last week.  Through now seven games, Tarleton State has had six individuals named a United Athletic Conference Player of the Week, two of which were Freshman of the Week honors to Page.
 
After Weeks 0-1, Tarleton State had Kasyus Kurns named the UAC Defensive Player of the Week, kicker Brad Larson the UAC Special Teams Player of the Week, and running back Tre Page III the UAC Freshman of the Week. Kurns recorded two interceptions, a fumble recovery and four total tackles in Tarleton State's 30-27 double overtime win at Army. Kurns' three takeaways were all in the second half to help Tarleton State to one of its best victories in program history. Kurns earned a takeaway on three straight Army drives. Larson made the game-winning field goal in double overtime at Army. He went 3-of-3 on field goals, making a 30-yard field goal to give Tarleton State a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, then made a 28-yard field goal in the first overtime to give Tarleton State a 27-24 lead, and finally made a 37-yard field goal to win the game for Tarleton State in double overtime. These were Larson's first field goal attempts in his Tarleton State career. Page stole the show in the first half against Portland State on Aug. 23, racing for a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter, then an 89-yard scamper for a score in the second quarter. Page had 160 rushing yards in the first half alone, finishing with 170 for the game and his two scores on 15 carries (11.3 yards per rush). Page had the most rushing yards in a season opener in Tarleton State Football NCAA Division I history, and the most since Daniel McCants had 190 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 20.
 
After Week 3, linebacker Yasir Holmes was named the UAC Defensive Player of the Week, his first career honor in his first season at Tarleton State. Holmes recorded a team-high three tackles for loss, a sack and a team-high seven total tackles in Tarleton State's 56-10 road win in its conference opener at Central Arkansas. Holmes became the first Texan with three tackles for loss in a game since Blaine Hoover had 3.0 TFL on Nov. 19, 2022, against Houston Christian. 
 
After Week 4, kicker Corbin Poston was named the Special Teams Player of the Week, his first career honor. Poston nailed a pair of long field goals, drilling one from 50 yards and the other from 49 yards, plus had 10 kickoffs cover 608 yards with seven touchbacks in Tarleton State's win. Poston is the only kicker across all of the FCS to make two field goals from 49-plus yards in a single game this season. His 50-yarder is the tied-21st longest field goal make in the FCS this season. Poston is one of five kickers with multiple field goal makes of 49 yards or longer (New Hampshire's Nick Reed, Idaho State's Trajan Sinatra, Mercer's Reice Griffith, Stony Brook's Michael Mannino). Over the past 15 years, Poston is one of two Texans to make a 50-yard field goal.
 
BEST IN TEXAS
Since the start of the 2018 season, Tarleton State has been one of the best scholarship football programs in the entire state of Texas. The Texans enter Saturday's game with a .747 winning percentage since the start of 2018, the highest mark across all of the NCAA Division I and II programs in the state. Tarleton State is the only Texas D1 or D2 institution with all seven winning seasons since 2018. They have 65 wins since the start of 2018, the second 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.	Tarleton State	UAC	.747
2.	Angelo State	LSC	.720
3.	Texas	SEC	.684
4.	SMU	American	.670
5.	Incarnate Word	SLC	.667
6.	Texas A&M	SEC	.652
7.	Sam Houston	C-USA	.612
8.	UTSA	C-USA	.583
9.	TCU	Big 12	.581
10.	Baylor	Big 12	.564

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Texas	SEC	67
2.	Tarleton State	UAC	65
3.	SMU	American	63
4.	Texas A&M	SEC	60
5.	Angelo State	LSC	59
6.	Incarnate Word	SLC	58
7.	UTSA	American	56
8.	TCU	Big 12	54
9.	Baylor	Big 12	53
10.	Sam Houston	C-USA	52

 
LAST TIME OUT
The injury bug hit Tarleton State hard entering its contest at Utah Tech, but the Texans' depth made it mission accomplished once again – a win. The Texans (7-0, 3-0 UAC) remained perfect on the season and won a program NCAA Division I era record seventh straight game, beating Utah Tech (1-6, 0-3 UAC) on the road at Greater Zion Stadium in St. George on Saturday night, 41-23.
 
James Paige had a career-night, totaling five touchdowns against the Trailblazers, four rushing and one passing. Paige, listed as a QB, started in the RB spot, with Tarleton State's dynamic duo of Tre Page III and Caleb Lewis out with injuries. Paige became the ninth player in program history to score four touchdowns in a game, plus he added one passing, finishing with 114 rushing yards.
 
The Texans were without starting QB Victor Gabalis for a second straight game. Daniel Greek got the start again and improved to 3-0 all-time as the Texans' starting quarterback, completing 13-of-21 for 169 yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception. Braelon Bridges raced for 70 yards on seven carries (10.0 YPC), and Deangelo Rosemond added 59 yards on 10 carries (5.9 YPC). Trevon West led the receivers with 60 yards on four catches, and Danny Joiner added a 4-yard receiving touchdown.
 
Defensively, Dabari Hawkins led the group with seven total tackles, along with a pass breakup. Angelo Anderson had a forced fumble on a sack, with three total tackles. Josh Griffis had two TFL, three total tackles and two QBH.
 
The Texans outgained the Trailblazers 262-132 on the ground, 435-352 in total yardage. Tarleton State had a major advantage in time of possession 33:52-26:08, but lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, 2-1.
 
The Texans entered Saturday night's contest going 78 straight drives without turning the ball over, and didn't have an interception thrown through their first six games. On the first play of the game Saturday, Greek threw an interception to Utah Tech at the Tarleton State 33-yard line. The Trailblazers scored on a six-play drive, a Reggie Graff 5-yard rush. Tarleton State responded with big plays by Kramer (29 yards), Bridges (36 yards) and a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Paige to tie it 7-7. The Texans forced a three-and-out and got the ball at their own 2-yard line. Over 17 plays and 8:45 of action, the Texans scored with 10 seconds left in the first quarter, a Paige 4-yard pass to Joiner to make it 13-7. In the second, the Texans drove 72 yards in 11 plays, scoring on a Paige 1-yard rushing touchdown. Utah Tech added a field goal right before halftime to make it a 20-13 Texan lead at the break. In the third quarter, Tarleton State scored on another 72-yard drive (Paige 1-yard rush). The Texans led 27-16 after three. In the fourth, Tarleton State got the ball with 14:09 to play, and bled almost 10 minutes off of the clock on its 66-yard scoring drive, capped off by another Paige rushing touchdown, this time from two yards out. With under two minutes to play, Tarleton State punted it to Utah Tech, who muffed the punt, and Texan long snapper Reid Brass recovered the fumble at the Trailblazers' 3-yard line. That set up a Greek 2-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 41-23 final.
 
GABALLER
Before his injury, Texans QB Victor Gabalis was proving why he was selected as the unanimous UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Through five games, Gabalis completed 69-of-111 (.622) passes for 966 yards, 12 touchdowns, and zero turnovers. In Tarleton State's home opener, Gabalis completed 20-of-27 (.741) passes for 295 yards, five touchdowns and zero turnovers in TSU's 59-3 win against Mississippi Valley State. His five passing touchdowns are the most in a game by a Tarleton State QB in 10 years, since Zed Woerner had five against Oklahoma Panhandle on Oct. 24, 2015. The five touchdowns mark Gabalis' most in his three seasons at Tarleton State, surpassing four four-touchdown performances, two in 2024 and two in 2023. His five touchdown passes are his most since throwing five against Southern Utah while with Utah Tech on Oct. 29, 2022.
 
This is Gabalis' sixth season at the collegiate level, having played two seasons at Washington State (2020-21), one season at Utah Tech (2022) and now in his third season at Tarleton State (2023-25). He's played in 42 career collegiate games, sitting at 8,488 passing yards and 72 passing touchdowns. In games Gabalis has started in his career, his teams have gone 25-8 (.756). At Tarleton State, Gabalis is 22-6 (.786) as a starter with 6,341 passing yards on 426-of-721 (.591) passing, 53 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. Gabalis has surpassed Steve Kelly (51) on Tarleton's State's career passing touchdown list at No. 4, and he's four short of tying Scott Grantham at 57 (2007-09) at No. 3. Gabalis has surpassed Ben Holmes (5,997) at No. 5 on Tarleton State's all-time career passing yards leaderboard and is 920 short of Chad Cole (7,267, 1995-98) at No. 4.
 
During the preseason, Gabalis was named the unanimous UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and to the Preseason All-UAC Team. He was also named to the 2025 Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List, one of 30 players named to the list for an award that is equivalent to the Heisman Trophy at the FBS level.
 
Last season, Gabalis was named UAC Second Team All-Conference after leading the Texans to a 9-3 overall record as the starting quarterback, 6-2 in UAC play. He completed 193-of-309 (.625) for 2,883 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 12 games.
 
BIRTHDAY WISH GRANTED
On Sept. 20, WR Peyton Kramer, on his birthday, recorded seven receptions for 190 yards and three touchdowns in Tarleton State's 52-24 home win over Chattanooga. Kramer is one of just four players across all of the FCS with three receiving touchdowns and 150+ receiving yards in a game this season (Bucknell's Sam Milligan, Monmouth's Gavin Nelson, Davidson's Ivan Hoyt). Kramer recorded the tied-fourth most receiving yards in a single game at the FCS level this season, and the most by a UAC player in a single-game this season. Since starting his collegiate career at Oklahoma State in 2021, Tarleton State's game on Sept. 20 marked the first time Kramer has scored a touchdown – and he scored three times.
 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 10 NCAA Division I teams (seven FBS, three FCS) have a better win percentage than Tarleton State since 2018 (Ohio State, North Dakota State, Georgia, Alabama, South Dakota State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Oregon, James Madison and Montana State). So among some other elite programs, Tarleton State has a higher W% than the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, USC, LSU, etc.
 

#	School	Conf.	Win Pct.
1.	Ohio State	Big 10	.887
2.	North Dakota State	MVFC	.880
3.	Georgia	SEC	.873
4.	Alabama	SEC	.863
5.	South Dakota State	MVFC	.824
6.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.818
7.	Clemson	ACC	.804
8.	James Madison	SBC	.798
9.	Oregon	Big 10	.789
10.	Montana State	MVFC	.772
11.	Tarleton State	UAC	.747
12.	Montana	Big Sky	.736
13.	Dartmouth	Ivy	.734
14.	Oklahoma	SEC	.732
15.	Boise State	MWC	.723

 
7: Tarleton State is the only NCAA Division I program in Texas with seven straight winning seasons. Among head coach Todd Whitten's 15 completed seasons at Tarleton State, his team has finished .500 or better 14 times, the only losing record at 5-6 in 2016.
 
50: The Texans just had their program record 50+ point scoring streak snapped at four games. Tarleton State has an active five-game streak of scoring 40+ points, its longest such streak since Oct. 6-Nov. 3, 2001 (also a Whitten-led team, a five-game streak).
 
8: Tarleton State has guaranteed another winning season for the program, making it eight straight years of a winning season and nine straight years of .500+ football (went .500 in 2017 after a bowl loss).
 
3: Tarleton State has started 3-0 in conference play for the second time in its D1 era (2024). Last season the Texans started 4-0 before dropping their first UAC game. Tarleton State and ACU are atop the UAC this year at 3-0.
 
1: Whitten is the only coach at any NCAA level actively coaching in his third stint at his current school. He is one of 37 coaches at any NCAA level to have three non-consecutive tenures at one school and the second coach with three stints at Tarleton State (W.J. Wisdom, 1920-22, 1924-28, 1930-35).
 
UP NEXT
Tarleton State will head to Richmond, Kentucky, to face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on their Homecoming. The game will be Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. CT.