The Teams: No. 3/5 Tarleton State Texans (2-0, 0-0 UAC) vs. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (0-1, 0-1 SWAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (John Liddle, Hek'ma Harrison, Kendra Sheehan, Blaine Tamez)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on 90.5 FM (Byron Anderson, Kyle Masters, Keltin Wiens, Ty Walker)
 
TEXAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY
It's the home opener, presented by The Grove, as the Texans will tilt with the Delta Devils on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with John Liddle, Hek'ma Harrison 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.
 
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 Tarleton State Athletics Hall of Famer Carl Pleasant helping lead the event. Memorial Stadium gates will open at 4 p.m.
 
The Sound and the Fury will perform at 5:42 p.m., followed by the national anthem. The New Student Run will commence at 5:50 p.m., with thousands of Texans expected to run the length of the field. The Texan Rider will lead the Texans onto the field at 5:57 p.m., and kickoff is scheduled for 6:02 p.m.
 
Single-game tickets can be purchased and claimed at TarletonSports.com/Tickets. For maps of the area and complete tailgating policies, visit TarletonSports.com/TexanAlley
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the second all-time meeting, as the Texans also opened at home against MVSU in 2022, their season opener (Sept. 1). Tarleton State won that 29-13 and outgained MVSU in total yardage 491-273.
• MVSU just lost its season opener 34-29 at home to Southern.
• In that season opener, MVSU allowed 223 rushing yards and an opposing Jaguar had 3.5 sacks, 5.0 TFL and nine total tackles.
• This is the first year for MVSU head coach Terrell Buckley after the Delta Devils have gone a combined 2-21 over the past two years.
• MVSU hasn't won one of its first two games of a season since 2014.
• Tarleton State is 12-3 in home openers under HC Todd Whitten.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Texans are ranked No. 3 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 5 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.
• Tarleton State was just named the Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week following its win at Army.
• The Texans were awarded three of the four UAC Player of the Week honors, with DB Kasyus Kurns Defensive Player of the Week, K Brad Larson Special Teams Player of the Week, and RB Tre Page III Freshman of the Week.
• The Texans have started 2-0 for the second time in three years, and the second time in their D1 era.
• Tarleton State is the only FCS program 2-0, one of five D1 programs 2-0 (Kansas, Iowa State, UNLV, WKU).
• Tarleton State just earned one of its best victories in program history, beating Army in West Point 30-27 in double overtime. The Texans won on a Brad Larson 37-yard field goal, earning Tarleton State's first road victory against an FBS program, and second win against an FBS program in five total matchups.
• The Texans have the most takeaways in the nation with seven through two games. With just one turnover themselves, the Texans are No. 1 in total turnover margin (+6) and tied-third in average TO margin (+3).
• Tarleton State is expecting thousands of students to sprint the length of the field pregame at its annual New Student Run. It's also a Purple Out, and the Texans will debut their new purple jerseys in an all-purple attire.

 
LOOKING TO START 3-0
Tarleton State has had an extremely successful start to its NCAA Division I era, but there is one mark that has defied the Texans thus far; 3-0. Tarleton State Football has yet to start a season 3-0, starting 2-0 just once in 2023. Of course, an unblemished record at the start for an FCS program is unlikely, with many FCS programs facing FBS opponents early in the season, like the Texans. Tarleton State's lone loss in the first three games in each of the past three years was on the road at an FBS program, and now that the Texans have earned their first true road win against an FBS opponent, their best chance to start 3-0 is this year.
 
The Texans have started 3-0 five times under head coach Todd Whitten (2019, 2018, 2004, 2002, 1996). The last two seasons, the Texans finished a combined 23-2 (.920), plus went 9-2 in 2004, 6-5 in 2000 and 5-5 in 1996.
 
On Saturday, Tarleton State could become the lone D1 program in the nation to start 3-0 thus far this season. Currently, the Texans are the only FCS program sitting at 2-0, and one of five D1 programs with that mark, along with Kansas, Iowa State, UNLV and Western Kentucky. Kansas will play at Missouri on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Iowa State will host Iowa on Saturday at 11 a.m., UNLV will host UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m., and Western Kentucky will play at Toledo on Saturday at 6 p.m. When the Texans concluded their contest on Aug. 29, they were the first team in the nation to start 2-0.
 
HIGHLY RESPECTED
At the tail-end of its NCAA Division II era, Tarleton State had the respect and reputation for being an elite program amongst its peers. It hasn't taken long in the Texans' D1 era to reach that same level. Last year, the Texans were No. 12 in the final AFCA FCS Coaches Poll of the season, and No. 13 in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll of the season. They were ranked in both polls every single week of the 2024 campaign, from the preseason through the postseason, one of 11 teams nationwide to never leave the polls, joined by Idaho, Illinois State, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, UC Davis, UIW and Villanova.
 
This season, Tarleton State is now ranked No. 3 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, and No. 5 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. These are the highest rankings in Tarleton State Football's NCAA Division I era.
 
Amongst its conference peers, Tarleton State is the heavy favorite to win the UAC, picked by eight of the nine teams to finish No. 1. This is the first time the Texans have been picked in the preseason to win the conference since Tarleton State joined the D1 ranks. Since 2021, the first year Tarleton State Football was in a conference at the D1 level, the Texans have quickly elevated their positioning in the conference standings, going from fourth in 2021 and fifth in 2022 in the standings, to tied-second in each 2023 and 2024.
 
A DEBUT FOR THE AGES
Kicker Brad Larson handled kickoff duties in the season opener, but made his place-kicking debut at Army, and instantly became a Texan legend with his 2-for-2 record in the overtimes, including a 37-yard field goal make in double overtime to upset the Black Knights at Michie Stadium in front of 23,032 fans. Altogether he was perfect on the day, making 3-of-3 field goal attempts and 3-of-3 extra points. He made 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.
 
Larson joined the Texans from Angelo State this past offseason. He played four years with the Rams from 2021-24, the team's leading scorer in both 2024 and 2023. He played in 22 games, all across his last two seasons there, and led Angelo State in scoring in 2024. ASU was the Lone Star Conference champions with an undefeated 9-0 conference mark, 9-3 overall with an NCAA Division II Football Playoffs loss to No. 6 Bemidji State.
 
Even more incredibly, Larson is a childhood cancer survivor. He's raised almost $38,000 for Childhood Cancer Research (Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation) via kicking in high school and college.
 
NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK
Tarleton State Football is one of the best stories in the nation to start the 2025 campaign, and that was further proven on Monday, as the Texans were named the Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week following wins at Portland State and Army. On Aug. 29, Tarleton State won its first road game against an FBS program in its fourth try, and second win against an FBS program in five total matchups, having also defeated New Mexico State in El Paso in 2021. Army, meanwhile, won the American Conference championship last year and finished 12-2 overall. This was the Black Knights' first loss to an FCS program since 2015.
 
On Week 0 on Aug. 23, Tarleton State shut out Portland State 42-0 on the road at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon. It marked Tarleton State's largest season-opening win since 2002 (62-0), and the Texans forced the Vikings' first FCS shutout loss in nearly 20 years (2006) and first shutout loss at their home field since 2003.
 
RUNNING BACK U
Tarleton State has had its fair share of elite running backs make their way through Stephenville, and it seems that will continue once again this season. Led by former elite running back himself, assistant coach Pepe Pearson, the RB's room consists of four capable tailbacks who could break out at any moment; Tre Page III, Braelon Bridges, Tylan Hines and Caleb Lewis. Page shined in Week 0, flashing the speed on an 89-yard rushing touchdown, finishing with 170 yards and a pair of scores on just 15 carries (11.3 YPC). He also raced for a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and had 160 rushing yards in the first half alone. Page finished with the most rushing yards in a season opener in Tarleton State Football NCAA Division I history, the most since Daniel McCants had 190 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 20. Page followed that up with another rushing touchdown to go with 89 yards on 14 carries (6.4 YPC) at Army. Page has the second most rush yards across the FCS at 259 and the tied-third most rushing touchdowns in the FCS at three. In rushing yards, he's only behind North Carolina Central's Chris Mosley at 280.
 
Caleb Lewis has also had a strong start to the year, rushing for a touchdown in each of the first two games, now with 158 yards on 31 carries (5.1 YPC) and the pair of TD's.
 
Since the beginning of last season, covering 16 games, Tarleton State has had an individual rush for 150+ yards eight times, with the Texans 7-1 in such games. Last year, Kayvon Britten led the entire FCS in rushing yards with 1,982, second in D1 football, only behind Boise State's Ashton Jeanty (2,601). In 2023, Tarleton State had a 1,000-yard back (Britten), and in 2022, the Texans had a different 1,000-yard back (Derrel Kelley III). Over the past seven seasons, Tarleton State has produced six 1,000-yard seasons by its running backs (Daniel McCants in 2019, McCants and Xavier Turner in 2018).  
 
EVERYBODY EATS
Tarleton State Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Tyrone Nix preaches that if everyone does their job, then everybody eats at the end of the day, meaning everyone will get their recognition and the stats they desire. That proved true in the first game, with a 42-0 shutout by the defense, four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble recovery), a defensive touchdown, less than 300 yards of offense allowed and six negative plays forced. Among the four turnovers, three different players were involved, and of the six negative plays, eight had at least half a tackle for loss. Ty Rawls had a pair of interceptions, becoming the first Texan with multiple picks since Donovan Banks had two vs. Abilene Christian on Nov. 5, 2022. Rawls now has five career interceptions in his three years at Tarleton State, matching a season-high in picks in just the first game. Omar Emmons had a forced fumble and interception return touchdown, his first touchdown for the Purple and White, his first forced fumble and his third interception. Jadan Aubert, a Texan newcomer from Jones College, had the fumble recovery which led to a Tarleton State touchdown.
 
At Army, Kasyus Kurns was the star, ending three straight Black Knights' drives himself with a takeaway. Kurns recorded two interceptions, a fumble recovery and four total tackles in Tarleton State's 30-27 double overtime win. Kurns' three takeaways were all in the second half to help Tarleton State to one of its best victories in program history. Kurns intercepted Army QB Dewayne Coleman at the Tarleton State 28-yard line with 1:41 left in the third quarter, then intercepted Coleman at the Tarleton State 1-yard line with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter, then recovered a fumble by Hayden Reed at the Army 16-yard line with 10:03 left in the fourth quarter. Kurns has the tied-most interceptions across all of NCAA Division I football at two.
 
COOPER'S MOMENT
Former Tarleton State Football wide receiver made waves in the NFL through the preseason, and officially made the Philadelphia Eagles 53-man roster on Aug. 26. Upon signing with the Eagles immediately following the 2025 NFL Draft, he became the 21st player in Tarleton State Football history to sign into the NFL. Cooper shined in his in debut for the Eagles against the Cincinnati Bengals, going for six catches, 82 yards, and a touchdown. Last year for the Texans, he was First Team Associated Press FCS All-America, First Team Stats Perform FCS All-America, Dave Campbell All-Texas Non-FBS Team as best receiver, First Team Phil Steele FCS All-American, First Team Football Central All-American, First Team UAC All-Conference, Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-American, UAC Preseason All-Conference,  Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators, Academic All-WAC, and CSC Academic All-District. He started all 14 games, finishing second across NCAA Division I in receiving yards with 1,450 (second-most in single-season school history) and tied-sixth in touchdowns with 14 (third most in single-season school history; tied for third-most in FCS).
 
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 .732 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 60 wins since the start of 2018, the tied-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	.732
2.	Angelo State	LSC	.727
3.	Incarnate Word	SLC	.687
4.	Texas	SEC	.677
5.	SMU	American	.674
6.	Sam Houston	C-USA	.642
7.	Texas A&M	SEC	.632
8.	UTSA	C-USA	.582
9.	TCU	Big 12	.580
10.	Baylor	Big 12	.551

 

#	School	Conf.	Wins
1.	Texas	SEC	63
2.	Tarleton State	UAC	60
	SMU	American	60
4.	Incarnate Word	SLC	57
5.	Angelo State	LSC	56
6.	Texas A&M	SEC	55
7.	UTSA	American	53
8.	Sam Houston	C-USA	52
9.	TCU	Big 12	51
10.	Baylor	Big 12	49

 
GABALLER
Texans quarterback Victor Gabalis shined in his first two seasons at Tarleton State, and now in his third, is expected to be the best offensive player in the United Athletic Conference. Gabalis was named the unanimous UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, the second straight year that a Texan has earned the honor, following running back Kayvon Britten in 2024. Britten finished with the most rush yards across all FCS players last year at 1,982, and had the tied-fifth most total touchdowns in the country with 19.
 
Gabalis was also named to the 2025 Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List. Gabalis was 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, averaging 240.3 passing yards per game, while also scoring a rushing touchdown and adding 53 yards on the ground. He set career-bests in pass yards, pass touchdowns, and increased his completion percentage by eight percent. Gabalis threw a season-high four touchdowns twice, including in the second round of the playoffs at No. 4 ranked South Dakota, where he also had a season-high 379 passing yards. He had six multi-TD games on the year, including four games with three or more touchdowns. Conference-wise, he was second in pass yards per, second in pass TD and second in total pass yards.
 
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 39 career collegiate games, sitting at 7,826 passing yards and 63 passing touchdowns. In games Gabalis has started in his career, his teams have gone 22-8 (.733). At Tarleton State, Gabalis is 19-6 (.760) as a starter with 5,679 passing yards on 387-of-664 (.583) passing, 44 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. Gabalis needs just one passing touchdown (45, Chad Cole, 1995-98) and 318 passing yards (5,997, Ben Holmes, 2018-19) to reach the top-five in those categories among Texan QB's in their career.
 
Gabalis was turnover free in the first two games of this season. That's now 13 games without an interception in his 25 games at Tarleton State. The Texans are 12-1 in those games.
 
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Besides quarterback Victor Gabalis, who was just mentioned, Tarleton State also had four others receive Preseason All-UAC honors. OL Hunter Smith, DL Brandon Tolvert, LB Ty Rawls and DB Kasyus Kurns joined Gabalis.
 
Smith now has made 27 straight starts and 38 straight games played on the Texan offensive line. Last season he was Phil Steele FCS 2024 UAC Second Team All-Conference, helping the Tarleton State offense to national marks of sixth in red zone offense (.930), eighth in pass yards per completion (14.3), 17th in rushing offense (198.2 rush yards per game), 22nd in sacks allowed (1.23 per), 25th in turnovers lost (13), 27th in total offense (411.1 YPG) and 28th in scoring offense (30.7 PPG). Conference-wise, Tarleton State's offense ranked third in scoring offense, third in total offense, and third in rushing.
 
Tolvert was UAC First Team All-Conference last year after also being named UAC Preseason All-Conference last season, as well. He played in all 14 games, posting career-highs across the board with 11.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, 63 total tackles (24 solo) and a pass breakup, along with four quarterback hurries. Tolvert led the team in TFL and was second in sacks. Conference-wise, he was tied-third in tackles for loss and tied-10th in sacks. Tolvert posted multiple tackles for loss in four different games, including a 1.5 sack night against Utah Tech. He had a career-best performance at North Alabama on Sept. 21, earning a career-high 2.5 TFL and a career-best 10 tackles (six solo). Plus he had 5+ tackles in eight games, and at least a 0.5 TFL in six games.
 
Rawls was named UAC Second Team All-Conference last year. He started all 14 games, recording three forced fumbles (tied-team-high), two interceptions (tied-third), a fumble recovery (tied-third), six pass breakups (third), a sack (tied-fourth), three TFL, and 41 total tackles. Conference-wise, he was one of four players with three or more forced fumbles, and was tied-ninth in interceptions.
 
Kurns was UAC Second Team All-Conference last year. He started all 14 games, recording three fumble recoveries (led team), three forced fumbles (tied-team-high), two interceptions (tied-third), nine pass breakups (led team), a sack (tied-fourth), six tackles for loss (third), 64 tackles (fifth, 46 solo), and a quarterback hurry. He was one of 14 players nationally with three fumble recoveries and led the UAC in the category. Kurns was one of four players in the conference with three or more forced fumbles, and finished second in the conference in passes defended (11). He opened last season on national television with two fumble recoveries, adding a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and six total tackles against McNeese on Aug. 24, to take UAC Defensive Player of the Week honors
 
CULTURE IS KING
In the modern collegiate days of collective conference, roster and staff fluidity, Tarleton State does not fit the norm. The Texans have been able to retain their elite staff and players year-over-year, credit to the culture that head coach Todd Whitten solidifies at the helm.
 
Looking at the staff alone, the Texans' coaching staff tenures at Tarleton State are thus; 16 years (Todd Whitten), eight years (Scott Carey), eight years (Tate Whitten), six years (Michael Walton), five years (Adam Austin), four years (Tyrone Nix), four years (Fred Tate), three years (Jake Stone), three years (Pepe Pearson), two years (Devante Sims) and Beau Blair (entering first season). The Texans have not had to replace more than two assistant coaches on a staff in a given year  in their D1 era. Player-wise, the portal has not seen a lot of Texans go through. Since 2022, Tarleton State has seen just 1-2 contributors depart via transfer max per year.
 
NATIONAL LEADER
Across the country, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (seven FBS, four FCS) have a better win percentage than Tarleton State since 2018 (Ohio State, Georgia, North Dakota State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, South Dakota State, James Madison, Oregon, Montana State and Dartmouth). 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	.880
2.	Georgia	SEC	.876
3.	North Dakota State	MVFC	.874
4.	Alabama	SEC	.856
5.	Notre Dame	Ind.	.819
6.	Clemson	ACC	.814
	South Dakota State	MVFC	.814
8.	James Madison	SBC	.798
9.	Oregon	Big 10	.789
10.	Montana State	MVFC	.767
11.	Dartmouth	Ivy	.733
12.	Tarleton State	UAC	.732
	Florida A&M	SWAC	.732
14.	Oklahoma	SEC	.728
15.	Penn State	Big 10	.725

 
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.
 
12: Tarleton State just won its first double overtime game in 12 years. The Texans had lost two straight (41-35 at EKU in 2023, 40-37 vs. McNeese in 2021), with their last win coming Sept. 28, 2013, against Abilene Christian in Frisco (41-34).
 
6: Over his last seven games, QB Victor Gabalis has gone turnover-free in six of those games. Over his past seven, Gabalis has completed 129-of-190 (.679) for 1,810 yards, 18 touchdowns and three interceptions. Over his last six games, Gabalis has completed 109-of-162 (.673) for 1,569 yards, 16 touchdowns and three interceptions.
 
19: The Texans are now 19-6 (.760) when Victor Gabalis starts at quarterback.
 
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 Football will play its conference opener on the road at Central Arkansas, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. CT in Conway, Arkansas, on Sept. 13.