STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Texans are now ranked No. 1 nationally after starting 7-0. Tarleton State had a full team effort to get the seventh win this past Saturday, and nearly swept the United Athletic Conference player of the week awards because of it.

The UAC announced on Monday that Tarleton State quarterback Kaden Anderson has been named the UAC Offensive Player of the Week, defensive back Avian Rice has been named the UAC Defensive Player of the Week, and running back Bryce Green has been named the UAC Freshman of the Week. That makes three UAC Offensive Player of the Week awards this season for Anderson, plus back-to-back honors for the Texan quarterback. Rice and Green earned their first awards of the season.
 
Tarleton State Football has now earned 11 conference player of the week honors across seven games this year.
 
Anderson completed 21-of-29 passes for 279 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, plus rushed for 22 yards, in Tarleton State's 49-35 home win vs. Central Arkansas. Anderson's five touchdown passes marked a new career-high and are the tied-third most in a single-game in the FCS this season, the most by a UAC player in a game this season. His five touchdowns are most by a Texan QB since Victor Gabalis had five against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 6, 2025. Anderson was one of two players across the UAC last week with multiple touchdown passes – he had five, the other one had two. Anderson had the second most pass yards across the UAC on the week. Anderson logged his fourth straight game with 3+ pass touchdowns, and his fifth overall on the season. He now has 20 pass touchdowns on the year, sixth most in the FCS and most in the UAC (next closest at 12). Anderson now has 1,972 pass yards on the year, eighth most in the country and most in the UAC.
 
Rice had an interception, nine tackles and a quarterback hurry in Tarleton State's win. Rice was one of three players in the UAC last week to earn an interception. He had the most tackles among the players with an INT. Rice had a career-high nine tackles in the game, and his interception was his first of the season, his first since Nov. 15, 2025, vs. North Alabama.
 
Green had a team-high 80 rush yards, and the Texans' lone rushing touchdown in the game, in Tarleton State's win. Green's rush touchdown was a 72-yard score to put the game away with four minutes left. Green now has the most rushing touchdowns on the team with five.
 
Tarleton State is one of three teams in the FCS still undefeated on the year, along with SFA and Harvard. Tarleton State is No. 1 in the FCS in total offense (509.3 YPG), tied-third in scoring offense (40.9 PPG) and fourth in passing offense (297.7 YPG). The Texans have started 7-0 for the second straight season. Since the beginning of 2025, the Texans are 18-1 in the regular season. The Texans are 12-1 at home over their past 13 home games (FCS Playoffs included). The Texans improved to 5-0 all-time against Central Arkansas.
 
The other UAC award announced on Monday was Abilene Christian's Brandon Perez named UAC Special Teams Player of the Week.
 
2026 Tarleton State FB UAC Player of the Week Awards:
Week 0, Special Teams – DeAndre Buchannon
Week 1, Offense and Defense – Tylan Hines and Jadan Aubert
Week 2, Offense and Special Teams – Tylan Hines and Alejandro De La Poza
Week 3, Offense – Kaden Anderson
Week 6, Offense and Defense – Kaden Anderson and Kaleb Brown
Week 7, Offense, Defense and Freshman – Kaden Anderson, Avian Rice and Bryce Green