Game Day at TSU: Texans visit unbeaten Midwestern

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Daniel McCants rushed for 91 yards in a 52-38 Tarleton loss to West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Football Festival last week at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. || TheFlashToday.com photo by RUSSELL HUFFMAN

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(September 26, 2015) — Tarleton State (0-2) visits unbeaten and No. 23 ranked Midwestern State (3-0) in a Lone Star Conference contest this evening at Wichita Falls ISD Memorial Stadium.

Follow The First Financial Bank Flash Football Update HERE beginning about five minutes before kickoff (6:55 p.m.)


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Below is preview from the Tarleton Athletic Communications staff from TarletonSports.com:

THE GAME
Tarleton heads to Wichita Falls Saturday night in search of its first win of the season when the Texans square off against Midwestern State for a 7 p.m. kick-off against the Mustangs.

COVERING THE GAME
Saturday’s contest will be aired on the Tarleton Sports Network presented by North Texas Ford Dealers. The game will be broadcast live on KTRL (90.5 FM) with Casey Hogan calling play-by-play and Keltin Wiens joining him for color commentary. Travis Smith joins the broadcast team on the sidelines. In addition to the radio feed, the game is online at www.tarletonsports.com/listenlive.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite putting up 499 yards of offense, Tarleton fell to West Texas A&M 52-38 in the Lone Star Football Festival at AT&T Stadium. The 90 combined points were the second most between Tarleton and WT all time behind the 92 points scored in WT’s 59-33 win in 1994. It’s also the most combined points in the history of the Lone Star Football Festival.

TARLETON vs MIDWESTERN STATE
Saturday marks the 31st meeting all-time between the Texans and Mustangs, dating back to the first meeting in 1925, and Tarleton holds the lead in the series 20-9-1. Tarleton and Midwestern played four times before 1988 with the Texans going 2-1-1 in those meetings. Since Midwestern State reinstated football in 1988, the Texans have won 18 of 26 meetings including the last one in the 2014 regular season finale when Tarleton traveled to Wichita Falls and defeated the Mustangs 44-41 to claim third place in the Lone Star Conference playoffs.


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INSIDE THE SERIES
Tarleton has been in control of the series since 2001. On Nov. 3, 2001, the Texans traveled to Wichita Falls and came away with a 44-37 win that was the first of seven straight Tarleton wins through 2009. Since that 2001 day, Tarleton has won 10 of the last 13 meetings and have topped 30 points six times over that stretch.

TEXANS UNDER FOWLER
The Texans are now 27-27 under head coach Cary Fowler and have one Lone Star Conference championship to their credit in his tenure. Fowler’s first LSC championship is the third LSC championship for the Texans in school history. Fowler is 23-19 against LSC opponents and 4-8 overall against non-conference schools.

TEXANS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Since 2000, Tarleton is 13-24 when playing against a ranked opponent, with six of those wins coming against a top-25 ranked Midwestern State team. The Texans are 6-3 all-time against the Mustangs when they have been ranked. The win over West Texas A&M in least year’s opener was Tarleton’s first win against a ranked team on the road since 2009 when they beat then-No. 13 Texas A&M-Kingsville in double overtime in the first round of the 2009 NCAA playoffs.

TEXANS IN THE LSC
The Texans are 102-138 (.425) all-time in Lone Star Conference contests.

TARLETON’S SCORING STREAK
The Texans have now scored a touchdown in 49 straight games dating back to the 2010 season. The last time a Tarleton team was held without a TD came in a 65-3 loss to Abilene Christian back on Sept. 25, 2010. Tarleton has scored at least a field goal or touchdown in 57 straight games heading into Saturday’s game. The Texans have not been shutout since Nov. 8, 2008.

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
•  Tarleton is third in the nation in third down conversion percentage with .576%. The Texans have converted on 19 of 33 attempts on third down.
•  Tarleton is second in the nation in net punting yards at 42 yards. The Texans have allowed -1 return yards, which ranks fifth in the nation in fewest punt return yards allowed. Carson-Newman leads in net punting yards with 43.11
•  The Tarleton offense ranks 20th in the nation in total offense with 491.5 yards per game.

ANDERSON IN THE END ZONE
Since breaking onto the scene against Texas A&M-Kingsville last season, Jabari Anderson has scored a touchdown in eight consecutive games dating back to October 11, 2014. The sophomore runner has scored 11 touchdowns in those eight games and is averaging a touchdown on every 6.8 carries during that stretch.

EYING THAT 2K MARK
Zach Henshaw is on the verge of eclipsing 2,000 rushing yards in his career – needing just 148 more yards to reach the mark. The senior from Canyon Lake is already the leading rusher of the Cary Fowler era with 1,852 yards heading into Saturday’s game. He is 628 yards ahead of Jerome Regal for the most yards on the ground since Fowler took over as head coach in 2010.

TEXANS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
•  Freshman RB Daniel McCants is ninth in the nation is all purpose yards per game with 195. McCants has 141 rushing yards, 45 receiving yards and 204 kick return yards in the first two games.
•  Zed Woerner is fifth in the nation in average completions per game with 28.5. Woerner. Woerner also has a 64.04% completion rate through two games. The Tarleton record is 66.2% by Jake Fenske (2012).
•  Kevin Baker is sixth in the nation with 7.5 solo tackles per game. He has 15 solo tackles on the year in the first two games.  Baker is also tied for ninth in the nation in total tackles with 13 per game.
•  Le’Nard Meyers is second in the LSC with 101.0 receiving yards per game. Meyers trails only Angelo State’s Donovan Thompson with 102.3 yards per game.

KING OF PATs
With a successful point after following Jabari Anderson‘s eight-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against West Texas A&M, Blake Barnes became the school’s all-time leader in PATs made – pushing him ahead of Tarleton Hall of Famer J.W. Boren.

RECORD TRACKER: BLAKE BARNES
Entering his senior season, Blake Barnes is making a case to go down alongside Tarleton Hall of Famer J.W. Boren as two of the top kickers in Tarleton history.
• PAT Att: He is also in second-place all-time in PATs attempted (142). He is seven (7) extra points away from the all-time record, held by Boren (148).
• FG Made: Entering Saturday’s game with 43 career field goals, he is tied with Paul Williams for second all-time. Barnes is 17 field goals away from becoming the all-time leader and passing Boren (59).
• FG Att: Barnes now has attempted 60 field goals in his career to place him No. 2 all-time. He is 24 attempts shy of passing Boren (83) for the all-time lead.


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RECORD TRACKER: LE’NARD MEYERS
Entering his senior season, Le’Nard Meyers will look to etch his name into the all-time receiving records.
• Receptions: Meyers enters Saturday’s game with 141 career receptions and is 48 catches shy of passing Hall of Famer Harlan Wunsch (188) for second all-time in school history.
• Receiving Yards: Meyers enters Saturday’s game in need of 694 more yards to crack the top five all-time in school history. Jeremy Madkins (2003-06) holds the No. 5 position with 2,441 yards.
• Receiving Touchdowns: Meyers needs eight (8) touchdowns this season to move into the top-3 all-time in receiving scores. Will Moody (2000-03) is currently third all-time with 20 touchdown catches.
• 100-Yard Receiving Games: Meyers moved into a tie for third place all-time with seven 100-yard receiving efforts. The all-time record is 10 by Devin Guinn from 2006-09.

UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will return home next weekend for Family Weekend when the Texans host Texas A&M-Commerce next Saturday at 7 p.m.

 

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