Texan Football now 0-3 vs. Power 5. What went wrong?

BY GAVIN PATRICK / Multimedia Journalist

Tarleton State University has one of the strongest football programs in Texas. The Texan Faithful, and anyone who follows FCS football, would know.

But it's hard to sugarcoat what’s gone down in its three most high profile games of the last three seasons.

The Texans’ matchup with Baylor University on Saturday night marked the third straight year the team has fallen to a Big 12 opponent. Losses to Texas Tech in 2023 and to Texas Christian University in 2022 preceded it. But these weren’t just ordinary losses; the games weren’t competitive, nor were they expected to be.

The outcome of the games just about matched what the odds suggested coming in. Baylor walked in as a 33.5-point favorite -- winning 45-3 -- Texas Tech a 36.5-point favorite -- winning 41-3 -- and TCU a 40-point favorite -- winning 59-17. (All odds via ESPN BET and Caesars Sportsbook.)

So, it begs the question: what went wrong?

To start, the Texans couldn’t jump out to a fast start. In the first quarters alone, Tarleton was outgained by 333 yards (97-430), and in all three games, they went into the second quarter facing a 21-0 deficit.

“It got lopsided there and got out of hand,” head coach Todd Whitten said after the TCU game. “I thought we got off to a slow start. We really wanted to avoid that.”

Sadly, it was the same story all three years.

A common theme in those slow starts was an inability to run the ball. Again looking at the first quarter, the Texans gained just three yards on the ground versus TCU (1.0 YPC) and 16 yards against Texas Tech (2.3 YPC). Against Baylor, the Texans were without top quarterback Victor Gabalis, so having a strong run game was an obvious must. Predictably, they had 12 rushing attempts in the first quarter but for a net gain of zero yards.

The Texans were at an obvious size disadvantage in the trenches facing Big 12 defensive lines, and their opponents took advantage of it. Whitten acknowledged that Baylor’s defense had a good plan defensively by not selling out against the run, even though they were facing a backup quarterback, which enabled them to play in light boxes.

“They played really soft, so they were saying we weren’t gonna be able to run the ball and beat ‘em, and they were right about that,” Whitten said.

Another area that plagued Tarleton in the early stages were turnovers. It didn’t take long in any of the three games for the opposing defense to get their hands on a ball. In the two most recent games, against the Bears and Red Raiders, the quarterback threw a pick six in the first quarter. And against Tech and TCU, an interception was thrown on the first and second offensive possessions.

Once Tarleton found themselves in a hole early, there was no going back. Having to play a team in a higher division is a hole in and of itself, and when the Texans gave them a head start with mistakes, it became almost impossible to work their way back in the game.

"[Baylor] would have scored 100 points if they could have today, I guarantee you,” Whitten said postgame in Waco. “We got everything they had, they left their best players in there until the end, the game was certainly out of hand. But that's OK, it makes us better as well. I'm proud of our guys."

Teams can find ways to take positives out of any loss, but it’s clear that Tarleton State has a long way to go before they can hang with a Power 5 opponent. Their next crack at an FBS school won’t come until November of 2025 when they travel to College Station to face Texas A&M.

For now, Tarleton State (1-1) will look forward to a big game on the road against Houston Christian (0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 7. Hopefully a win can put them back on the upswing, a place the team is familiar with after becoming a full-fledged Division I program this summer.