McNeese at Tarleton

When: 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville, Texas. Game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest Plus and Fox Sports Go.

The matchup: It has been quite a wait for the Texans to begin their Division I era. Is there any better way to begin a new era than to have your first game broadcast live on national television? 

The answer is no as long as you can remain competitive in the contest. These two teams have played before with McNeese defeating Tarleton 33-3 in 2016. The Texans are vastly improved since that contest and are coming to the FCS ranks a combined 23-2 over the last two years.

The Cowboys enter the contest with a new head coach after Frank Wilson took over the reins following a 7-5 season. Wilson was the coach at UTSA and recruited many of the members of the Roadrunners team that recently finished 7-5 and 5-2 in Conference USA.

Players to watch: Gone are the Texans’ top passer, running back, and receiver from last season, but Tarleton is not devoid of talent. Backup quarterback Cameron Burston returns along with the team’s second leading rusher, Khalil Banks.

J.F. Thomas also returns for Tarleton and the talented wideout from South Oak Cliff High School always has a flair for making acrobatic catches.

The Texans defense has a couple of solid players with senior linebacker Ronnell Wilson returning after registering 81 tackles last season. Devin Hafford returns from injury after being a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award for best small college defensive player in the nation in 2018.

Key to victory: Tarleton will need to control its emotions early in the contest and not allow McNeese to take advantage of early turnovers.

I give the Texans a fighting chance in this game but must remember Tarleton does not have a full complement of FCS scholarship players. This is the first year of four transition seasons so expectations should remain low for now.

Prediction: McNeese 31, Tarleton 13