STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Mississippi Valley State University football program ran for just over 200 yards (203) and racked up 15 first downs on the ground but could not topple the Texans in a 29-13 setback.

The Basics
 

• Score: Tarleton 29 | Mississippi Valley State 13

 

• Records: Mississippi Valley State (0-1, 0-0 SWAC) | Tarleton (1-0, 0-0 WAC)

 

• Location: Stephenville, Texas – Memorial Stadium

 

• Series History: Tarleton Leads 1-0

 

• Winning Streak: Tarleton (W1) | Mississippi Valley State's Last Win: N/A 

 

• All-Time History vs. WAC Opponents: WAC Leads 4-0

Mississippi Valley State Top Performers
 

• Caleb Brunson flew all over Memorial Stadium Thursday night, picking up a career-best ten tackles including five solo takedowns.

 

• Jakobe Thomas had one of his better ballgames as a Delta Devil, toting the rock a personal-high 14 times for 80 yards and a touchdown. The junior from Orlando broke off a career-long 42 yard run on top of averaging a healthy 5.7 yards per carry.

 

• Caleb Johnson kept his bell cow status with 23 rushing attempts, finding paydirt once spanning 83 total yards to give him a dozen scores in the Green and White.

 

• Career tackle marks were falling across the board in Stephenville as Brunson, Kaiyus Lewis (7), Jamison Lindsey (6), Ronnie Thomas (5), and Kalib Alexander (4) all set new benchmarks.

 

• Omar Emmons contributed his first tackle for loss and pass breakup and Elijah Rawlins notched his first solo tackle for loss

 

• Defensive bookends Ronnie Thomas and Jalen Bell teamed up for the defense's lone sack of the night while the TSU signal caller was pressured five more times via quarterback hurries.

 

• Donald Johnson III and Sylvester Campbell were Jalani Eason's most productive receiving targets, hauling in three of his nine completions (33.3%) while accounting for 58 of MVSU's 70 air yards (82.9%)

 

• Orlando Fernandez had another productive night in the punting department, booming his six kicks for an average of 45.3 yards with a long of 54 and three balls downed inside the Texans' 20.

 
Notes
 

• The Delta Devils are now 30-39-1 (.436) in season openers and 6-28 (.176) among recorded road openers.

 

• It was a remarkably clean contest by both teams despite a misty rain falling for periods of the game as neither squad committed a single turnover while combining for just nine penalties.

 

• Valley State's ground attack topped the 200-yard threshold for the third time in its last six games dating back to last season, out-rushing the Texans by one, 203 to 202.

 
Valley State goes back on the road to face an FCS Playoff contender in the Austin Peay Governors on Saturday, September 10 at 3 p.m. in Clarksville, Tennessee.
 
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