It’s not easy to convince the NCAA to approve a Week 0 contest, which Tarleton’s new vice president for intercollegiate athletics, Steve Uryasz, understands from his previous position as executive deputy athletics director and chief operating officer at West Virginia.

“I diligently tried at my previous institution last year to get a Week 0 game because our head coach wanted a game prior to a big game (in Week 1), but we couldn’t get one because we never had a cause or rationale that made sense to the NCAA,” Uryasz said during a recent interview. “The challenges are that you can’t have two teams from the same conference, and the game has to be unique.”

How did Tarleton convince the NCAA to approve a Week 0 game against McNeese, which will be the Texans' first game on linear television on the ESPN networks in program history? It’s the first football contest in school history as a full-fledged FCS member. 

“It’s what we’ve been working towards since we made the decision to go Division I,” head coach Todd Whitten said. “We’re finally through the transition period, which was very difficult, but we got through it in one piece. We’ve been working towards playing an opening week game on national television, and everyone around the campus and Stephenville is looking forward to it.”

For Tarleton's faithful, the festivities begin on Friday night with a concert by the Josh Abbott band and Roger Creager in the Aquatic Center parking lot. Texan Alley, the typically crowded tailgating area, will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The Pointe du Hoc, where Tarleton’s ROTC cadets, cheerleaders, dance team, and band will join the football team at the Earl Rudder statue for a motivational speech before leading the march to Memorial Stadium, begins at 11:30 a.m. 

The march will end on Memorial Stadium's home side, where Texas A&M System chancellor John Sharp and Tarleton president Dr. James Hurley will be on hand for the unveiling of the statue of the Texan Rider, beginning at noon. The game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m., but Whitten and Uryasz hope the fans arrive at the stadium early to watch one of Tarleton’s newest traditions, the new student run.

“We’re doing everything we can to create a great environment for our fans and student-athletes,” Uryasz said. “We have a big number of new students who have enrolled and hopefully will take part in the new student run. We have over 3,000 new students, which speaks to the commitment to growth from Dr. Hurley and the Texas A&M system.”

The new student run will be followed by “the best pyro we’ve ever had” and the Texan Rider leading the football team onto the field.

Tarleton enters the competition with a national ranking, earning the No. 21 spot in the American Football Coaches Association preseason poll. It hosts a McNeese squad that has made 16 appearances in the FCS playoffs and holds 14 Southland Conference championships. The Cowboys feature transfer quarterback Clifton McDowell, who led Montana to the FCS national championship game last year.

“I think he’s been recognized as their starting quarterback since he stepped foot on campus, so I think they’re going to feature him,” Whitten said. “He’s a really good athlete, a good passer - just a real solid quarterback. The strength of his game is his athleticism, and he’s a hard runner who isn’t afraid to run between the tackles.”

Whitten said he and the defensive staff, led by assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix, have emphasized gap discipline in preparation for facing McDowell and the Cowboys.

“We’re going to have to be on our best behavior, get lined up, do a good job of tackling, and playing physical defense.”