LAKE CHARLES, La. – (RV) The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros football team earned its first-ever conference road win and second road win of the season, beating the McNeese Cowboys 28-13 on Saturday at Navarre Stadium.
There have been 11 football programs to start from scratch at the NCAA DI-AA (1978-2005)/FCS (2006-Present) level since Division I college football split into two levels in 1978. UTRGV is now one of only two brand new programs to win multiple road games, along with Coastal Carolina (2003), which won four total road games, three of which were against DI-AA competition.
This is also UTRGV's fifth win against FCS competition, tying the record for most wins against DI-AA/FCS competition by a brand new program set by FIU in 2002.
Senior Sharyland Pioneer alum
Eddie Lee Marburger led the Vaqueros (8-3, 4-3 SLC) by going 17-for-29 for 257 yards and four touchdowns in the air plus seven carries for 51 yards. Freshman
Tony Diaz scored a career-high three touchdowns while posting his fourth 100+ yard receiving game, finishing with 134 yards on seven receptions. Defensively, graduate student
Spencer Rich posted a career-high 16 tackles (nine solo).
Down 10-0 midway through the second quarter, freshman
Jaden Wincher came up with an interception to get the ball back. The Vaqueros immediately picked up back-to-back first downs on a 13-yard run by freshman
TJ Dement and a 12-yard pass to sophomore
Xayvion Noland. Two players later, Marburger scrambled away from a defender and while on the run hit junior
Tavian Cord with a 21-yard touchdown pass to bring the Vaqueros within 10-7.
After getting the ball back with two and a half minutes left in the quarter, the Vaqueros drove 81 yards on nine plays, including a 26-yard quarterback keeper by Marburger and a 20-yard pass to Noland, setting up a 7-yard touchdown pass to Diaz to give the Vaqueros a 14-10 lead.
Deaglan Camron kicked a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter to bring the Cowboys (4-7, 3-4 SLC) within 14-13.
On the second play of the fourth, however, Marburger, launched a 75-yard touchdown pass to Diaz to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 21-13.
Marburger connected with Diaz twice more during the next drive, including a 25-yard pass and a 7-yard touchdown pass to put the Vaqueros up 28-13.
Camron kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter.
On the Cowboys' final drive of the quarter, they tried a flea flicker, but graduate student
Amari Pouncy sacked
Jake Strong. On the next play, Strong tossed a jet sweep to
Matthew McCallister, who took off to his left and ran 85 yards into the end zone to make the score 10-0.
UTRGV wraps up its inaugural season against East Texas A&M on Saturday, Nov. 22 at
5 p.m. at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium.
A limited number of individual tickets go on sale Friday at 8 a.m. at
UTRGVTickets.com.
The action starts with KRGV's Vaqueros Game Day at 10 a.m. in Schlotzsky's Vaquero Village at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Tailgating at Vackar Stadium begins at
12 p.m. The Vaqueros Walk is at
2:45 p.m. in the H-E-B Tailgate Zone followed by a pep rally in the amphitheater. Fans do not need a game ticket to access Vaqueros Game Day or the tailgating areas.
Gates to Vackar Stadium open at
3:30 p.m.
Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy, by visiting
RallyTheValley.com.
Fans can watch online domestically on
ESPN+ and internationally on
Southland International.
Fans can listen in English locally on Ultra 90.1 FM, in Laredo on Pure Country 95.7 FM, and online via the
Radio Para Mi app, and in Spanish locally on KYWW 1530 AM Puro Tejano and KGBT-FM 98.5 La Preferida and online via the
Uforia app.
Week 12 Southland Conference Scoreboard
#21 Southeastern 10 @ UIW 7
Northwestern State 21 @
Nicholls 26
#14 Lamar 15 @
#17 Stephen F. Austin 26
HCU 32 @
East Texas A&M 37
(RV) UTRGV 28 @ McNeese 13
Southland Conference Standings
Team SLC Record Overall Record
#17 Stephen F. Austin 7-0 9-2
#21 Southeastern 6-1 8-3
#14 Lamar 5-2 8-3
(RV) UTRGV 4-3 8-3
Nicholls 4-3 4-7
McNeese 3-4 4-7
East Texas A&M 3-4 3-8
UIW 2-5 4-7
Houston Christian University 1-6 2-9
Northwestern State 0-7 1-10
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