RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros football team is the first brand new FCS program to ever win seven games while playing a schedule that includes NCAA Division I competition with a 28-21 victory over the Nicholls Colonels on Saturday at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 12,177.
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. The only other one to win seven games was South Alabama, which did not play any NCAA Division I competition while going 7-0 in 2009.
With the win, UTRGV also clinches a winning season.
Graduate student
Nathan Denney led the Vaqueros (7-3, 3-3 SLC) by scoring a career-high tying two touchdowns while rushing 25 times for a career-high 120 yards. Senior Sharyland Pioneer alum
Eddie Lee Marburger went 20-for-30 for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Junior
Tavian Cord caught a career-high four passes for a career-high 84 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, junior
TJ Neal recorded a game-high 10 tackles (seven solo).
On the Vaqueros' second drive of the game, the Vaqueros used a pair of big passing plays, first for 18 yards to sophomore
Ismael Smith Flores and later for 21 yards to
Cord, to get to third and goal on the four, at which point Marburger found freshman
Tony Diaz for the 4-yard touchdown to make the score 7-0.
The Colonels (3-6, 3-2 SLC) responded with a 12-play, 65-yard drive over the next six and a half minutes, capped by a 4-yard rush by
Miequle Brock Jr. into the end zone to tie the game at 7.
Midway through the second quarter, the Vaqueros embarked on a 12-play drive of their own, advancing 89 yards in just over five minutes on the back of Denney, who made a 23-yard reception and rushed four times for 22 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Vaqueros up 14-7.
The Vaqueros stopped Nicholls' opening drive in the third quarter, defending on fourth and two at the 26 with 9:01 remaining. Two plays later, though, a
Travin Moore interception gave the Colonels good field position, and on the second play of the ensuring drive,
Ean Rodrigue found
Everett Hunter for a 16-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14.
UTRGV forced Nicholls to a three and out on their possession, taking over at the 35 following a 16-yard punt. Marburger threw a 28-yard pass to Smith Flores and then Denney rushed left for seven yards to score and put the Vaqueros up 21-14.
Graduate student
Spencer Rich recovered a fumble early in the fourth quarter that was forced by freshman
Ja'Marcus Anderson, setting up an 8-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Cord to make the score 28-14.
Shane Lee answered with an 8-yard rushing touchdown on the ensuing Colonels drive to make the score 28-21. After a UTRGV punt, redshirt junior
Ian Box recorded a sack for a loss of 11 yards to stop Nicholls.
UTRGV visits McNeese on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. Fans can watch online via
ESPN+. Fans can also listen locally on Ultra 90.1 FM, in Laredo on Pure Country 95.7 FM, and online via the
Radio Para Mi app.
Week 11 Southland Conference Scoreboard
UIW 38 @ Northwestern State 3
#21 Stephen F. Austin 50 @ Houston Christian University 3
#14 Southeastern 12 @
#18 Lamar 14
McNeese 35 @ East Texas A&M 20
Nicholls 21 @
(RV) UTRGV 28
Southland Conference Standings
Team SLC Record Overall Record
#21 Stephen F. Austin 6-0 8-2
#18 Lamar 5-1 8-2
#14 Southeastern 5-1 7-3
(RV) UTRGV 3-3 7-3
Nicholls 3-3 3-7
McNeese 3-3 4-6
East Texas A&M 2-4 2-8
UIW 2-4 4-6
Houston Christian University 1-5 2-8
Northwestern State 0-5 1-8
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