SAN ANTONIO – The second half of the 2026 season begins Saturday for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) football team with a 6 p.m. Southland Conference (SLC) matchup against the UIW Cardinals at Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium. 
 
The Vaqueros (3-3, 2-2 SLC) are riding a wave of momentum into this game after earning the first ranked win in program history last week with a 13-3 win over #25/RP Southeastern. The victory extended UTRGV's home winning streak to 10 games at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium, which is the sixth-longest active home winning streak and fourth-most consecutive home wins in the FCS. 
 
The Cardinals (2-4, 1-2 SLC) pose several challenges, and though they have lost three in a row, they have some momentum of their own behind the misleading record. UIW's last three games were all on the road against a FBS opponent in Texas State and a pair of top 10 FCS teams in conference foes Stephen F. Austin and Lamar. 
 
Similar to UTRGV, UIW has won all of its home games this season and lost all of the road contests. The Cardinals haven't played at Benson Stadium since Sept. 19, and after tight losses of two and three points to two of the best teams in the nation, they're eager to be back in front of the home crowd. The Vaqueros are chasing just the second road conference win in program history. 
 
When these teams battled in 2025, UTRGV rolled to a 56-28 victory in Edinburg. The Vaqueros racked up 548 yards of offense as they scored the most points in a conference game in program history against the Cardinals. But Bush was sure to tell his team that last year's result doesn't matter at all and this year's UIW squad will be ready to respond. 
 
"They are the most talented conference team we've seen so far. It'll be the most explosive offense we've seen. They're very good at what they do, and they're looking to make a run here in the second half, too," head coach Travis Bush said. "They're going to spread the field and get as many plays as they can, so tempo [will be fast] and we'll keep our guys rolling in to stay fresh. We're going to play good defense, but we're not going to completely shut them down." 
 
UIW leads the Southland in passing yards (310 YPG) while ranking second in scoring (34.1 PPG) and total offense (456 YPG). Quarterback Emmett Brown sets the tone offensively and leads the SLC averaging 303 yards/game while his top target, receiver Isaiah Champagne, is first in the conference averaging 6.17 receptions/game. Bush said the goal isn't to shut down the Cardinals completely, but to slow them down enough and get enough stops to keep things tight.  
 
UTRGV's defense has been tremendous this season. The Vaqueros held Southeastern to its lowest scoring output in a conference game since 2018 last week behind the third three-interception performance for the unit. Defensive back TJ Neal, the reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week, had two interceptions and 10 tackles. Linebacker Jaiden Haygood also had 10 tackles and one interception, while the SLC's leading tackler, linebacker Spencer Rich, had a game-high 12 tackles. The Vaqueros rank first in the conference in total defense, second in scoring defense and rushing defense, and third in passing defense. The unit will have to be strong again Saturday to give UTRGV's offense as many opportunities as possible to put points on the board. 
 
UTRGV's offense is third in the conference but seventh in scoring with an average of 24.1 PPG.  The passing game has anchored the offensive production most of the season and quarterback Aidan Jakobsohn is first in the conference averaging 13.4 yards per completion while sitting fifth in total offense (190.7 YPG). Receivers Kyran Lee and Jaydon Smith have emerged as the top targets for UTRGV and two of the most reliable pass catchers in the conference. Lee leads the SLC in receiving yards/game (74.2) and total receiving yards (445). 
 
The Cardinals defense is middle of the pack statistically, but Bush praised the defensive line and said the unit is much improved from last year with a new coordinator at the helm. Linebacker Christian Barney sits behind only Rich with 58 total tackles to Rich's 63. UIW is allowing 34.0 points and 391.5 yards per game to opponents through six games. 
 
Each road loss has been a learning lesson for the young program, and with four of the last six games of the season on the road, the Vaqueros feel the time is now to put those lessons on display and take care of business on the road. It's not an easy task, but after a good week of practice and with momentum on their side, the Vaqueros are confident in who they're becoming and ready to execute. 
 
"Second half of the season and we're tied right now. Could we be ahead? Yeah. Could we be behind? Yeah. But we're tied. It's where we are, and we know the road ahead of us," Bush said. "Last year, we were hungry to prove ourselves. And that's what we've talked about these last few weeks – getting that hunger back. We got humbled two weeks ago and came back hungry as heck last week. You saw that [against Southeastern]. So that's the challenge now: can we do that on a consistent basis? We have not done that yet. And even after coming off a win, that's what the great ones do. They come back hungrier and hungrier to keep letting those wins build. That's what we feel like we have not done on the road, is not played up to our potential. That's going to be the challenge this week." 

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