UT Permian Basin had six plays on offense inside the Tarleton State five yardline without points to show for it, and a costly fumble in the second quarter turned the game around as the Texans defeated the Falcons 32-17 Saturday night at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.

UTPB struck first once again this year, scoring on its first possession on a short field after a John O'Kelley sack and fumble recovery gave the Falcons possession on the Tarleton State 38. Bailey Giffen connected on a field goal from 51 yards out for the 3-0 lead a 10:40 remaining in the first quarter.

Brandon Infiesto drove the Falcons down into the red zone in the second quarter behind a pair of back-to-back 16 and 31 yard rushes to the TSU 12. Three plays later Kameron Mathis plowed ahead for a first down on 3rd & 2 to the one yard line, but was stood up on his next rushing attempt and lost possession. Elliott Hart scooped up the fumble and ran down the UTPB sideline 98 yards for the touchdown.

UTPB was back in the red zone on the last possession of the second quarter, but the Texan defense stopped three straight rushing attempts from its own 1-yard line, and UTPB missed a chance to tie the game at halftime on a missed 23 yard field goal to trail 6-3 at halftime.

TSU took over in UTPB territory in the second half after a Falcon punt hit a member of the punt team, resulting in a net -4 yard punt attempt. Xavier Turner scored from six yards out to cap a three-play, 43 yard drive for a 12-3 lead.

The Texans scored their third touchdown of the night on a 29-yard pass with 1:52 remaining in the third, but missed their third straight PAT of the night to lead 18-3.

UTPB found the end zone for the first time early in the fourth quarter when Mathis found Hunter Kliafas across the middle and he rand down the home sideline for a 45 yard TD to trail by a possession 18-10.

The teams traded long touchdowns with under seven minutes remaining as Xavier Turner ran it in from 56 yards out, and the Falcons followed with a 78 yard pass to Kristian Brown past the TSU secondary on the team's first play from its own 22 to pull back within 25-17.

Tarleton State came back with a long pass of its own when Zed Woerner went 76 yards to Jeff Thomas to stretch the lead back out to a two possession game with what would wind up being the game's final score.

The UTPB defense played lights out in the first half, holding Tarleton State to just 38 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes. The Falcons out-gained TSU 528 to 282 overall on the night, including running for 282 total yards while holding the Texans to 114 yards on the ground. Mathis threw for 244 yards on the night, completing 15 passes with a pair of touchdowns.

Infiesto led the offense with 128 yards on 29 carries, averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. Marquis Simmons ran for 64 yards on six rushes, and Jordan Williams' five carries went for 46 yards.

Chris Hoad led the defense with eight tackles on the evening. O'Kelley and Ieti Manu each had a sack for a 10-yard loss as the Falcons got to Woerner three different times on the night, while the defense as a whole recorded 12 total tackles for loss.

UTPB is back on the road next weekend, traveling to Portales, N.M., for a Lone Star contest at Eastern New Mexico.