ODESSA, Texas (September 19, 2025) – After a "Week 2" bye week last week, UTPB opens up Lone Star Conference action on the road this weekend at Texas A&M University-Kingsville during "Week 3". The action will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, as the Falcons look to keep their streak of eight straight conference wins on the road under Head Coach Kris McCullough going. In addition, UTPB has won each of its two conference openers during the tenure of Coach McCullough.

The nationally-ranked Falcons (2-0) are looking to regain the conference throne after winning the LSC in 2023, and will need to get off to a good start in conference play against the Javelinas (1-1) in order to do so. Last season, the Javelinas defeated the 2023 LSC champions in dramatic fashion, sealing the win with an endzone interception.

The UT Permian Basin football team has started the season 2-0 for the first time under Head Coach Kris McCullough, including earning the highest nationally-ranked win in program history with a 20-point win (34-14) in the season opener over a University of Central Oklahoma (Aug. 30) team that was ranked No. 3 at the time in the D2Football.com Preseason Poll.

UTPB first entered the D2Football.com Poll this season at No. 16 after the win over UCO, and subsequently rose to No. 10 in following a 41-7 win in its first road game of the season at Adams State University (Sept. 6). That tied UTPB's previous highest national ranking in program history. Then despite not playing a game this past week, the Falcons achieved the highest national ranking in program history after checking in a No. 7 in the latest D2Football.com Media Poll. In addition, in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches' Poll, UTPB moved up one spot from No. 12 to No. 11.

UTPB has the Lone Star Conference's top-rated defense, allowing just 309.5 yards per game. Opponents are scoring just 10.5 points per game against UTPB, which also leads the league.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP: UTPB at TAMUK
In 2023, one of the turning points in the season for The University of Texas Permian Basin football team was a 29-17 home win over No. 16 nationally-ranked Texas A&M University-Kingsville at Ratliff Stadium. The win over the Javelinas two years ago marked the first win in program history over a nationally-ranked team. Sophomore Kory Harris had an eight-yard touchdown run with 6:47 to go in the third quarter to put UT Permian Basin up 20-10.  The rushing attack for UTPB netted 222 yards and three touchdowns, spearheaded by Harris with for 104 yards. Defensively, UTPB held the Javelinas to just 97 yards on the ground.

However, in last year's matchup against the Javelinas, UTPB suffered its first loss in the Lone Star Conference in two seasons with a 20-14 defeat at the hands of the Javelinas at Astound Broadband Stadium. UTPB came into the game knowing that it would be a battle in the trenches that would have a big impact on deciding the outcome, but that advantage was all Kingsville, which relied on four seniors on its offensive line to put up 125 rushing yards against the Falcons. After accumulating just 13 rushing yards in the first half, the Falcons finished the game with just 46 rushing yards and a 1.9 average per attempt. UTPB spotted Kingsville a 17-0 lead on the first three possessions of the game. The final UTPB drive started with 6:13 left to play, and three pass interferences calls and a roughing the passer call helped get the Falcons all the way down to the TAMUK five-yard line. However, after an incomplete pass and a rush for minus two yards to bring up third down, an interception by Khalen Leonard in the endzone thwarted UTPB's final chance.

In this year's matchup against the Javelinas, the run game could again play a pivotal role in determining the winning team as Coach McCullough has made sure his team remembers the 46 rushing yards it put up in last year's matchup. He also wants his team to remember what it was like to watch Kingsville celebrate on the Falcons' home field.

"It's a sour taste in our mouth losing at home that way," said Coach McCullough. "We played atrocious on all three phases of the ball, and when you lose like that at home, it's definitely something you circle from the start of the schedule till end when you finally get to play them. We are just trying to remind our guys what kind of game that was last year, and we win that game, we make the playoffs. That game had a lot of things in it that we weren't accustomed to and we didn't answer the call. We had a chance to win the game late, but we dropped the ball and had a couple of bad play calls by myself late in that game that cost us. We just want to move forward with a dominating win this week and get that taste out of our mouths."

JAVELINAS UNDER THE LENS
Javelina football kicked off the Scott Parr era on September 6 against Lincoln University at Javelina Stadium. Under the direction of Parr, the program's 13th head coach, the Javelinas will feature a new look offense for the 2025 season. Parr brings a traditional air-raid offense from Louisiana Tech to Kingsville, with Louisiana Tech transfer quarterback Jack Turner getting penciled in as the starter. Turner, who has played under Coach Parr dating back to their days at Navarro Junior College, threw for 1,664 yards and eight touchdowns in his time with the Bulldogs including a 281-yard performance against North Carolina State during the 2024 season.

After posting a third consecutive seven-win season a year ago under current Athletic Director Michael Salinas, the Javelinas look to get off on the right foot under Coach Parr. On the defensive side of the ball, the Javelinas retained Defensive Coordinator Jamison Bisch from 2024's coaching staff as well as key members of that season's defense. Defensive linemen Kerry North and Blake Jaques return as starters from the 2024 defensive line as well as linebackers Travis Bielefeld and Charlie Moore Jr. Perhaps the strength of the 2025 defense will be the secondary, as the Javelinas only lost two starters from week one of the 2024 season. Key members include Khalen Leonard, Demarcus Peters and D'Cambren Verrett, who was named to the Lone Star Conferences' preseason watch-list.

Most recently, TAMUK fell 49-20 at Northwest Missouri State The Javelinas were outgained in yardage, 193-78, in the second quarter and trailed 21-7 at halftime. TAMUK made it 28-20 in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard Daniel Gauna field goal, but NWMSU answered with three scores. Blake Jaques had a sack and Travis Bielfeld had an interception for TAMUK. This week marks back-to-back games where the Javelinas had three-plus turnovers, forcing and recovering three fumbles while intercepting one pass.

With the Falcons visiting Kingsville for the first time since 2022, the Javelinas will need a big game from tight end Ivan Thomas. Thomas currently sits tenth in the LSC in reception and receiving yards, marks that are first among tight ends. His 67 receiving yards last week was the first time since 2018 that a tight end led the team in receiving yards in a single game.

Another unit that has a big test in front of it is the Javelina offensive line. A brand new unit after all five starters from the 2024 starting line graduated/transferred, the Hogs have yet to give up a sack this season, although they did allow a pair of quarterback hurries to the Bearcats.

Defensively, the defensive front will need to have a great game to slow down Falcon running back Kory Harris, who ran for 1,061 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Defensive lineman Blake Jaques and Kerry North had solid games last week against the Bearcats and the Hogs will need another one to get the win against the Falcons.

"They have a new head coach, but their defense is the exact same as last year," said Coach McCullough. "That defense gave us fits last year. For the first two times I've played them, we kind of dominated on offense. And then last year they just stonewalled us. We couldn't run the ball. We ran for 46 yards. And that's another thing that's passing through our facility, is the number 46. We just weren't able to be physical at the point of attack last year. They kind of kicked our teeth in a little bit, and when you watch film on them this year, they have very similar players on the defensive front. Their defensive backs are actually better than a year ago in my opinion. They play hard. In addition, the difference between last year and this year, they have a better offense, so it's going to be a battle. They're scoring 40 points a game and they got some playmakers. They can make some things happen. They have a really good quarterback that understands their system, so we have to play really well on all three phases and take care of the football. They forced three turnovers in the first half against Northwest Missouri. That really made that a ball game."

Texas A&M-Kingsville was announced to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. After finishing last season with a 7-4 overall record (6-3 LSC), the Javelinas sit only behind defending champion Angelo State, Central Washington and UT Permian Basin in the preseason rankings.

The Javelina football program has won seven national championships and 34 Conference Championships and qualified for the NCAA/NAIA Playoffs 27 times. The program has produced 53 NFL draft picks, including eight first-round picks. Three former Javelinas, Gene Upshaw (1987), Darrell Green (2008), and John Randle (2010), have been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

"We have talked a lot about the history of Kingsville," said Coach McCullough. "They have the most Lone Star Championships in the conference. They have seven national championships, which is up there in the top two or three for NCAA Division II football. They have NFL Hall of Famers. The tradition of Kingsville is everything you could think of in a positive way. And we're a new program. This is our 10th year and we're rewriting the history books every single week. So, we're the new kids on the block that people don't like. We have use that as fuel. For those guys that haven't been here before, we have been showing them last year plays on the live stream where the energy on the Kingsville sideline just outplayed us. They just wanted it more than we did. So we are showing them those clips to say, 'hey, this is going to be a big-time ball game and they're going to bring it'."

TAMUK HEAD COACH
Texas A&M University-Kingsville announced that Scott Parr will become the next head coach of the institution's storied football program.

Parr joins the program as head football coach after serving as Co-Offensive Coordinator at Louisiana Tech University since 2022. Prior to that, Parr led the Navarro College (Texas) Bulldog football program as head coach from 2019-2021. Under his leadership, the Bulldogs were South West Junior College Football Conference Champions in 2019, the same year Parr was named SWJCFC Coach of the Year. That year, the program ranked sixth nationally in points, first nationally in yards, and first nationally in passing. The program continued to rank nationally in 2020 and 2021.

Parr replaces former head coach Michael Salinas, who was named Executive Director of Javelina Athletics in November. Salinas said Parr's record for developing leaders on and off the field will immediately impact the program.

Parr's 26-year coaching career includes serving as Offensive Coordinator at Eastern Illinois, Senior Offensive Analyst at Texas Tech, and Offensive Coordinator at West Texas A&M. Parr has also worked with programs at Tarleton State, Baylor University, and Sam Houston State.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday night's contest will be broadcasted on FloCollege. The LSC and FloCollege reached a historic agreement in August 2024 for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history. Fans have two different subscription options: $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year ($8.99/month).

To follow the action for the Falcons all season long, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://utpbfalcons.com/coverage.

In addition, all UTPB home and away football games can be heard live on KQRX 95.1 FM, 95X, a West Texas Radio Group station" with the pre-game show beginning 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Monty Montgomery (Play-by-Play) and Chad Kelly (Color Commentary) begin their first season together in the broadcast booth.