BEAUMONT, Texas – Despite the fact the 2019-20 academic year is drawing to a close, Lamar University is making plans for future football seasons. The Cardinals have added Tarleton State to the 2021 and 2022 schedules announced LU Director of Athletics Marco Born Friday afternoon.
 
The home-and-home series against the Texans for the 2021 and 2022 campaigns joins the series against Northern Colorado which was announced in September. The Cardinals will host Tarleton State Saturday, Sept. 4^th, 2021, and will make the return trip to Stephenville, Texas (Sept. 3^rd) the following year.
 
The 2021 meeting will be historic for both programs as it will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between the two schools.

"We're excited about signing this in-state series with Tarleton State," said Born. "This game provides our fans the opportunity to travel within the state to support our student-athletes. There will be added excitement for both fan bases knowing that it is the first meeting between the two schools."
 
Tarleton State announced it would be making the jump to the NCAA Division I level in November and joining the Western Athletic Conference. The move will become official on July 1^st. The Texans were members of the Lone Star Conference for the previous 36 years. While transitioning into the WAC, the football program will compete as an FCS independent.
 
The Texans are coming off one of their best seasons in program history posting an 11-1 (.917) overall record and a Lone Star Conference regular-season title with a perfect 8-0 mark. Tarleton opened the season with an upset of Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, before having their year come to an end in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
The Cardinals will be opening a new era of Red and White football in 2020 under first-year head coach Blane Morgan. A coach with nearly 20 years of experience, Morgan is the program's third head coach since its rebirth in 2010, and just the 10^th since transitioning to a four-year institution. He comes to Beaumont after spending the previous five seasons at San Diego State.
 
Morgan is looking to build the program back to the top of the Southland Conference after a disappointing 2019 campaign that saw LU go 4-8 (.333) overall with just two wins in conference play. The Cardinals are scheduled to open the 2020 campaign Thursday, Sept. 3 in Beaumont against Mississippi College.