EDINBURG, Texas – The No. 25 Southeastern Louisiana University football team could not shake off three turnovers in a 13-3 Southland Conference road loss to UTRGV Saturday night at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium.
The Lions (3-3, 1-2 SLC), who were vying to become the first Division I team to hand a team its first-ever loss and first-ever home loss in separate seasons, could not overcome three interceptions, a turnover on downs and a pair of missed field goals on seven possessions in UTRGV territory. The Vaqueros (3-3, 2-2 SLC) improved to 10-0 at home since starting their program prior to the 2025 season.
Kyle Lowe completed 18-of-26 passes for 198 yards, as
Dkhai Joseph grabbed a career-high 10 catches for 58 yards.
Deantre Jackson led SLU on the ground with nine carries for 40 yards.
The Southeastern defense was led by
Carter Hanberry with nine tackles, while
Carter Byrd intercepted a pass for the second straight game.
Aidan Jakobsohn led the UTRGV attack with 244 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 23-for-37 passing.
Southeastern moved into Vaquero territory on the opening drive, but the drive eventually stalled out.
Drew Talley's 48-yard field goal missed just left to keep SLU off the board.
After forcing a UTRGV three-and-out, the Lions again moved into opposing territory, but again the drive resulted in a long field goal try. Talley again narrowly missed, pushing a 50-yard try just left to keep the game scoreless with 5:46 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Vaqueros' next drive moved into SLU territory, but ended in a punt that was downed at the Lion two-yard line. Southeastern methodically moved it deep into UTRGV territory, before ultimately turning it over on downs midway through the second quarter.
UTRGV marched into the Lion red zone, but SLU turned them away, as Byrd picked off Jakobsohn to end the Vaqueros' threat.
The teams traded empty possessions for the remainder of the second quarter, until UTRGV moved into Southeastern territory in the final minute of the half and Brysen Gardner connected on a 51-yard field goal on the half's final play to send the Vaqueros into the break with a 3-0 lead.
The Vaqueros moved into Southeastern territory on the first drive of the second half, but this time Gardner's 52-yard field goal attempt fell short, keeping the deficit at 3-0 with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Southeastern responded with a methodical 11-play, 46-yard scoring drive to get on the board. Talley connected on a 36-yard field goal to knot the score at 3-3 with 3:30 remaining.
UTRGV answered with a scoring march of its own. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Gardner knocked in a 36-yard field goal to put the Vaqueros ahead, 6-3, 11 seconds into the final period.
Southeastern looked poised to tie the game or take the lead, moving the ball inside the Vaqueros' five-yard line on the ensuing possession. However, Jaiden Haygood intercepted Lowe at the goal line to keep the Lions down, 6-3, with 7:51 left in the game.
UTRGV salted it away on the ensuing possession with a nine-play, 93-yard scoring march. Jaydon Smith snagged a 16-yard scoring toss from Jakobsohn with just under four minutes left to give the Vaqueros a 13-3 lead.
Southeastern moved into Vaqueros' territory for the seventh time in the contest on its final possession, but another interception iced the game for the hosts.
Southeastern will return home to host No. 10/11 Lamar for Homecoming next Saturday at 4 p.m. Saturday's game versus the Cardinals, sponsored by North Oaks Health, will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM). The annual Homecoming parade is scheduled for noon.
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow @lionupfootball on Instagram.
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting
www.LionUp.com.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics observes a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/clear.
