UTRGV football staying optimistic amid road game struggles
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The UTRGV Vaqueros football team has not had the season they've wanted to this point.
It hasn't been without its bright spots, including the first ranked win in program history against Southeastern Louisiana and retaining their perfect record (10-0) at home dating back to the beginning of last season.
However, UTRGV's road struggles and injury woes have plagued them to this point in 2026 and a 2-3 conference record has the team tied for 7th in the conference with some tough games remaining. UTRGV still has to play all three teams ranked first, second, and third in the conference currently: Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, and Houston Christian.
Lamar (currently ranked #15 in the country in FCS) and Stephen F. Austin (currently ranked #2 in the country) will serve as the Vaqueros final two home games this season.
Despite the struggles, the Vaqueros are keeping a positive and motivated mindset heading into the rest of the season.
"The guys are fighting. The culture is there," Vaqueros head coach Travis Bush said at Tuesday's practice. "They're taking ownership, taking accountability... Everybody has each other's backs. That's the thing that you worry about when you're going through some struggle, but they get it. We are where we are right now, but just pushing and having the best attitude and focus we can each week."
The Vaqueros are also keeping in mind that a lot can change in five games, and playing at their best down the stretch could drastically improve where things stand for the team in a hurry.
"We're taking a lot of accountability actually because that just proves what our culture is," Vaqueros defensive lineman and Valley native Nathan Huerta added. "We could've just said we're out of the picture, we're not winning, we're not a playoff team or anything, but no. We said we're gonna put out foot down, we have two ranked opponents that are gonna come into our house, and we can go and do something about it. We can maybe even win out the rest of the season and see where that leads us."
The Vaqueros will be on the road again this coming Saturday as they face Central Arkansas at 4:00 p.m. in Conway, Arkansas.
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