SAN ANTONIO -- The offense will look very different when the University of the Incarnate Word football team takes the field for the first time in 2026.

The Cardinals, who will welcome Oklahoma Panhandle State to Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium at 6 p.m. Saturday, have an entirely new quarterback room while also replacing 91 percent of their run-game production, 77 percent of their receiving yards and their entire starting offensive line from last season. 

And though the unit will look unfamiliar to many fans, an influx of new talent, as well as one returning player who had record-setting success with the program two seasons ago, has many inside the locker room expecting a bounce back season for UIW, which was 5-7 in 2025 after winning 42 games from 2021-24.

With the first depth chart being announced, here is a position-by-position look at the UIW offense going into Saturday.
 

Quarterback

STARTER: Emmett Brown

RESERVES: David Rasor, Jackson Fields

OUTLOOK: A former teammate of Cam Ward at Washington State, Brown will attempt to give a 1.21-jigawatt jolt to the passing game after winning the job in fall camp. The transfer had his best season in 2024 at San Jose State when he threw for 1,621 yards and 16 touchdowns in nine appearances.

Brown won the job despite missing the entire spring rehabbing a torn ACL, which he sustained in the 2025 preseason while at Coastal Carolina.

Backing him up will be junior David Rasor, a transfer from the University of California Davis, and Jackson Fields, a true freshman who won 27 games and threw 76 touchdowns as a starter at Destrehan High School (La.)
 

Running back

STARTER: Jayden Hibbler

RESERVES: Lontrell Turner, Damashja Harris

OUTLOOK: A deep tailback room will, in the opener, be headlined by Hibbler, who previously played with current Cardinal offensive coordinator Justin Bane at West Texas A&M. Hibbler accounted for 753 yards and seven total touchdowns for the Buffs last fall.

Turner returns for a fourth year with the program, where he had a career-best 562 yards in 2024. He ran for 161 in five games a season ago. Harris, who's also had FBS stops at Wyoming and North Texas, was a Southland Conference First-Team All-Conference kick returner at Lamar in both 2022 and 2023.

Wide receiver 

STARTERS: Jameson Garcia, Isaiah Champagne, Roy Alexander, Zach Phipps

RESERVES: Jacob Emmers, Jamir Roberts, Price Morgan, Patrick Bridges

OUTLOOK: Arguably the deepest position group on the entire team, the receiver unit is led by Preseason SLC Offensive Player of the Year Alexander, who in 2024 accounted for 1,108 yards and 13 touchdowns on a UIW single-season program record 100 catches. Alexander played at Texas Tech last season. 

Joining him on the Southland Preseason Offensive First Team is Garcia, who returns after putting up 40 catches for 546 yards and three touchdowns during as a sophomore at UIW last fall. Other projected starters are redshirt freshman Champagne, who had 97 yards in three games a season ago, and Phipps who caught nine touchdown passes at West Texas A&M last fall.

Roberts played alongside Phipps with the Buffs last season, gaining 470 yards, while Morgan played with Alexander at Texas Tech. Emmers also comes from the FBS ranks, previously playing at Tulsa, while Bridges looks to make a dent in the offense after primarily playing special teams over the previous two seasons at UIW.
 

Tight end

STARTERS: Dane Farley or Cedric Lott Jr.

OUTLOOK: Farley enters his fourth year with the program, having played 17 games primarily as a blocking tight end. He's likely to split reps with Lott, a Power-4 transfer who spent the previous two seasons at Boston College.

Offensive line

STARTERS: Ryan Dirksen (LT), Kam Newhouse (LG), Easton Fulton (C), Andres Barraza (RG), Richard Grigg (RT)

RESERVES: Dylan Kirby (LT), Kali'i Leomiti (RG), Kunian Kuany (C), Chase Burns (RG), Mike Stoker (RT)

OUTLOOK: Newhouse, who saw action in three games in 2025, is the only starter to have previously played a regular season snap at UIW. Grigg was with the team but did not play last season. Dirksen, a Preseason All-SLC Second-Team selection, comes over after starting 12 games at Bryant last year, while Fulton and Barraza both started 12 games at West Texas A&M, which finished 2025 as the No. 3 overall offense in Division-II.

On the reserve front, tackles Kirby and Stoker have played 11 and seven games respectively at UIW. Leomiti is a true freshman from Gregory Portland High School (Texas). Kuany and Burns both come from the junior college ranks, Kuany from Iowa Central, Burns from Butler (Kan.).

A similar breakdown of the defensive and special teams units will be released later in the week.

TICKETING INFO

Tickets for UIW Football are available now at tickets.uiwcardinals.com. Fans can purchase season tickets, single-game tickets, and group experiences today and join Cardinal Nation at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium.