Game Notes in PDF FormatCANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M football team, fresh off their first win of the season, look to keep the momentum going as they travel to Angelo State for a key conference matchup with the Rams. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at LeGrand Stadium, the new home of the Angelo State Rams.
JACK FM - In 2014, the Buffs also will have a new radio partner in Townsquare Media and 98.7 KPRF "Jack FM." With the new partnership, the Buffs have the opportunity to put more sports on the air along with football and basketball. This week,
Kent Johnson and Brice Sheets will call the action of Saturday's game.
CALLING THE GAME - This season the Buffs will have a new play-by-play team for road games on KAMR NBC-4 as Clint Brakebill and former Buffalo wide receiver Charly Martin will call the action. Martin played for WT from 2004-2008 and leads the school record book in pass receptions (244) and receiving yards (4,108). Martin then had stints in the NFL with Seattle, San Diego, Carolina and San Francisco.
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME - Links to live stats, and information for the Festival can be found on www.gobuffsgo.com.
COACH TO CURE MD - The West Texas A&M football staff, along with the American Football Coaches Association, will be raising awareness for and research funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy this weekend as part of the Coach to Cure MD. For more on Coach to Cure MD, please go to www.CoachtoCureMD.com.
NESBITT AND WILD WINGS - This season every Thursday WT head coach
Mike Nesbitt will be on Jack FM 98.7 at 7:30 p.m. in a live radio show at Buffalo Wild Wings on S. Coulter in Amarillo for 30 minutes. Hear Coach Nesbitt speak about the previous week and the upcoming opponent or come into Buffalo Wild Wings for 60 Cent wings and hear the show in person.
A WIN OVER ANGELO STATE WOULD. . .- Give WT a 2-2 record for the month of September and a 1-1 mark in LSC play
- Be Coach Mike Nesbitt's 13th win at the helm of the Buffs
- Be the ninth straight win over Angelo State and sixth straight in San Angelo
- Bring WT within one game of evening the series with the Rams (12-14)
- Knock Angelo State from the ranks of the unbeaten
- Be the 491st win in school history for WT (490-488-22)
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ANGELO STATE - The Rams lead the all-time series 14-12, but WT has won eight straight dating back to Oct. 28, 2006. The Buffs have won five straight in San Angelo and are 5-7 all-time on the road against ASU and 7-7 at home. WT has outscored ASU 259-115 during the winning streak. This is just the second time (2010) the teams have met in September since 2001. In 2010, it was a 37-27 victory for the Buffs in San Angelo.
ALRIDGE-MITCHELL TABBED WEEKLY BEST - WT junior running back/return specialist
Geremy Alridge-Mitchell was named LSC Special Teams Player of the Week as he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown sparking the Buffs to a 27-19, come-from-behind victory over Shorter University at the LSC Football Festival last weekend. A-Mitchell had a career-high 29 carries on the ground for a career-high 118 yards rushing and a score, while he finished the day with 273 all-purpose yards.
BUFFS SECOND IN PRESEASON LSC POLL - The Buffs were picked second in the 2014 preseason LSC poll which was released at Media day back in July. Tarleton State was picked first, followed by the Buffs.
THE COACHES - West Texas A&M head coach Mike Nesbitt begins his second season at the helm of the program as he took over Aug. 21, 2013. Nesbitt was the interim head coach all of last season and was elevated to head coach in December following the season. He is 11-3 in his career as a head coach.
Angelo State head coach Will Wagner is in his fourth season at the helm of the Rams. He is 17-18 during his time in San Angelo and came to ASU from Northwest Missouri State where he helped lead NWMSU to 10 conference titles, seven national championship games and three national titles. During his time at NWMSU the team was 108-8.
ABOUT THE BUFFS - Fresh off a gutsy, come-from-behind win against Shorter (Ga.) in the 2014 Lone Star Conference Football Festival, the Buffs have grown each week and have improved drastically from the first week. Down 16-0 in the second quarter, junior running back/return specialist
Geremy Alridge-Mitchell ran a kickoff back 93 yards to get the Buffs on the board. WT trailed 19-7 at intermission, but shutout the Hawks in the second half and scored 20 unanswered for the win. A-Mitchell leads the team on the ground with 212 yards on 56 attempts and three scores for a 70.7 average. Junior quarterback
Preston Rabb is finding his groove as the season progresses as he is 61 of 106 with three interceptions and two touchdowns and 637 yards. Senior wide receiver
Anthony Johnson has 299 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 24 receptions for a 99.7 average per game. Defensively, redshirt freshman
Carter James leads the team with 47 tackles and 22 solo stops. He has 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, while sophomore
Patric Youngman is second with 35 tackles and 17 solo stops. He has 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks as well. Senior defensive back
Torian Oakley leads the team with two interceptions.
A LOOK AT ANGELO STATE - The Rams enter the game riding a five game winning streak dating back to last season and are 2-0 and 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play this season. This is the Rams' third straight home game to begin the season. Quarterback Kyle Washington leads the nation completing 41 of 50 passes this season for an 82.0 clip. He has thrown for 499 yards four touchdowns and rushed for 96 yard and two scores in two games. Blake Smith leads the team in rushing on 33 carries for 132 yards and two scores. Dakarai Pecikonis leads the team with 11 catches for 178 yards and a score. He had an acrobatic catch for a 29-yard reception which was No. 5 on ESPN Sportcenter Top 10 Plays. Defensively, Rush Seaver and Blair Smith lead the team with 19 tackles each. Clayton Callicutt leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS - ASU enters the game as the leader in the conference in scoring defense allowing just 10 points per game. WT is fifth at 28.3 points allowed per game. ASU is second in scoring offense averaging 41.5 points per game. WT is the top passing defensive team in the league allowing just 162.7 yards passing, while ASU is second in passing offense at 273.5. These are the top two teams in the league in net punting.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING - The Buffs rank 12th nationally in net punting at 39.76 yards per punt which is second in the league to ASU at 41.50. WT is 30th in kickoff returns averaging 24.33 per return and is 31st in passing yards allowed at 162.7 which leads the LSC. Individually, sophomore kicker
Connor Hollabaugh is 18th in field goal percentage at .857 and third in field goals per game at 2.00. Senior wide receiver
Anthony Johnson is 25th in receiving yards per game at 99.7 and 10th in receptions per game at 8.0. Redshirt freshman linebacker
Carter James leads the nation in total tackles at 15.7 per game and ninth in solo tackles at 7.3 per contest. Sophomore linebacker
Patric Youngman is 19th in total tackles at 11.7 per game.
NFL UPDATE - The Buffs had 15 players in summer camp on NFL teams and the 15 were than 55 FBS programs. As of Sept. 1, Khiry Robinson (New Orleans), Bryan Braman (Philadelphia), Eugene Sims and
Ethan Westbrooks (St. Louis) and
Dustin Vaughan (Dallas) made the 53-man rosters. Brittan Golden (Arizona),
Bryan Johnson (Buffalo) and
Torrence Allen and
Craig Watts (San Diego) are members of the practice squad.
Nathan Slaughter (Jacksonville) is on injured reserve.
JOHNSON OVER 100 RECEPTIONS - Senior wide receiver
Anthony Johnson moved over 100 career receptions a week ago with nine against Tarleton State and now has 111 for his career. He needs 35 receptions to break into the top 10 in school history.
JOHNSON CLOSING IN ON TOP TEN IN RECEIVING - Anthony Johnson also is closing in on the top 10 in receiving yards as he has 299 for the year to go along with 1,294 last season for 1,593 for his career. He is 359 yards away from the top 10.
SPECIAL TEAMS - Having to replace an outstanding punter, deep snapper and field goal kicker, the new faces were up to the task as junior transfer punter
Elliot Moore ranks 25th in punting average at 41.5 on 17 punts. He has one touchback with six inside the 20 and two over 50 yards. Sophomore place kicker
Connor Hollabaugh is 6 for 7 in field goals with a long of 48 yards. He is third nationally in field goals per game at 2.00.
GETTIN' IN THE BACKFIELD - The Buffs had a season-high five sacks for 26 yards and seven tackles for loss for 31 yards against Shorter last weekend. Shorter entered the game not allowing a sack in its previous two games. For the season, the Buffs have 22 tackles for loss for 77 yards and eight sacks for 46 yards.
OAKLEY WITH THE INT - Senior defensive back
Torian Oakley came up with his second interception of the season against Shorter on Saturday. He returned it 17 yards. It was his seventh interception of his career.
HISTORIC 2012 & 2013 SEASONS - Continuing the theme of historic seasons, the Buffs put together back-to-back two of the best seasons in school history in 2012 and 2013. The team went a combined 23-6 with NCAA National Quarterfinal appearances in both seasons and a National Semifinal appearance in 2012. In 2013, then-senior quarterback
Dustin Vaughan threw for 5,401 yards and 53 touchdown passes as he was the only quarterback in any division to pass for over 5,000 yards with the 5,401 yards being a Division II record. The 53 touchdown passes were the third-most all-time in Division II. He was the 2013 Harlon Hill runner-up and earned First Team AFCA All-America accolades.
WT WINNINGEST PROGRAM IN TEXAS - The Buffs are 80-18 in regular season games from 2005-2013 and leads all Division I and Division II programs in Texas in terms of winning percentage. WT also has gone to the postseason all nine years and is the only team to accomplish that feat. TCU is 82-25 during the past nine years and has gone to eight bowl games. Midwestern State is third at 73-22.
