Live Stats

Monday Media Interviews

Streaming

Tickets

Game Notes in PDF Format

Azusa Pacific Game Notes

Countdown to Kickoff

CANYON, Texas – For just the third time since 2009, the West Texas A&M football team opens the season at home as it battles No. 19/23 Azusa Pacific out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) at Happy State Bank Field at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium Thursday evening.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.  Both teams are coming off of winning seasons in 2014 as the Buffs went 6-5, while Azusa Pacific narrowly missed the NCAA playoffs going 10-1 with a perfect 6-0 record in the GNAC. 
 
THE SERIES - West Texas A&M won the only other meeting between the two teams 75-13 on Sept. 13, 2008, in Canyon.   The Buffs are 3-1 all-time against current members of the GNAC.  WT is 2-1 against Central Washington and 1-0 against APU.
 
JACK FM - This season marks the second year with radio partner in Townsquare Media and 98.7 KPRF "Jack FM."  With the partnership, the Buffs have the opportunity to put more sports on the air along with football and basketball.  Select volleyball, baseball and softball games also will be broadcast in 2015-16.  Neil Horn and Brice Sheets are still calling the action of every home-and-away football game for the Buffs this season. 
 
COACHES' SHOW RETURNING TO BUFFALO WILD WINGS - The 2015 WT Football Coaches' Show with head coach Mike Nesbitt and Brice Sheets returns to Buffalo Wild Wings on Coulter in Amarillo this year.  The show will be Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. throughout the season with live giveaways, prizes and more!  The show will be broadcast on 98.7 KPRF Jack FM each week.
 
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME - Links to live stats, streaming, tickets and media information can be found on www.gobuffsgo.com on the football schedule page.   
 
A WIN OVER AZUSA PACIFIC WOULD. . .

• Give WT a 1-0 record for the first time since 2013 and just the second 1-0 record since 2008
• Give the Buffs a 47-57 record in season-openers all-time
• Be just the second win in a season-opener since 2008 (WT 48, @Western State 21 in 2013)
• Be just the second home win in a season-opener since 2007 (WT 55, South Dakota 45)
• Give WT a 2-0 record against Azusa Pacific and a 4-1 mark against current members of the GNAC
• Be the 162nd win at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium (161-124-3)
• Be the 496th win in program history (495-491-22)
• Snap APU's nine-game winning streak which is tied for the current longest in NCAA Division II with CSU-Pueblo who interestingly enough the Buffs play next week

• Give WT a 28-23 record against ranked teams since 2005

 
ON THIS DAY - WT is 1-3 all-time on Sept. 3 since 1946.  The Buffs most recently played on Sept. 3 in 1994 as they defeated Fort Lewis in Farmington, N.M., 39-16. WT has never played at home (since 1946) on Sept. 3.  The other times playing on Sept. 3 was in 1977 (L, at Wichita State), 1983 (L, at North Texas) and 1988 with a loss at Lamar.
 
BUFFS FIFTH IN PRESEASON LSC POLL - The Buffs were picked fifth in the 2015 preseason LSC poll which was released at Media Day on July 28.  Angelo State was picked first, followed by Texas A&M-Commerce, Midwestern State, Tarleton State, the Buffs, Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville. 
 
THE COACHES - West Texas A&M head coach Mike Nesbitt begins his third season at the helm of the program as he took over Aug. 21, 2013.  Nesbitt was the interim head coach all of 2013 and was elevated to head coach in December following that season.  He is 17-8 in his career as a head coach.  Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz is 53-45 since taking over the helm of the Cougars in 2006.  He has led APU to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.  He played collegiately at Hawaii and began his career at APU in 2001 serving five seasons as an assistant before taking over the head job.  Santa Cruz was the head coach of the Cougars in the previous meeting between the two teams in Canyon in 2008.
 
HOLLABAUGH NAMED TO FRED MITCHELL WATCH LIST - Junior place-kicker Conner Hollabaugh has been named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List for 2015.  Hollabaugh was one of ten finalists for the award last December and finished second on the team in scoring with 99 points as he was 17 of 19 in field goals and 48 of 50 in extra-points.  Hollabaugh earned second team Daktronics All-America honors and D2Football.com Honorable Mention All-America as he began the season as a walk-on.  He earned first team all-region honors and was a second team all-conference selection.  He ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage (89.5), ninth in field goals made per game (1.55) and 27th in scoring at 9.0 points per game.
 
ALRIDGE-MITCHELL AND HOLLABAUGH NAMED PRESESAON ALL-AMERICA - West Texas A&M senior running back Geremy Alridge-Mitchell and junior kicker Conner Hollabaugh were named D2Football.com Preseason Second Team All-America the organization announced.  Alridge-Mitchell had an outstanding junior season as he led the team and the Lone Star Conference in rushing touchdowns with 21 which was good for fourth nationally.  He ranked fourth nationally in all-purpose yards at 203.73 and ninth nationally in kick returns at 29.9 yards per return.  He was 19th in rushing yards with 1,342 and was 16th in rushing yards per game at 122.0.  Alridge-Mitchell was fourth nationally in scoring at 12.5 points per game.  He earned D2Football.com Honorable Mention All-America honors and was a first team all-conference selection.
 
LONE STAR FOOTBALL FESTIVAL RETURNS TO AT&T STADIUM - For the fifth year in a row, the Lone Star Football Festival will be at AT&T Stadium.  This year, the Buffs will play conference rival Tarleton State on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m.  WT is 4-0 all-time in the LSC Football Festival which is tops of all of the teams playing in it.  WT fans can purchase tickets for the Festival by calling the WT Ticket Office at 806-651-1414 or contacting Casey Lish.  Also visit www.gobuffsgo.com for more details.
 
TOUGH AT KIMBROUGH - The Buffs are 161-124-3 at Happy State Bank Field at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium since the first game on Sept. 26, 1959.  WT has a home record of 45-12 since 2005.  During that span, the Buffs haven't lost more than one game at home a season since 2009 (2-3).
 
SCORING CHAMPS - The Buffs have led the LSC in scoring in each of the past three seasons as Geremy Alridge-Mitchell led the league in 2014 with 138 points.  Former Buff kicker Sergio Castillo led the league in scoring in 2012 and 2013 with 129 and 149 points, respectively.
 
ALRIDGE-MITCHELL CLOSING IN - Senior running back Geremy Alridge-Mitchell is closing in on the top 10 all-time in career rushing yards as he has 2,085 career rushing yards on 384 attempts.  He needs 154 yards to tie J.R. Compton (1984-87) for 10th with 2,239 yards.  Alridge-Mitchell already ranks seventh all-time in scoring with 206 career points on 34 touchdowns and one two-point conversion. 
 
RABB INCHING CLOSER - Senior quarterback Preston Rabb is closing in on the top 10 all-time in career passing yards.  In his first season passing, Rabb threw for 2,912 yards and tossed 19 touchdowns as a junior in 2014  He needs just 598 yards to break into the top 10 all-time in career passing yards at WT.
 
NFL UPDATE - As of July 20, 2015, the Buffs had 11 players on NFL teams which is more than 41 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, all but one Football Championship Subdivision team (FCS, Montana) and all of Division II.  The next closest teams in Division II were California (Pa.), Grand Valley State and Valdosta State each with five.
 
IN THE RED ZONE - The Buffs ranked fourth nationally and tops in the LSC in red zone offense last season scoring 90.4 percent of the time.  They were 47 of 52 in the red zone last season.
 
WITH THE RETURN - WT finished first in the LSC and eighth nationally in kick returns last season at 24.58 yards per return.  Geremy Alridge-Mitchell was ninth nationally in kick returns at 29.9 yards per kick.  The Buffs led the nation in kick returns in 2013 at 28.38 yards per return.
 
MOORE PUNTING - Junior Elliot Moore ranked 30th nationally in punting at 40.0 yards per punt last season.  In addition, the Buffs were fifth nationally in net punting at 37.98 yards per punt.  Moore had 43 punts for 1,722 yards with a long of 59. 
 
WT winningest program in texas - The Buffs are 86-23 in regular season games from 2005-2014 and leads all Division I and Division II programs in Texas in terms of winning percentage.  WT also has gone to the postseason nine of ten years and is one of two teams (TCU) to do that.  TCU is 93-26 during the past ten years ranking the Horned Frogs second.  Midwestern State is third at 79-26.  Overall, the Buffs are 96-30 over the past ten seasons, including seven trips to the NCAA playoffs (8-7) and two Kanza Bowl wins (2-0).
 
A LOOK AT #19/23 AZUSA PACIFIC - Coming off back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, the Cougars look to take the next step in 2015 and earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs.  APU finished 10-1 in 2014 and narrowly missed the playoffs and were led by running back Terrell Watson who was an AFCA All-American and D2Football.com Player of the Year.  He rushed for 2,153 yards which led all NCAA Divisions and was GNAC Player of the Year.  Watson signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals.  Also gone is offensive lineman Cody Clay who also signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.  The 2015 Cougars have 20 new faces including 13 freshman from February and seven players who signed over the summer, including three Division I transfers.  Despite the two key losses, the Cougars return a strong nucleus led offensively by Chad Jeffries who went 126 of 205 with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions last season. He passed for 1,606 yards and ran for 676 yards and six scores on 135 carries.  Also back for the Cougars is senior tight end Grant Widmer who earned first team all-conference honors last season catching nine balls for 98 yards.  Leading receiver Tanner Henry caught 36 balls for 480 yards and six scores last season earning second team all-conference honors.  Defensively, CJ Broussard, who finished third on the team in tackles last season, returns as he tied for the team-lead in interceptions with four.  Broussard was a second team honoree and Jeffries earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a redshirt freshman.  The Cougars were picked to repeat as GNAC champions in 2015.
 
UPCOMING - The Buffs continue at home next week as they battle defending national champion Colorado State-Pueblo at 5 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium Sept. 12.  This marks just the second time since 2009 WT has opened the season with consecutive home games.  CSU-Pueblo hosts Central Washington, also of the GNAC, this week.  CSUP leads the all-time series with WT 3-1 and the teams have not played in Canyon since the 2011 season-opener as the Thunderwolves won 26-24.  WT's victory in the series came in Pueblo in a 34-13 victory over the No. 1 Thunderwolves in 2012 in the NCAA National Quarterfinal round.