GOODWELL, Okla. – A career-high six passing touchdowns by West Texas A&M sophomore quarterback Ben Arbuckle and a career-best four receiving touchdowns for junior wide receiver Junior Pome'e as the Buffs rebounded nicely with a 42-14 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State Saturday afternoon.  With the win, the Buffs improved to 4-3 on the year and 3-2 in Lone Star Conference play, while OPSU fell to 1-6 and 0-5 in league play.

"I was really pleased with the clean second half we had and really good focus," WT head coach Mike Nesbitt said.  "We tackled well in the second half and got off the field and offensively we did a good job on third down and made some big plays and some big catches.  I was really pleased with the finish and in the games we've played we haven't played well in the third quarter in all three phases and we did that today."

Arbuckle, making his first career start at WT, went 30 of 42 for 292 yards and six scores, while Pome'e had a career-best 124 yards on 11 catches and four scores.  Junior Michael Andrews had five catches for 79 yards, while seniors Christopher Gilchrist and Devon Paye each had touchdown receptions. 

"Without a doubt we were ready to go this week," Arbuckle said.  "I watched six hours of film this week by myself and we knew what they were going to do on defense and our receivers spent the whole week figuring out when to sit down, get open and this was a total team effort today." 

As a team, the Buffs had 110 yards rushing on 35 attempts with 292 yards passing and 402 total yards on 77 plays.  The Buffs went 8 of 15 on third down and 3 of 4 on fourth down, while recording 24 first downs in the game.  Defensively, the Buffs tallied five sacks for 30 yards and eight tackles for loss for 33 yards, while recording one fumble return and one interception. 

OPSU drove down the field on its opening drive highlighted by a 33-yard rush from Rod Moore and a 16-yard pass from Truelove to Eddie Thomas IV to the WT one.  From there, Truelove passed to Thomas, but he fumbled as sophomore L.A. Dawson stripped him and recovered the fumble turning the Aggies away. 

WT punted following the fumble recovery after gaining two first downs on the drive.  OPSU then punted on its next drive moving to almost midfield.  From there, the Buffs drove 92 yards in 4:41 off the clock on 11 plays as WT converted three first downs on the drive and, on a third and five from the OPSU 17, found a leaping Pome'e in the back of the end zone for a great score and a 7-0 lead with 1:05 left in the first quarter. 

The Aggies marched right back down the field using the final minute in the first quarter and the early part of the second quarter as Truelove, on fourth and goal from the one, found J.B. Frontz on a shovel pass for a 7-7 score with 12:45 left in the first half. 

Junior Riley Smith took the kickoff back 70 yards setting the Buffs up at the OPSU 30.  Arbuckle hooked up with senior Chris Gilchrist on a 3^rd and 12 from the OPSU 32 for a first down and then Arbuckle found Pome'e over the middle for his second score of the game and a 14-7 lead.

Following an OPSU punt, sophomore P.J. Leonce returned the kick 33 yards to the OPSU 27 as the Buffs set up once again in enemy territory.  A nine-yard rush from senior Devon Paye on a third and six, followed by an eight-yard strike to Pome'e and a six yard pass to senior Christopher Gilchrist for a score and a 21-7 lead with ten minutes left in the half.

OPSU went three-and-out on its next possession as the Buff "D" began to tighten.  WT began at its 40 and marched down inside the Aggie ten, but a holding penalty moved the Buffs back to the 19.  Arbuckle found junior Michael Andrews for 11 yards with two minutes left in the half.  After a timeout and fourth down, the Buffs went for a field goal, but senior Conner Hollabaugh's 32-yarder was blocked by Keandrew Johnson. 

The Aggies took over and Truelove moved the team down the field with some momentum and the Homecoming crowd back into it.  Truelove found Brandon Trotter for 14 yards on third and seven from the WT 16 setting the Aggies up with a first and goal.  OPSU converted three first downs on the drive, but were stuffed on three attempts at the goal line and a rare Aggie holding penalty moved the team back to the 13.  OPSU ranks first in the LSC in fewest penalties and 12^th nationally.  Sterling Claphan's field goal sailed wide as WT preserved the 21-7 lead at halftime.

For the half, the Buffs tallied 165 yards with 146 yards passing and 19 yards rushing.  Arbuckle was 14 of 22 for the half for 146 yards and three scores.  Pome'e had eight catches for 94 yards and two scores, while Gilchrist had two catches for 19 yards and a score. 

OPSU had 256 yards of offense in the half on 90 yards on the ground as Truelove was 16 of 27 passing with one score for 166 yards.  Moore had 43 yards rushing while Devyn Williams had five catches for 78 yards.

OPSU turned it over on downs on its own 36 and Arbuckle found Andrews for a 30-yard catch and pass on the first play for the Buffs, followed by a six-yard strike to Pome'e for Arbuckle's fourth touchdown of the game and third to Pome'e.  It marked the first time since 2013 a Buffalo receiver had three touchdowns in a game.  It also marked Arbuckle's second-straight game of four touchdown passes. 

"I just came out here and did everything we practiced during the week," Pome'e said.  "We had' a really good week of practice as an offense and we stuck to our game plan and executed today."

Following the score, the Aggies were forced to punt, but the punt hit a WT player as OPSU recovered at the WT 25.  From there, OPSU converted a fourth and four for 16 yards to the WT three.  Truelove connected with Steven White, Jr. for a score and 28-14 deficit. 

Arbuckle methodically led the Buffs down the field converting another three third downs on the drive and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, he hit Pome'e for his fourth touchdown and fifth by Arbuckle and a 35-14 lead. 

OPSU turned it over on downs on its next possession and Arbuckle threw his sixth touchdown of the game to Paye for a 42-14 score.  It was the first time since Dustin Vaughan threw six touchdowns in a game against West Georgia on Nov. 9, 2013. 

The Aggies used backup quarterback D.J. Scott on the next drive and he drove down field to the Buffs' 24.  He threw a pass to the end zone, but senior Will Toliver made a leaping interception and returned it 54 yards to the OPSU 34.  On a fourth and 13 from the 18, Arbuckle found redshirt freshman Avery Lewis for a first down at the five.

WT returns home to host Midwestern State next Saturday at 6 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in the annual Highway 287 Challenge.  WT leads the Challenge so far this season 2-1 with wins in volleyball and women's soccer.