Game Notes PDF Format

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M football team returns home looking to get back on the winning track as it hosts Adams State Saturday at 5 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium for Homecoming.  The Buffs are 2-4 overall and have dropped their past three games, while Adams State is 3-3 after a 63-17 loss to then-No. 14 Colorado State-Pueblo last week.
 
Fans can listen to the game throughout the Texas Panhandle as Lonestar FM 98.7 KPRF will carry the game with the voice of the Buffs, Lucas Kinsey handling play-by-play and Brice Sheets providing color.  Kent Johnson will be on the sideline for the game.  Along with live audio, fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming of the game at www.gobuffsgo.com on the football schedule page.
 
OPENING DRIVE NOTES

• WT's offensive struggles continued in the 37-9 loss last week at Texas A&M-Commerce as the Buffs managed just 12 yards rushing on 32 carries, while throwing for 175 yards and recording 187 yards of offense.It was the second-straight game of under 200 yards of total offense.
• Adams State has allowed 60 or more points in two of the last three games and 44 or more points each of the last three.Like WT, Saturday's 17 points at CSUP was the fewest scored by the Grizzlies this season, as was the nine by the Buffs at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
• The Buffs are 43-28-2 all-time on Homecoming and have dropped their past two with a 51-34 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville last season and a 37-17 loss to Angelo State in 2015.Prior to that, WT had won nine-straight on Homecoming from 2005-2013 (also won in 2014, but win was vacated).
• Adams State will be the first team from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference WT has faced on Homecoming in program history.
• WT leads the all-time series with Adams State, 5-1 and won the last three meetings, including a 63-20 decision in Alamosa, Colo., Sept. 8, 2007 as the teams haven't met on the gridiron since.
• Three Buffs had double-digit tackles in the loss at Texas A&M-Kingsville last weekend, including a game-high 15 tackles from senior linebacker Trevor Myklebust.
• WT is looking to snap a three-game drought of interceptions as the Buffs had five picks in the first three games and none since.ASU has thrown five interceptions on the year with just one lost fumble, while recording four interceptions and recovering seven fumbles.
• The Buffs have not lost four-straight games in a season since 2004 when the team finished the year 2-8.
• WT coach Hunter Hughes is quite familiar with Adams State as he helped guide Colorado State-Pueblo's defense against the Grizzlies for the past nine years.Hughes is 8-1 against the Grizzlies while he was on staff at Colorado State-Pueblo as the defensive coordinator and has beaten ASU eight-straight times during that span.

 
INSIDE THE SERIES

• West Texas A&M leads the all-time series 5-1 and has won the last three meetings, including a 63-20 decision on Sept. 8, 2007, in Alamosa, Colo.
• The Buffs are 3-0 at home against the Grizzlies and 2-1 on the road as the Buffs have outscored Adams State 210-77 in the six meetings.
• WT posted a 48-0 shutout in Alamosa on Sept. 6, 1997, following the only loss for the Buffs as Adams State won in Canyon the year before, 13-10 (9/7/96).
• The Buffs won the first meeting in the series, 14-7 on Sept. 10, 1994, in Canyon.

 
MEET THE COACHES

• WT head coach Hunter Hughes is in his first season at the helm of the Buffs as he was hired from Colorado State-Pueblo on Dec. 13, 2016 as the 28th head coach in WT history.
• Hughes spent 10 years as Defensive Coordinator at CSUP where he guided the ThunderWolves to the program's first national championship in 2014 with a 13-0 shutout of Minnesota State.Hughes had a tremendous track record at CSUP as one of the top defensive units in the nation.
• He was named Footballscoop.com Division II Coordinator of the Year finalist in 2014 and his "D" led all of Division II in scoring defense (12.8 ppg) INT's (29), defensive touchdowns (7) and turnovers gained (43).
• Adams State head coach Timm Rosenbach is in his third year at the helm of the Grizzlies and the team has gotten better each year under his guidence.  Rosenbach was in the running for the Heismen Trophy finishing seventh in 1988 at Washington State as a prolific quarterback.  He played in the NFL for the then-Phoenix Cardinals, but his career was cut short due to injuries.

 
A WIN OVER ADAMS STATE WOULD . . .

• Give WT a 3-4 record on the year
• Be the 44th win on Homecoming for WT (43-28-2) and snap a two-game skid on Homecoming
• Give Coach Hughes his third win at WT and first Homecoming victory
• Be the 507th win in program history (506-504-22)
• Give WT a 2-0 record this season against teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and a 36-10 record against current members of the RMAC all-time
• Be the sixth win in the series against Adams State (5-1)
• Be the 167th win at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium (166-131-3)
• Give WT a 7-3 record on Oct. 14, since 1946 and a 6-1 record at home on this date

 
LOOKING AT ADAMS STATE

• The high-octane offense of the Grizzlies enters averaging 36.8 points per game (24th nationally), while ranking eighth nationally in total offense at 494.8 yards per game and fourth nationally in passing at 351.8 yards per game.
• Adams State is led by quarterback Nick Rooney who is sixth nationally in passing touchdowns (7), 17th in passing yards (1,650), sixth in passing yards per game (330.0), fourth in completions per game at a 26.2 clip and fourth nationally in total offense at 339.8 yards per game.
• The Grizzlies have three players with six or more touchdowns led by Marquese Surrell with eight, ranking fourth nationally, while James Holtrop and Chad Hovasse each have six.Hovasse is 17th nationally in receiving yards at 605 per game.All three players rank in the top 37 in the country in receptions per game as Surrell is 24th at 6.3 per contest.
• On the ground, the Grizzlies are just as effective as Corey Brown is 34th nationally in rushing yards at 589 and 38th in rushing yards per game at 98.2.
• Surrell is fourth nationally in all-purpose yards at 212.5, while ranking third nationally in combined kick returns with 676 yards.He is averaging 8.0 points per game and has scored 48 points on the year, ranking 36th nationally.
• Defensively, the Grizzlies give up a lot of points (44.7), but have some standout players in Brandon Baker and Garrett Jackson.Baker ranks 17th nationally in forced fumbles at 0.6 per game, while leading the nation in passes defended at 2.2 per contest.He also is 48th nationally in solo tackles at 5.4 per game. Jackson is second nationally in solo tackles at 7.6 per game and is 11th in total tackles at 11.0 per contest.
• The struggles for the Grizzlies this season have been some in special teams as they have allowed seven blocked kicks this season and three blocked punts. The defense has allowed a league-worst 169 first downs, while conversely ranking second nationally in first down offense with 158.ASU is 10th in the RMAC in red zone defense at .897 clip and 10th in the RMAC in total defense, allowing 486.8 yards per game with 241 yards on the ground and 255.8 through the air.
• Despite that, the Grizzlies have taken care of the football as they rank second nationally in fumbles lost (1) and have 11 turnovers forced to just six turnovers lost for a 0.83 margin, ranking 30th nationally.ASU is fourth nationally in punt returns at 25.33 per return and average 21.78 yards per kick return.
• Adams State has scored 25 or more points in all but one game this season, while scoring 30 or more in four games.Conversely, the defense has allowed 60 or more points in two of the last three games and 40 or more four times this season.
• WT, on the other hand, has not scored over 30 points in any game this season and allowed a season-high 37 last weekend at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

 
BUFF NEWS AND NOTES

• The Buffs struggled once again offensively on Saturday in the 37-9 loss at Texas A&M-Kingsville.In the game, WT had a season-low 12 yards rushing and recorded its second-straight game of under 200 yards total offense with 187, helped out by 175 yards through the air.
• The defense has been put to work each of the last two weeks as WT had 96 tackles against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 30 and 87 last weekend at TAMUK.In addition, time of possession for the Buffs has dropped from over 33 minutes per game through the first four contest to just over 29 minutes for the season through six games.
• Despite the offensive woes at times, the Buffs have shown some positive signs as the team is third nationally in fewest penalties with 20, while ranking third in fewest penalties per game (3.33), second in fewest penalty yards (143) and lead the nation in fewest penalty yards per game (23.83).
• The Buffs are holding teams to just 14.37 yards per kick return ranking sixth nationally, while ranking 23 nationally in net punting at 37.0 per punt.The team is 38th nationally in punt return defense at 4.83 per return.
• Individually, freshman kicker Alex Schrag is 28th nationally in field goals per game at 1.17 as he is 7-12 in field goals and 8-8 in extra-points, while handling kickoff duties.
• Senior punter John Cummings is 35th nationally and second in the LSC in punting at 40.6 yards per punt.He has 33 punts with three touchbacks, eight fair catches, 10 inside the 20 and nine over 50 yards.
• Defensively the Buffs have been strong as senior Daelin Young ranks 22nd nationally and third in the LSC in sacks per game at 0.83.He has five sacks on the year for 41 yards.Young also ranks highly in solo tackles as he is averaging 5.2 per game, while averaging 1.2 tackles for loss per contest.
• The Buffs had seven turnovers forced in the first three games of the season with five interceptions, but have not gotten a turnover since.WT outscored the opposition 30-7 in points off turnovers in the first three games, but has been outscored 28-0 in the last three.
• Saturday's game features to be contrasting teams as Adams State has the prolific offense, while WT doesn't and the Buffs are putting up better numbers defensively than the Grizzlies.
• For the season, the Buffs are averaging a league-worst 251.7 yards per game, ranking ninth in the LSC, while averaging 103.8 yards rushing (sixth LSC) and 147.8 yards passing (eighth).
• Saturday saw the first action of redshirt freshman quarterback Skyler Bonneau as he went 3 of 7 passing for 50 yards and a long of 38.He was sacked twice.He also had five rushing yards on eight carries.
• Senior linebacker Trevor Myklebust had 15 tackles in the game with three solo stops and 12 assisted tackles.WT didn't record a sack in the game, marking the second-straight game of not registering a sack.
• The Buffs are averaging just 16.2 points per game ranking ninth in the LSC, while allowing just 24.3, which is good for fourth in the league.
• WT has struggled this season on third down as the team is 29 of 85 (34%).The Buffs have had just one game (at Tarleton State) where the team was over 50 percent on third down (11/18).On fourth down, WT is 3-8 for the season.