WT Game Notes in PDF Format

CSUP Game Notes in PDF Format

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M football team hosts No. 7 Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.  The Buffs are 0-1 on the year after a 24-13 loss to then-No. 13 Azusa Pacific last weekend, while CSU-Pueblo is 1-0 after a 38-7 victory over then-No. 16 Colorado Mines. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and ticket information at www.gobuffsgo.com on the football schedule page.  The game also will be broadcast on the home of West Texas A&M football 98.7 KPRF Lonestar FM throughout the Texas Panhandle.  The voice of the Buffs, Lucas Kinsey and Brice Sheets will have the call. 
 
OPENING DRIVE NOTES
 

• A new era began in WT football last week as first year head coach Hunter Hughes coached his first game for the Buffs in a hard-fought 24-13 loss to then-No. 13 Azusa Pacific.Hughes was hired on Dec. 13, 2016, as the 28th head coach in WT football history.
• Hughes is no stranger to CSU-Pueblo as he was the defensive coordinator for the ThunderWolves for the past 10 seasons and helped lead the team to a national championship in 2014.
• WT opens the season with three-straight home games and have seven regular season home games for the most since 1989.
• WT is 198-155-4 (.582) at home since 1946 and 165-130-3 (.560) at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium since it was built in 1959.
• CSU-Pueblo enters with a 1-0 record and a 1-0 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after a 38-7 victory over then-No. 16 Colorado Mines last week.The ThunderWolves moved up to No. 7 in the latest AFCA Coaches' Poll.
• The ThunderWolves were selected first in the preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll and had seven players named to the preseason All-RMAC Team.CSUP was picked 12th in the preseason AFCA poll, eighth in the Street & Smith magazine and 19th in the College Football America Yearbook poll.
• The Buffs dropped a 24-13 decision in Hughes' first game, but WT had a chance with a minute left on a game-winning drive before a fumble return for a touchdown by the Cougars sealed the game.
• The Buffs were picked seventh in the preseason Lone Star Conference Poll as voted on by coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives throughout the league.
• WT senior offensive lineman Dillon Vaughan has been nominated for the Allstate Good Works Team and for the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award.
• Senior linebacker Daelin Young was named a D2 Football Preseason All-America candidate this year as he led the team in tackles last season with 78, along with 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.Young played defensive line last season before switching back to linebacker this year.

 
INSIDE THE SERIES
 

• The Buffs and ThunderWolves are tied 3-3 all-time in the season series with the Buffs winning the last two, including a 26-10 win in Pueblo last season.
• WT has won three of the last four in the series and is 1-1 in games played in Canyon, while going 2-2 in Pueblo.
• CSUP has outscored WT 158-155 in the six meetings in the series.
• WT has upset CSUP as a ranked opponent each of the last two meetings and the ThunderWolves have been ranked in five of the six matchups with WT being ranked three times.
• The Buffs are 34-10 against current members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and this year's schedule features two RMAC teams with Adams State visiting on Oct. 14.

 
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).
• Colorado State-Pueblo head coach John Wristen is in his 10th season at CSUP with an 77-21 record.
• He guided CSUP to a national championship in 2014 and Wristen was named 2014 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year, 2014 D2Football.com Coach of the Year, 2014 Rawlings/American Football Monthly Division II Coach of the Year and Don Hansen Division II Coach of the Year and Don Hansen Super Region Four Coach of the Year.
• Hughes was Wristen's defensive coordinator for the last ten years at CSUP.

 
A WIN OVER COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO WOULD . . .
 

• Give WT a 1-1 season matching last season's start avoiding the second 0-2 start since 2004 (2014)
• Give WT a 4-3 lead in the all-time series with CSU-Pueblo
• Give WT a 35-10 record all-time against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams
• Give WT a 31-29 record against ranked teams since 2005
• Give WT a win over a ranked team each of the last six seasons
• Be Hughes' first win at the helm of the Buffs
• Give WT a 2-1 record on Sept. 9 as the Buffs won 31-11 in 2006 at home against Adams State on Sept. 9 with the first meeting being a road loss at Midwestern State in 2000.

 
LOOKING AT CSU-PUEBLO
 

• The ThunderWolves are 1-0 after a 38-7 trouncing of then-16th-ranked Colorado Mines last week.In the game, CSUP had a balanced offense with 31 carries for 237 yards on the ground and 32 passing attempts for 228 yards passing.
• All three CSUP quarterbacks played with Brandon Edwards making his first start going 13 of 19 for 152 yards and two scores.Receiver Osha Washington had four receptions and a score.
• Reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, Josh Croy, recorded ten tackles with four solo and two tackles for loss as he returned after missing all of last season with an injury.
• CSUP was picked to win the RMAC championship and had seven players named to the preseason all-RMAC team in Zach Boyd (TE), Corbin Feenstra (OL), Ty McCulley (OL), Bernard McDondle (RB), Croy (DL), Brandon Payer (LB) and Darius Williams (CB).Payer was named the RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
• The ThunderWolves return 47 letterwinners and 12 starters from last year's 8-3 team.WT handed CSUP its first home regular season loss in its last 28 last season with the 26-10 win in Pueblo on Sept. 10.From an 0-2 start, the ThunderWolves went 8-1 the rest of the way and narrowly missed the NCAA playoffs.
• This will be CSUP's 111th game since football was reinstated at the school in 2008 as all of the games have been coached by Wristen (89-21, .809%) and the team won the national championship in 2014.

 
BUFF NEWS AND NOTES
 

• Despite the 24-13 loss on Saturday, the Buffs showed a more physical approach and were driving for a potential game-winning score with one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
• WT tallied 223 yards on the ground which marked the most rushing yards since the final game of the 2015 season against Texas A&M-Kingsville in the LSC Football Playoff.
• Junior running back Warren Witherspoon had a career-high 138 yards on the ground on 24 carries, while junior Myron Buchanan had 13 carries on 48 yards in his first start as a Buff.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Houghtaling went 9 of 21 passing for 94 yards in his first collegiate game and had seven rushes in the game.
• Sophomore defensive back Kevon Thomas picked off quarterback Andrew Elffers and returned it to the house for the lone touchdown in the game for the Buffs.It was his first touchdown of his career.It also marked the first pick-six by the Buffs since Austin Williams returned an INT for a score at Colorado State-Pueblo last season (9/10/16).
• Freshman kicker Alex Schrag handled the kickoff and field goal duties, going 2 for 3 in field goals and tallied four kickoffs for a 53.8 average.
• Junior defensive back Chazz Slatinsky paced the team with eight tackles, including seven solo stops, while senior linebacker Daelin Young had six tackles (five solo stops), three tackles for loss (16 yards) and two sacks (15 yards), along with two quarterback hurries.
• Check out each Friday on www.gobuffsgo.com, The Game Plan with Hunter Hughes hosted by Lucas Kinsey, the voice of the Buffs.  Kinsey and Hughes will go over the previous week's game and preview the upcoming game and go inside all aspects of the program.
• The Buffs have seven home games this season marking the most since 1989.WT will host CSUP Saturday and UT Permian Basin next week to close out a three game home stand to begin the season.
• Senior offensive lineman Dillon Vaughan was nominated for the AFCA Good Works Team sponsored by Allstate.He also is a semifinalist for the prestigious National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award.His brother, Dustin, was a NFF National Scholar-Athlete in 2013.
• Young was named a D2 Football Preseason All-America candidate as he led the team in tackles last season, earning second team all-conference honors.
• WT was picked seventh in the preseason LSC Coaches' Poll as voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives from the region.