at Angelo State - Oct. 14
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GAME NOTES

CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M hit the road for a Lone Star Conference Showdown against Angelo State on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Legrand Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m..

FIVE KEY STORYLINES
West Texas A&M has won three consecutive games since winning three games in the 2015 season. The win streak is the longest under head coach Hunter Hughes. The two consecutive Lone Star Conference wins are also a first for the second-year head coach.

The Buffs have scored at least 20 points in five of their past seven wins. The last time WT scored more than 20 points and lost came against Tarleton on Sept. 23, 2017 (30-20).

WT is coming off a 42-21 win over UT Permian Basin in which they produced a season-high 367 total yards. Running back Duke Carter IV became the first Buff to run for four touchdowns in a single game since Khiry Robinson against Eastern New Mexico on Oc.t 20, 2012. He also ran for over 100 yards for the third straight game.

Since being named the starter in Week 5, Justin Houghtaling has been the model consistency behind center. The redshirt sophomore has completed 28 of 39 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His 81.0% (17 of 21) is the highest completion percentage for a Buff quarterback since Nov. 8, 2014 when Preston Rabb completed 24 of 29 passes against McMurry in a 58-13 victory at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

John Cummings is having himself an impressive season with 36 punts for 1,154 yards for an average of 42.1 which ranks him 29th in the nation. But what is more impressive is that half (18 of 36) of his punts have landed inside the opposing teams 20-yard line. He had a career-long punt of 71 yards earlier this season at Western New Mexico that was downed at the Mustangs' one-yard line.

SCOUTING ANGELO STATE
Angelo State enters the week full of confidence after defeating Western New Mexico 52-0 on Saturday in Silver City, N.M. The Rams are 3-3 on the season and 2-2 in Lone Star Conference play.

The Rams enter the weekend ranked 17th nationally in passing yards per game and 22nd in total offense. Payne Sullins has been a key component to the success on offense after splitting reps with Charlie Rotherham for the first four games, the junior has thrown for 592 yards and five touchdowns over the past two games. In their win over WNMU, the Gatesville, Texas native completed 12 of 18 passes for 229 and three touchdowns a week after throwing for 363 against nationally-ranked Tarleton.

Tyrese Nathan is the leading rusher for ASU with 567 yards and a touchdown on 128 carries. He has ran for 100-plus yards three times in 2018 including a season-high 139 yards against MSU Texas. Tony Jones has also seen sometime in the backfield with 133 rushing yards on 26 attempts.

Lawson Ayo and Keke Chism have caused opposing secondary's issues all season as the duo each have over 500 yards receiving. Ayo productivity has taken off since Sullins has been the starter with three straight 100-yard receiving games including a season-high 134 against Tarleton. Chism has been just as impressive with 252 yards receiving on 18 receptions over the past two games.

The defense is led by the Lone Star Conference's Preseason Defense Player of the Year, Markus Jones. The senior has 17 tackles for loss and six sacks to go along with two forced fumbles and fumble recovery. Grant Aschenbeck is also very active from his linebacker position recording a team-high 71 tackles.

Will Wagner is in his eighth season at Angelo State with an overall record of 45-39. His best season came in 2014 when he led the Rams to the inaugural LSC Playoff Championships and the program's first NCAA Division II playoff win since 1997.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
The Rams lead the all-time series 17-12 overall and 8-5 in games played in San Angelo. Since winning eight straight from 2006-13, the Buffs have dropped three straight while being outscored 114-26. WT last defeated the Rams on Oct. 19, 2013, 34-30, behind 471 yards passing and four touchdowns from Dustin Vaughan.

LAST TIME VS. ANGELO STATE
Alex Schrag's 31-yard field goal in the second quarter was all the Buffs could muster in a 51-3 defeat to Angelo State on Nov. 4, 2017 at Legrand Stadium in San Angelo, Texas.

Warren Witherspoon came close to eclipsing the 100-yard mark in his final road game as a Buff running for 98 yards on 31 attempts.

Trevor Myklebust had a game-high 13 tackles while Keimone Davis recorded 10 tackles, all of the solo variety.

A LOOK BACK AT UT PERMIAN BASIN
With the game tied 21-21 at halftime, West Texas A&M played their best half of football this season to defeat UT Permian Basin 42-21 in the final Homecoming game at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, WT's special team blocked their third punt of the season when Marcel Paige got both hands on Sergio Landero's falied punt attempt that was picked up by Brandon Blair and returned to the UTPB 17-yard line.

The special teams struck again in the second quarter when Tobias Harris returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-7 in favor of Buffs. It was the freshman first punt return for a touchdown of the season and second return for 60-plus yards.

Duke Carter IV ran for a season-high four touchdowns, three of those coming in the second half, and 143 yards on 29 carries including a 31-yard #SCTop10 worthy play in the fourth quarter. It marked the fifth straight game the New Orleans, La. native has rushed for a touchdown. He also had three receptions for nine yards.

Justin Houghtaling had the most efficient start of his career completing 17 of 21 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 27 yards on five carries including a season long run of 20 yards.

Christopher Thomas led a defense that held UTPB to 42 yards and three first downs in the second half. The Humble, Texas native had a game-high 12 tackles giving him 60 on the season.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Duke Carter IV's 714 rushing yards are the fifth-most in all of Division II while his 119.0 yards per game rank him 11th. He also ranks 15th in rushing touchdowns (8) and 16th in total touchdowns (9).

Tobias Harris' 600 combined kick return yards rank first in the Lone Star Conference and second in Division II. The freshman also ranks 10th in punt return average (16.0) and 20th in kickoff return average (27.3). The Pflugerville, Texas product needs only 97 more punt return yards to break Curley Watters record set back in 1966.

Harris has also been a force on the defensive side of the ball recording a team-high five interceptions, three shy of Chis Lacy's freshman record. His 0.8 interceptions per game is the fourth-best in the nation.

Freshman linebacker Christopher Thomas has a team-high 60 tackles and is on pace to be the first Buff to record over 100 tackles since Carter James had 125 in 2014. His 10.0 tackles per game the fourth-most in the LSC and 29th nationally.

Rodney Freeman's special team unit has been impressive this season as their three blocked punts lead the nation. The Buffs along with Chadron State and Edinboro are the only schools to have three blocked punts so far this season. 

WT HEAD COACH HUNTER HUGHES
WT head coach Hunter Hughes, the 2011 FootballScoop.com Division II Coordinator of the Year, is now in his second season at the helm of the Buffs After going 3-8 in his first season in 2017, Hughes has the Buffs off to a 4-2 start this season including a win over a nationally-ranked Central Washington on the road.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Angelo State Athletic Media Relations Department will provide live stats for the game. Buff Nation can listen to all of the Buffalo Football games on Lonestar 98.7 with Lucas Kinsey and Brice Sheets on the call with Kent Johnson joining them as the sideline reporter.  For more information, visit the Football Schedule Page at GoBuffsGo.com. 

AFCA DIVISION II POLL
The Buffs received votes in the AFCA Division II Poll for the second straight week after extending their win streak to three games with a 42-21 win over UT Permian Basin. Texas A&M-Commerce moved up two spot to 7th after defeating #12 MSU Texas on Sunday afternoon in Denton. The Texans of Tarleton are 16th heading into Saturday's showdown with the Lions in Commerce.

2018 LSC PRESEASON POLL
Texas A&M-Commerce were picked to finish first receiving 13 of the possible 24 votes for a total of 201 points. MSU Texas was picked second with 10 first place votes for a total of 200 points. Eastern New Mexico ranked third with 142 points followed by Angelo State (136), Tarleton State (130), Texas A&M-Kingsville (104), West Texas A&M (73), UT Permian Basin (one first place, 57) and Western New Mexico (37).

MSU Texas' Layton Rabb was tabbed as the LSC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Angelo State's Markus Jones was named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.