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CANYON, Texas. – West Texas A&M begins its 106th season of football, and second under head coach Hunter Hughes, when it plays Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT at Citrus Stadium in Glendora, Calif. It marks the fourth straight season the Buffs have opened their season against the Cougars.
 
FIVE KEY STORYLINES
West Texas A&M returns two players that earned First Team All-Lone Star Conference honors last season. Fullback Jordan Johnson returns for his junior season after leading the team in receiving yards and rushing touchdowns, He also had the second-most rushing yards behind Warren Witherspoon in his first full season as a fullback. John Cummings returns for his senior season as one of the top punters in the country. The Plano, Texas native led the conference in punting last season with 54 punts for 2353 yards.
 
Saturday's game will mark the first career start under center for redshirt junior Mitch Hood. The transfer from Mississippi State earned the starting job after a strong fall camp. He will be joined in the backfield by newcomers, Duke Carter IV and Logan Vallo.
 
The Buffs are 46-60 all-time in season openers and 7--33 on the road. WT has dropped eight of its last nine season openers after winning four straight from 2005-2008.
 
Ryan Heaston, Daniel Brown and Austin Gillmore will make their West Texas A&M coaching debuts on Saturday. All three players played collegiate football at the Divisoin I level. Heaston, who looks over the running backs, played at Missouri State where he ran for over 1,000 yards during his career. He also earned Freshman All-American honors. Brown coaches the inside linebackers and comes from Fredrick Douglas High School in Atlanta, Ga. after a successful playing career at Louisville. Gillmore, a Bushland High School graduate, is over the outside linebackers. He previously coached at Texas A&M-Kingsville and Adams State.
 
Saturday's game will mark the first of five WT games in the month of September. The Buffs have played five September games five times in the past two decades including last year. The Buffs went 2-3 last year with wins over nationally-ranked Colorado-State Pueblo and UT Permian Basin.
 
SCOUTING AZUSA PACIFIC
The Cougars enter the 2018 season look to get back to the top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference following a 7-4 overall record in 2017 including a win over #14 Colorado Mesa during the final week of the regular season.
 
Azusa Pacific is led by Victor Santa Cruz who is now in his 13th season with the Cougars. He led the APU football program to its first NCAA Division II playoff appearance in 2016 after claiming the program's third GNAC championships.
 
The Cougars return their top offensive weapon in Austin Carr, who earned First Team All-American honors last season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior, was Division II's second-leading receiver in 2017 with 1,458 yards and 15 touchdowns.
 
AFCA DIVISION II PRESEASON POLL
The Lone Star Conference is well represented in the preseason poll with Texas A&M-Commerce ranked first followed by MSU Texas (11th) with Eastern New Mexico receiving votes.
 
HOOD NAMED THE STARTER
After a competitive battle during fall camp, head coach Hunter Hughes named redshirt junior Mitch Hood as the starting quarterback for the season opener at his Monday press conference. Redshirt sophomore Justin Houghtaling will be his backup.
 
A 6-5, 200-pounder from Boyes Hot Spring, Calif., Hood spent last season as a redshirt at Mississippi State, where he worked with now-Florida head coach Dan Mullen. The Bulldogs went 9-4.
 
Hood is no stranger to the California as he graduated from Sonoma Valley High School before attending Santa Rosa Junior College. During his two-year career as a Rosco, he threw for over 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
Hood isn't the only newcomer that will be relied on during the season opener as the Buffs will rely on a mix of transfers and freshman to defeat Azusa Pacific.
 
In the backfield, Duke Carter IV and Logan Vallo will look to carry the load left behind from Warren Weatherspoon. Carter comes from Louisiana-Monroe where he rushed for 344 yards during his two-year career. Vallo was one of the top junior college running backs out of California rushing for over 1,200 yards and 20 touchdowns as a sophomore.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Koby Welch will look to make an immediate impact at will linebacker position. The California native spent the past two years at Northwestern State before coming to WT as a graduate transfer. Opposing offenses will have to account for him all over the field.
 
Tobias Harris is the lone true freshman to get the starting nod as he is listed as No. 1 cornerback. The Pflugerville, Texas product has impressed the defensive coaches with his athleticism and love for the game during fall camp.
 
WELCOME BACK
The Buffs welcome back a plethora of talent on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball including fifth-year seniors Michael Whitfield and Travis Vornkahl on the offensive line.
 
Vornkahl has started in 21 games during his career including 10 last season. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound is slated to start at right tackle after earning honorable mention all-conference honors the past two seasons. Whitfield has also started in 20-plus games including 10 games last season.
 
Jordan Johnson is also back at fullback where he combined for 440 all-purpose yards in 2017. He was the team's leading receiver with 267 yards and one touchdown on 19 receptions. Markel Steward is top returning wideout after catching 15 balls for 235 yards last season.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Gered Johnson leads an experienced group of players. The junior had 29 total tackles last season, four tackles for loss and two sacks in 2017. Eric Collins and Hayden Dennis are back for the linebacker corps with Keimone Davis occupying one of the two-cornerback positions.
 
All-conference punter John Cummings enter his senior season looking to replicate his junior campaign where he ranked near the top of Division II in multiple punting categories. As a junior in 2017, he led the LSC in punting for the second consecutive 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. He went 3-8 in his first season in 2017 including win over nationally ranked Colorado-State Pueblo.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The Azusa Pacific Athletic Media Relations Department will provide live stats and web streaming Saturday's game. The web stream will cost $7.95 and can be viewed on mobile devices. For more information, visit the Football Schedule Page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
2018 LSC PRESEASON POLL
Texas A&M-Commerce were picked to finish first receiving 13 of the possible 24 votes for a toal 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.