CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M's comeback fell short on Saturday night as No. 25 Angelo State held on to defeat the Buffs 17-14 in an instant classic in front of 6,345 fans at Buffalo Stadium in Canyon. The Buffs are now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in Lone Star Conference play. 

Nick Gerber finished with a career-high 242 yards and two touchdowns after completing 16-of-41 passes. Duke Carter IV ran for a game-high 61 yards on 18 carries. Semaj Mitchell recorded his first career 100-yard game with 123 yards and five receptions and two touchdowns. The senior became the first Buff to record two receiving touchdowns Junior Pome'e had four against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 15, 2016. 

Hayden Dennis recorded a team-high 10 tackles with a tackle for loss and one breakup with six Buffs recording eight tackles.  Jaylan Hill forced and recovered his first career fumble in the first quarter. 

The Buffs trailed 10-0 for the second straight week after being held to two first downs and 42 yards during the opening 30 minutes. WT would score on their first drive of the third quarter on a. 10-play 74-yard drive. Gerber opened the drive with a 19-yard run on second down followed by a 9-yard pass to Jamaal Hamilton. Carter IV converted a fourth-and-2 with a 5-yard run before WT converted another fourth down with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Gerber to Mitchell. 

WT's defense forced a pair of Ram punts to get the ball back at their own 27-yard with 6:22 remaining in the third. Gerred Johnson had the biggest play of the drive with a 22-yard run on a fake punt to put the Buffs in Ram territory for the second time of the contest. Gerber found Mitchell for their second touchdown of the game to take a 14-10 lead after connecting for 22 yards on third-and-6. The Rams would respond with a touchdown on their next possession to retake the lead on a 67-yard pass from Payne Sullins to Austin Landry. 

Gerber continued his strong second half play on the Buffs second drive of the fourth quarter leading them down the field. A roughing the punter penalty extended the drive which allowed Gerber to connect with Mitchell again, this time of 36 yards. They would convert another fourth down with Gerber throwing a dart to Juwan McCall for 17 yards. A penalty negated a go-ahead touchdown pushing the Buffs back to their ASU 15-yard line where they would miss a 31-yard field goal. 

The defense would force another three-and-out to get the ball back with under four minutes remaining in the game. The Buffs converted the first of two fourth downs on a 3-yard run up the middle from Jordan Johnson to put them near midfield. Gerber found Mitchell for the fourth time on fourth-and-3 from the ASU 42-yard line before connecting again with the senior wideout to put the Buffs down the 5-yard line with less than a minute in the contest. Following two failed pass attempts, the potential game-tying 22-yard field was no good. 

WT will head to Portales, N.M. for the annual Wagon Wheel Game against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.