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CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M heads to the Land of Enchantment for the annual Wagon Wheel Game against Eastern New Mexico. The annual rivalry game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. CT at Greyhound Stadium in Portales, N.M.
FIVE KEY STORYLINES
The Buffs are going to have get off to a better start against the Greyhounds if they want to bring back the Wagon Wheel to Canyon. Over their past two games, WT has run 52 plays in the first half for 141 total yards.
Redshirt sophomore
Nick Gerber threw for a career-high 242 yards on Saturday against Angelo State, all of the coming in the second half as WT nearly overcame a 10-point halftime deficit for the second straight week. In seven starts, the Levelland product has completed 118-of-214 passes for 1385 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions. He has thrown for at least 200 yards and one touchdown in four straight games dating back to the Buffs 45-21 victory over Western New Mexico.
Six different Buffs have recorded 10 or more receptions this season including a team-high 21 from
Juwan McCall and
Semaj Mitchell. The seniors have combined for 42 catches for 604 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Transfers
Chase Sojka and
Markel Stephens-Peppers have also been impressive with a combined 29 receptions.
The Buffs were a perfect 6-of-6 on fourth downs on Saturday at Buffalo Stadium. They converted two of those on the final drive of the game. It marks the second time that WT has converted four or more fourth downs this season. Earlier in the season, they were a 4-of-4 against Western New Mexico.
Frank Honang and
Hayden Dennis rank in the Top 10 in tackles heading in Saturday's showdown against the Greyhounds. Honang has a career-high 80 tackles where he has recorded 10 or more tackles in five games including a career-high 16 tackles against UT Permian Basin. Dennis ranks second on the team and seventh in the nation with 78 tackles including his first career sack against Central Washington.
SCOUTING EASTERN NEW MEXICO
Eastern New Mexico enters the week 5-2 overall and 3-2 in Lone Star Conference play following a 48-17 win over Western New Mexico last week in Silver City, N.M. The Greyhounds are led by third-year head coach Kelley Lee.
The Greyhounds own the nation's best run offense where they average 406.7 yards per contest, 50 yards more than second-place Harding. Paul Terry leads the rushing attack with 1,167 yards, which ranks second in the nation behind Notre Dame's Jaleel McLaughlin. He also averages a conference-best 167.6 all-purpose yards per game.
Wyatt Strand is equally important to the Greyhound run game as the four-year starter has rushed for over 2,600 yards during his career. This season, the Logan, N.M. native has rushed for conference-high nine touchdowns while his 644 rushing yards are the Number most in the LSC and 26th most in the nation. Zachary Fields has been Strand's favorite target with 12 receptions for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
Lamontre Huval is the Greyhounds leading tackler with 55 including three tackles for loss and two sacks. The junior from Breaux Ridge, La. native forced and recovered a fumble in ENMU's win in the Chile Bowl on Saturday.
Noah Sweitzer has also had a productive season as the redshirt junior has 50 tackles and four pass breakups.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
The Buffs are 16-17 all-time against the Greyhound including 7-8 on the road. WT has lost six of their last seven matchups with their last win coming on Oct. 31, 2015 where
Xavier Amey hauled in 242 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
WT last defeated ENMU on the road on Oct. 22, 2012 behind 137 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Khiry Robinson.
MITCHELL MAKING PLAYS
Semaj Mitchell had a breakout performance on Saturday against ASU with his first career 100-yard receiving game. The senior finished the contest with six receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first player since Junior Pomee in 2016 to record multiple receiving touchdowns in a single game.
With his performance against the Rams, Mitchell also became the third Buff over the past three seasons to record a 100-yard receiving game joining
Markel Steward and McCall. Before the 2019 season, Steward was the only Buff under head coach
Hunter Hughes to go over 100 yards.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
Three true freshmen have seen the field for the Buffs this season in
Adam Alcorta,
Michael Onozie and
Khalil Harris. Alcorta has started the past two games at left tackle in place of
Parker Hanna while Harris had three receptions for 13 yards against UTPB. Onozie has played in five games where he has recorded four tackles (1 solo, 3 assisted) and forced a fumble on a kickoff against Tarleton. He also picked up his first career tackle for loss in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
A LOOK INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Honang has been done it all for the Buffs defense this season setting career-highs in forced fumbles, fumble recoveries and pass breakups with four regular season games to play. The senior forced his third fumble on Saturday giving him five for his career while his five pass breakups are the third-most on the team behind
Tobias Harris and
Chazz Slatinsky.
Duke Carter IV went over 1,500 career rushing yards on Saturday. The senior running back has now rushed for 1,553 yards following his 18 carry, 61-yard performance against ASU. During his two-year career at WT, Carter IV has run for 1,219 yards to go along with the 344 yards he accumulated at Louisiana Monroe.
Tobias Harris ranks second in the nation in combined kick return yards. The sophomore's 724 return yards trails only Missouri Western's Trey Vaval. He also ranks first in punt return average.
Since making a 27-yard field goal against Western New Mexico, the Buffs have missed seven straight field goals including two in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
THIS DAY IN BUFF HISTORY
WT is 4-5 all-time in games played on Oct. 26 dating back to the 1946 season where they defeated New Mexico State 21-14.
The Buffs last played on Oct. 26 in 2013 where they defeated McMurry 90-57 in Abilene.
Dustin Vaughan completed 27-of-40 passes for 452 yards and six touchdowns with
Aaron Harris rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown.
AFCA DIVISION II POLL
For the first time this season, the Buffs did not receive any votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25. Tarleton remained at fourth in the coaches poll picking up one first-place vote after defeating Texas A&M-Commerce, who fell to 23rd. Angelo State moved up to three spots to 22nd with ENMU picking up four votes.
AROUND THE LSC
The Texans are the lone unbeaten team in conference play after their 35-21 victory over A&M-Commerce on Saturday evening. Midwestern State put up 70 points on Texas A&M-Kingsville to end a three-game losing streak while ENMU defeated Western New Mexico 48-17. UT Permian Basin fell to Chadron State, 43-21, in a non-conference game in Chadron, Neb.
WT HEAD COACH HUNTER HUGHES
Third-year head coach
Hunter Hughes is 14-15 since taking over the program in 2017. The 2011 FootballScoop.com Division II Coordinator of the Year is 0-2 all-time against the Greyhounds and will be making his first trip to Greyhound Stadium on Saturday.
LIVE COVERAGE
The ENMU Athletic Communications Department will provide live stats and webstream for the game. An audio stream will be provided by WT with Lucas Kinsey and Brice Sheets on the call. For more information, visit the Football Schedule Page at GoBuffsGo.com.
UP NEXT
WT return home to host Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, Nov. 2, in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN3. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
