CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes open up Lone Star Conference action on Saturday night as they hit the road to take on the UT Permian Basin Falcons at Ratliff Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Odessa.
 
- West Texas A&M is playing their 109th season of football as they hold an overall record of 525-519-2 (.502) dating back to the 1910 campaign.
 
- Week two of the 2021 season will see a pair of contests to open up the LSC schedule as the Buffs travel to Odessa while #8 Texas A&M-Commerce takes on Midwestern State at a neutral location in Arlington, Texas at Choctaw Stadium, the former home of the Texas Rangers. All other LSC football institutions will open up their league schedule either on September 18th or September 25th.
 
- The Buffs picked up a big 73-0 victory over Texas College last Thursday night in the season opener at Buffalo Stadium. WT finished the night with 557 yards of total offense with 407 of those coming on the ground as seven different Buffs found the end zone in the win. Defensively, WT allowed just six first downs and 116 yards of total offense.
 
- UT Permian Basin enters Saturday on a seven-game win streak dating back to November 16, 2019 when they rolled past Texas A&M-Kingsville (70-14) in the season finale. The Falcons finished off a pandemic-shortened spring season with a perfect 5-0 record followed by a 24-16 road win over Southwest Baptist last Saturday. UTPB was scheduled to open the season at home against Fort Lauderdale University but COVID issues within the Eagle program forced a trip to Bolivar, Missouri against the Bearcats.
 
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
UTPB enters the weekend on a seven-game win streak following a 24-16 victory at Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Falcons put up 433 yards of total offense in the win as Clayton Roberts went 18-of-29 thru the air with 244 yards and a pair of TD's to go along with 52 yards and a score on the ground. Kobe Robinson finished the afternoon with seven catches for 123 yards while Nathan Tilford added 100 yards rushing. 
 
UTPB HEAD COACH JUSTIN CARRIGAN
Justin Carrigan is now in his sixth season at the helm of the UTPB Football Program after being named the first head coach in school history on January 9, 2015. 
 
Carrigan led the Falcons to a perfect 5-0 mark in the pandemic-shortened spring season of 2021. The two-time All-LSC safety at Angelo State holds an overall record of 16-34 during his time in Odessa where he also serves as the Offensive Coordinator.
 
THE SERIES
The Buffaloes are a perfect 4-0 all-time against UTPB with two of those wins coming at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa. WT has outscored the Falcons 121-51 in those four contests.
 
HEAD COACH HUNTER HUGHES
Hunter Hughes enters his fifth season at the helm of the Buffaloes as the Nashville, Tennessee native holds an overall record of 21-19 during his time in Canyon. A 1991 graduate of Middle Tennessee State, Hughes has coached 21 All-Lone Star Conference selections during his time in Maroon & White. 
 
Hughes came to Canyon in December of 2016 following a decade as the Defensive Coordinator at Colorado State-Pueblo where the ThunderWolves made five NCAA Playoff appearances including a run to the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship.
 
THIS IS LSC FOOTBALL
The Lone Star Conference has eight teams set to compete in 2021. Each team will play seven conference games to determine the LSC Champion. The 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the LSC did not sponsor a spring season in the sport of football.
 
WEEK ONE RECAP
The Buffs opened their 2021 season on a high-note on Thursday night as they accounted for 557 yards of total offense while scoring the most points in a single-game since 2013 in a 73-0 rout of Texas College in front of over 5,000 fans at Buffalo Stadium.
 
Nick Gerber finished the night going 10-of-11 for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns for a QB rating of 265.5. Markell Stephens-Peppers caught a team-high three passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns while Khalil Harris led the way on the ground with seven rushes for 112 yards and two scores.
 
Defensively, the Buffs allowed just six first downs and 102 yards of total yards. Ayrton Payne led the way with seven total tackles (six solo) to go along with an interception and a forced fumble followed by Chris Thomas with five tackles (four solo) to go along with one sack and a pass breakup.
 
BUFFALO STADIUM
West Texas A&M is home to one of the premiere college football facilities in the country as Buffalo Stadium opened on September 7, 2019 to a capacity crowd of 10,145 fans. The state of the art facility included Hellas Matrix FusionH XP2 artificial turf along with seven ground-level suites and the Fairly Group Club.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will be broadcasted on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Fans can purchase a football season pass for just $75 or a single-day pass for $10. For more information, visit the Football Schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II. 
 
The 2020-21 season saw WT claim seven LSC Regular Season Championships, three LSC Tournament Titles, three Regional Championships, four Top-three track & field finishes, a men's basketball national title game appearance and the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship.
 
ON THIS DAY
The Buffs are 2-4 all-time on September 11th with four of the contest being played in Canyon.
 
1948 - vs. Northern Arizona (W, 28-0)
1971 - at Memphis (L, 30-0)
1982 - at Louisiana Tech (L, 28-7)
1993 - vs. Fort Lewis (L, 27-24)
2004 - vs. Central Oklahoma (L, 38-27)
2010 - vs. S.W. Oklahoma State (W, 77-14)