CANYON, Texas – The Buffs hit the road for Lone Star Conference action this Saturday as they head to Wichita Falls, Texas to take on the Midwestern State Mustangs with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs enter the weekend with an overall mark of 3-2 with a 2-1 record in Lone Star Conference play following a 30-27 overtime loss on the road last week at Western New Mexico.
 
Dillon Sterling-Cole guides the MSU offense as the senior from Orange, Texas has completed 50-of-68 passes for 524 yards and four touchdowns. Devin Cross has picked up 486 yards on the ground with three scores while Dylon Davis and Justin Guillory anchor the Mustang defense with 24 tackles each.
 
MSU HEAD COACH BILL MASKILL
Five-time LSC Coach of the Year Bill Maskill is now in his 21st season at the helm of the Midwestern State Football program. Maskill enters Saturday with an overall career record of 166-70.
 
He holds an overall record of 153-62 during his time in Wichita Falls with eight trips to the NCAA Playoffs and five LSC Championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2021). 
 
THE SERIES
The Buffs lead the all-time series 19-15 against the Mustangs dating back to the 1947 season. WT is 9-7 all-time at Memorial Stadium as they have dropped the last three meetings to Wichita Falls.
 
HEAD COACH HUNTER HUGHES
Hunter Hughes is now in his sixth season at the helm of the Buffaloes as the Nashville, Tennessee native holds an overall record of 30-25 during his time in Canyon. A 1991 graduate of Middle Tennessee State, Hughes has coached 37 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 Title.
 
THIS IS LSC FOOTBALL
The season kicks off Thursday, September 1st and the Lone Star Conference has 10 teams set to compete in 2022 with the addition of Central Washington, Simon Fraser and Western Oregon as affiliate members. Each team will play nine conference games to determine the LSC Champion.
 
WEEK FIVE RECAP
West Texas A&M's Gage Urias proved to be the hero on Saturday night in front of 9,414 fans at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium as the senior from Lubbock set a new school record with five made field goals including a 32 yarder with four seconds left to give the Buffs a 28-27 Homecoming victory over UT Permian Basin.
 
Nick Gerber finished the night completing 27-of-43 passes for 271 yards to go along with a team-high 105 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Noah Bogardus led the receiving core with 195 yards on 11 catches followed by Tyler Sweet with four catches and 42 yards.
 
Defensively, Christopher Thomas led the way with 12 total tackles (11 solo, two assisted) with two sacks and a hurry followed by Sign Shuva and Antonio Iwuagwu with six tackles each. 
 
WHERE THE BUFFALOES ROAM
West Texas A&M is home to one of the premiere college football facilities in the country as Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium opened on September 7, 2019 to a capacity crowd of 10,145 fans as the Buffs toppled Asuza Pacific, 35-16. The state of the art facility included Hellas Matrix FusionH XP2 artificial turf along with seven ground-level suites and the Fairly Group Club.
 
AFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
Ferris State picked up 29 first place votes to remain atop of the poll following a 38-7 victory over Findlay. Grand Valley State sits second (one first place, 719) followed by Angelo State (687), Shepherd (655), Ouachita Baptist (631), Ashland (591), Pittsburg State (570), Indianapolis (492), Northwest Missouri State (491) and West Florida (387) to round out the top ten.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II.
 
The 2021-22 campaign saw WT claimed six Lone Star Conference Championships, three LSC Tournament crowns, two Regional Championships and four Top-5 track and field finishes including the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Women's National Championship.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will be broadcasted on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. For more information, visit the Football Schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
ON THIS DAY
The Buffs are 4-5-2 all-time on October 8th. Six of those contest took place against Division I opponents when the Buffs were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
1949 - UTEP (L, 34-7)
1955 - at Arizona (T, 20-20)
1960 - UTEP (L, 6-3)
1966 - UTEP (L, 9-3)
1977 - at New Mexico State (W, 17-14)
1983 - Illinois State (T, 24-24)
1988 - at Cameron (L, 56-29)
1994 - Western New Mexico (W, 70-44)
2005 - Eastern New Mexico (W, 52-51 OT)
2011 - Angelo State (W, 19-7)
2016 - Texas A&M-Kingsville (L, 51-34)