CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes continued to impress on the defensive side of the ball as they allowed just 103 yards of total offense on their way to a 23-0 shutout victory over the Midwestern State Mustangs in front of over 6,000 fans at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
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It marks the first shutout for the Buffs in league action since October 13, 2012 against Abilene Christian, WT blanked the Mustangs for the first time since September 14, 2006 in a 5-0 victory for the Buffs.Â
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The first quarter saw both teams battle for field position as the Buffs took advantage of a short Midwestern State punt late in the period that setup a 20-yard drive that spanned seven plays as
Isaiah Smallwood found the endzone from one yard out on fourth and goal to make it 7-0.
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The WT defense came up big on the next Mustang drive to force a punt as the Buffs turned that into points with a 39-yard
Preston Gregg field goal for the 10-0 lead. WT turned the second Mustang turnover of the night into points to open the second half as
Gage Smith recovered a muffed MSU punt to setup a 33-yard field goal by Gregg to make it 13-0.
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The Buffs added to their lead later in the third quarter as a 73-yard rush by
Tray'vian McCoy-Gay setup an 18-yard strike from
Kyle Brown to
Ryan Cosper to extend the lead to 20-0. WT put the game away later in the fourth quarter as Gregg connected from 25 yards out for the 23-0 lead.
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Brown finished the game completing 3-of-10 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown while McCoy-Gay carried the ball 15 times for 133 yards.
Noah Bogardus led the receiving core with two catches for 34 yards. Defensively,
Jimmy Harrison finished the night with a team-high 10 tackles (two solo) with two of them coming for a loss to go along with a hurry.
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The Buffs hit the road for Lone Star Conference action next Saturday as they head to Midland, Texas to take on the UT Permian Basin Falcons with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. at Astound Broadband Stadium.
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