West Texas A&M (1-5, 1-3) at Eastern New Mexico (0-6, 0-4 LSC)
Date	Saturday, October 17th | 4:00 p.m. CT
Location	Portales, New Mexico | Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Live Video	FloCollege
Radio	KGNCNewsNow.com | Listen Locally: 710 AM | 97.5 FM
Other Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes make the short trip to Portales, New Mexico on Saturday for Lone Star Conference action as the 38th Wagon Wheel Game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. CT kickoff at Al Whitehead Field at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.
 
ACROSS THE LSC
Week 7 will feature all 10 Lone Star Conference football institutions in action. The Wagon Wheel Game begins Saturday's action with kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. CT in Portales. Western Oregon travels to Midland to take on UT Permian Basin while Texas A&M-Kingsville hosts Central Washington in a battle atop of the league standings. Western New Mexico makes their way to Alpine to take on Sul Ross State while Midwestern State hosts Angelo State at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. The CWU-TAMUK winner is guaranteed to be in at least a share of first place heading into the next week.
 
ADDING UP THE MILES
West Texas A&M hits the road for the fourth time this season as they make the 106 mile trip West on Highway 60 to Portales, New Mexico. The 2026 schedule features six road games for the Buffs that will total 4,395 miles between institutions for a total travel schedule of 8,790 miles.
 
The Buffs make a road trip to Sul Ross State (385 miles) on Halloween night followed by their final trip of the regular season on November 7th as they battle Western Oregon (1,744 miles) in Monmouth.
 
UTPB REWIND
The Buffs marched down the field on their closing possession of the game looking to tie the score but a late interception clinched a 24-17 Lone Star Conference victory for the then #23 Falcons of UT Permian Basin in Canyon. Knox Porter completed 26-of-52 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown. Contae Cason rushed for 14 yards on seven carries with a score while J.B. Mitchell III caught six passes for a team-best 91 yards.
 
ENMU HEAD COACH ART BRILES
College football coaching veteran Art Briles took over the Eastern New Mexico program in November of 2025. The 2013 AP College Football Coach of the Year led the University of Houston (2002-07) and Baylor (2008-15) to 10 bowl games and a 99-65 overall record. Briles helped popularize the spread-offense at both the collegiate and high school levels. 
 
Briles most recently coached in Italy for Guelfi Firenze where he led them to the 2019 and 2022 Italian Bowl. Eastern New Mexico is Briles third collegiate head coaching position. He led Baylor to a 60-37 mark over eight seasons with two Big 12 championships and six bowl berths. In his coaching tenure, Briles has coached four NFL starting quarterbacks - Kevin Kolb, Case Keenum, Robert Griffin III, and Bryce Petty.
 
A LOOK AT THE GREYHOUNDS
The Greyhounds enter the weekend with an overall record of 0-6 with an 0-4 mark in Lone Star Conference action as they look to snap an eight-game losing streak dating back to November 8th of last season. ENMU put up 630 yards of total offense last week in a wild 61-55 loss in the Chile Bowl to Western New Mexico on the road. 
 
Clifton Cooper and Jake South have split time at quarterback for the Greyhounds with Cooper completing 48-of-90 passes for 657 yards and four touchdowns. The junior from La Grange, Texas tossed for 295 yards and a score last weekend in Silver City. Cooper is also the second-leading rusher on the team with 397 net yards on 67 carries with a team-leading six touchdowns.
 
Trei Kibbles has cemented himself as the go-to target in the receiving group, catching 18 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns. The Houston product ranks 28th in the nation in yards per reception (20.61).
 
Eastern New Mexico ranks 11th in all of NCAA Division II football in rushing offense with 257.0 yards per contest. Jose Trevino has carried the ball 58 times for 405 yards and five touchdowns, the sophomore from Lake Jackson registered a season-high 202 yards on the ground with a pair of scores back on October 3rd against Sul Ross State.
 
Linebacker Matthew Quartieri anchors the Greyhound defense as the senior has registered 58 total tackles (33 solo) with one and a half of them coming for a loss to go along with a pair of pass breakups. Quartieri ranks 19th in the country in solo tackles per game (5.50) while sitting 20th in total tackles per game (9.7).
 
THE SERIES
The Buffs hold a 20-19 advantage in the rivalry series that dates back to 1945. This weekend marks the 38th edition of the Wagon Wheel game with WT leading 19-18. West Texas A&M is 9-8 in games played in the Land of Enchantment including 2-3 at Al Whitehead Field at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.
 
ALL ABOUT THE WHEEL
The 38th Wagon Wheel game takes place on Saturday afternoon at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium in Portales. ENMU joined the Lone Star Conference in 1984 followed by then West Texas State in 1986.
 
The Wagon Wheel game was born in 1986 as ENMU Campus Union Director Dallan Sanders and then Greyhound football coach Don Carthel discussed creating a rivalry series. Two wagon wheels were donated as the traveling trophy, one by the Ranch at Dora New Mexico and the other by WTSU Board or Regents member and former Buff Tom Christian.
 
There have only been two meetings between the two universities outside of the Wagon Wheel Game. The first in 1945 as West Texas State Teachers College defeated Eastern New Mexico College, 57-6. The other came in 2014 as ENMU defeated the Buffs, 55-45 during the LSC Playoffs.
 
HEAD COACH JOSH LYNN
Josh Lynn is now in his fourth season at the helm of the West Texas A&M Football program after being named the 29th head coach in WT history. Lynn, widely regarded as one of the nation's up-and-coming head coaches, came to Canyon following six seasons at the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he led the Lopers to an overall record of 35-25 including a run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Playoffs.
 
NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINE
WT Football welcomes six new faces to the coaching staff. Kevin Bleil was named the new Offensive Coordinator for the Buffs in February while Kendrick Marshall will work with the linebackers and serve as Special Teams Coordinator. Vic Wharton III (cornerbacks), Blake Crandall (wide receivers), Ben James (offensive line) and Avery Morrow (running backs) also joined the staff. Garrett Meyer has been added to the full-time staff and will work with the tight ends while Koby Schroeder (defensive line) returns for his second season as a graduate assistant.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Buffaloes have been tabbed third in the 2026 LSC Preseason Poll announced during the league's annual Media Day in McKinney, Texas.
 
Defending LSC Champion Central Washington claimed 16 of the possible 30 first place votes for a total of 276 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Western Oregon (nine first place, 247), West Texas A&M (one first place, 217), Angelo State (one first place, 215), UT Permian Basin (two first place, 203), Texas A&M-Kingsville (162), Eastern New Mexico (one first place, 125), Midwestern State (112), Western New Mexico (58) and Sul Ross State (35).
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday night's contest will be broadcasted on FloCollege. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August of 2024 for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history. Fans have three different subscription options: $24.99 per month, $119.88 per year ($9.99/month) or a family plan for $12.99/month. Additionally, those who use an .edu email address from an LSC member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price.
 
BACK ON THE AIRWAVES
Members of Buff Nation will now be able to listen to Kent Johnson, Lucas Kinsey and Brice Sheets in partnership with Alpha Media. Football pregame begins 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Thursday night's broadcast is available online (GoBuffsGo.com / KGNCNewsNow.com) as well as locally in the Texas Panhandle on 710 AM and 97.5 FM.
 
2025 REWIND
The Buffs made an appearance in the program's seventh bowl game in 2025 as they defeated Arkansas Tech in the Heritage Bowl Powered by Riot. WT finished the season riding a four-game win streak with an 8-4 overall record. Josh Lynn guided the Buffs to the most victories in a season since 2021 as well as the most LSC wins since 2012.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE NEWS & NOTES
Central Washington, UT Permian Basin and Texas-A&M-Kingsville all improved to 4-0 in Lone Star Conference league play, while Western New Mexico and Angelo State also took care of business during Week 6.
 
MSU is tops in the league in total offense (547.8 yards per game), while ASU is tops in defense (347.7 yards per game). MSU is scoring a conference-best 42.5 points per game and UTPB is allowing a league-low 19.8 points per game. ASU (50.8 yards per game) is the least penalized team in the LSC.
 
AFCA DIVISION II TOP 25 POLL
Reigning National Champion Ferris State picked up all 29 first place votes for a unanimous total of 725 points atop of the poll followed by Harding, Kutztown, CSU Pueblo, Minnesota State, Western Colorado, Slippery Rock, Emporia State, Davenport and Northwood to round out the top ten.
 
SIZE UP FRONT
The West Texas A&M offensive line features 17 student-athletes that boast a total of 4,945 pounds of blocking power for an average size of 290.1 pounds per lineman.
 
ON THIS DATE
The Buffaloes are 2-6 in games played on October 17th and Saturday afternoon marks the first game on this date since the 2015 campaign.
 
1953 - at Arizona State - L, 39-20
1959 - Southern Mississippi - L, 37-6
1964 - Memphis - L, 41-0
1970 - North Texas - L, 11-10
1992 - Southeastern Oklahoma State - L, 38-7
1998 - East Texas A&M - W, 27-14
2009 - at Abilene Christian - W, 32-21
2015 - East Texas A&M - L, 38-20
 
THE NEXT OPPONENT
West Texas A&M returns to Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium next Saturday night as they host the Western New Mexico Mustangs with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. during Homecoming. WT leads the all-time series against the Mustangs, 11-4 in a series that dates back to 1992. Last season saw the Buffs threw for 514 yards in a 58-27 victory in Silver City.