West Texas A&M (0-1) at #7 Grand Valley State (1-0)
Date	Thursday, September 3rd | 6:00 p.m. CT
Location	Allendale, Michigan | Lubbers Stadium
Live Statistics	Link
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 hit the road this week as they travel to Allendale, Michigan to take on the #7 Lakers of Grand Valley State with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. CT on Thursday night at Lubbers Stadium.
 
ADDING UP THE MILES
West Texas A&M hits the road for the first time this season as they make the 1,211 mile trip to Allendale. 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 will travel to San Angelo, Texas (301 miles) on September 19th followed by a trip to Texas A&M-Kingsville (648 miles) on October 3rd. The annual Wagon Wheel Game takes place on October 17th in Portales (106 miles) before a road trip to Sul Ross State (385 miles) on Halloween night. WT makes their final trip of the regular season on November 7th as they battle Western Oregon (1,744 miles) in Monmouth.
 
WEEK 1 MATCHUPS
Nine of the 10 members of the Lone Star Conference will be in action this weekend. Thursday's slate of games features three contests with two of them coming between the LSC and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Angelo State travels to Gunnison to take on #11 Western Colorado while Western New Mexico hosts New Mexico Highlands, WT makes the long road trip to Allendale, Michigan to take on #7 Grand Valley State. 
 
Saturday sees six more Week 1 contests as Western Oregon travels to Southern Oregon while Eastern New Mexico hosts Colorado Mesa. Two more LSC teams make their way to The Great Lakes State as Midwestern State faces off with Michigan Tech and Texas A&M-Kingsville battles Saginaw Valley State. Sul Ross State hosts Adams State in Alpine while defending LSC Champion Central Washington opens their season on the road at Cal Poly.
 
GVSU HEAD COACH SCOTT WOOSTER
Scott Wooster is now in his fourth season leading the Grand Valley State football program, holding an overall record of 30-7 during his time in Allendale. The Lakers have appeared in the NCAA Playoffs twice (2023, 2024) under Wooster, winning a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship in 2023 as Wooster was named GLIAC Coach of the Year.
 
Wooster was named the eighth head coach in GVSU history on January 24, 2023 after serving three seasons as the Run Game Coordinator and offensive line coach for the Lakers. The Warren, Michigan native spent 11 years at his alma mater, Wayne State, including seven as the offensive line coach. 
 
A LOOK AT THE LAKERS
The Lakers enter the weekend ranked seventh in the AFCA Division II Poll following a 38-10 road victory at Charleston last Thursday night. GVSU scored in each quarter highlighted by 24 points in the second half as they registered 23 first downs, finishing the game with 459 yards of total offense with 253 coming thru the air. 
 
Grand Valley State has gone 442-135-2 (.765) since joining NCAA Division II in 1976 with four National Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). The Lakers have qualified for 23 NCAA Playoffs and they hold the second most playoff wins (20) in the nation. GVSU has reached the 10-win plateau 20 times since their program began in 1971 including 18 times since 2001.
 
The Lakers return 66 letterwinners for the 2026 campaign including seven starters on both sides of the ball. Grand Valley State went 7-3 last season including a 5-2 record in GLIAC play to finished second in the league standings. GVSU went 5-1 inside of Lubbers Stadium last season as they ride a four-game win streak into Thursday night's matchup with the Buffs. 
 
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Schuster returns for his second season in Allendale after completing 182-of-282 passes a year ago for 2,561 yards and 22 touchdowns with seven interceptions. The Macomb, Michigan product accounted for 237 yards of total offense last week in West Virginia with three passing touchdowns.
 
Schuster was joined on the D2Football Elite 100 Team by teammates Kellen Reed and Jimmy Downs. Reed caught 36 passes for 612 yards and eight scores last season, the senior has over 1,000 career receiving yards while also being one of the top returners in the country. Downs had a team-high 57 total tackles a year ago with seven of them coming for a loss as the Lawton, Michigan product enters Thursday with 128 career tackles and six sacks.
 
THE SERIES
Thursday night will mark just the fourth all-time meeting on the gridiron between West Texas A&M and Grand Valley State. The Lakers are a perfect 3-0 in the series that dates back to 2009 including 2-0 inside of Lubbers Stadium.
 
The last meeting came 4,653 days ago on December 7, 2013 in the third round of the NCAA Playoffs. The Buffs held a 28-14 lead headed into halftime before the Lakers scored 21 points in the third quarter on their way to a 35-28 win. WT outgained the Lakers, 434-295 but three costly interceptions sent GVSU to the National Semifinals. 
 
LSC Hall of Honor member Dustin Vaughan completed 36-of-56 passes for 397 yards and four touchdowns while Anthony Johnson (165) and Torrence Allen (141) both eclipsed 100 yards receiving. Curtis Slater and Kyle Voss led the way defensively for the Buffs with eight tackles each with Slater also picking off a pass. 
 
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 five 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) and Ben James (offensive line) 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
Thursday 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
West Texas A&M Athletics announces the return of radio broadcasts for the 2026-27 campaign. 
 
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.
 
AFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
Reigning National Champion Ferris State picked up all 31 first place votes for a unanimous total of 775 points atop of the poll followed by Harding, Kutztown, Minnesota State, CSU Pueblo, Central Washington, Grand Valley State, Northwest Missouri State, UIndy and Pittsburg State to round out the top ten.
 
THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Week 1 features 26 Division II contests across the country being played on Thursday night highlighted by four matchups against teams featured inside the AFCA Top-25 Poll.
 
#5 CSU Pueblo at #25 Fort Hays State
#15 Findlay at #9 UIndy
#22 Indiana (Pa.) at #12 Ashland
#16 Augustana at #19 Minnesota-Duluth
 
WT AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
The Buffs are looking for their first Top-25 victory under head coach Josh Lynn and the first since knocking off #17 Western Colorado (44-6) back on September 3, 2022.
 
The 2026 schedule for the Buffs features five teams currently ranked or receiving votes in this week's poll. WT fell to then #11 Western Colorado (52-21) in the opener as they take on #7 Grand Valley State on Thursday night. The Buffs still have receiving votes UT Permian Basin (Oct. 10), #17 Western Oregon (Nov. 7) and #6 Central Washington (Nov. 14) remaining this season.
 
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.