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Offense: Tarleton State RB Jerome Regal. Regal rushed for a career-high 251 yards on 31 attempts and scored 2 TDs with a long of 47 yards (8.1 yard avg.) in the contest against FCS Abilene Christian. Regal also had 3 receptions for 33 yards with a long of 20 yards. The second rushing decided the game sealing a Tarleton State victory in the 2nd Overtime over former LSC foe ACU.
Defense: Tarleton State DE Jake Blount. Blount had 6 solo and 2 assisted tackles with 4 Tackles for Loss adding up to 14 yards, while adding 1 sack for 10 yards and a forced fumble.
West Texas A&M LB Taylor McCuller. McCuller had 5 solo and 9 assisted tackles totaling a game high 14 total tackles.
Midwestern State Safety Marqui Christian. Marqui registered 9 solo and 4 assisted tackles for a game high 13 total tackles.
Special Teams:National Attention in the Statistics Category after 4 weeks of play:
I consolidated the stats for all the LSC blog readers. I have bolded top 5 rankings. I will post the top national team stats in the near future.
(only players in top 25 rankings):
Individual:
WTAMU:
WTAMU, Dustin Vaughn, QB
Completion Percentage Ranking: No. 18 at .660 percent
Completions Per Game Ranking: No. 3 at 32.00 avgPassing Efficiency Ranking: No. 25 at 153.9 pass eff.
Passing TDs Ranking: Tied for No. 10 at 12 TDs
Passing Yards Ranking: No. 2 at 1560 yards
Passing Yards Per Game: No. 2 at 390.0 avgPoints Responsible For Ranking: Tied for No. 13 at 80 points
Points Responsible Per Game: Tied for No. 11 at 20.3 PPG
Total Offense Ranking: No. 5 at 388.8 ypg
WTAMU, Sergillo Castillo, PK
Field Goal Percentage Ranking: Tied for No. 1 at 1.00 percent
Field Goals Per Game Ranking: No. 1 at 2.5 FG per gameScoring Ranking: No. 6 at 13.8 ppg
WTAMU, Kevin Van Voris, Punter
Punting Ranking: No. 1 at 48.6 avgWTAMU, Curtis Slater, Safety
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 4 at .75 FF per game
WTAMU, Shane Pennix, DL
Fumbles Recovered Ranking: Tied for No. 15 at .50 avg
WTAMU, Taylor McCuller, LB
Total Tackles Ranking: Tied for No. 25 at 10.8 tpg
WTAMU, Torrence Allen, WR
Receiving Yards Ranking: No. 11 at 472 yds
Receiving Yards Per Game Ranking: No. 12 at 118.0 ydspg
Receptions Per Game Ranking: Tied for No. 8 at 8.8 recpg
WTAMU, Aaron Harris, RB
Rushing TDs Ranking: Tied for No. 14 at 6 TDs
Scoring Ranking: Tied for No. 7 at 13.5ppg
WTAMU, Nathan Slaughter, WR
Kickoff Return TDs Ranking: Tied for No. 1 at 2 KR TDs
Kickoff Returns Ranking: No. 1 at 53.4 avg
WTAMU, Jeremy Watson, WR
Punt Returns Ranking: Tied for No. 10 at 15.0 avg
ENMU:
ENMU, Christopher Barnard, LB
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 11 at .67 FF per game
Pass Sacks Ranking: Tied for No. 25 at 1.0 sacks per game
Midwestern State:
Midwestern, Torrey Dickey, DL
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 11 at .67 FF per game
Midwestern, Taiyon Jackson, DB
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 11 at .67 FF per game
Midwestern, Ricardo Riascos, DB
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 11 at .67 FF per game
Midwestern, Greg Saladino, PK
Field Goals Per Game Ranking: Tied for No. 10 at 1.7 FG per game
Midwestern, Neiko Conway, DB
Passes Defended Ranking: Tied for No. 20 at 1.7 PD per game
Midwestern, Marqui Christian, DB
Solo Tackles Ranking: Tied for No. 12 at 7.0 stpg
Angelo State:
Angelo State, Blair Smith, LB
Forced Fumbles Ranking: Tied for No. 20 at .50 FF per game
Angelo State, Sam Fowler, Punter
Punting Ranking: No. 8 at 44.8 avg
Tarleton State:
Tarleton State, Marquis Wadley, LB
Fumbles Recovered Ranking: Tied for No. 7 at .67 avg
Tarleton State, Jake Blount, DL
Pass Sacks Ranking: Tied for No. 25 at 1.0 sacks per game
Tackles for Loss Ranking: Tied for No. 17 at 2.0 tflpg
Tarleton, Desmond Jackson, DB
Punt Returns Ranking: No. 20 at 11.9 avg
Texas A&M Commerce:
Commerce, Tyrik Rollison, QB
Passing TDs Ranking: Tied for 14 at 11 TDs
Commerce, Tevin Moore, DL
Pass Sacks Ranking: Tied for No. 12 at 1.3 sacks per game
Tackles for Loss Ranking: Tied for No. 17 at 2.0 tflpg
Commerce, Vernon Johnson, WR
Receiving Yards Per Game Ranking: Tied for No. 24 at 103.3 ydspg
Commerce, Ronald Fields, DB
Passes Defended Ranking: Tied for No. 6 at 2.0 PD per game
Punt Return TDs Ranking: Tied for No. 2 at 1 TDPunt Returns Ranking: No. 6 at 17.4 avg
After looking at all the player stats, what stands out?
- Texas A&M Kingsville has no one in the top 25 players in the nation in any category.
- WT dominates the nation in the Special Team Categories of: Field Goals, Kick off Returns and Punting.
- Tarleton is getting in to the backfield of the opposing offenses with TFLs and Sacks.
- Commerce has drastically improved their team and has nation caliber players.
Thoughts on the Polls: The AFCA poll is out and WT stayed at No.4 and Tarleton moved up to No. 22. However, Midwestern won and dropped out of the poll and is the top team receiving votes. The crazy fall in the poll is Grand Valley falling from No. 9 all the way down to No. 25. What a fall! Ohio Dominican, the team that blew out the Lakers only went into the rankings at No. 23. I can never see where these rankings are going to go sometimes. Falling 16 spots is a long way down after a big loss. There is only one other Super Region 4 foe that is in the top 5 of the AFCA poll and that is Colorado State-Pueblo, who the LSC fans know well. They sit currently at No. 5.
Week 4 Game Recaps:
My first week predictions went fairly well. I went 4-1 with my first picks of the season. The game that I did not get right was the Tarleton-ACU game. I will gladly take that loss; especially, when it is a hard fought win for the Tarleton Texans taking it into 2 Overtimes to takedown former LSC opponent ACU. Way to go Texans! I was able to watch two games this week via local television and ESPN 3.
Tarleton v. ACU
Score: Tarleton 41 ACU 34 Double Overtime
st Qtr with an INT for a TD. ACU answered back with a FG and a TD. 31 seconds before the half, Regal ran in a 6 yard TD to give the Texans the lead at the half. ACU fought back late in the 4th QTR and a FG by the Texans with 4 seconds left in the game sent it into overtime. In the 2nd OT, Regal was called once again and ran in a 10 yard TD for the Texan win.
Takeaways: Tarleton has proven to make plays and find a way to win close games. They have done it against Midwestern, Angelo State and now ACU. Tarleton also found a player that they can use to run the ball effectively in RB Jerome Regal. The Texans also found a balance between run and pass. The Texans should have won this game comfortably but they had 4 turnovers, 3 lost fumbles and 1 INT. They fought the odds of the turnovers to win the game in the trenches. They did a great job going 5 for 5 in the red zone. They are making the necessary plays in key opportunities to win games.
ENMU v. Incarnate Word
Score: ENMU 26 Incarnate Word 33
The late rally by the Grey Hounds was not enough to take down former LSC foe Incarnate Word (FCS). UIW got out to an early lead with two critical turnovers by the ENMU offense. Incarnate Word took off to a 26- 9 lead for the half. The greyhounds scored 2 points on a failed PAT and took it 98 yards all the way to the end zone. Incarnate Word was shut out in the 3rd QTR and ENMU got to within 10. Incarnate Word scored again with 3 minutes left in the game and ENMU responded with a FG. With 1:50 the Grey Hounds connected on two successful onside kickoffs, both to be negated by an off sides and fair catch penalties, sealing the fate of the Grey Hounds.
Takeaways: ENMU played moved the ball well on offense for 423 yards. Their offense continues to get better each week. Two early turnovers lead to their ultimate defeat in this matchup against FCS Incarnate Word. The Grey Hounds had 5 fumbles and lost 3. They could ultimately not overcome the turnover battle. The big takeaway is that the defense stepped up and made big stands against the Incarnate Word Offense.
Midwestern v. Texas A&M Commerce
Score: Midwestern 30 Texas A&M Commerce 24
The Mustangs got off to a good start with a 40 yard TD run by Chauncey Harris. The Commerce offense responded with a FG of their own. Midwestern scored another TD with a Jackson TD run and Commerce responded with their own TD. Midwestern mad a last second FD before the half to take a 1 TD lead into the half. The Mustangs scored 10 unanswered points until Commerce fired back with a rally coming up short. The Lions scored with 1:30 left and attempted an onside kick. The kick was recovered by Midwestern and the game was taken by the Mustangs. The Lions stayed up to par with the Mustangs the majority of the game and almost upset the Mustangs.
Takeaways: The Lions take another step forward to being a competitive LSC team. They are still not finding an effective running game after several weeks. Plus, they gave up 2 INTs in a game that needed to be played perfectly to have the greatest opportunity to win. The Lions were able to stall the passing attack but could not slow the running game down enough to win. The Mustangs of Midwestern are definitely down this year without Brandon Kelsey. They have failed to get the passing game and it has been abysmal. However, the running game has improved gradually but has been able to be stalled or stopped by teams, which makes the Mustangs predictable and easier to stop.
WTAMU v. Texas A&M Kingsville
Score: WTAMU 69 Texas A&M Kingsville 7
For a game that had 2 undefeated teams, who thought the buffs would dominate in the way that they did. Kingsville drove the ball well in the 1st and 2nd Quarters. However, that quickly changed and they were stopped cold the rest of the game. WT held the potent Javelina run game to 96 rushing yards. The Javelinas were frustrated and could not drive the ball after the first half. The buffs came out and scored 5 TDs in the 3rd QTR alone. The strange thing is that no WT receivers or running backs had over 100 yards in this game. This is very strange considering the pass few games and the score.
Takeaways: WT played to the level that played late last year in the post season. They also drastically cut down on their penalties to only having 57 yards in penalties in the game. They continued to get to the opposing QB with 5 sacks for 50 yards. The Javelinas drove the ball well in the first several series but became one-dimensional and could not pass consecutively enough to keep the momentum. The Kingsville defense had holes open all game long and the buffs prospered on it all night. Kingsville has lots of fixes that need to be made; especially, in the defense and passing game.
Angelo State v. Valdosta State
Score: Angelo State 3 Valdosta State 37
Angelo had some great highlights in the beginning of this game. The Rams drove the ball fairly easily on the # 1 team. However, the drive was stopped by an interception thrown by Kyle Washington. The Rams defense came up strong by holding Valdosta to a failed FG attempt. The Rams get the ball back and a big run by RB Jermie Calhoun gets the Rams into the Valdosta red zone. An open field fumble by Kyle Washington was picked and returned 86 yards for a Valdosta TD. From this point on it was all Valdosta.
Takeaways: The Rams showed early that they belonged on the field with the #1 team in the country as they drove the ball effectively. However, big mistakes early by the Rams killed all momentum and the Blazers took control of the game. The Rams gave up to many big plays on special teams and defense to the Blazers and were unable to drive the ball effectively for the longevity of the game.
A look ahead at this upcoming weekend game schedule (Week 5):
The majority of the LSC games this weekend are afternoon games.
Angelo State @ McMurry: Saturday, October 5th at 2 p.m.
Texas A&M-Commerce @ Southeastern Oklahoma: Saturday, October 5th at 2 p.m.
Central (Ohio) State @ West Texas A&M: Saturday, October 5th at 3 p.m.
Tarleton State @ Eastern New Mexico: Saturday, October 5th at 3 p.m.
Game of the Week: Texas A&M-Kingsville @ Midwestern State: Saturday, October 5th at 7 p.m.