Thoughts around the LSC:

-It was nice to be able to watch Angelo State play Valdosta on ESPN 3. It was premiered as the GSC TV game of the week. I was able to watch it on my ESPN app.
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-Tarleton won its 3rd close game in a row. They have edged out Midwestern by 3 points, Angelo by 4 points and ACU by 7 points in Double Overtime.
-Tarleton State Freshman Jake Blount, DE is making his case for Newcomer of the Year with another stellar performance against ACU. He has 6 TFLs and 3 sacks for the year.
-Midwestern State struggled with Commerce last week and is still trying to find their groove with the running game and has significantly struggled in the passing game. The graduation of Brandon Kelsey has definitely made an impact at the Quarter Back position.
-The Mustangs completely dropped out of the AFCA poll for the first time in 3 years. The dropped out, despite a win over Commerce. I cannotthink of the last time that a team dropped out of the AFCA poll, especially with a win. I wonder if the voters thought that a 6 point win over Commerce did not signify a big enough win to keep them in the poll.
-On the flip side, Midwestern is ranked in the D2football.com poll but Tarleton is not ranked in the D2football poll. Who honestly know where Tarleton and Midwestern belong in the polls.
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-Kingsville had been doing well in the defense department until last week. I suspect they will get back to their good defense against Midwestern this week. Kingsville already has 24 TFLs on the season. Armstrong needs to get the ball more in the receiving department to help the team.


Things were shaken up this week. We have 2 undefeated teams leftin the Lone Star Conference. There is several good games this week that we willget to watch this weekend.
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  2. Eastern New Mexico (1-2)- The Greyhounds are still at the bottom of the pack. They rallied late against Incarnate Word but could not take it. The hounds are still making some big mistakes resulting in turnovers that they cannot dig themselves out of. 8 lost fumbles and 3 interceptions does not win games.




Angelo State (1-3) (0-1) v. McMurry (1-3) Saturday, 2p.m.Kickoff
Abilene, TX Wilford Moore Stadium
Angelo comes into the game on a 3-game losing streak, following a loss to the #1 team in the nation. They have struggled on containing the big plays down the field. The biggest problem will be to eliminate the turnovers and the mental mistakes. They have struggled with mental mistakes more than any other team in the LSC. They have the potential to play competitively with any team on their schedule, this year. The Rams have had success in the running game by both QB Washington and RB Calhoun. Several teams have had difficulty stopping their run games, especially during the beginning of the game (including Valdosta). On a side note, McMurry gave up over 500 rushing yards to Texas A&M Kingsville two weeks ago and the Rams love to run the ball. McMurry has been throwing the ball very consistently through the air racking up 1,137 yards on the season. On the other side, their defense has given up 1,322 yards on the ground. The McMurry defense is giving up lots of yards and points and is not quite up to the LSC standard defense. The 3rd down conversions have been tough on the Rams for a 27.94% on the year. That number will need to improve if they want to pick up some more wins in conference play. The defense has played fairly strong over the 4 game stretch. The Rams will come into Abilene hungry, looking for a win. I think that they will put these last three games behind them and get back on the winning path.
Prediction: Angelo State 42 McMurry 28

West Texas A&M (4-0) (2-0) v. Central State (OH) (0-4)Saturday, 3p.m. Kickoff
Canyon, TX Kimbrough Memorial Stadium

Prediction: West Texas A&M 66 Central State 7

Texas A&M Commerce (2-2) (0-2) v. Southeastern OklahomaState (1-3) Saturday, 2p.m Kickoff
Durant, OK Paul Laird Field
The Lions have definitely improved but the word is out that they like to pass the ball, a lot. They gave the Midwestern Mustangs trouble last week in a game that should have been dominated by the Mustangs. They have been in every game this season with a fighting chance to win, with this new offense. They will be fighting an old foe that they used to play on a regular basis. The Savage Storm comes into the game with a dominant passing game that will rival the Commerce passing game. The offenses of the two teams are very similar. They have a potent WR named Anthony Foster that is averaging 13.06 yards per catch and has amassed 457 total yards. QB Nick Sioson will be a major impact in this match, trying to spread the ball around. He comes in with 1,244 passing yards on the season. The Storm defense is giving up 1,364 passing yards to opposing offenses. Thus, the Lions will be able to throw the ball effectively in this matchup. The biggest thing that shows out of everything is the SEOSU turnover margin. They have lost 7 fumbles and thrown 10 interceptions. That is why they are 1-3. Look for the Lions to pass a bunch in this game, giving the Savage Storm all that they can handle. The Storm will definitely score some points on the Lions defense, but I think the Lions will score more points in order to win the game. Two potent offenses in a battle on the gridiron. Look for Commerce to take this matchup and get back to above .500.
Prediction: Texas A&M Commerce 35 Southeastern Oklahoma State 31

Tarleton State (3-0) (2-0) v. Eastern New Mexico (1-2) (0-0)Saturday, 3p.m. CST Kickoff
Portales, NM Blackwater Draw
Tarleton State makes the big trip out to Blackwater Draw to battle the Greyhounds. The Greyhounds open Conference play with unbeaten Tarleton State. The Greyhounds were edge out by former LSC foe Incarnate Word, last week. They will be hyped up to get to its first conference foe in theTexans. The Hounds are running the ball on the ground for a majority of the time. They have been effective in the ground attack, when they do not turn the ball over, which they have been struggling with. They have 8 fumbles in the turnover department in the season. They have also had trouble with scoring points in the 1st quarter of games. In the 2-4 quarters they are having a scoring ratio of 3 to 1 over their 1st quarter performance. Christopher Barnard on the ENMU defense has been having a stellar year with 4.5 TFLs and 3 sacks. The ENMU defense is average at best and struggles with slowing the running game. Tarleton is coming off a game with well over 250+ yards on the ground. They will use their new weapon in Jerome Regal to get theball moving up the field and scoring some points. The Texans are passing for almost the same amount of yards that they are rushing for. They come in with a great balance attack between air and run. Fenske and Doyle are sharing time at the QB position and are passing the ball well for the Texans. The Texan shows to be a little bit better than the Hounds defense. I think the Texan defense will be the difference maker in this one. Plus, the Hounds have not found a way to secure the ball and overcome the turnover bug, while running with the ball. Texans should win this one and finally beat a team without it coming down to the final seconds.
Prediction: Tarleton State 38 Eastern New Mexico 24

Game of the Week: Texas A&M Kingsville (2-1) (0-1) v. Midwestern State (2-1) (1-1) Saturday, 7p.m. Kickoff
Wichita Falls, TX Memorial Stadium
This brings us to the game of the week between the Javelinas and the Mustangs in Wichita Falls. If you look at the statistics for these two teams, the statistics are almost identical, it is uncanny. The Javelinas have a slight edge in the yards but it falls under 50 yards over the Mustangs. Talk about a truly even matchup. The only difference, is that I see that the Javelinas have one additional turnover in the INT department. Overall, these teams look identical on paper. I think this will be a really hard fought match. Both of these teams come in needing a win to try and keep their playoff chances alive. I believe this game will come down to who can stop the other teams rushing attack. The Javelinas show to have a little better defense potency than the Mustangs. Kingsville comes in with 24 TFLs and 6 sacks on the season. The Mustangs come in with 18 TFLs and 7 sacks on the season. The Javelinas have a slight edge in getting back into the opposing offenses backfields. If one of these teams are able to pass effectively in this matchup, they will have the advantage over the other and better odds to win the game at the end. Both are struggling with their quarterbacks but I give the QB advantage over to Midwestern. Glover is the better QB on the field and will make enough plays to help out the Mustang offense. Keidrick Jackson has continued to have a slow start for the Mustangs and will be looked to for helping the offense get into the end zone. I expect that he will have trouble against the stingy run defense that the Javelinas will bring all night. Expect the Javelinas to be able to run the ball better than they did last week and get back into the end zone on a few runs from Pitre or Shackelford. Robert Armstrong will need to step up and makesome big plays for the Javelinas if they want to beat this Midwestern team. As a senior for the Javelinas, he has not lived up to his previous seasons in a Javelina uniform. Look for both teams to run the ball a lot in this contest with Midwestern having a little more success through the air to win this must-win situation for both teams.
Prediction: Texas A&M Kingsville 27 Midwestern 35

LSC Trivia of the Week

Name the last Lone Star Conference football player to be drafted in the NFL draft and what LSC team did he play for?
Ansth Round, Pick #183
Rufus spent 2 years at Kilgore College before transferring to Tarleton State University. Johnson had a stellar senior season as a Defensive End with the Texans. Johnson had 50 total tackles, 17.5 Tackles for Loss and 10 sacks. Along with 2 Break Ups, 7 QB hurries, and 1 forced fumble. Johnson really shined at the Texas v. The Nation Game and impressed the Saints.
Johnson was cut in the final roster cuts of the New Orleans Saints. However, on September 2nd, 2013 the Saints signed Rufus Johnson to the Saints Practice Squad and re-positioned him to Linebacker, where he is currently at today.

The question this week is a bit more challenging and some of the older fans should know this answer.
What Lone Star Conference Team(s) has/have made it to the Division 2 National Championship Game? Name the team, year and result (win/loss) of the game?
Please feel free to say the answer in the comments section below. I will answer the question next week with a detailed answer.

Thanks for reading and travel safely to your sporting events!