Recap of Week 5 in the Lone Star Conference
Offense: Dustin Vaughan, West Texas A&M University, SR, QB
Vaughn had a career outing throwing for 401 yards and 7 TDs. In the game, he became the career leader in passing yards for WT.

Defense: Jonathan Shannon, Angelo State, FR, DB
Shannon made 2 critical INTs in the game against McMurry returning the INTs for a total of 24 yards, returning 1 interception for a TD. Shannon also registered 6 tackles and 1 TFL.

Special Teams: Dionte Taylor, Texas A&M Commerce, SO, DB
Taylor made a critical punt block in the 3rd quarter and took the ball 23 yards for a TD. The blocked punt was a difference maker, considering they won the game by 2 points.

Thoughts on each LSC team halfway through the season:

Angelo State:
Eastern New Mexico:
Midwestern State: Midwestern Mustangs have started out the same way as last season, by losing to Tarleton and continue winning after their first game. They have not nearly beaten opponents compared to the way that they played last season. They are having a down year from the last few seasons. They have a lot of new guys on the team with the departure of several key veteran players to graduation. They have started the season 3-1 with their only loss coming to undefeated Tarleton State in the first game of the season. The offense has been running the ball effectively but the defense seems to be down some this season. Midwestern is rushing for 1,059 yards on the season. They are running the ball consistently with their star-player in Keidrick Jackson. However, Jackson has not had the breakout year for his senior season that we all thought that he would. I think teams are focusing on him more now that Kelsey has graduated and the QB has not lived up to the same standards as Kelsey. Jackson has 492 yards through the season and should break the 1,000 yard mark this season. He is averaging 4.8 yards per carry and is lifting a big load of the offensive duties having 97 attempts. The new QB leading the team is Jake Glover. Glover won the starting job and is trying to take up where Kelsey left off. Glover has not shown that he can be an effective passer as the QB has only thrown for 438 yards with a 54.5% completion ratio. He will need to step up and pass the ball around more if they want to continue with their success and have any chance at the post-season. Defensively, they are giving up 745 yards through the air and 496 yards on the ground. They are having great success shutting the rushing attacks of opposing offenses with their defensive standout: Marqui Christian. He has had a great first half of the season with a staggering 47 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 2 Break Ups and 2 Passes Defended. He has almost double the amount of tackles as the person in 2nd place on the team in tackles. The team has 24 TFLs and 8 Sacks on the season and continues to shut running games down. I see the Mustangs having a more difficult run in the second half of the season. They have to play several big teams in: #14 West Alabama and # 4 West Texas A&M. They should win the rest of the schedule, but can they overtake West Alabama and WT? I expect they will lose at least one more additional game and be out of contention for the playoffs. However, they will come away with another winning record.

Tarleton State: The Tarleton State Texans have started the season out 4-0 for the first half of the season and seem to have climbed over the hump that they had trouble with last season. The Texans looked great at times last season trying to put games away but not being able to. They also struggled with opponents that they should have beat convincingly. However, that is not the case this year. The Texans are finding many different ways to win games and they are doing it in great fashion, from late game INTs to taking it to Double OT with a last second kick and winning. The Texans have definitely turned a corner and seem to be clicking in the first half of the season. We will need to see if they can keep it up throughout the season and become a true contender for a playoff spot. The Tarleton offense is currently being lead by Jake Fenske, who was sharing time with Aaron Doyle at the start of the season. Fenske has amassed 746 passing yards with 9 TDs and has thrown 5 INTs. He came on strong against ENMU with a career-high. When Fenske is not passing, the Texans are handing it off to RB Jerome Regal, who has 413 yards with 3 TDs and is averaging 6 yards per carry. The Texans have 2 receivers with over 200 yards and 2 receivers with over 100 yards. Fenske and Doyle have been spreading the wealth around to the receiving core. Defensively, Marquis Wadley is leading the team with 41 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 INT, 3 Break Ups and 2 Forced Fumbles. Also, newcomer Jake Blount is making a name for himself on the defense registering 6 TFLs and 3 Sacks with 1 Forced Fumble. Wadley has stepped up as a leader on the Tarleton defense showing that he can play with the best of the LSC and can make plays when needed. Overall, the Texans are playing okay defensively with 23 TFLs and 8 sacks on the season. They need to have the secondary step up and slow down teams passing attacks, as they are giving up 972 yards through the air in 4 games. I see the Texans finishing this season with a winning record and getting close to a playoff spot with a possible shot at a bowl game. If they lose 1 game, it will be hard to earn a playoff spot, especially in this region. If they lose 2 games, they can count their playoff chances out for this season. I suspect the Texans will give the LSC a good run this season and have already shown great improvement from last season.


Week 5 Review:
We had some great matchups in week 5 and I was pretty much right on with the predictions. Off a little bit on a few scores but I was right on the winners of every game. I extended my record to (9-1) since starting the Lone Star Conference Blog. Hopefully, I can keep it up throughout the rest of the season. The Midwestern Mustangs entered the AFCA poll with the #25 spot. At the current time the LSC has 3 ranked teams: #4 West Texas A&M, #21 Tarleton State and #25 Midwestern State. I suspect the rest of the season will be a thrill to watch and follow.

Angelo State v. McMurry
Final Score: Angelo State 48 McMurry 35
The Rams came out in this game with determination on running the ball and they did just that. The Rams exploded in the 2ndrd QTR giving up 21 points. They were able to almost match them toe-to-toe by scoring 14 of their own points in the 3rd. Another great performance by RB Calhoun and a good performance for QB Washington on not throwing an interception, all game. Overall, good effort on not turning the ball over and making several big plays to open the scoring for the Ram offense. The Rams come out with a win and their biggest offensive performance on the season. Great rebound game after only scoring 3 points the week before.

Takeaways: Angelo State amassed a total 473 yards of offense in a great offensive production. However, the defense gave up 483 total yards, which does not win many games. Running the ball effectively helped the Rams win the game and control the clock. The Rams must stop the opposing offenses in order to win more games. The defense is not playing up to the same as it has the past few years.

Up Next:
Texas A&M Commerce v. Southeastern Oklahoma State
Final Score: Texas A&M Commerce 31 Southeastern Oklahoma State 29
The Lions had a big battle in Durant, Oklahoma taking on the Savage Storm. The Storm gave the Lions a tough battle and a hard fought win. The Storm jumped out to a 10 to 0 lead in the close of the 1st QTR. The Lions finally got on the board with a TD pass to Vernon Johnson. At the half, the Lions were down 14 to 17. Commerce jumped out with a 76 yard TD strike from Rollison to Vernon Johnson. These two have great chemistry on this team. Then, the Lions blocked a punt and returned it 23 yards for a Commerce TD. Southeastern battled back from being 11 points down but Commerce was able to hold the Storm off by adding a 4th QTR field goal and slowing the Storm offense just enough to walk away with a win. The Lions struggles continued on the ground with only amassing 94 rushing yards. They passed for 329 yards on Southeastern for a great performance by Rollison and the Commerce receivers.

Takeaways: The Lions are still looking good on the season but continue to be plagued with an inadequate running game and an okay defense. They have struggled in the secondary on stopping the pass and had a big test against Southeastern with giving up 296 yards through the air. Special teams made the difference in this game by blocking a key punt that helped them win the game.

Up Next: Texas A&M Commerce travels to Texas A&M Kingsville to Javelina Stadium in Kingsville.

#4 West Texas A&M v. Central State (OH)
Final Score: West Texas A&M 72 Central State (OH) 0
West Texas jumped all over the Mauraders from Central State. The Buffaloes took 1:04 to score their first TD. They continued on torching the Central State defense by throwing the ball all over the field. WT was up 44 to 0 at halftime in a game that was already over. The Offense continued clicking adding an additional 28 points in the second half as the backups all received good playing time. Dustin Vaughn played another remarkable game going 33 for 41 with 438 yards passing for a season-high 7 passing TDs. WR Anthony Johnson and Torrence Allen had a field day going over 100 yards receiving. Overall, the WT defense held the Central State offense to 305 yards. The buffaloes amassed a staggering 15 TFLs, 3 INTS and 4 Sacks.

Takeaways:
Up Next: #4 West Texas A&M travels to #21 Tarleton State at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.

#22 Tarleton State v. ENMU
Final Score: Tarleton State 34 ENMU 14
The Texans QB Jake Fenske had a career day at the ENMU homecoming passing for a season high 313 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Texans to a 4-0 start. Tarleton spread the ball around well giving several receivers with equal passing yards in the 55-70 yards range receiving. The Hounds jumped out to a 7 point lead. The Texans then rattled off 24 unanswered points in the first half on the crutch of ENMU fumbling the ball in several jobs and giving the Texans great field advantage. On one drive, ENMU QB Buurma fumbled the ball on the Tarleton 3-yard line and gave the ball back over to the Texans. Tarleton would race out to a 34-7 lead early in the 4th QTR. ENMU would score one more TD and that would be all she wrote. The Hounds had 4 lost fumbles in the first half of the game. The Texans were pass heavy against ENMU, accumulating 313 passing yards to only 85 rushing yards. Strange thing about this game is that the ENMU offense outgained the Texans 401 to 398 and lost with a 20 point difference. Reasoning? Turnovers.

Takeaways: Tarleton showed that they could pass the ball effectively and not have to rely solely on the running game. They have shown good offense with both schemes. Regal can run the ball and Fenske can throw the ball downfield; two great things for an offense that is moving the ball effectively against its Lone Star Conference opponents. However, ENMU continue to have difficulty on holding on to the ball. They showed with the offense that they could drive the ball and score points. It is hard to score points when you constantly lose the ball every game of the season.

Up Next: #21 Tarleton State welcomes #4 West Texas A&M to Memorial Stadium in Stephenville. ENMU hits the road to clash with the Angelo State Rams.

Game of the Week: Midwestern State v. Texas A&M Kingsville
Final Score: Midwestern State 43 Texas A&M Kingsville 10
The Mustangs came out with a big win over Kingsville, as the Javelinas struggled on scoring points against this Midwestern team. The majority of the points in this game was scored off of turnovers by both teams. The Mustangs scored 20 points off of 4 Javelina turnovers. The Javelinas opened the game with a fumble on the opening kickoff return and gave the ball over to the Mustangs right at the start. They were at least able to hold them to a field goal. Kingsville struggled on stopping the Midwestern run game all night. The Mustangs were up 20 to 3 at halftime. The only TD of the game for the Javelinas came off a fumble recovery in the 3rd QTR. They started their drive at the Midwestern 25 yard line and took 4 plays to take into the end zone. The newcomer QB Caleb Bedford of the Javelinas showed that he can and likes to take off and run with the ball. However, his passing game is in much need of improvement, only throwing for 65 yards with 2 INTs. The MSU defense stepped up and held the Javelinas to a staggering 65 yards passing. They must continue to put the pressure in the secondary to stop being vulnerable in the passing game. They also held the running game to 121 yards. Overall, a great game by the Midwestern defense.

Takeaways: The Kingsville offense has gone through many QBs on the season and continues to search for their QB. Caleb Bedford came in as a newcomer to the team to try and make a difference. They will have to work on his throwing game to be able to win some games. I suspect he will continue to improve but the Javelinas have a rough road ahead playing some good teams. Hopefully, they can pull it together and end with a winning season. The Mustangs need to focus on their passing game to be a well-rounded club. They are not running the ball as effective in years past and will become predictable if they continue to just run the ball with Keidrick Jackson.

Up Next: #25 Midwestern State welcomes McMurry to Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. Kingsville welcomes the much improved Commerce Lions to Javelina Stadium.

A look ahead at this upcoming weekend game schedule (Week 6):
The majority of the LSC games this weekend are evening games.
McMurry @ #25 Midwestern State: Saturday, October 12th at 7 p.m.
Texas A&M-Commerce @ Texas A&M Kingsville: Saturday, October 12th at 7 p.m.
Eastern New Mexico @ Angelo State: Saturday, October 12th at 5 p.m.
Game of the Week: #4 West Texas A&M @ #21 Tarleton State: Saturday, October 12th at 7 p.m.
Other Super 4 Regional Games to pay attention to:
#5 CSU-Pueblo @ #19 Chadron State: Saturday, October 12th at 1 p.m. CST