Second Round of Playoffs

Harlon Hill Watch in the Lone Star Conference Continued

Dustin Vaughn, QB, WTAMU was listed as one of the nine finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, along with Chadron State’s Glen Clinton from Region 4.

Playoff Thoughts:

- Grand Valley came out victorious against Saginaw Valley for the second straight week and will travel to play No. 1 Seed Colorado State – Pueblo. A very intriguing game that should be a good one.
- Only 2 No. 6 seeds are playing this weekend: West Texas A&M and St. Cloud.

Brief recap from Indianapolis:

WT controlled the game for the majority of the game and was able to come up big by shutting down the run abilities of Klay Fiechter. The Buffs were also able to have success on the ground and through the air with Torrence Allen having a career day. The Sergio Castillo curse was broken last week. What is that? Previously, every game that Castillo had missed a FG in the buffs had lost. WT was also able to force some turnovers and not turn the ball over. Overall, the buffs played well against a good quality opponent and continued improving the run defense and stepped up the pass defense. WT also played more disciplined and eliminated a lot of the penalties that they have been struggling with throughout the season by only having 6 penalties. Biggest accomplishment: WT started the 2nd Half with a 7 minute drive with 17 plays. The longest drive for WT all year.


NCAA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2
WEST TEXAS A&M vs. OHIO DOMINICAN
November 30 @ 12 PM CST
Panther field
Columbus, Ohio


#17/19 West Texas A&M @ #7/7 Ohio Dominican: Saturday, November 30 at 12 p.m. CST Kickoff
Columbus, OH Panther Field

For the second straight year, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes will be making a second round playoff trip to Ohio to play an undefeated GLIAC team. However, this year they are playing a different team and in a different city. WT will be going up against Ohio Dominican, who is making their first appearance in the Division 2 playoffs and 2nd overall in program history. Let’s check the weather forecast for Columbus, Ohio.

Weather Factor: Partly cloudy. High of 43F. Winds from the SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Looks like this will be a perfect day of weather, minus the cold. Both teams are used to the cold climate and should be able to play great with a minimal amount of wind.

Ohio Dominican is lead by QB Mark Miller. Miller has had a really good season at the QB position for the Panthers. He has a 68% completion rating and the QB has only been sacked 4 times. When given the time, Miller has shown his ability to complete big passes down the field and has only thrown a total of 6 INTs. The other two juggernauts on the offensive side of the ball are the Running Backs. Senior Mark Nichols and Sophomore Brandon Schoen have had phenomenal season with both going over the 1,000-yard mark. The Panthers use both of these individuals in their offensive scheme. ODU is one of the most balanced teams in Division 2 with 2,424 yards passing and 2,433 yards rushing. Similar to WT, the Panthers have a lot of speed on both sides of the ball and can burn opponents on getting to the end zone.

West Texas Ohio Dominican
()-indicates national ranking
Scoring Offense (avg/g) 48.6 (3) 39.0 (27)
Total Offense (avg/g) 504 (9) 485.7 (17)
Total Defense (avg/g) 399.4 (95) 350.9 (47)
Rushing Offense (yds/g) 109.8 (135) 243.3 (18)
Rushing Defense (yds/g) 166.8 (93) 146.4 (62)
Passing Offense (avg/g) 394.3 (2) 242.4 (68)
Passing Defense (avg/g) 232.6 (98) 204.5 (44)
Kickoff Return (avg) 31.26 (1) 27.5 (2)
Punt Return (avg) 14.69 (15) 14.58 (17)
INTs 12 (tied 74) 10 (tied 99)
Sacks by (avg) 3.08 (21) 3.7 (4)
Sacks Against 24 (tied 87) 4 (2)
Turnover Margin (avg) 1.5 (5) 1.2 (14)
Redzone Offense (pct) 91.7% (5) 85.4% (tied 32)
Redzone Defense (pct) 68.1% (tied 20) 58.6% (6)
Tackles For Loss (TFLs) 120 (3) 78 (tied 23)
I was once again able to catch up with WT’s head coach Mike Nesbitt. Coach Nesbitt stated that the injuries from last game were minimal and they should have everyone back from last week. I asked Nesbitt about the speed of ODU and the approach that the Buffaloes would need to take. Nesbitt stated that they would need to cover and wrap-up to make the tackles. They would also need to keep the guys from getting around them and making a big play down the field. I asked Coach Nesbitt does he feel like this is the same type of atmosphere compared to last year with Ashland and people counting the buffs out. He stated that it feels a lot like Ashland last year. Not many people expected what happened to happen. He stated: “we need to just continue to play our game and make big plays on defense and special teams. These two teams bring in two of the top special team units in all of Division 2.”
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both teams in this game. The stats go both ways but there are some advantages on both sides.

West Texas Pros:
-Road-tested in playoffs and playoff experience
-Elite passing offense and scoring offense
-Elite Special Teams in all areas
-Turnover efficient
-Tops in Red Zone Defense and Offense
-Improving Run Defense
-Tops in Tackles for Loss
-Depth at all position
-Quarterback position

Ohio Dominican Pros:
-Very balanced offense
-Efficient Quarterback
-Elite Running backs
-Tops in Run defense
-Top in Sacks allowed
-Powerful Special teams
-Turnover efficient
-Tops in Red Zone Defense and Offense

West Texas Cons:
-Defense inconsistency
-Running game struggles
-2nd Half play struggles
-Play calling too conservative at times
-Penalties
-Giving up big leads

Ohio Dominican Cons:
-Playoff inexperience
-Secondary susceptible to pass
-Not played any pass-oriented teams
-Significantly more run attempts than passing attempts
-Mediocre defense

What a game this should be; so much on the line for both of these teams. The defensive stats and rushing stats clearly go to ODU. On the other side, WT has scored more points and have racked up more offensive yards, even without their 2-game advantage (WT has played 12 games and ODU has played 10 games). WT looks to be a little more explosive offensively but not by much. ODU looks to better overall than WT. The factors that are not weighed in are WT’s improvement on running-oriented teams like ODU. West Texas has played 4 straight run-oriented teams in consecutive weeks and has improved against the run each week. ODU has not seen a spread offense like West Texas all season and will have to adjust. ODU should be equal on speed with West Texas but can they adjust to the pass enough to stop it or slow it down? Another factor to throw in is the playoff inexperience of ODU. I think this plays a huge factor for teams. I recall several of the first years that WT and other teams entered the playoffs that they were overwhelmed. I think ODU is one of the better opponents in the playoffs because of their record and the overall difficulty of their conference. Main things to watch: Can WT adjust to a more balanced team that is run-oriented? Can ODU stop the WT pass? What will happen…I call this one a toss-up and give a slight edge to WT for their playoff experience and how well they have played on the road with a 4-1 road playoff record over the past two years.

Prediction: West Texas A&M 35 Ohio Dominican 34

Other Notes: The WT v. ODU game will be available online via stats, audio or video through the ODU/WT Athletics website. Also, the game will be broadcasted through the Amarillo area on KCIT Fox 14 with Michael Spencer and Andy Justus as the broadcast team.

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!

Feel free to contact me with any questions in regards to LSC football. [email protected]