Tweet
The Texas A&M Commerce Lions:
2014 Season Record: Overall (9-3) LSC Record (6-1) Conference Champions: Lost to SFA (FCS) (21 point loss); Midwestern State (3 point loss); and Angelo (2 point loss).
Head Coach: Colby Carthel (3rd Season as Lions Head Coach) Record: 16-8 (.666%)
Who returns to the Lions lineup?
The Lions Offense have 2 offensive starters returning to the lineup.
Offensive impact players:
QB, Harrison Stewart
RB, Richard Cooper
RB, Theo Wofford
The Lions Defense have 6 defensive starters returning to play in 2015.
Defensive impact players:
DL, Toni Pulu
LB, Charles Woods
LB, Cole Pitts
Lions Offense: Spread Offense
Lions Defense: 3-4 Defense
2015 Texas A&M Commerce Schedule:
(Thurs.)Sept. 3 v. Adams State
Sept. 12 v. Delta State
Sept. 19 @ Texas A&M Kingsville
Sept. 26 v. Eastern New Mexico
Oct. 3 @ Tarleton State
Oct 10 v. Angelo State
Oct. 17 @ West Texas A&M
Oct. 24 v. Midwestern State
Oct. 31 @ Sam Houston State (FCS)
Nov. 7 - LSC Playoff
Nov. 14 - LSC Playoff
Nov. 21 - NCAA Playoffs Begin
Coach Carthel Comments about their 2015 Schedule:
Several publications have listed our schedule as the toughest D2 schedule in the country this season. Outside of the always tough LSC, we play a solid Adams State team (who lost to CSU-Pueblo 17-7 last year), the defending Gulf South Champions/NCAA playoff team Delta State, and also Sam Houston State (who is currently ranked #1 in the country in FCS and was a national semi-finalist in the FCS Playoffs last year).
Coach's Corner with Head Coach Colby Carthel
Expectations for this Season: Besides the regular ho-hum answers of staying healthy, having a winning season, winning the LSC, going to the playoffs, and winning a National Championship, we would really like to see our program just continue to grow and take that next step in the process. As we turn this program over to a lot of our younger HS recruits, as mentioned previously, we realize there may be a few growing pains. But the standard has been set by those teams before, and it will be important for these younger kids to maintain that standard of play and continue reaching higher.
Thank you Coach Carthel for your time and comments!
Thoughts on the Upcoming Season:
The Lions had a great season last year by winning the Lone Star Conference. However, they had a set back by losing to Angelo State in the LSC Championship game. The loss ultimately sank their chances to make the NCAA Playoffs. Commerce did receive a bowl invite against a GAC team and pummeled East Central (OK). 2014 was the best season in many years at Commerce.
The transfers will help make immediate impact for the key players that were graduated from last season, such as: DL, Charles Tuaau, WR Vernon Johnson, WR Ricky Collins and many others.
The Lions have to be concerned with the departure of so many players and trying to replace each person. I would say that it would almost be impossible to replace all the key players from last season without some kind of setback. Overall, the Lions have lost the most players of any other LSC team. The Lions had to obtain a lot of transfers these last few years to be able to be competitive and to do the things that they have accomplished. However, after several talks with Coach Carthel, it appears that they are taking a new approach to their strategy and recruiting. I would expect several changes by the way that the Lions do things this year and there being several growing pains that may cause some defeats or game impacts. Without a shadow of a doubt, this will be a completely different team than the 2014 team.
Joe's Preseason LSC Rankings:
1. Angelo State
2. Texas A&M Commerce
3. .....................
4. Tarleton State
5. Midwestern State
6. Eastern New Mexico
7. Texas A&M Kingsville
Adams State (0-0) v. Texas A&M Commerce (0-0), Thursday, 7 p.m. Kickoff
Commerce, TX Memorial Stadium
Weather: High: 95 degrees Low: 72 degrees, mostly clear, South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph
The Adams State Grizzlies are coming off a 4-7 season with several disappointing losses in their RMAC schedule. ASU returns QB Auston Hillman (606 rushing yards, 4 TDs) (1,600 passing yards, 14 TDs, 14 INTs), look for Hillman to be a major contributor for the Grizzlies offense. He had over 2,200 yards last season and will have a similar style of operating the offense. The offense returns leading WR Phil Romero (615 yards, 7 TDs) for the offense. He was the favorite target on the outside last season. Also, look for RB Addie Brown to come into the picture for the run game with some help from several transfers at the RB position.
On the defensive side of the ball for ASU, look for LBs Reed (92 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1 sack) and Brandon (73 tackles, 3 TFLs) to pick up where they left off last season and being the leading tacklers for the defense. In the secondary, Ryan Holland (3 INTs) will be the lead to hawking the ball from opposing offenses.
The Lions of A&M Commerce come into this game with several new faces. They will be inexperienced and young. That is not to take away from their talent or skills, those are the simple truths.
This game comes down to several things. Will Harrison Stewart get on track with his new Wide Receivers and will the Lions defense be able to contain QB Auston Hillman? I feel confident in the Lions running game with Cooper and Wofford; however, they will need some key blocking up from newcomers like Jason Osei and the other O-line members. Ultimately, I think the Lions do what they do best. Stretch the field and push the envelope. They need to keep their opponents guessing. They will need that extra push for the running game to help maintain the game enough for their passing game to be reliable. Lastly, they need to be able to stop the Grizzlies. Look for ASU to rely on the passing game the most. If the Lions secondary can make enough plays, they will be in control of this game from the get-go. I suspect that the defense will be better than we anticipate going into week 1. Lions open it up with a solid win.
Prediction: Texas A&M Commerce 38 Adams State 21