Sorry everyone for the delay in releasing my final preview. With everything going on it has taken a lot of time to get everything typed-up and released to the readers.



The West Texas A&M Buffaloes:

2014 Season Record: Overall (6-5) LSC Record (4-3): Lost to CSUP (29 point loss); Tarleton State (4 point loss); ENMU twice (both: 10 point losses) and Commerce (27 point loss).

Head Coach: Mike Nesbitt (3rd Season as Buffaloes Head Coach) Record: 17-8 (.68%)


Who returns to the Buffaloes lineup?

WTAMU returns 19 total starters from 2014

The Buffaloes Offense have 9 offensive starters returning to the lineup.

Offensive impact players:
QB, Preston Rabb
RB, Geremy Alridge-Mitchell
WR, Jarrian Rhone
C, Austin Carson
OL, Stan Hasiak

PK, Conner Hollabaugh

The Buffaloes Defense have 9 defensive starters returning to play in 2015.


Defensive impact players:
LB, Carter James
LB, Patric Youngman
DL, LaPear Willrich
DL, Alex Tucci
S, Ethan Morris

Buffaloes Offense: Spread Offense

Buffaloes Defense: 3-4 Defense

2015 West Texas A&M Schedule:
(Thurs.)Sept. 3 v. Azusa Pacific
Sept. 12 v. Colorado State-Pueblo

Sept. 26 v. Angelo State

Oct 10 @ Midwestern State
Oct. 17 v. Texas A&M Commerce
Oct. 24 @ Texas A&M Kingsville
Oct. 31 v. Eastern New Mexico
Nov. 7 - LSC Playoff
Nov. 14 - LSC Playoff
Nov. 21 - NCAA Playoffs Begin

The Buffaloes start their season with a very tough schedule. If they could go 2-0 to start the season, it would be an impressive accomplishment. The first two teams have a 2014 combined record of 24-2 last season, plus CSUP won the National Title. WOW! 24-2 is the combined record of Azusa and CSUP and these are the season opening games for WT. Someone there at WT has really put a challenging schedule together for the Buffaloes. It can only help with their Strength of Schedule. I will have to say that this schedule has a lot going for the Buffaloes and a lot going against them. However, to be the best, you have to play the best.

Coach Nesbitt Comments about their 2015 Schedule:


Coach's Corner with Head Coach Mike Nesbitt
We did a great job of picking up guys this off-season from High School recruits to transfer students. We feel really good about our High School class coming into the program. We are excited about how fast these kids have fallen in with the WT football program. We really want these players to be fresh and stay around. I feel that we have some good quality players here at West Texas A&M. Our expectations for this season are to win a conference championship and to be playing for a National Title. We have to take it one game at a time in order to achieve this goal. We cannot take any weeks off and we have to focus on every team. We will need to show up each and every week and put hard work in every day.

Thank you Coach Nesbitt for your time and comments!


Thoughts on the Upcoming Season:
The Buffaloes had a mediocre season last year, not counting all the wins that were vacated due to the fact that they had an ineligible player playing. You may recall the kicker/WR homework debacle last season. It hamstringed the buffs as they concluded the season and they vacated several games toward the season win-loss. Hopefully, things are getting worked out in the WT athletics program and that they are looking at improving these issues moving forward.

The Buffaloes bring a lot of players back for the 2015 season. They have 19 returning for 2015 and they have to be excited about that! This will help with the team chemistry for this team, as they have all played together as a unit.

Last year was a rough year and I know that they cannot be settled by how everything went down last season. The team won several good games but lost games that were crucial. They could not seem to figure out how to stop ENMU and the Greyhounds have taken it to the Buffs for the past 3 games.

The Buffaloes running game should be a real treat to watch this year with the experience they have at the Offensive Line being led by Center Austin Carson and the leader they have in Geremy Alridge-Mitchell (1,369 rushing yards, 21 TDs; 242 receiving yards, 6 TDs) running the ball. Alridge-Mitchell has to be the biggest contributor coming back for the Buffaloes. I look forward to seeing how his senior year plays out, as he has been running the ball for WT for several years now and it is definitely paying off.

Well, Preston Rabb is back at the Quarterback position for his senior campaign. He has some big things to prove for himself this year. He definitely had a rough first year as a starter last season. All that I can see and discover is that he has continued to get better from last year. Now, he must put it to the test! Will Rabb be that leader that the Buffs need him to be? He looked like a genius against Angelo State last season and he looked confused at other times. Time will tell this season for Rabb.

The Buffaloes have some serious players coming back to the defense. Those include: Carter James, Patric Youngman, Hunter Streuling, Ethan Morris, LaPear Willrich, Chris Ceazer, Iosia Iosia, Alex Tucci, Rashawn Dupree, Elijah Lagafuania, John Sheehy (season-ending injury last year), Jacob Laguna and Anthony Hayes. The defense should be pretty interesting to watch. They will be very experienced and should have some big plays this season. Could the defense be better than the offense? That may just be the case.




Joe's Final Preseason LSC Rankings:


  1. Angelo State
  2. Texas A&M Commerce
  3. West Texas A&M
  4. Tarleton State
  5. Midwestern State
  6. Eastern New Mexico
  7. Texas A&M Kingsville



    Game of the Week: #23 Azusa Pacific (0-0) v. West Texas A&M (0-0), Thursday,
    7 p.m. Kickoff

    Canyon, TX Kimbrough Memorial Stadium
    Weather: High: 91 degrees Low: 66 degrees, partly cloudy, South wind 15 to 20 mph



    nd

    Azusa loses their leading receiver last season but return Blake Robertson (357 receiving yards, 3 TDs) to the lineup. He will be one of their biggest threats when they decide to pass the ball. Last season, this team was a run dominant team with the likes of Watson. We will see if this will change at all with his graduation. On defense, Azusa lost their top 3 performers last season. They will be led by Jonathan Thropay (54 tackles, 4 TFLs, 1.5 sacks) who will hope to have another outstanding season. Overall, Azusa lost several big players on the defense and have some voids to fill.

    This game comes down to several things. Can the buffaloes continue to be balanced with running and passing the ball? The offense in years past have almost scored too fast at times (Yes, this can be a bad thing because your defense stays on the field too long). They have really gotten better with long methodical time-eating drives. They will need to continue to pound the ball and hit Rhone, Word or Donald in the passing game to keep a healthy balance of plays. I expect that the defense will have their hands full all night with trying to focus-in on the run game and keeping Jeffries in check. I like this matchup heading into the season for the Buffaloes. Like many know, Kimbrough is a hard place to play at for many teams. I expect the Buffaloes to put on a good show and open it up with a solid win. It may not be pretty being week 1; but, I think they do just enough to get a week 1 win. This will be a challenging game for the Buffaloes. Azusa Pacific will not roll over and will claw back and forth with the Buffaloes. Buffs take it!

    Prediction: West Texas A&M 34 Azusa Pacific 28
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