The first week of the season had several surprises both good and bad. Some teams performed well under the pressure, while we question other things. However, all in all, this is only week 1 and there is a LOT more football to be played. I hope everyone enjoyed week 1, I know it was great to have LSC Football back in the cycle again. Makes the week just a little bit better having football on Saturday.

Scores in Week 1:
ENMU 23
Southwest Baptist 21

Angelo State 42
McKendree 2

Midwestern State 53
Quincy 6

Texas A&M Commerce 8
North Alabama 7

Central Washington 34
Texas A&M Kingsville 10

Azusa Pacific 24
West Texas A&M 13

San Diego (D1) 34
WNMU 20

Delta State 34
Tarleton State 16

Sul Ross (D3) 47
UT Permian Basin 22



ENMU v. WNMU: Saturday, September 9th 12PM
Silver City, NMGame AnalysisENMU 27 WNMU 25


Texas A&M Kingsville v. Simon Fraser: Saturday, September 9th 3 PM
Burnaby, BC - Canada
Game Analysis: I was able to attend this game last year in Kingsville; for my very first trip down to Kingsville, Texas. I received lots of love from the Javelina faithful and some excellent food! Ultimately, SFU has quite some ways to go to be competitive in D2 Football. The Canadians of D2 Football have been winless since 2014 and I know that hurts. They have a lot of ferocity as a football team but their offense has struggled to drive the ball and find ways to score. QB Miles Richardson is a great passer for SFU and should be the big factor in this game; however, the running game is what the downturn is going to be for this team. The line has a difficult time of getting enough push for the RBs to get through.

I see this game being very similar to last year; but, expect more points from SFU this season and those will come through the air; most likely. This will be a good game to get the Javelinas motivated and self-esteem built before heading into conference play, as well as coming off their week 1 loss.

Texas A&M Kingsville 41 Simon Fraser 14


Northern Michigan v. Angelo State: Saturday, September 9th 6 PM
San Angelo, TXGame AnalysisAngelo State 37 Northern Michigan 30


GAME CANCELLED: Midwestern State v. West Florida: Saturday, September 9th 6 PM
Pensacola, FL

Sorry Mustangs fans, this game has been cancelled due to Hurricane Irma.
I visited with my good friend over at MSU Athletics (SID Trey Reed) yesterday about the game and he seemed positive about the game happening; but, it appears things have changed. Thanks Trey for all you do!

I did come across a podcast about the game that was comical. The podcast is called PNJ Sports Pod. https://soundcloud.com/the-bacon-524.../ep-8-the-ocho
I find it comical that they indicated that Midwestern State was good in NCAA Sports but not in football. Man, I laughed so hard and choked on that one. For those that may not know, during the regular season, the Midwestern State Mustangs have NOT lost an Out-Of-Conference game since 2002 (loss to Nebraska-Omaha). Plus, have gone to the NCAA Playoffs numerous times in the last several years.

If played my game prediction: Midwestern State 45 West Florida 25


William Jewell v. #3 (AFCA) / #3 (D2) Texas A&M Commerce: Saturday, September 9th 6 PM
Commerce, TX

The Commerce escaped Florence, Alabama last week with a quality win. They had a defensive struggle on their hands every step of the way. Plus, add to the fact that All-American QB Luis Perez had one of his worst games in his collegiate career; probably some of it had to do with the great defense of North Alabama. Perez threw 3 INTs and had 0 passing TDs. The Lions overcame a 3-0 turnover ratio against UNA and brought the win home in a very unique and unusual low-scoring game (8-7). In fact, the Lions did not score a TD and earned the victory with 2 Kristov Martinez FGs, while UNA missed 4 FGs. Special Teams can win games and it did in week 1 for TAMC. This was a good early test to show what it takes to beat playoff-caliber opponents like North Alabama. If this team wants a trip back to the NCAA Playoffs, these are the types of teams they will have to beat each week to get to the National Title. Mark my words on that.

The Commerce Lions Defense came up big and played with all they had. The secondary has some things to correct (gave up 242 yards); however, they have done far worse than that in the past. The TAMC Defense had 13 TFLs and 6 sacks, some at critical times during the game. They were able to enough to keep the opponent off-guard. We all expected a juggernaut of a game and we got a defensive stalemate.

Game Analysis: WJ plays in the GLVC with Indy, Truman and others. They are coming off a week 1 loss against South Dakota Mines. WJ has a great passing attack in their offense with QB Brad Strauss (transfer from NW Missouri State), who also is a great running QB. Last week, Strauss passed for 324 yards for 3 TDs and rushed for 103 yards and a TD. He is certainly the lifeblood of this offense.

You can expect quite a bit of passing from WJ and efforts from Strauss. The rushing game has a little bit to be desired. WJ will need to play more balanced to keep the Lions off their gameplan.

I strongly feel that this game will be fairly one-sided. This will be a good game for the Lions to come back with after playing UNA. However, it may not help their Strength of Schedule. Lions roll and put up 50. WJ still has some progression to stay competitive with Commerce and other top D2 teams.

Texas A&M Commerce 51 William Jewell 17


Game Analysis: This game will not get better for the Falcons, in fact this might be a hard game for UTPB. They get a division 1 program out of Beaumont; maybe not the best team in D1 but still considerably better than many D2 teams.

The Falcons will need to find their QB, we will see what the staff has in store this week for Lamar. I just see UTPB struggles continuing and Lamar winning in a big way against this up and coming program.

Lamar 54 UTPB 12


OK Panhandle State v. Tarleton State: Saturday, September 9th 7 PM
Stephenville, TX

I had higher hopes and expectations in the Texans performance against DSU last week. The Texans just had too many mistakes at inopportune moments. On the TSU first drive all the way down to the DSU goal line and throwing a pick 6 that was returned 100 yards for a DSU TD. Later in the 4th, fumbling on a punt return and giving the Statesmen prime position for an easy score.

QB Derek Kiser had a decent game with 207 passing yards but had 2 INTs, 2 sacks and 0 TDS. The Texans have to get better results out of their QB. Late in the 4th, the Texans brought in QB Zed Woerner, who threw for 2 TDs and 57 yards.

The Statesmen were better than I think most anticipated. They plugged in some good key players to begin the season.

The Texan defense struggled slowing down the running game last week, allowing 5.2 yards per carry and 0 sacks. The secondary was able to come away with 1 INT and 8 TFLs. I think the defense will need to step-up a little bit more to improve their game. Additionally, the Texans need to sort out the QB position and decide who to go with between Kiser and Woerner. The TSU rushing game is steadily getting better from last season. The team still needs to have a few things cleaned-up but I think they are better than advertised, thus far. Still need to see more.

Game AnalysisTarleton 37 OPSU 18


#7 (AFCA) / #7 (D2) Colorado State - Pueblo v. West Texas A&M: Saturday, September 9th 6 PM
Canyon, TX
Game AnalysisCSUP 31 West Texas A&M 23

Joe's year-to-date record 5-4
-at least I'm doing better than Matt Witwicki. HAHA