LSC Week 5 Preview

October 2nd, 2025 4:00am

Week 4 Recap

Another week, another set of blowouts.  While three of the games you could probably expect the result with the favored team winning comfortably, West Texas A&M’s overall effort in dominating Western Oregon has to be considered at least somewhat surprising, especially in terms of the Buffaloes’ defensive showing. 

Now, about last week:

#7 Texas-Permian Basin wins at home over Midwestern State 37-15

This was 37-0 before Midwestern State finally scored on a botched point after attempt following a 42-yard touchdown pass from Kanon Gibson (21 of 29 passes for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns) to Jaylon Tillman (who had 5 catches for 102 yards).  MSU did outscore UTPB 13-0 in the fourth quarter as the Falcons brought in the backups and took the foot off the gas.  UTPB did UTPB things, gaining 564 yards (470 passing) while holding the ball for 34:52 of the game and winning despite a fairly quiet game by the Falcons ground attack (94 total yards with Camden Tyler leading with 32 yards).  For MSU, Jakolby Longino had his worst game of the season, completing 9 of 15 passes for 71 yards.  Backup Sean Jastrab (12 of 20 passes for 132 yards, a touchdown, and an interception), but that was against the UTPB backups. 

Texas-Permian Basin improves to 2-2 and Midwestern State falls to 1-4. 

Texas A&M-Kingsville wins at Sul Ross State 52-3

The good news: Sul Ross State had their best defensive effort in terms of points given up.  The bad news: They gave up 52 points and only scored 3.  The worst news: Sul Ross State has been outscored 247-6 (that’s 62 points per game they’ve given up), have yet to score a touchdown, and are now 0-4 after this loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The game was 7-3 after a 39-yard field goal by the Lobos’ Vicente Gariveay with 3 minutes left in the first quarter, but that’s all Sul Ross State would get as the Javelinas would score the games last 45 points.  The Javelinas pretty much did all they wanted on offense, outgaining Sul Ross 632 (417 passing) to 177 yards (158 passing).  Jack Turner completed 30 of 38 passes for 292 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.  Edward Chumley led all rushers with 118 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown as the Javelinas scored 5 touchdowns on the ground.  Christian Kretz led all receivers with 5 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. 

For what it’s worth, this was the best game that Sul Ross had this season.  The 177 yards was the best offensive showing and Adnrew Martinez (12 of 27 passes for 158 yards and an interception) had his best passing game of the season.  The Lobos also gave up their lowest opposing point total of the season, but that actually does more to tell you how rough it’s been for them since they still gave up 52 points.  

Texas A&M-Kingsville improves to 2-2 and Sul Ross State falls to 0-4. 

West Texas A&M wins at home over Western Oregon 35-7

If the first thing I think of when I look at a particular team’s statistics and I think “that looks like a Sul Ross game”, that is not a positive sign.   Sorry Western Oregon, you had a game like Sul Ross this week.  WOU managed just 35 total yards (25 passing) against a WT defense that had given up an average of 459 yards per game so far this season.  Jordan McCarty and pretty much everyone on the WOU offense had a game to forget, with McCarty passing for 25 yards and an interception, Terayon Sweet and Jermaine Land lead in rushing with 5 yards each, Cody Hall had 25 receiving yards, and WOU’s only points came from the defense on a pick-six.  WT outgained WOU by 559 to 35 yards and, while they started slowly with two field goals in the first quarter, they did score points on their first three drives of the game, which all went 60, 66, and 68 yards.  The Buffaloes scored points on 6 drives of over 60 yards while the Wolves didn’t have a drive of longer than 18 yards.  RJ Martinez completed 37 of 46 passes for 313 yards and (oddly enough) no touchdowns.  Backup Sean Johnson gave the offense a jolt on the ground, leading the team with 96 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns while also throwing for a touchdown.  Jayden Hibbler also gave WT some much-needed relief from quarterback runs by carrying the ball 14 times for 82 yards and a touchdown.  

On a personal note, I am now 0-5 in picking this game.  If I am still writing this column next season, please make sure you pick the opposite of whoever I pick when these teams meet again.   You’re guaranteed to make big bucks!

West Texas A&M improves to 2-3 and Western Oregon falls to 2-2. 

#18 Central Washington wins at Western New Mexico 91-31

One of the big things I tend to look at when seeing winning teams’ success is time of possession.  It isn’t a set-in-stone rule, but typically a winning team would be either ahead or close in time of possession.  As a NY Giants fan, I remember the announcers talking about how the Giants held the ball for over 40 minutes to help keep the high-powered Buffalo Bills offense off the field in Super Bowl XXV.  Well, there are exceptions to every rule, and CWU scored 63 points in the FIRST HALF while holding the ball for all of 9:08 minutes! 

Not only did CWU not hold the ball for much of the first half, but when WNMU managed to score points, Beau Phillips was scoring touchdowns on consecutive kickoff returns of 100 and 94 yards, the first time that has happened in LSC history.  Phillips also set the LSC record with 237 kick return yards on three returns.  And the scoring didn’t even stop when the third-teamers were in the game, with third-string quarterback Bo Gionet scoring the final points of the game on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes left in the game.   

As usual, WNMU was led by Connor Ackerley.  Ackerley completed 29 of 51 passes for 378 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.  Three WNMU receivers had more than 86 yards, led by Davey Morales, who led all receivers with 12 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.  Deuce Zimmerman also caught 3 touchdown passes.  However, the Mustangs now nearly match Sul Ross in terms of defensive ineptitude as their average points given up per game is up to 59.  We have a good idea about Sul Ross’ reasons for having so many issues on defense, so what’s WNMU’s excuse? 

Central Washington improves to 3-1 and Western New Mexico falls to 1-4. 

https://lonestarconference.org/news/2025/9/30/central-washington-record-breaking-kick-returner-phillips-named-d2football-com-national-special-teams-player-of-the-week.aspx

LSC Standings

Week 5 Preview

The last two weeks have seen a whole lot of blowouts and zero upsets, unless you consider last week’s WT win an upset (I thought the game was just about even myself).  Very few nails were bitten the last couple of weeks, but it looks like we might have a good one this week when UTPB visits San Angelo for a top-10 matchup between the Falcons and Rams.   Also, both New Mexico teams are on the road, WT is back at home for Sul Ross, and Texas A&M-Kingsville heads to Midwestern State to face the winless Mustangs. 

All games are on Saturday, October 4.  All game times are in the Central time zone.

Western New Mexico at Western Oregon, 3:05 PM

Series History: Western Oregon leads 5-1

Last meeting: 2024 (Western Oregon won 34-10)

When your team gives up 69 points in a game as WNMU did to New Mexico Highlands, sometimes it can be written off as some one-off thing, like getting caught up in a shootout like that game was.  However, it can be argued that the defense has actually gotten worse, capped off with that nightmare game with CWU last week.  Now there might be enough of a sample size to think that WNMU might have a historically poor defense for this level of football, which is a real shame because they have a passing game that a lot of teams would love to have.     

Western Oregon heads back home hoping they can right the offensive ship against a WNMU defense that is seriously struggling.  While it has to be a concern that the WOU offense struggled so much against a WT defense that has their own issues, I can’t imagine the Wolves will struggle the same way again against the WNMU defense.  Connor Ackerley should find the end zone a few times, but unless it’s a “who has the ball last wins” shootout, I don’t know how WNMU wins.  Western Oregon by 21 points. 

Texas A&M-Kingsville at Midwestern State, 6:00 PM

Series History: Midwestern State leads 18-8

Last meeting: 2024 (Texas A&M-Kingsville won 40-13)

Texas A&M-Kingsville had their opportunity to look good against Sul Ross State, and the Javelinas showed some offensive balance last week (and even in the UTPB loss the week before that).   Jack Turner has settled into running the TAMUK offense and the Javelinas have been able to get enough from their ground game to keep teams honest.  Also, their defense is effective when it hasn’t been worn out by the opposition. 

Last week’s 37-15 loss to UTPB wasn’t as close as the final score indicated for Midwestern State, but the main concern for the Mustangs’ offense would be the drop in production from the passing game against UTPB.  Jakolby Longino struggled against the UTPB defense, but they did manage 93 rushing yards.  However, most of those yards came after the competitive phase of the game had passed (UTPB did have a 37-0 lead).  Defensively, this is a unit that hasn’t been horrifyingly bad like WNMU or Sul Ross, but they certainly haven’t been great, giving up 506 yards and 41 points per game.  With Kingsville’s offense improving, they should be able to keep MSU at arm’s length most of the way.  Texas A&M-Kingsville by 17 points.  

#7 Texas-Permian Basin at #6 Angelo State, 6:00 PM

Series History: Angelo State leads 7-1

Last meeting: 2024 (Angelo State won 36-7)

In what has been a sea of mismatches over the past couple of weeks, we now have what might be the most anticipated matchup of the LSC season (although CWU might have something to say about that later) with 4-0 UTPB visiting San Angelo to visit 4-0 Angelo State.

So far this season, UTPB has had the slight statistical edge on defense, giving up 16.5 points per game and 325 yards per game.  Angelo State has given up points per game while giving up 348 yards per game.  Oddly enough, ASU has actually been outgained for the season, averaging 346 yards per game on offense to UTPB’s 444 yards.  ASU has forced 12 turnovers to 7 for UTPB and both teams have lost the ball 4 times.

The most important question in this game is the status of Angelo State quarterback Braeden Fuller, who has been out since leaving the Emporia State game with a calf injury.  Kaeden Smith has performed well in Fuller’s absence with the exception of the weather-riddled ENMU game.  However, despite Smith’s performance and the overall strength of the ASU defense, UTPB’s starting quarterback Kanon Gibson is the better quarterback when compared to Smith.  With that in mind, I think UTPB has the slight edge in a game that will likely be a defensive struggle.  Texas-Permian Basin by 3 points. 

https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/locker-room/5-angelo-state-football-fresh-off-the-bye-week-ready-for-top-10-matchup/

Sul Ross State at West Texas A&M, 7:00 PM

Series History: West Texas A&M leads 7-0-2

Last meeting: 2024 (West Texas A&M won 42-21)

Now, I’ve already discussed the defensive issues WNMU has, but Sul Ross State has been worse, giving up 62 points per game.  Of course, that was fueled by two games with FCS opponents, but those numbers are just impossible to ignore.  And I haven’t even gotten to the offense, where the Lobos have averaged 12.5 rushing yards and 77 passing yards per game.  Again, those numbers were heavily driven by those games with FCS opponents, but they haven’t really improved all that much in their two games against Division 2 opponents either.

West Texas A&M may have turned a corner last week in exorcising the demons of Western Oregon.  Of particular note was performance of the WT defense, which thoroughly dominated the Wolves while the WT offense gained 559 yards.  Now Sul Ross comes to town with their defense, and I can’t see this as anything other than another very rough day at the office for the Lobos.  West Texas A&M by at least 24 points. 

Eastern New Mexico at #17 Central Washington, 8:00 PM

Series History: Central Washington leads 4-0

Last meeting: 2024 (Central Washington won 44-28)

With any ENMU game, we need to look at the matchup between the ENMU rushing game and the opposing defense.  ENMU is coming off a bye week following their best offensive output of the season, scoring 56 points while rushing for 453 yards.  The Greyhounds have averaged 282 rushing yards per game this season.  Chad Ragle completed just 4 passes but averaged 46.3 yards per completion.  Can they have success against a CWU defense that has given up an average of 84 rushing yards per game?  Can they also prevent CWU from landing knockout blows like they have had the last two weeks, scoring the first 28 points against WT and the first 42 against WNMU?  CWU has also ran the ball well this season, averaging 190 yards per game while ENMU has given up 215 yards per game.  

So the main question for this game is whose defense will do the best against the opposing team’s rushing attack?  Based on the teams’ performance so far this season, the answer has to be CWU.  Central Washington by 17 points.