MIDWESTERN STATE 63, TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 17 (Harvey Martin Classic), 12 p.m. (Stats)
Keidrick Jackson scored four of Midwestern State’s eight rushing touchdowns and the Mustangs rolled to a 63-17 Harvey Martin Classic win on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium. (complete recap/notes)
The series: A&M-C leads 11-4. Last game: September 10, 2005 (A&M-C 27, MSU 25). The coaches:
MSU: Bill Maskill was hired as the 12th head football coach and fourth of the modern era (since 1988) in March of 2002. Now entering his 10th season, he is the longest tenured coach in the Lone Star Conference and serves on the NCAA Division II National Football Championship Committee. During his nine seasons at the helm, MSU has posted a record of 69-31 making him the winning coach in Midwestern both in terms of total wins and winning percentage while reaching the NCAA Division II postseason in 2004, 2006 and 2009.
A&M-C: Guy Morriss is in his third year as the head man of the Lions and has already began to make his statement on the program. In his first year, Morriss led A&M-Commerce to a perfect 5-0 division record en route to the Lone Star Conference North Division title. Morriss enters the 2011 season with an 8-13 mark in Commerce and a 35-67 mark as he begins his 10th season as a head coach.
No. 4 NORTH ALABAMA VS. No. 3 ABILENE CHRISTIAN, 4 p.m. (Stats)
No. 4-ranked North Alabama created four turnovers to help overcome a number of miscues and hold off No. 3 Abilene Christian for a 23-17 win on Saturday in the second game of the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium. (complete recap/notes)
The series: First meeting. The coaches:
UNA: After 10 years as a football analyst for national television and radio networks, Terry Bowden returned to the sidelines as a college football coach in 2009 as head coach at the University of North Alabama where he led the Lions to an 11-2 record and a Gulf South Conference Championship. UNA also advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs and Bowden was named GSC Co-Coach of the Year. He followed that in 2010 by leading the Lions to a 9-4 record and another trip to the Division II playoffs.
ACU: Chris Thomsen enters his seventh season as the Wildcats’ head coach, and to say it’s been a successful five-year run would be a mild understatement. From a 4-6 debut season in 2005, Thomsen has led the Wildcats to a combined 43-18 record in the last five seasons with five straight trips to the NCAA Division II national playoffs. In 2008, the Wildcats won their first Lone Star Conference championship since sharing the crown in 1977 and first outright league title since 1973. The 2010 squad did the 2008 squad one better by not only winning the LSC championship outright, but by also becoming the first team in program history to post an 11-0 regular-season record.
WEST TEXAS A&M 42, No. 5 TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE 21, 8 p.m. (Stats)
Dustin Vaughan went 24-for-41 with 384 yards and three touchdowns without an interception to lead fast-starting West Texas A&M to a 42-21 win over No. 5-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday night in the finale of the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium, which drew a Lone Star Conference attendance record of 24,837 fans. (complete recap/notes)
The series: TAMUK leads 16-8-1. Last game: October 16, 2010 (TAMUK 28, WT 24). The coaches:
WT: Don Carthel, the winningest coach, percentage-wise, in West Texas A&M football history, brings a record of 59-16 (.787) into his seventh season at the helm of the Buff football program while has a 15-year collegiate career mark of 105-62-1 (.629). He ranks atop all Buffalo football coaches in terms of winning percentage (min. 20 games coached) and stands second on the all-time WT victory list, needing just nine victories to equal the all-time mark registered by Joe Kerbel (68 wins, 1960-70).
TAMUK: Head Coach Bo Atterberry Atterberry is in his fifth year as head coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville. He is 29-17 in his career with the Hoggies and has eight wins over top 25 teams. He has led the team to back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances and one Lone Star Conference title. He was named the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2010. Atterberry picked up his 30th career win in the team’s 21-10 victory at No. 22 Central Washington Sept. 2. He is the sixth coach in school history to win at least 30 games joining Gil Steinke (182), Ron Harms (172), Bud McCallum (71), Richard Cundiff (52) and Dewey Mayhew (40).