LSC FOOTBALL
Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce are tied atop the Lone Star Conference standings with identical 5-1 league records. MSU had its six-game winning streak snapped at West Texas A&M.
This week’s schedule includes five LSC contests with WT at A&M-C, UT Permian Basin at MSU, Eastern New Mexico at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tarleton State at Oklahoma Panhandle State, and Angelo State at Western New Mexico.
LSC football teams are 40-38 overall this season. The squads are 3-4 combined versus the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, which are also in NCAA Super Regional Four.
LSC FOOTBALL ON ESPN3
A pair of Lone Star Conference football games are part of the 2016 Division II Football Showcase schedule and were broadcast on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
For a second straight season, A&M-Commerce hosted a national broadcast on October 8 as the Lions hosted Midwestern State.
UT Permian Basin welcomed West Texas A&M in the Falcon’s first LSC football game in the program’s initial season. Due to inclement weather the game was postponed and was not broadcast as scheduled.
NCAA Division II announced 18 of the 22 regular-season football games that will be carried on ESPN3, WatchESPN and American Sports Network, after the division entered a three-year agreement in 2015 to deliver Division II athletics events. By comparison, only seven games were televised in each of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
CO-OFFENSIVE
Devon Paye, West Texas A&M University, SR, RB, Columbia, Md., Hammond HS
Paye tallied a career-high 177 yards rushing and two rushing scores on a career-best 30 carries in a 35-27 win over No. 4 Midwestern State Saturday evening. He also had one receiving touchdown on six carries for 19 yards. Paye had a 74-yard scamper to give WT the lead for good late in the third quarter as just 20 seconds earlier MSU took its first lead of the game. It was the longest run of the season for WT and the longest of Paye’s career.
Shane Truelove, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, SR, QB, Norco, Calif., Corona HS
Truelove had a record-breaking performance against UT Permian Basin this week. The senior quarterback connected on over 80 percent of his passes (40-for-49) and totaled more than 600 yards in the air with four touchdowns. Truelove’s 610 yards passing broke a school record for single-game passing yards and is the top performance in NCAA Division II this season. The Aggies’ 750 yards of total offense in the game is the second-highest in school history (755 against WNMU in 1961).
CO-DEFENSIVE
Alex Kuyinu, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SR, DE, Missouri City, Texas, Dulles HS
Kuyinu finished with a career-high four sacks for 16 yards in the come from behind 21-17 victory... the Hogs limited Tarleton State to just 251 total yards on offense and zero second half points... Kuyinu collected six total tackles but the senior was a stalwart in holding the Texans to 21 yards rushing.
Gerred Johnson, West Texas A&M University, R-FR, DT, Mansfield, Texas, Summit HS
Johnson made his first career start recording six total tackles, five solo stops, two tackles for loss and recovered a fumble in the Buffs’ 35-27 win over No. 4 Midwestern State Saturday. Johnson recorded one sack and two tackles for loss to lead the team. The Buffs held MSU to just 338 yards of offense in the game well below the 436.2 average entering the game. Prior to Saturday, Johnson had just two tackles on the season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Shawn Hooks, Texas A&M University - Commerce, JR, PR/KR, Daingerfield, Texas, Daingerfield HS
Hooks returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Lions’ 62-14 win at Angelo State. This was his second consecutive game with a punt return for a touchdown. He averaged over 20 yards per punt return. He currently leads the league and ranks 4th nationally in punt return average at 20.9 yards per game.