LSC FOOTBALL
Three Lone Star Conference games and a trio non-conference contests are on tap this week. The spotlight will be on Canyon, Texas, as West Texas A&M hosts Midwestern State in a top-25 showdown Saturday for the LSC Championship. The Buffaloes have won eight straight games, while the Mustangs tout a seven-game winning streak.
Non-conference action includes three GSC-LSC First and Ten Challenge contests with Texas A&M-Kingsville at Valdosta State Thursday, plus Abilene Christian hosting West Alabama and Tarleton State at North Alabama on Saturday. The TAMUK-VSU game will be available on ESPN3, and Tarleton-UNA on ESPN3 and ESPN GamePlan.
After six contests of the 10-game GSC-LSC First and Ten Challenge, the series is even at 3-3, with WT winning at West Georgia last week to continue the trend of the visiting teams prevailing.
LSC football teams are 38-39 overall this season. The squads are 2-3 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.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Dustin Vaughan, West Texas A&M University, JR, QB, Corpus Christi, Texas, Calallen HS
Vaughan tied his season and career-high with five touchdown passes as he helped bring the Buffaloes back from a 14-7 first quarter deficit for a 52-28 win at West Georgia extending the Buffs’ tie for seventh-longest current winning streak to eight games. Vaughan had five touchdown passes versus Western State in the second game of the season. WT tied the series at 3-3 in the GSC-LSC First and Ten Challenge. Vaughan’s 331 yards gives him 6,536 for his career as he is 888 yards away from fifth all-time in school history for career passing yards. He has 30 touchdowns on the year and just five interceptions with a league-high 2883 yards. He is ninth nationally in passing efficiency for the year (165.90) and 12th in total offense (324.11).
DEFENSIVE
Taylor McCuller, West Texas A&M University, JR, LB, Red Oak, Texas, Red Oak HS
McCuller had a career-high and West Texas A&M season-best 20 total tackles, which is also tops in the LSC this year, with eight solo stops at WT won 52-28 at West Georgia Saturday. He helped lead the team to 96 total tackles and 38 solo tying WT’s season-high and helped lead the defense to five sacks for 34 yards and nine tackles for loss for 49 yards. The Buff defense recovered a fumble and had two quarterback hurries. In addition, McCuller and the Buffalo defense held UWG, the 23rd-best rushing team in the country coming in, to 151 yards rushing over 80 yards below its per game average at 223.14. The Buff rush defense is 28th nationally, while total defense is 19th in the country and leads the nation in sacks and is third in tackles for loss.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Matt Stoll, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, JR, K, College Station, Texas, A&M Consolidated HS
Stoll had two first quarter field goals against Angelo State of 45 and 44 yards. The 45-yard field was the longest of the season and first over 40-yards this season. He added four extra points in the Javelinas victory. Stoll kicked his career-long field goal of 49 yards against ASU a year ago. He is closing in on the single-season record for field goals. With at least two games remaining, Stoll has 15 field goals, the single-season mark is 16 set by Walter Rule in 1985.