LSC FOOTBALL
Midwestern State took control of the top spot in the Lone Star Conference standings after a 26-25 win over Texas A&M-Commerce. The Mustangs improved to 5-0 overall for the seventh time in program history and for the second consecutive season.
LSC football teams are 30-28 overall this season. The squads are 3-3 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.
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 welcome Midwestern State.
UT Permian Basin hosted 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
OFFENSIVE
Quade Coward, Midwestern State University, SR, QB, Cleburne, Texas, Cleburne HS
Coward directed yet another comeback for seventh-ranked Midwestern State, which overcame a 13-point deficit with 5:29 to play to upend rival and No. 4-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce 26-25 Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. The 6-4, 215-pound senior connected with senior Breion Evans on scoring strikes of 8 and 12 yards with the last one coming with 28.3 seconds left to give the Mustangs a win over its highest ranked opponent in program history. Coward notched his fourth 200-yard passing game of the season hitting on 17-of-25 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns improving to 8-1 as a starting signal caller.
DEFENSIVE
Brandon Jones, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SO, DE, Houston, Texas, Nimitz HS
Jones was a one-man wrecking crew on the Hogs defensive line in the 51-34 victory at West Texas A&M. He collected six tackles, all of which were for a loss and 4.0 sacks for 22 yards. The six TFL and four sacks are both the second most in NCAA Division II in a single game this season. Jones also tallied two quarterback hurries as Kingsville finished with 14 TFLs and 9.0 sacks.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Bubba Tandy, Tarleton State University, SR, PR/KR, Hopkinsville, KY, Christian County HS
Tandy got Tarleton’s night off in the right way by taking the opening kickoff back the full length of the field for Tarleton’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2011. Tandy took the game’s opening kickoff two yards deep in his own end zone and put Tarleton on the board with his first career kickoff return for a score. On the night, Tandy returned two kickoffs for a total of 120 yards.