MSU Football
 
SATURDAY... No. 13 Midwestern State (4-1, 3-1) looks to "Paint the Town Maroon" for Homecoming 2012 in a Lone Star Conference matchup with Angelo State (3-3, 2-1).  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

WHERE TO FIND THE GAME…
 
100.9 BOB-FM: The broadcast features the play-by-play voice of two-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Bill Powers. He is joined by KAUZ TV-6 anchorman Chris Horgen, who serves as color analyst.

ON THE WEB: BOB-FM's audio broadcast is simulcasted on BOBradio.fm. LINK 

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available courtesy of the Midwestern State Athletic Communications Office.  LINK 

 
SCOUTING THE RAMS …
 
Angelo State comes into the game with a 3-3 overall record, and holds a 2-1 Lone Star Conference record.  ASU is coming off a 35-9 loss at home against West Texas A&M.

The Rams are facing their second straight ranked team in the Mustangs and are playing their fourth ranked team in the last five games.  ASU lost to No. 18 Valdosta State 43-10 at Cowboys Stadium in the Lone Star Football Festival, defeated No. 19 Abilene Christian at home 28-23 and lost to then No. 21 WT.

The Rams feature the top defense in the Lone Star Conference.  ASU allows opponents 318.2 yards a game to also rank 33rd in NCAA Division II.  Teams are throwing for just 183.0 yards a game against ASU, while gaining just 135.2 on the ground -- second in the conference and 63rd nationally.

Leading that defense is linebacker Rush Seaver who has 60 tackles this season, or 10.0 per game.  Defensive End Austin Benson leads the team with 7.0 tackles for losses (-24 yards) and has 3.0 quarterback sacks, while the opposite end Clayton Callicutt leads the squad with 3.5 quarterback sacks (-14 yards) with 5.5 tackles for losses (-24).

Offensively, the Rams have a pass oriented attack pacede by quarterback Blake Hamblin who is 122-of-200 passing for 1,399 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.  His favorite receivers are Dakarai Pecikonis and C.J. Akins.  Pecikonis has 35 receptions for 359 yards with two touchdowns, while Akins has 31 catches for 531 yards and four touchdowns.  Former Oklahoma running back Jermie Calhoun leads the squad in rushing with 239 yards or 47.8 per game.

ASU is averaging 379.0 yards of total offense a game to go with 24.2 points an outing, while allowing 318.2 yards defensively and 25.5 points an outing. 

All-Time Series: Midwestern leads the series 9-5.  MSU has won the last two games and five of the last six.
 
 
NOTEWORTHY

• The Mustangs remained No. 13 in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll.  They opened the season No. 4.
• MSU has been ranked in the last 16 polls (including seven in the Top 10), in 38 of the last 43 polls and has received a vote in 77 of the last 78 AFCA coaches polls.
• The Mustangs are ranked No. 11 in the D2Football.com Poll.
• Junior running back Keidrick Jackson once again is the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week following his superb performance against West Alabama. Jackson, the leader in rushing and scoring in the Lone Star Conference, set a new personal high as he recorded the seventh best rushing game in Midwestern history with 193 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries to lead the Mustangs to a 42-27 win at then 18th ranked West Alabama in the LSC-Gulf South Conference First and Ten Challenge.  Jackson's 193 yards against the NCAA Division II's seventh ranked defense marked his third consecutive 150-plus rushing game.  Jackson, who now has 2,087 yards in his career, became the fifth 2,000-yard rusher in MSU history and ranks fifth all-time at Midwestern.  His three touchdown runs – all in the second half – keyed a 28-3 second half run by MSU.  His final score was a tackle-breaking bounce out on fourth-and-one that gave MSU an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.  Jackson ranks second in NCAA Division II in scoring with 13.2 points a game.
• up his ninth career 100-yard game with 173 yards on 24 carries against Incarnate Word.  With the 156 he collected against Texas A&M-Kingsville, Jackson had the first back-to-back 150-yard rushing games by an MSU player since Ulysses Odoms did the trick against Eastern New Mexico (203) and Abilene Christian (155) in 2006.
• JacksonJackson became the fifth 2,000-yard rusher in MSU history while moving past Henry Anders (1,957 rushing yards/1991-92) into fifth place on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,087 yards. 
• Junior kicker/punter Greg Saladino is the Lone Star Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight week.  He equaled the longest field goal by at Midwestern State kicker at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls when he split the uprights from 47-yards, the longest in the Lone Star Conference this season. It was part of his 10 points in the No. 14 Mustangs 34-7 win over Incarnate Word. Saladino also connected on a field goal from 30 yards out and was 4-of-4 in PATs for the game. Saladino improved to 7-of-7 in field goals and 16-of-16 in PATs this season. Saladino leads the LSC in kick scoring with 9.2 points a game, which is second in overall scoring in the conference. He also punted three times with a 34.3 average, with two punts inside the 20 and none returned.
• Saturday's game with Angelo State is part of Homecoming activities for MSU.  The Mustangs are 8-2 on Homecoming in the Maskill Era and 14-10 since reinstating the football program in 1988.  MSU has won three straight Homecoming games and eight of the last nine.
• Through the first half of the season, the Mustangs are 23-of-24 in the red zone (.958), with 17 touchdowns and six field goals.  Defensively, MSU has allowed the opponents to score on 10-of-15 red zone appearances (.667), with seven touchdowns and three field goal.      
• The winningest coach in MSU history, Bill Maskill won his 80th game at Midwestern with the win over A&M-Commerce.  Maskill is 83-33 in his 11th season at MSU, 96-41 in his 13th season as a head coach.
• Midwestern has been golden in the months of August and September under coach Bill Maskill.  MSU is 40-8 (.833) in games played before Oct. 1 in the Maskill era.  In fact, since 2006, the Mustangs are 29-2 before Oct. 1.
• The Mustangs return five All-Americans from 2011.  Quarterback Brandon Kelsey was fourth in the Harlan Hill voting and was third team on the Don Hansen squad and honorable mention by the Beyond Sports College Network. Guard Ken Van Heule was second team on the Hansen and third team on the BSCN team.  Running back Keidrick Jackson was an honorable mention on both the D2Football.com and Hansen teams.