MSU Football
 
SATURDAY... No. 10 Midwestern State (7-1, 6-1) has a showdown for the Lone Star Conference Championship when it visits No. 12 West Texas A&M (8-1, 6-0).  Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon.

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 

WEB VIDEO: The game is being video webcast courtesy of West Texas A&M University.  LINK

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available courtesy of the West Texas A&M Sports Information Office.  LINK 

 
SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES …
 
West Texas A&M comes into the game ranked 12th in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll, No. 5 in the D2Football.com poll and fifth in the NCAA Division II Super Region 4 rankings, sporting an 8-1 overall record, and a 6-0 Lone Star Conference record.  WT has won eight straight games and defeated West Georgia 52-28 on the road last Saturday.

The Buffaloes are under the command of veteran head coach Don Carthel who is the winningest coach in WT history at 75-20 in eight seasons and has a 121-66-1 record as a collegiate head coach in 17 seasons.

The Buffs sport one of the top passing offenses in NCAA Division II led by quarterback Dustin Vaughan who leads the conference in passing efficiency (165.90 rating), while completing 210-of-325 passes with just six interceptions for 2,883 yards and 30 touchdowns.

His favorite target is receiver Torrence Allen who has 44 catches and averages 96.4 yards receiving a game, to lead the LSC and rank 22nd nationally.  Allen has eight touchdown catches.  Nathan Slaughter has 43 receptions with a 57.7 yard average (eighth in the LSC) with four touchdowns.  In all, WT has seven receivers that average better than 33 yards a game.

WT has an outstanding running back as well.  Senior Khiry Robinson is second in the LSC and 28th nationally in rushing, averaging 108.3 yards a game with six touchdowns.  But no other back averages 17 yards a game on the ground.

Defensively, West Texas A&M is the tops in the conference, led by linebacker Taylor McCuller and Kyle Voss.  McCuller averages 10.9 tackles a game, leading the LSC and 14th nationally, while Voss averages 8.6 tackles a contest for eighth in the league and 97th in Division II.  The defense is third in tackles for losses in Division II, averaging 9.9 a TFLs a game, led bydefensive end Ethan Westbrooks with 17.0 this season (second in the LSC and 10th nationally), Voss with 14.5 (third in the LSC and 23rd nationally) and defensive end Tyrell Higgins with 11.0 (fourth in the LSC and 48th nationally).

WT is averaging 471.0 yards of total offense a game (first in LSC, 17th nationally) to go with 40.3 points an outing (second in LSC behind MSU, 14th nationally), while allowing 309.4 yards defensively and 17.0 points an outing. 

All-Time Series: MSU trails in the series 11-14, but has split the last four meetings including the Mustangs 35-21 win last season at Memorial Stadium.  MSU leads the series 7-5 in Canyon, 5-4 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.
 
 
NOTEWORTHY

• The Mustangs moved up to No. 10 in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll after being 11th last week.  They opened the season No. 4.
• MSU has been ranked in the last 19 polls (including eight in the Top 10), in 41 of the last 46 polls and has received a vote in 80 of the last 81 AFCA coaches polls.
• The Mustangs are ranked No. 8 in the D2Football.com Poll.
• MSU is ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II Super Region 4 rankings.
• Junior running back Keidrick Jackson, the leading rusher in the Lone Star Conference, had 16 carries for 125 yards against ENMU last week for the 11th 1,000-yard season in MSU history.  Jackson has 1,026 yards for a 128.2 average per game to lead the league and rank 13th in NCAA Division II.  He needs only 19 yards to pass his rushing mark of 1,044 in 2011.
• Jackson moved up to third on the MSU All-Time rushing list, sitting now at 2,499 yards.  He needs only 43 yards to pass former Indianapolis Colt Dominic Rhodes (1999-2000) as the second leading rusher and top running back in MSU history.  Quarterback Daniel Polk (2004-2007) has the MSU record of 3,590 yards rushing.
• Jackson continues to lead NCAA Division II and the LSC in scoring with 12.00 points per game (96 points in eight games).  He's tied with Franklyn Quiteh of Bloomsburg (Pa.) who has 108 points in nine games.
• MSU has six 150-yard rushing games from players in 2012, Jackson has four (156-TAMUK, 173-UIW, 193-West Alabama, 197-ACU), Brandon Kelsey has one (156-ASU) and Chauncey Harris one (155-ENMU)
• The signal caller of the Mustangs' Pony Express, senior quarterback Brandon Kelsey is seventh on the MSU career rushing charts with 1924 yards and is seventh on the MSU career scoring list with 156 points.
• Kelsey is also fifth all-time at MSU in passing yards (3,253), completions (275), attempts (442) and touchdowns (23). 
• Junior kicker/punter Greg Saladino had his perfect PAT string snapped at 43 when his final attempt of the evening against ENMU hit the left upright.  He was also 1-2 on field goals.  He still scored nine points to total 62 for the season, a 7.75 average to rank fourth in the LSC and 62nd nationally.
• Midwestern State is 39-of-41 (95.1%) in the Red Zone through eight games with 32 touchdowns and seven field goals, and allows opponents 21-of-26 (80.8 %) with 15 touchdowns and six field goals .      
• The winningest coach in MSU history, Bill Maskill won his 80th game at Midwestern with the win over A&M-Commerce.  Maskill is 86-33 in his 11th season at MSU, 99-41 in his 13th season as a head coach.
•   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.