MSU Football

SATURDAY... Defending Lone Star Conference Co-Champion Midwestern State welcomes McMurry back to Wichita Falls for the first time since 1990. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium/Joe Golding Field in Wichita Falls.

This is the Silver Celebration, honoring the rebirth of the MSU football program in 1988. All former MSU football players from the modern era have been welcomed back. A reunion is being held prior to the game for the former players at Memorial Stadium and they will be honored on the field at halftime. MSU beat McMurry twice in the restart season of 1988.

WHERE TO FIND THE GAME…

95.5 ESPN: 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: The ESPN-Midwestern State Sports Network audio broadcast is simulcasted on MSUMustangs.com. LINK

VIDEO WEBCAST: The game will be video streamed FREE via MSUMustangs.com and Stretch Internet. LINK

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


SCOUTING THE WAR HAWKS …

McMurry is in its second season as an NCAA Division II Independent and enters the game with a record of 1-4 overall after a 48-35 loss on Homecoming to Angelo State last Saturday in Abilene. This is the last year for McMurry to be an independent as they will join the Lone Star Conference for football for the 2014 season.

The third consecutive week, MSU faces a new head coach. The War Hawks are under the command of head coach Mason Miller, who sports a 1-4 record in his first season. Miller spent the last four seasons as an assistant at McMurry, including the last two seasons as offensive coordinator.

The War Hawks throw the ball 58 percent of the time (gaining 63 percent of their yardage). McM is led by true freshman quarterback Gabe Rodriguez who has thrown for 965 yards by hitting 79-of-138 with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. Sophomore Brady Lambert adds 429 air yards on 56-of-95 attempts with three interceptions and no scores.

The Hawks favorite targets are junior Jaret Smith and Greg Livingston who account for over half of the receiving yardage. Smith averages 113.2 yards a game on 36 receptions (15.7 per catch), while Livingston hauls in 58.8 yards a contest on 28 grabs (10.5 per reception). The duo has 10 of the 15 TD catches.

But McMurry is getting more diversified by using the run. While playing in three of the five games so far this season, sophomore Paxton Grayer leads the team with a 113.7 yards per game average with three touchdowns, including the 107 yards he had last week against Angelo State. Junior Chris Simpson Jr. is averaging 69.0 yards a contest and has three touchdowns.

Defensively, cornerback Desmond Guy leads the War Hawks with 48 total tackles, or 9.6 per game. Left end Jonathan Blair has 44 stops (8.8 a game) with 4.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Left safety Cory Pippen adds 31 tackles (6.2 per game) with 3.0 tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions.

McMurry is averaging 446.4 yards of total offense a game (not ranked because of the transition to Division II) to go with 30.0 points an outing, while allowing 524.4 yards defensively and 47.4 points per contest.

All-Time Series: Midwestern State leads the series 10-9-1, winning the last meeting 20-14 on Oct. 29, 1994 in Abilene. MSU has a 2-1 record against McMurry at Memorial Stadium.

NOTEWORTHY

• Midwestern State is 3-1, 2-1 in Lone Star Conference play with the 43-10 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville.
• The Mustangs are ranked 25th in the AFCA Coaches Top 25, returning to the poll after their school record stretch of being ranking 26 consecutive reporting periods ended last week. MSU has been in the Top 25 in 49 of the last 55 polls and has received a vote in 89 of the last 90 polls that have been released.
• Both Midwestern State and McMurry were nicknamed "Indians" until the NCAA deemed it "hostile and abusive" in 2005. MSU changed its nickname to Mustangs in Nov. 2005, becoming effective in Jan. 2006. McMurry went without a mascot from 2006 to 2011 before it became War Hawks.
• This is MSU's 13th game against an institution that changed it's mascot because of the NCAA edict. MSU is 12-0 in those matchups.
• The victory over the Javelinas was the Mustangs third straight and the eighth in the last nine games played between the schools.
• MSU extended its regular season winning streak at Memorial Stadium/Joe Golding Field to 21.
• Since the start of the Bill Maskill era in 2002, MSU is 49-10 at Memorial Stadium with an .831 winning percentage at home.
• The Mustangs held TAMUK to just 186 yards of total offense in the game, the fewest gained by an LSC team this season. TAMUK managed only 47 yards in the second half.
• Midwestern has scored in 13 straight quarters, being shutout in only one quarter this season (third quarter of season opener).
• MSU has held its opponent to a season low in total offense for a game three times this season (Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville).
• MSU leads the LSC in total defense and is ranked 24th nationally allowing 310.3 yards a game … Sophomore Marqui Christian recorded the ninth-best tackle game in MSU history with 15 again TAMUK, marking his third double-digit tackle effort this season.
• Christian leads the LSC and is ninth nationally in tackles with 11.8 per game.
• Taiyon Jackson and Daniel Laudermilk are tied for 10th in the LSC in tackles with 7.0 per game.
• Senior Neiko Conway recorded his second interception of the season and the 12th of his career (second in MSU history).
• MSU is second in the LSC and 14th nationally in rushing offense with 264.8 yards a game.
• Keidrick Jackson smashed the school record for rushing attempts in a career after his 26 rushes against the Javelinas. He now has 513 and becomes the first MSU player to tote the ball 500 times. The old record of 493 held by Dominic Rhodes (1999-2000).
• Jackson rushed for 115 yards against TAMUK, his third straight 100-yard game and his MSU record 17th.
• Jackson now has 3,293 yards and needs 298 to pass Daniel Polk (2004-07) for the MSU all-time rushing record.
• Kicker Greg Saladino hit 2-of-3 field goals against TAMUK, with makes of 30 and 36, along with a miss of 54. Saladino is now 23-33 in his career and is three field goals from becoming number two on the MSU all-time list.
• With his seventh field goal this season, Greg Saladino is already tied for 10th on the MSU single season field goal chart.
• Saladino also connected on all five PATs against the Hoggies and is now 135-141. He has made 29 consecutive PAT attempts, the fifth-longest string in MSU history.
• Saturday's game against McMurry is MSU's Silver Celebration, honoring players over the past 25 year of Midwestern football since the return of the sport in 1988.
• It's the first time MSU has faced McMurry since 1994 (when MSU left the TIAA to join NCAA II) and the first time McMurry has played in Wichita Falls since 1990.