MSU Football

SATURDAY... Defending Lone Star Conference Co-Champion Midwestern State returns to LSC play by visiting Eastern New Mexico. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Central Time at Greyhound Stadium in Blackwater Draw, N.M.


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 simulcast on MSUMustangs.com. LINK

VIDEO WEBCAST: The game will be available on a pay-per-view video stream provided by GoEasternAthletics.com. LINK

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available courtesy of the Eastern New Mexico Athletic Communications Office. LINK


SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS…

Eastern New Mexico enters the game with a record of 5-3 overall, 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference after upsetting then No. 15 West Texas A&M 39-38 to reclaim the Wagon Wheel Trophy last Saturday.

The Greyhounds and Mustangs are tied for second in the Lone Star Conference title chase. Both have this contest and another LSC game and could win a share of the league crown by winning both.

The Hounds are under the command of second-year head coach Josh Lynn, who sports an 8-10 record. Lynn, a former All-LSC performer at Eastern New Mexico and former assistant for Bud Elliott at ENMU, returned to his alma mater after serving seven seasons including one as head coach at the New Mexico Military Institute.

The Hounds run the ball 75 percent of the time for 60 percent of their offensive yards out of the "flexbone" variation of the wishbone offense. ENMU is led on the ground by running back Jordan Wells of Round Rock (Texas) High, and fullback Christian Long of Dobson (Ariz.) High. Wells averages 66.8 yards a game (fourth in the LSC, 114th in NCAA Division II), while Long totes it for 59.0 yards a contest (eighth in the LSC and 140th in DII).

ENMU is led by the play of sophomore quarterback Jeremy Buurma of Las Cruces, N.M. Buurma averages just 15.6 yards a game on the ground (125 yards on 90 carries), and has completed 81-of-148 passes for 1276 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions to average 159.5 yards through the air.

Defensively, linebacker Seth Bailey heads the tackle chart. The junior has 65 stops on the year, an 8.1 average (eighth in the LSC, 116th nationally), along with a team leading three interceptions. Linebacker Julian Yearwood adds 57 tackles (7.1 per game), while linebacker Benjamin Langford chips in 51 stops (7.3 per contest), including a team leading 8.5 tackles for losses (-36). Senior linebacker Christopher Barnard comes up with 45 tackles, with 7.0 tackles for losses (-54 yards) and a team-leading 5.0 quarterback sacks for losses of 46 yards (fourth in the LSC and 64th nationally).

Eastern New Mexico is averaging 404.0 yards of total offense a game (fifth in the LSC and 72nd in Division II), that includes 240.8 rushing (second in the LSC, 19th in DII) while scoring 29.9 points an outing (sixth in the Lone Star Conference and 76th nationally). The Greyhounds allow 356.1 yards defensively (second in the LSC to MSU and 52nd in Division II) and 26.5 points per contest (second in the LSC to MSU, 72nd in DII).

All-Time Series: Midwestern State leads the series 14-4, including last season's 51-28 win on Oct. 27, 2012 in Wichita Falls. MSU leads the series in Portales/Blackwater Draw 7-2, and 7-1 at Greyhound Stadium. Midwestern has won the last 11 meetings between the teams, with the Hounds last win coming on Sept. 15, 2001 36-33 in Wichita Falls. Eastern's last win over MSU in Blackwater Draw was Nov. 14, 1998 (21-18).

NOTEWORTHY

• Midwestern State is 7-1 for the season after the 64-7 win over Menlo (Calif.) last Saturday. MSU is 3-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
• MSU is ranked 12th in this week's AFCA Division II poll, the fifth straight week in the poll after seeing its school record string of 26 straight rating periods in the Top 25 was snapped after a win earlier this year.
• MSU has been ranked in 53 of the last 59 polls and has received votes in 93 of the last 94 polls.
• The Mustangs have won seven straight, marking the third straight season MSU has had at least a seven-game winning streak.
• Midwestern State recorded nine touchdowns against Menlo, with seven different Mustangs scoring the ball.
• MSU's eight rushing touchdowns against Menlo tied the school record set against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 20, 2007 and against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 17, 2011.
• MSU's 412 rushing yards against Menlo was the 11th best rushing effort in school history and the 12th time MSU has had 400 or more rushing yards in a game.
• The Mustangs held the Oaks to just 171 total yards in the game, holding a team to under 200 yards of offense for the second time this season (186 to Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 5, 2013). It's the fewest yards allowed by MSU since Southwestern Oklahoma State was held to 161 on Sept. 18, 2010.
• Menlo's defense sacked Midwestern quarterbacks three times in the game, marking the first time that happened since Sept. 10, 2011 when Missouri S&T turned the trick. It was the most sacks MSU had suffered at home since Abilene Christian recorded eight in an NCAA playoff game on Nov. 14, 2009.
• MSU senior Keidrick Jackson played only in the first half against Menlo, rushing for just 68 yards on 11 carries to snap his six-game MSU record streak of 100-yard rushing games. MSU's leading scorer did not put a point on the boards as well.
• Jackson joined the Lone Star Conference's Top 10 Rushers of All-Time with 3,785 yards to pass both Angelo State's Jerry Austin (1969-72) with 3,741 and Texas A&M-Commerce's Aundra Thompson (1972-75) with 3,747 to sit in ninth on the list. Jackson needs 100 yards to pass Eastern New Mexico's Michael Benson with 3,884 yards in eighth.
• Senior Greg Saladino grabbed the MSU record for consecutive point-after-touchdown kicks against Menlo, but then had the streak ended when a line breakdown caused a blocked attempt. Saladino hit five consecutive to bring his streak to a record 55 straight before the block. He was still 8-of-9 on the day and has hit 58-of-59 and 101 of his last 103 attempts.
• Saladino also set the MSU career PAT record by nailing the 164th of his career to pass Jose Martinez (2007-10) with 162. Saladino has made 164-of-171 for his career.
• Sophomore Marqui Christian tallied only four tackles in about a half of action against Menlo, but he still leads the MSU tackle chart with 82 tackles -- the most for an MSU player in a single season since Cornelius Cooper had 100 in 2004.