MSU Football

SATURDAY... No. 18 Midwestern State (2-0, 1-0) is out for a three-game win streak and seeks avenge the season opening loss from last year when the Mustangs take on defending Lone Star Conference co-champion Tarleton State (1-1, 1-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Tarleton Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.


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

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

GAME NOTES:  Courtesy the Midwestern State Athletic Communications Office. LINK

SCOUTING THE TEXANS…

Tarleton State enters the game with a record of 1-1 overall after being upset 37-31 by second-year program Florida Tech in the Lone Star Football Festival last Saturday.  The Texans are 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play after winning at West Texas A&M 31-27 two weeks ago.

The Texans are under the command of head coach Cary Fowler, who sports a 23-21 record in his fifth year at TSU. He led the Texans to a Lone Star Conference Co-Championship with Eastern New Mexico last season after posting a 7-3 campaign with a 5-1 LSC record.

The Texans have the 17th ranked offense in NCAA Division II, the second in the Lone Star Conference, averaging 513.5 yards a game.  Of that Tarleton is collecting 261.5 yards on the ground and 252.0 yards passing.  The Tarleton attack is keyed by junior quarterback Collin Strahan of Mesquite, Texas/Horn, who is truly a dual threat.  He leads TSU, is fourth in the LSC and ranks 107th in Division II with his 99.5 yards a game rushing, while averaging 214.0 yards passing.  He's tossed 39-of-61 for 428 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.  Strahan has a 100-yard rushing game (124 vs. West Texas A&M) and a 300-yard passing game (305 yards vs. Florida Tech).  His favorite target is sophomore receiver Bubba Tandy of Hopkinsville, Ky./Christian County, who has 11 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown, an average of 104.5 yards a game to rank second in the LSC and 28th in Division II.  Junior Le'Nard Meyers of Gatesville, Texas averages 47.5 yards a game on 10 grabs for 95 yards and a touchdown, while senior Clifton Rhodes III of Fort Worth, Texas/Southwest averages 42.5 yards a contest with six receptions for 85 yards.

The ground game is also led by junior running back Zach Henshaw of Canyon Lake, Texas, who is fourth in the LSC and is 46th in Division II averaging 95.5 yards a game by collecting 191 yards on 34 carries with a touchdown. Sophomore Cody Burtscher of Glen Rose, Texas adds 55.5 yards a game.

Defensively, senior linebacker Marc Martinez of Waco, Texas/Midway, paces the way with 28 total tackles or 14.0 per game (third in the LSC and fifth in Division II).  Senior safety Devin Figures of Jefferson, Texas, has 27 stops (13.5 per game, fourth in the LSC and ninth nationally). Senior safety Charles Moore of Carrollton, Texas/R.L. Turner, chips in 22 tackles (11.0 per outing, seventh in the LSC and 26th in NCAA II).

The Texans are seventh (of eight) in the LSC in Total Defense, 144th in the nation, allowing 479.0 yards a game.

All-Time Series: Midwestern State trails the series 8-19-1, with Tarleton winning the last two meetings including last season's 27-24 contest at AT&T Stadium.  MSU is 2-11 in Stephenville and has not won there since Nov. 4, 2000 when MSU took a 44-23 triumph over the Texans.

NOTEWORTHY

• Midwestern State is 2-0 overall and is 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play.
• MSU's 42-17 win over Eastern New Mexico was the third win in four games at AT&T Stadium and the Lone Star Football Festival.
• The Mustangs are ranked 18th in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll, marking MSU's second straight week in the poll.  It's also MSU's 34th ranking in the last 39 polls and 54th in the last 6.  MSU has received at least one vote in the poll in 100 of the 101 polls.
• The win was the 97th of Coach Bill Maskill at Midwestern State, running his record to 96-37, with a 72.4 winning percentage, as he started his 13th season at MSU.  Maskill has an overall record of 110-45, a 71.0 winning percentage, starting his 15th season as a collegiate head coach.
• The Mustangs ran their record in pre-October games to 43-9 (.827) under Coach Bill Maskill. Since 2006, that record is now 32-3 (.914).
• Prior to the game against ENMU, the Mustangs had a locker room visit from former Dallas Cowboy and Notre Dame great Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, who also spoke to the team at their Welcome Back Dinner in August.
• Quarterback Jake Glover's (White Settlement, Texas, Brewer HS) 303 yards passing was the first time an MSU quarterback has thrown for better than 300 yards since Zack Eskridge threw for 356 yards at Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 31, 2009.
• Glover is this week's Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
• With his 124 receiving yards, Levy Wilson (Albany, Calif., Albany HS (San Mateo JC)) became the first MSU receiver to post consecutive 100-yard games since Andy Tanner did the trick in 2009.
• Statron Jones (Manor, Texas, Manor HS) led MSU with 127 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
• Both Wilson and Jones recorded their second 100-yard receiving games in their MSU careers.  Wilson's first was last week against Missouri S&T, while Jones had 100 yards last season at Eastern New Mexico.
• It was the first time the Mustangs have had twin 100-yard receivers since DelJuan Lee and Mookie Davis each recorded the century mark at Northeastern State on Sept. 16, 2006.
• MSU came back from a double-digit deficits to win for the second straight week
• Seven of the Mustangs 47 plays went for 20 yards or more.
• All but eight of the Mustangs 130 rushing yards came against the Hounds in the fourth quarter.  ENMU was second in Division II allowing 24.5 yards a game rushing entering the contest.
• Junior Dominique Rouse's (Apopka, Fla., Winter Park HS (Eastern Michigan)) 55-yard interception return came on his first play in a Midwestern State uniform. 
• The interception snapped ENMU's Jeremy Buurma's string of 82 passes without a pick, spanning five games.
• The return was the ninth longest interception in school history.
• The snare was the first interception return for a touchdown since Ricardo Riascos interception TD in the nationally-televised 65-14 win over Texas A&M-Commerce at AT&T Stadium in the LSFF in 2012.
• The Midwestern State defense has allowed only 10 second half points this young season, none in the fourth quarter.
• For the seventh consecutive year, Coach Bill Maskill and the MSU coaching staff is participating in the American Football Coaches Association Coach to Cure MD.  Coaches across college football are joining in the effort to raise money to battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy by wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness of the disease. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood and primarily affects boys across races and cultures.  Fans may donate to support the effort by going online to www.CoachtoCureMD.org or may have a $5 contribution added to their wireless phone bill by texting the word CURE to 90999.