Midwestern State vs. Angelo State
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016 | 7 p.m.
Memorial Stadium | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (5-0, 4-0 LSC); Angelo State (3-3, 2-2 LSC)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Watch: Mustangs Digital Network  
Listen: Mustangs Digital Network 
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com 
 
SETTING THE STAGE
No. 4 Midwestern State aims for its sixth consecutive win in just its second home game of the season Saturday night against Angelo State at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
HOMETOWN HEROES NIGHT
This weekend is Hometown Heroes Appreciation. All Wichita Falls Police and Fire, Wichita County Sheriff as well as all Wichita Falls ISD employees receive two free general admission tickets to the game. Please display proper identification for each organization at the Memorial Stadium Box Office to receive tickets.
 
BLACK OUT
Midwestern State dons its all-black look for the second time this season Saturday night against Angelo State. The Mustangs request their fans join in to black out the home side of Memorial Stadium.
 
FOR STARTERS
- Midwestern State can clinch its 17th consecutive winning season with a win over Angelo State. No other four-year scholarship program possesses a streak as long. NCAA D3 power Mary Hardin-Baylor can also clinch its 17th straight winning ledger with a victory at East Texas Baptist.
- The Mustangs are one of 10 remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division II and one of two from Super Region Four along with Grand Valley State (Mich.). Other unbeatens include Harding (Ark.), Sioux Falls (S.D.), LIU-Post (N.Y.), California (Pa.), Tuskegee (Ala.), Shepherd (W. Va.), Northwest Missouri State and Fairmont State (W. Va.).
- Midwestern State has won 14 of its last 15 regular season games dating back to last season which is the best run since winning 19 of 20 between the 2011 (10-1) and 2012 (9-1) campaigns.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State and Angelo State meet for the 20th time on the gridiron Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
- The Mustangs have won five of the last seven meetings between the programs since the start of the 2010 season.
- Both of Angelo State's victories since 2010 came during the 2014 season.
- MSU is 7-3 against the Rams in games played in Wichita Falls.
- The Mustangs are 11-4 against Angelo State during the Bill Maskill era (since 2002).
- MSU dealt Angelo State its first loss last season upending the sixth-ranked Rams 29-20 at LeGrand Stadium.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS
- Angelo State rebounded from a 1-3 start win its last two Lone Star Conference games over Texas A&M-Kingsville (22-21 in Kingsville) and 31-9 over Oklahoma Panhandle State.
- The Rams boast the No. 2 total defense in the LSC allowing 335 yards per game allowing 179 yards through the air (2nd in LSC) and 158 on the ground (4th in LSC).
- Angelo State held its last two opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing giving up 76 against Texas A&M-Kingsville before holding Oklahoma Panhandle State to 42 yards on 37 carries.
- ASU sophomore defensive end Markus Jones earned LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors after making four sacks last week against Oklahoma Panhandle State. He leads the LSC with 12 tackles for loss this season.
- Jones also leads all divisions with six blocked kicks through six games.
- Angelo State has settled on redshirt-freshman Carsen Cook at the quarterback position. The Wylie High product rushed for 102 yards in his collegiate debut against Eastern New Mexico (9/24) before connecting on 30-of-61 passes for 278 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions the last two weeks in wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
- Junior Josh Stevens leads the rushing attack with 559 yards on 113 carries (4.9 ypc) with two touchdowns. He is coming off of a season-high 131-yard performance against Oklahoma Panhandle State after running for 128 against Tarleton State earlier this season.
- Junior Donovan Thompson is the Rams' top receiving threat with 29 catches for 280 yards.
- Will Wagner boasts a 37-31 (.544) record in his sixth season at the helm at Angelo State.
 
ABOUT BILL MASKILL
- Bill Maskill is in his 17th season as a head coach and 15th campaign at Midwestern State.
- Maskill has led the Mustangs to winning ledgers in each of his years at the helm of the program including the school's first Lone Star Conference championship in 2009 and first undefeated regular season in 2011.
- Under Maskill's guidance, MSU has advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason in the 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 seasons while amassing a 116-43 record (.730).  He was named LSC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and was the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2011.
- In all, Maskill has coached 21 All-Americans, 47 all-region selections and 60 All-Lone Star Conference first teamers in his 15 seasons in Wichita Falls.
- Maskill is starting his 48th year as a football coach. His coaching experience includes stops as a Division I assistant at Vanderbilt (twice), Southern Methodist, Wake Forest, Oregon, Tulane, Louisville, Arizona State, Bowling Green and Iowa.
- Maskill has a 129-51 overall record (.717) and led Southeast Missouri State to a 1988 MIAA co-championship.

MASTERFUL AT MEMORIAL
- Since Bill Maskill took over the reins of the MSU football program in 2002, the Mustangs have compiled a 62-14 record at Memorial Stadium - good for an impressive .816 winning percentage.
- MSU has a 96-51 overall record in its 26th season playing home contests at Memorial Stadium.
- The Mustangs are 69-16 (.812) at home since 2000.
- MSU has won 33 of its last 36 regular season games at Memorial Stadium dating back to the 2008 season.
 
GOING FOR SIX
- MSU can extend its winning streak to six games for the eighth time in program history with a win over Angelo State.
- Five of MSU's six-game winning streaks have come during the Bill Maskill era.
- The Mustangs have started nine seasons with at least five consecutive wins including a program best 10-0 sweep through the regular season in 2011.
- Midwestern is looking for its second consecutive and fourth 6-0 start to a season. MSU's best regular season run came in 2011 (10-0) and the Mustangs rolled to a 7-0 start last season. MSU has also posted 5-0 starts three other times during the Maskill era (2006, 2007, 2010).
- MSU has won at least four consecutive games in 12 of the last 13 seasons with the lone exception coming in 2014 when the Mustangs amassed two three-game winning streaks.
 
MSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Midwestern State moved ahead three spots to No. 4 in this week's AFCA Division II Top 25.
- The Mustangs have carried a national ranking for each of the last 16 polls dating back to last season.
- The Mustangs remained at No. 5 in this week's D2Football.com rankings.
- MSU is ranked 11th in the Massey Ratings while Angelo State is 58th.
- The Mustangs are 11th in the Hero Sports Bennett Rankings compared to Angelo State which is 45th.
- The Hero Sports Bennett Rankings have the Lone Star Conference as the second strongest league in NCAA Division II
 
COMEBACK KIDS
- Midwestern State has trailed in 13 games since the start of the 2015 season.
- The Mustangs improved to 11-2 in those games after overcoming a 12-point deficit with 5:29 to play to beat No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce 26-25 on Oct. 8, 2016.
- MSU never trailed in a 43-22 win at Western New Mexico on Oct. 1, 2016. It was the first time since beating West Texas A&M (24-21) on Oct. 10, 2015 the Mustangs never faced a deficit -- a span of nine games.
 
SULTANS OF THE SECOND HALF
- Midwestern State has outscored its last 11 opponents in the second half dating back to West Texas A&M on Oct. 10, 2015 last season. The Buffs outscored MSU 14-10 after halftime but the Mustangs won 24-17.
- MSU has outscored the opposition 115-52 through five games in 2016. That's average score of 23-10 after intermission.
- The Mustangs have outscored the opposition 60-12 in the third quarter and 55-40 in the fourth.
 
THE DEAD ZONE
- Midwestern State ranks sixth in the LSC in Red Zone defense per the NCAA allowing the opponent to score 72 percent of the time.
- The Mustangs, however, lead the LSC in points yielded per Red Zone trip at 3.6.
- MSU held No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce to one touchdown in five excursions into the Red Zone (10/8) the last time out.
 
REWIND: MSU 26, A&M-C 25
- Midwestern State rallied from 12 points down with 5:29 to play defeat No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce 25-25 last week in Commerce.
- The Mustangs took down its highest rank opponent in program history.
- The win gives MSU sole possession of first place in the Lone Star Conference.
- MSU limited Texas A&M-Commerce to one touchdown in five trips to the red zone.
- Senior quarterback Quade Coward completed 9-of-11 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns over the final 5:22 to earn LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
- Coward finished with 310 yards of total offense hitting 17-of-25 passes for 273 yards while rushing for 37 yards on eight carries.
- Senior wide receiver Breion Evans snagged two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to finish with four catches for 85 yards.
- Sophomore Vincent Johnson rushed for two touchdowns (4, 21) to up his season total to 13 TDs while leading the Mustangs with 86 yards on 14 carries.
- Sophomore Adrian Seales accounted for 76 yards on 16 carries.
- Junior wideout DeAndre Black made a season-high five catches for 68 yards.
- Sophomore safety Sir'Vell Ford paced the defense with six tackles and five solo stops.
 
OFFENSIVE TEAM NOTES
- Midwestern State boasts the No. 2 rushing attack in the Lone Star Conference and 30th in NCAA Division II with 210.6 yards per game on the ground.
-MSU rushed for 200-or-more yards in each of the last four weeks including a campaign high of 259 at Western New Mexico (10/1).
- The Mustangs rank second in the league and 29th nationally in tackles for loss allowed at 4.80.
- MSU's passing attack has produced at least 200 yards in four of five outings this season, but is making big plays going for 14.02 yards per completion which ranks second in the LSC and 39th in NCAA II.
- MSU has produced 446.2 yards of total offense per game ranking 39th in NCAA Division II and third in the LSC.
- Three different rushers -- Vincent Johnson (2), Adrian Seales (1) and Quade Coward (1) have ran for 100 yards in a game for MSU this season.
 
DEFENSIVE TEAM NOTES
- Midwestern State boasts the top Red Zone defense in the Lone Star Conference as the Mustangs have permitted touchdowns on just 10-of-25 (40 percent) of opponent trips inside the 20-yard line yielding 3.6 points per trip.
- Three of MSU's five interceptions this season have come in the end zone.
- MSU has yielded 400-or-more yards of total offense in each of its last four games after holding Truman State to 255 yards in the season opener.
- The Mustangs have produced 42 points off of 10 turnovers this season.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
- Midwestern State ranks seventh in the LSC and 97th in NCAA Division II in kickoff returns at 19.90 yards per return, while leading the LSC and ranking ninth nationally in kick return defense giving up 16.12 yards per return.
- MSU also leads the LSC with two blocked punts, but have also permitted two blocked punts to knock down the net punting average to 27.85 yards per punt.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State resumes the Highway 287 Challenge Cup series with rival West Texas A&M next Saturday at Kimbrough Stadium in Canyon. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.