Midwestern State vs. Eastern New Mexico
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 | 1 p.m.
Memorial Stadium | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (8-1, 7-1 LSC); Eastern New Mexico (6-4, 5-3 LSC)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Watch: Mustangs Digital Network  
Listen: Mustangs Digital Network 
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com  
 
SETTING THE STAGE
No. 12 Midwestern State can clinch at least a share of its fourth Lone Star Conference championship with a win its season finale over Eastern New Mexico Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
FOR STARTERS
- With a win, the Mustangs claim at least a share of their fourth Lone Star Conference championship and first since winning three in four years in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
- Midwestern claims the title outright with a win and a Texas A&M-Commerce loss to Tarleton State.
- Midwestern State celebrates its annual Military Appreciation game as well as Senior Day at Memorial Stadium.
 
HONORING THE SENIOR CLASS
- Midwestern State will honor its 21 seniors in a pregame ceremony Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
- The group has helped MSU to a 31-10 mark over the last four seasons with an NCAA postseason appearance and LSC playoff title in 2015.
- The class includes Dontae Armstrong (LB/Richmond, Texas), Darian Childers (DL/Copperas Cove, Texas), Quade Coward (QB/Cleburne, Texas), Cullen Craft (CB/Houston, Texas), Denzell Dotson (OL/Phoenix, Ariz.), Kelechi Ejekam (WR/Houston, Texas), Paul Eteaki (LB/DE/Long Beach, Calif.), Breion Evans (WR/Austin, Texas), Will Fukofuka (OL/Oakland, Calif.), Tanner Graeber (K/Ennis, Texas), Adam Hill (LB/Cedar Park, Texas), Kerry Holiday (DL/Houston, Texas), Statron Jones (WR/Manor, Texas), Akoakoa Kennedy (OL/Hilo, Hawaii), Robert Kitchen (DL/LaGrange, Texas), Edgar Luna (DL/Cameron, Texas), Frankie Morlock (LB/Rio Rancho, N.M.), Joel Onyia (OL/Dallas, Texas), Dante Taylor (RB/Plano, Texas), Jared Tuilagi (DE/Las Vegas, Nev.), Harold Wills (DE/Gainesville, Texas) and Brandon Wilson (DL/Houston, Texas).
 
MILITARY APPRECIATION
- Midwestern State honors the service men and women from Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
- Members from each of the four branches of the military including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines will participate in a halftime celebration.
- The event is in its 14th year with the largest crowd of 13,025 seeing a Midwestern State vs. West Texas A&M on Oct. 6, 2007.
- The Mustangs have won the last eight games played on Military Appreciation Day dating back to a loss to West Texas A&M in 2007.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico meet for the 23rd time on the gridiron Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
- The Mustangs lead the series which dates back to the 1949 season, 17-5.
- MSU has won the last three games of the series including a season sweep in 2015 as the Mustangs scored in the final minute to beat the 'Hounds 28-24 on Sept. 19 at AT&T Stadium before claiming a 26-21 victory in the LSC Playoff semifinals on Nov. 7 at Memorial Stadium.
- Midwestern claimed 11 straight wins over ENMU from 2002-12 with an average margin of victory of 26.2 points.
- The Mustangs are 14-1 against the Greyhounds during the Bill Maskill era (since 2002) with ENMU's lone win coming in 2013 -- 40-21.
- Midwestern is 7-2 all-time against ENMU in games played at Memorial Stadium and have won the last six meetings in Wichita Falls with the Greyhounds' last win coming in 2001.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
- Eastern New Mexico (6-4) has alternated wins and losses over the past four weeks and is currently two games behind MSU and Texas A&M-Commerce for the lead in the Lone Star Conference at 5-3 in league play.
- The Greyhounds' flex bone attack ranks second in NCAA Division II churning out 338.6 yards per game led by junior Kamal Cass who needs 34 yards for his second consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. The Clovis, N.M. native ranks second in the LSC and 31st nationally with 966 yards with 11 touchdowns.
- ENMU throws the ball just 16 percent of the time, but do it effectively. The 'Hounds boast the seventh-best pass efficiency in NCAA Division II (171.31) and are third in the nation with a 20.2 yards per completion average.
- Redshirt-freshman quarterback Wyatt Strand has completed 53-of-90 passes for 1,150 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 579 yards on 109 carries with nine more scores.
- Senior wideout Aaron Johnson is the top receiving threat with 34 catches for 707 yards with four touchdowns. That's 20.8 yards per reception.
- Eastern New Mexico boasts the No. 3 defense in the LSC ranking 51st in NCAA Division II allowing 344.1 yards per game while limiting the opposition to 23.8 points.
- Sophomore linebacker Brad Hardin (70 tackles/7.5 TFL) and junior linebacker Desmond Blue (49 tackles/8.0 TFL/5.0 sacks) are top defensive performers for ENMU.
- Josh Lynn completes his fifth season leading the Greyhounds with a 29-24 record (.547). ENMU has posted .500-or-better marks in each of the last four seasons under Lynn's direction.
 
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 119-44 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 132-52 overall record (.717) and led Southeast Missouri State to a 1988 MIAA co-championship.
 
MUSTANGS REMAIN SECOND IN SUPER REGION FOUR
- Midwestern State remained second in the NCAA Division II Super Region Four rankings after improving to 8-1 with a 21-16 win at Tarleton State.
- The top seven teams in each of NCAA Division II's four Super Regions advance to the playoffs beginning at campus sites on Nov. 19.
- The NCAA Division II Selection Show is set for 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon via live video stream on NCAA.com.
- Currently, the Mustangs would be in line to host Colorado Mesa in the opening round of the NCAA II postseason at Memorial Stadium.
- MSU is in search of its seventh NCAA II playoff appearance and fourth in the last six seasons (2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015).
 
MSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Midwestern State stayed at No. 12 in this week's AFCA Division II Top 25.
- The Mustangs have carried a national ranking for each of the last 20 polls dating back to last season.
- The Mustangs also remained at No. 10 in this week's D2Football.com rankings.
- MSU is ranked 13th in the Massey Ratings, while Eastern New Mexico is 49th.
- The Mustangs are 16th in the Hero Sports Bennett Rankings compared to Eastern New Mexico which is 35th.
- The Hero Sports Bennett Rankings have the Lone Star Conference as the third strongest league in NCAA Division II.
 
COMEBACK KIDS
- Midwestern State has trailed in 15 games since the start of the 2015 season.
- The Mustangs improved to 12-3 in those games after scoring in the last minute to beat Tarleton State 21-16 in Stephenville
- 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.
 
JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE
- Midwestern State has scored in the final minute to win four of its eight games this season.
- Tanner Graeber's 18-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play beat Texas A&M-Kingsville 32-30 on Sept. 17.
- MSU scored two touchdowns in the final 3:22 with Quade Coward hitting Breion Evans for a 12-yard score with 28.3 seconds left to beat No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce on Oct. 8.
- Coward hit four straight passes to lead MSU 77 yards on four plays culminating in a 10-yard TD to Jerryl Yarbrough with 16 seconds left to beat Angelo State 28-21 on Oct. 15.
- The Mustangs traveled 74 yards in five plays culminating in a 13-yard touchdown run by Adrian Seales with 52 seconds remaining to beat Tarleton State 21-16 on Nov. 5.
 
NOT IN OUR HOUSE
- Since Bill Maskill took over the reins of the MSU football program in 2002, the Mustangs have compiled a 64-14 record at Memorial Stadium - good for an impressive .821 winning percentage.
- MSU has a 98-51 overall record in its 26th season playing home contests at Memorial Stadium.
- The Mustangs are 71-16 (.816) at home since 2000.
- MSU has won 35 of its last 38 regular season games at Memorial Stadium dating back to the 2008 season.
 
REWIND: MSU 21, TSU 16
- Midwestern State scored the go-ahead points in the game's final minute for fourth time this season.
- The Mustangs overcame a deficit for the 12th time since the start of the 2015 season to win after trailing the Texans 10-3 at the half.
- Sophomore Adrian Seales dashed up the middle untouched for a 13-yard TD with 52 seconds to play to cap a 5-play, 74-yard drive for the winning score.
- Seales earned Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors rushing for a career-high 138 yards on 21 carries.
-Sophomore running back Vincent Johnson scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns and finished with 59 yards on 18 carries. It was his seventh multiple touchdown game of the season.
- Senior defensive lineman Darian Childers recorded two sacks both came on third downs to end fourth quarter drives.
- Childers has sacks in five consecutive games.
- Redshirt-freshman linebacker Tristan Shearman put the game away with an interception on Tarleton's final offensive player of the game.
- Redshirt-freshman linebacker Zach McMahen led the Mustangs with eight tackles while freshman safety Jaydon Cunigan and sophomore linebacker Drew Bolin had seven each.
- MSU allowed just nine points off of a season-high four turnovers.
 
OFFENSIVE TEAM NOTES
- Midwestern State narrowly missed -- by a yard -- putting up its sixth game with at least 400 yards of total offense finishing with 399 against Tarleton State.
- The Mustangs boast the No. 2 rushing attack in the LSC ranking 29th nationally churning out 213.9 yards per game.
- MSU ranks third in the LSC and 44th in NCAA Division II in total offense at 440.3 yards per game.
- Midwestern tops the LSC and is 22nd nationally allowing 5.00 tackles for loss per game.
- The Mustangs have rushed for 200-or-more yards six times this season, while rolling up 400 yards of total offense on five occasions.
- The Mustangs exploded for a school record 63 points in the first half against UT-Permian Basin (10/29). The 35 points in the first quarter were the most since MSU scored 36 against Western New Mexico in 2001, while the 76 total points were the second most in school history falling just shy of the 82 scored against WNMU also in 2001.
- MSU set season highs in both rushing touchdowns (5) and passing scores (4) against UT-Permian Basin (10/29).
- MSU's play breakdown is 60.1 percent rush (378-1925) and 39.9 percent pass (148-251-2038).
 
DEFENSIVE TEAM NOTES
- Midwestern State boasts one of the top Red Zone defense in the Lone Star Conference as the Mustangs have permitted touchdowns on just 19-of-37 (51.4 percent) of opponent trips inside the 20-yard line yielding 4.2 points per trip.
- Four of MSU's eight interceptions this season have come in the end zone.
- MSU has yielded 400-or-more yards of total offense in four games after holding Truman State to a season low 255 yards in the season opener.
- Midwestern has held its last four opponents to fewer than 400 yards of total offense.
- The Mustangs have produced 62 points off of 16 turnovers this season.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
- Midwestern State ranks fourth in the LSC and 91st in NCAA Division II in kickoff returns at 20.33 yards per return, while second in the LSC and ranking fifth nationally in kick return defense giving up 15.27 yards per return.
- MSU ranks third in the LSC and 15th in NCAA Division II with a 14.86 yards per punt return average, while ranking fourth in the LSC and 60th nationally allowing 8.07 yards per return.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State awaits its postseason fate which will be announced by the NCAA Division II Football Championship Committee via playoff selection show Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. The show streams live on NCAA.com.