#12 Midwestern State vs. Western New Mexico
MSU 2-0, 1-0 LSC; WNMU 0-4, 0-2 LSC
Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 | 7 p.m.
Memorial Stadium | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com |
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM |
Audio/Video (PPV): Mustangs Digital Network
HONORING ROBERT GRAYS
- Midwestern State will honor teammate Robert Grays with helmet decals with No. 24. The coaches have embroidered patches with Grays' No. 24, as well.
- Fans are encouraged to honor Robert Grays on each kickoff by holding up two fingers on the left hand and four on the right during each kickoff.
- Each of MSU athletic teams will honor Grays in a visual way throughout the 2017-18 academic year.
- The men's and women's soccer teams each stopped play in the 24th minute of games last weekend with a minute long cheer.
- The MSU volleyball squad honors Grays by holding up two fingers on the left hand and four on the right on every Mustangs set point.
- Texas State sophomore linebacker Clifton Lewis, Jr. wore No. 24 in honor of Grays last Saturday against UTSA. Lewis and Grays were teammates at Hightower High in Missouri City.
- Grays suffered a severe neck injury with 3:24 to play in MSU's 31-13 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Sept. 16th and passed away on Sept. 19th.
HOOF MARKS
- Midwestern State heads into the last weekend of September playing its third game of the season. All other Lone Star Conference programs are playing a fifth contest. The Mustangs were originally scheduled to play a 10-game slate, but the Sept. 9th matchup at West Florida was cancelled due to the threat of Hurricane Irma.
- MSU is playing the third of what is now four consecutive games at Memorial Stadium to start the season. The Mustangs own a 66-15 mark (.815) on the home field since the start of the Bill Maskill era in 2002 and are 11-2 (.846) since start of 2015 season.
- MSU moved up one spot to No. 12 in this week's American Football Coaches' Association Division II Poll. The Mustangs are also ranked 12th D2Football.com rankings.
- MSU is down five spots to No. 25 in the Massey Rankings.
- Midwestern State was picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference heading into the 2017 season behind Texas A&M-Commerce. The Mustangs have finished second or better six of the last eight season including league titles in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
- Midwestern State is looking for its fourth consecutive 3-0 start. The perennial quick starting Mustangs have won as least their first three games in nine of the last 11 years including the only perfect regular season in program history going 10-0 in 2011.
- Bill Maskill is in his 18th season as a head coach and 16th 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, 2015 and 2016 seasons while amassing a 121-46 record (.725). 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 23 All-Americans, 51 all-region selections and 61 All-Lone Star Conference first teamers in his 15 seasons in Wichita Falls.
- Maskill's 121 wins account for 53.1 percent of MSU's all-time victories on the gridiron.
- Midwestern State is 53-9 (.855) in games played before Oct. 1 since the Maskill era began in 2002 as the Mustangs improved to a perfect 5-0 in August games with a 53-6 win over Quincy (Ill.) in the season opener.
- Midwestern State completed its 17th consecutive winning ledger with an 8-3 mark in 2016. In the State of Texas, the streak is matched only by defending NCAA Division III national champion Mary Hardin Baylor, which also clinched its 17th straight winning season in 2016.
- Midwestern State was won 13 more games than any other LSC member since the start of the 2000 season. That's an average of 7.8 wins per season for an overall mark of 135-54 (.714). The Mustangs are trailed by West Texas A&M (122-83, .595), Tarleton State (118-72, .621) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (99-88, .529).
- Midwestern State boasts two alumni in the NFL as Amini Silatolu (taken by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft) and Marqui Christian (taken in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft) both made opening day rosters. Silatolu is a reserve lineman making his return with the Panthers this season. He was a consensus All-America pick for the Mustangs in 2011. Christian serves as a reserve safety for the Los Angeles Rams. He was a first-team All American claiming the Cliff Harris Award as the nation's top small college defender in 2015.
- The Mustangs' tradition of O-Line Pride has produced six of the last seven Lone Star Conference Offensive Linemen of the Year including Amini Silatolu (2010, 2011), Ken Van Heule (2012), Shadow Stokes (2014), Alfredo Moreno (2015) and D2 Rimington Award winner Akoakoa Paleka-Kennedy in 2016.
AGAINST THE WNMU MUSTANGS
- Midwestern State and Western New Mexico meet for the fifth time on the gridiron Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
- The two Mustangs have split the previous four meetings with Western New Mexico taking wins in 1995 (54-24 at Silver City) and 1996 (36-22 in Wichita Falls), while MSU has claimed the last two contests by scores of 82-6 in 2001 (in Silver City) and 43-22 in 2016 (also in Silver City).
- Western New Mexico makes just its second trip to Wichita Falls and first since beating MSU 36-22 in 1996.
- Last season, Midwestern State poured on 22 points in the fourth quarter to break open 6-point game on the way to a 43-22 victory at Altamirano Field in Silver City. Vincent Johnson rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns (3, 4, 25) to lead the MSU offensive attack.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Midwestern State possesses the top offensive team attack in the Lone Star Conference producing 496 yards of total offense a game.
- MSU boasts the No. 1 rushing offense in NCAA Division II churning out 312.5 yards per game behind the one-two combo of juniors Adrian Seales and Vincent Johnson.
- Seales ranks fourth in NCAA Division II in rushing yards per game at 163 yards and leads the nation with 10.9 yards per carry. He is 17th in D2 with 172 all-purpose yards per game.
- Seales notched the fourth best individual rushing game in school history finishing the night with 243 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Seales' performance stands as the fifth-best rushing day this season in NCAA II.
- Former All-America quarterback Daniel Polk is the only player in program history to run for more yards in a game going for 290 against Abilene Christian in 2007, 259 versus Southeastern Oklahoma in 2006 and 244 at Eastern New Mexico in 2005. That means a runner wearing MSU's No. 5 jersey has accounted for the top four rushing efforts in program history as Polk also wore the number.
- The performance was Seales' fourth 100-yard effort of his career.
- Seales became the 20th rusher in school history to amass 1,000 career yards and needs 10 more to pass James Beebe (1,039 from 1988-89).
- Johnson ranks fourth in the LSC and 35th in NCAA D2 rushing for 99 yards a game, but continues to find the end zone at a record setting clip. He scored three touchdowns in the season opener against Quincy then had two more in a win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. That gives him 15 career games with multiple rushing TDs.
- Johnson moved into a tie for third with former All-America Brandon Kelsey on MSU's all-time rushing touchdowns list with 30. He trails Keidrick Jackson (61 TD/2010-13) and Daniel Polk (44 TD/2004-07). With 180 points, Johnson is tied for fifth on MSU's all-time scoring list with Ross Harrison (2003-06) and Kelsey.
- Johnson jumped one spot to 13th on MSU's all-time rushing list moving past Craig Pettigrew (1,531 yards/1991-93) and now has 1,531 career rushing yards. He needs 60 yards to pass Phillip Boggs (1,590 yards/1999-03) to go to 12th.
- Junior quarterback Layton Rabb completed 17-of-22 passes for a career-high 230 yards and two touchdowns against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Rabb ranks second in the LSC and 14th in NCAA Division II in completion percentage (68.6) and is second in the LSC and 40th nationally with a 157.8 pass efficiency rating.
- Sophomore Tyrique Edwards leads a balanced receiving corps with four receptions for 98 yards, while senior Brandon Sampson (48 yards) and sophomore Xavier Land (18 yards) also have eight catches. Senior D.J. Myers (45 yards) and senior tight end Dorian Johnson (12 yards) account for the Mustangs' receiving scores through the first two games.
- The Mustangs have been great in the Red Zone scoring on all nine of their excursions with eight touchdowns.
- Behind the starting offensive line of John Rowell (LT), Islam Sbeih (LG), A.J. Roland (C), Kevin Fisher (RG) and Caleb Brown (RT), MSU have permitted a national best 2.5 tackles for loss through two games this season.
- In the win over Quincy, the Mustangs churned out their fourth best team rushing performance rolling up 468 yards on the ground. It was their best effort since running for 476 yards versus McMurry in 2013.
- MSU's offensive outburst of 605 yards of total offense and 468 rushing yards were the tops in NCAA Division II during the opening week.
- The Mustangs amassed 600 yards of total offense for the 17th time in program history finishing with 605 in a season opening win over Quincy.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
- Midwestern State boasts the LSC's top scoring defense while ranking fifth in NCAA Division II allowing 9.5 points per game.
- The Mustangs rate fourth in the LSC in total defense allowing 333 yards per game including 149 rushing yards (5th in LSC/78th in D2) and 184 passing yards (3rd in LSC/47th in D2).
- MSU is the stingiest defense in NCAA Division II in the Red Zone allowing just two field goals in seven opponent opportunities inside the 20.
- The Mustangs rank second in the LSC in Team Pass Efficiency Defense (107.55) due in large part to the play of the secondary. Sophomore DaMarcus Wilson leads D2 with 2.5 pass defenses a game while sophomore Marcus Wilkerson is ninth nationally with 2.0 pass breakups a game including a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown in the season opener against Quincy.
- Up front, the Mustangs lead the LSC in quarterback sacks on four per game getting two each from junior Alec DiValerio, senior Semaj Robinson and senior Deandra Stevenson.
- From his defensive end position, DiValerio leads a group of six players with double-figure tackles through two games with 15 stops. The group includes Tristan Shearman (13), Josh Wydermyer (12), Zach McMahen (12), Jacob Sherrill (11) and Robert Grays (10).
- Robinson is sixth in NCAA D2 with 2.3 tackles for loss per game. He had 1.5 for loss against Quincy before notching three stops for loss with two sacks and quarterback hurry against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
- DiValerio has also been strong in the backfield with three stops for loss, two quarterback sacks and a forced fumble.
- Overall, the Mustangs' defense rates third in the LSC and 15th in D2 making nine stops for loss per game. Twelve difference players have been on a tackle for loss this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
- Midwestern State boasts the No. 2 kickoff return unit in the LSC at 24.25 yards per return led by returning All-American DeAndre Black. Black, who ranks third in the LSC and 17th in D2, averages 29.7 yards on three returns with a long of 39 yards.
- The Mustangs also rank third in the LSC and 27th nationally with a net punting average of 37.4 yards.
- Senior Mitchell Henton is averaging 40.0 yards on five punts with a long of 49. He has placed two inside the 20 and forced two fair catches.
- Henton took over place kicking duties for the first time since his prep days against Texas A&M-Kingsville. He was a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs, but didn't attempt a field goal.
