MIDWESTERN STATE (1-1)
at UT PERMIAN BASIN (4-0)
Saturday, March 27 -- 1 p.m.
Grande Communications Stadium (Midland, Texas)
All-Time Series: Midwestern State leads 4-0
 
MIDLAND, Texas -- Midwestern State takes on unbeaten UT Permian Basin in its spring season finale Saturday afternoon at Grande Communications Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
The game is Bill Maskill's 200th in 19 seasons at the helm of the Mustangs.
 
FIVE STORY LINES
  
1 |  Midwestern State is playing an abbreviated spring football schedule after the Lone Star Conference unanimously voted postpone football operations in the fall. However, West Texas A&M and Angelo State switched course to play fall schedules, while Texas A&M-Commerce, Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico opted to bench football for the entire 2020-21 academic year. That leaves Texas A&M-Kingsville and UT Permian Basin as MSU's only Lone Star Conference opponents this spring. Since both MSU and UTPB own wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville, Saturday's game become the defacto -- if not, unofficial -- spring title game.
 
2 |  UT Permian Basin boasts its best start to this abbreviated schedule going 4-0 against teams which combined for a 6-38 mark (.136) in 2019. The Falcons outscored Southern Nazarene (2-9 in 2019), Lincoln (1-10), Western New Mexico (1-10) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (2-9) by an average margin of 33.8 to 10.5. The Falcons limited the opposition to 246 yards per game including 106.5 rushing and 139.5 passing. Offensively, UTPB grounds out 312.8 yards per game including 90.8 rushing and 222 through the air.
 
3 |  Midwestern State shook off a rugged start to stay within a possession of FCS Tarleton State for much of the final three quarters last week in Stephenville before falling 33-21. The Mustangs managed just 191 yards of total offense, but strung together a pair of long drives in each half. Junior Justin Jones culminated a nine-play, 74-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run to start the second quarter, then junior K'Vonte Jackson's 5-yard touchdown rush capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive to pull the Mustangs to within 27-21 with 1:34 to play. 
 
4 |  Junior wide receiver/returnman Kylan Harrison has been a great spark for Midwestern State this spring. Harrison's 92 yard kickoff return against Tarleton State matched third longest kick return in program history and it was the longest since Tremaine Forrest (Run, Forrest, Run!) also went 92 yards versus Northeastern State in 2003. Harrison grabbed five receptions for a career-high 130 yards with two touchdowns in the Mustangs' win over Texas A&M-Kingsville earlier this spring.
 
5 |  Sophomore Justin Guillory and redshirt-freshman Larry Donnell lead the Mustangs' defense with 12 tackles each, while sophomore Zed Asowata has authored 2 1/2 of the Mustangs' five sacks this spring. Senior Jovane Parkinson returned an interception for a touchdown against Texas A&M-Kingsville, while senior Malik Sonnier and Lance Hardman also had picks against the Javelinas. 
 
HEAD COACH BILL MASKILL is the dean of the Lone Star Conference football coaching fraternity and stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history boasting a 143-56 mark (.719) since taking over the reins of the Midwestern State program in 2002. During that time, Maskill coached the Mustangs to three Lone Star Conference titles (2011, 2012, 2017), eight playoff showings and one bowl appearance. Overall, Maskill sports a 156-64 career coaching record (.709) including a 13-8 run during two seasons at Southeast Missouri State in 1988 and 1989.
   
THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
  
Midwestern State and UT Permian Basin meet for the fifth time on the gridiron Saturday afternoon at Grande Communications in Midland. The Mustangs claimed victories in each of the previous four meetings winning 76-21 in 2016 (in Wichita Falls), 66-8 in 2017 (Grande Communications Stadium), 43-21 in 2018 (Ratliff Stadium) and 14-8 in 2019 (Wichita Falls).