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No. 18 Texas A&M Commerce Lions Football Team Heads West to Wrangle Western New Mexico Mustangs

No. 18 Texas A&M Commerce Lions Football Team Heads West to Wrangle Western New Mexico Mustangs
  • PublishedOctober 19, 2018


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The No. 18 Texas A&M University-Commerce football team takes the longest conference road trip of the year and will look to rebound from a tough loss, visiting Western New Mexico University this Saturday.

WHO:  Texas A&M University-Commerce at Western New Mexico University
WHERE: Silver City N.M. | Ben Altamirano Field
WHEN: Noon MDT (1 p.m. CDT) on Saturday, October 20
RECORDS: The Lions are 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs are 0-6 overall and 0-4 in the Lone Star Conference.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 18 in the AFCA Coaches’ Poll and No. 22 in the D2Football.com Media Poll. Western New Mexico is unranked.

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network — KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE VIDEO: http://lionathletics.com/live
LIVE STATS:  http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame

LIONS HEAD WEST TO WRANGLE MUSTANGS
• The Lions are aiming for a return to the win column after losing a home game to Tarleton and conceding the President’s Cup for the first time in six years.
• A&M-Commerce has four games remaining in the regular season and will push for a playoff spot.
• A win would clinch the Lions’ sixth consecutive winning season after 11 consecutive non-winning seasons.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE MUSTANGS
• This is the third game between the Lions and Western New Mexico.
• A&M-Commerce is 2-0 all-time vs. WNMU.
• A&M-Commerce took a 38-24 win over WNMU in Silver City in 2016.
• The Lions earned a 52-3 win at home in 2017.

MOVING UP THE RANKS
• Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 54 wins.
• He is now only nine wins behind Lion and LSC legend J.V. Sikes, who sits in fourth place with 63 wins.

1 Ernest Hawkins 1964-85 132-92-6
2 Eddie Vowell 1986-98 74-71-1
3 Bob Berry 1935-41, 46-50 72-34-8
4 J.V. Sikes 1954-63 63-34-4
5 Colby Carthel 2013-pres. 54-17
6 M.A. Smith 1951-53 30-2-1

SENIORS ON PACE TO SET SCHOOL RECORD
• The 2017 senior class established the school record for wins in a four-year period with the victory in the National Championship Game with 42 games won in a four year span.
• The 2018 seniors now rank second in school history at 38-9 with a guarantee of four more games in the season.

Years Record
2014-17 42-10
2015-18 38-9
1951-54 36-5-2
2013-16 35-14
1957-60 34-7
1972-75 32-13-1
1936-39 31-8
1990-93 31-16-1

MARTINEZ CONTINUES TO CLIMB SCORING CHARTS
• Kicker Kristov Martinez scored went 3-of-3 on PATs against Tarleton.
• The graduate student from Edinburg is now 8-for-11 on field goal attempts and 25-for-25 on PAT attempts in 2018,
• He is now 62-of-82 on field goal attempts in his career, which is tied for sixth in Division II history. The Division II career record is 82 made field goals. Second place is 68.
• Martinez has now tied West Texas A&M’s Sergio Castillo for the LSC  career record with 62 field goals.
• Martinez is the Division II active career leader in made field goals, and fourth in all NCAA divisions behind LSU’s Cole Tracy  (85), Wisconsin’s Rafael Gaglianone (65), and Toledo’s Jameson Vest (64).
• Martinez is on the preseason and September watch lists for the Mitchell Award.
• For his career, Martinez has made 201-of-208 PAT attempts and is the Division II active career leader. Oklahoma’s Austin Seibert is the all divisions active career leader with 261 made PATs. Martinez is fourth in all divisions behind Seibert, Ohio State’s Sean Nuernberger (216), and North Dakota State’s Cam Pederson (211).
• In terms of overall scoring, Martinez  (387 points) is chasing Castillo (437 points), and former Harlon Hill winner at Texas A&I Johnny Bailey (426 points) for the all-time LSC scoring record.
• Martinez is also one of three Division II kickers with 60 or more consecutive PATs made. Minnesota State’s Casey Bednarski failed on a PAT last week to fall off the list.

ACTIVE DII KICKERS – CONSECUTIVE PATS MADE

1. 98 Julio De la Garza Texas A&M-Kingsville
2. 80 Kristov Martinez  A&M-Commerce
3. 69 Jake Chapla Slippery Rock

Thanks to Slippery Rock’s Jon Holtz for this research.

HARRIS AWARD NOMINEE IS TOP TACKLER
• The Lions’ leading tackler in senior Brucks Saathoff is also one of the leaders in the Lone Star Conference.
• His nine tackles and block of a potential go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter earned Saathoff Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors against MSU Texas
• The San Antonio native is averaging 10.0 tackles per game through six contests, ranking 29th nationally and third in the LSC.
• In 2017, Saathoff was the Lion leader with 101 tackles, averaging 6.7 stops per game.
• For his career, Saathoff has 279 tackles, which is the leading mark for the Lions.

“BIG MIKE” BEHIND THE LINE
• Michael Onuoha (pronounced uh-no-ha) has been a menace in the backfield.
• The senior from Edmond, Okla., has 5.5 sacks for losses of 30 yards through seven games.
• His sack against CSU-Pueblo was also a forced fumble, recovered by Saathoff.
• He is 16th nationally in tackles for loss, with 1.7 tackles for losses per game.
• Prior to the season, Onuoha was named an honorable mention All-American and second team all-region pick by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. He was also a first team all-Lone Star Conference pick.
• “Big Mike” ranked seventh in the LSC with 12 tackles for loss and recorded 56 tackles in the 2017 season.

KINCADE TAKES IT TO THE HOUSE AGAIN
• Lion return man Reggie Kincade was named the Lone Star Conference co-Special Teams Player of the Week for a strong performance in the weekend’s action.
• Kincade– a senior from Everman-– had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter of Saturday’s loss against Tarleton.
• He totaled 208 return yards on five return opportunities, averaging over 41 yards per return.
• It is the second career kickoff return for a touchdown for Kincade, who also had a 99-yarder in the 2017 National Championship Game.
• It is the fifth 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in school history and the fourth in Division II this season.


TAKE THAT AND LIKE IT
• The Lion kicking game has been spectacular during the 2018 season.
• A&M-Commerce ranks second nationally in kickoff return defense, as Lion opponents average 11.8 yards per return.
• A&M-Commerce ranks 14th nationally in net punting. The Lions average 38.95 yards net per punt.
• Tristan Perry averages 42.3 yards per punt, which is second in the Lone Star Conference and ranks 24th nationally.

KANE PUNCHES HIS TICKET
• Lion quarterback Kane Wilson has taken advantage of short yardage opportunities in his first season in the blue and gold.
• The junior college transfer from New Orleans, La., has a team-high six rushing touchdowns, scoring one in every game except CSU-Pueblo.
• Wilson has a rushing touchdown in every conference game as well, and has a positive rushing number in every game, even with sacks included as negative rush yardage, as measured by the NCAA.

REGIONAL PICTURE TO CLEAR UP NEXT WEEK
• The regional rankings are scheduled to be released for the first time this season on the afternoon of Monday, October 22.

 

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