The Angelo State football team (3-6, 3-4 LSC, 1-3 LSC South) kept the game close for the majority of the night but the No. 11 ranked Buffaloes were too much as West Texas A&M downed the Rams, 27-0, Saturday night at San Angelo Stadium.
Angelo State mustered just 115 yards of offense, 15 rushing and 100 passing, as the Rams averaged 2.1 yards per play on the night. ASU reached the Buff red zone on just one occasion when the Rams had a 37-yard field goal blocked on their first possession of the game after causing the first of four WTAMU turnovers.
The Rams' night started promising as senior Tarric Jones picked off WT quarterback Keith Null at the Buff 23-yard line on the first play of the game. However, ASU would get just three yards on its first three plays to set up a field goal attempt. The try was blocked by WT's Eldon Grimslid and the Rams never recovered.
ASU tallied just 49 yards of offense in the first half as the Buffs took a 14-0 lead into the locker room. WT got on the board with 10:58 left in the first quarter on a 29-yard pass from Null to Seth Hayden. The Buffs added a second first-half score with 1:16 left before the break on a 24-yard connection from Null to Charly Martin.
The Buffs added a 32-yard Null touchdown toss to Martin with 2:02 left in the third frame and then backup quarterback Taylor Harris found Jay Tillman from nine yards out for WT's final score of the game.
True freshman Michael Cochran made his first collegiate start and ended the night with 100 yards on 12-of-27 passing with one interception. Senior tailback Daniel Thomas rushed for a season-low 25 yards on 10 carries. Senior Sam Tindol led the Rams in receiving with four grabs for 30 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker Jordan Cortez had a game-high nine tackles for the Rams with 1.5 sacks (12 yards) with a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Junior linebacker D'Angelo Waites had eight tackles and junior linebacker Edward Cantrell added seven tackles. Jones, senior Michael McLeod and freshman Jared Reynolds each picked up an interception for the Rams.
The Rams were handed their second straight home shutout, falling 35-0 to Southeastern Oklahoma last weekend for Homecoming, the first such occurrence for ASU since the 1968 season.
For WTAMU (8-1, 6-1 LSC, 4-1 LSC South), Null ended the contest with 326 yards on 23-of-38 passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Harris went 6-for-7 for 57 yards in relief. Martin ended the night with eight catches for 147 yards, both game highs, and became the Lone Star Conference's career leader in receiving yards with 3,442 in his four years with WT. Hayden ended the night with seven grabs for 84 yards and Kelvin Thompson led the Buffs on the ground with 53 yards on 12 carries.
The Rams will make their final road trip of the season next Thursday as they visit Tarleton State in Stephenville. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Stadium and will be televised nationally on the CBS College Sports Network.
