The Game
Angelo State and Incarnate Word will meet on the football field for the first time ever Saturday, as the Rams host the Cardinals for Homecoming at San Angelo Stadium. Both teams are coming off losses and each are looking for their first win in the Lone Star Conference South Division. The Rams have dropped four in a row - including three losses to teams ranked in the nation's top 15 - after opening the season with wins in each of the first two games. Incarnate Word has an overtime win against Central Oklahoma and a win against East Central to its credit, but were thumped by then-No. 5 Abilene Christian, 54-17, last weekend.
The Series
Saturday's contest marks the first meeting between the two programs. Incarnate Word is fielding a football team for just the second season and are first-year members of the Lone Star Conference.
The Coaches
Angelo State: Dale Carr (Colorado State, '76) took over the ASU program in 2005 and has guided the Rams to a 25-35 overall mark, including a NCAA Division II postseason appearance in his first season. Carr was previously head coach at Tyler Junior College.
Incarnate Word: Mike Santiago (Southern Utah) is in his second year as head coach of the Cardinals after previously serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah State. Santiago is 46-37 overall in his eighth season as a head coach. He led the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to six winning seasons, including the 1999 Southland Conference Championship.
The Program
Angelo State won the NAIA National Championship in 1978 and has won three Lone Star Conference Championships (1978, 1984, 1987). The Rams have seen five NCAA DII playoff appearances and produced 55 All-Americans. Angelo State has sent 11 student-athletes on to successful NFL careers, including Pierce Holt, who earned two Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers in 1988-89, was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and was inducted into the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame in 2000. Legendary Baylor head coach Grant Teaff coached at ASU, and has been inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame with Holt and former Ram tackle Rodney Cason.
Player to Watch // Keefer Preece >>
Preece, a redshirt junior from Hamilton, Texas, has started four consecutive games for Angelo State at right tackle and is part of a unit that has allowed just four sacks this season. The Rams are allowing 0.67 sacks per contest, the fifth-best mark in the country. Angelo State quarterback Josh Neiswander should have time to throw Saturday as he looks ot become ASU's all-time completions leader. The challenge for Preece and the rest of the offensive line will be creating space in the running game.
This Week's Opponent
The University of Incarnate Word is located in San Antonio, Texas, and has an enrollment of 7,100. The Cardinals are in their first year of full membership in the Lone Star Conference and compete as members of the LSC South Division.
Ties with Incarnate Word
• Cornelius Rosenbaum (ASU) and Herman Torres (UIW) are from the state of New Jersey. Rosenbaum lists Somerset in the Garden State as his hometown and Torres hails from Secaucas. Torres, however, graduated from Marshall High in San Antonio.
• Rosenbaum also played at Trinity Valley Community College, the same school that Manny Tijerina (UIW) played at.
• Quinton Crow (ASU) and Thomas Rebold (UIW) are from Austin and Lake Travis High School.
• Nick Alejandro (ASU) and James Perez (UIW) are from Fredericksburg and played at Fredericksburg High School.
• Fifteen players total - 10 from ASU and five from UIW - are from the Houston area. Austin Sumrall (ASU), Al Furlow and Rashaad Patterson (UIW) are from Katy.
• UIW has 25 players from San Antonio while ASU has six. Here's the breakdown of players who played in the same HS
- Connor Cook (ASU) and Andrew Richter (UIW) played at Alamo Heights High Schoo.
- Cory Smith (ASU) and Donald Giles (UIW) played at Clark High School.
- Sebastian Lafaele (ASU) and Kenneth Pryor (UIW) played at Lee High School.
- Greg Lewis (ASU), Marcus McKenzie (UIW), and Saul Menza (UIW) are from O'Connor High School.
- Derek Kowalik (ASU), Dominic Hamilton (UIW), Trent Rios (UIW), Aaron Hernandez (UIW), and Dakota Mawyer (UIW) played at Smithson Valley High School.
Steven Jackson (ASU) and Troy Smith (UIW) are from The Colony and The Colony HS
Cisco JC
• Cisco College will be well represented Saturday. ASU's Terrance Preston, V'Keon Lacey, and Travis McCloud were all Wranglers along with Incarnate Word's Aaron Hernandez.
• Angelo State's Husani Sallah and Derek McDonough are Blinn Junior College products, as well as UIW's Hakim Blackwell.
One for All?
Josh Neiswander didn't complete a pass to everyone on his team Saturday, but he did come pretty close by hitting 11 different targets. Of the wide receivers and running backs who played on offense against MSU, only Samir Baker (RB) and Avery Rigg (FB) didn't catch passes.
The Not-So-New-Guy
Excelle Osborne caught two passes for nine yards in his first action of the 2010 season Saturday. The sophomore from Houston gives ASU another option at wide receiver in the second half of the season. Osborne caught 13 passes for 200 yards and a score as a freshman in 2009. A combination of early season injury and a response to reconsideration of his initial eligibility certification has limited his time on the field.
Kicking Woes Continue
Angelo State missed its two more field goal tries against Midwestern State and have missed the team's last four attempts. Three different place kickers have combined to go 2-for-8 on the season.
Is This What Hamburger Feels Like?
The Rams have lost four-consecutive games, all in the Lone Star Conference South Division. Three of the four have been to opponents ranked among the nation's top-15 teams. ASU will host Incarnate Word for Homecoming Saturday at San Angelo Stadium and then will face arguably its toughest opponent yet when the Rams travel to Abilene Christian Oct. 30.
Big Fellas Doing Their Part
Angelo State's offensive line has surrendered just four sacks this season and are fifth in the nation with 0.67 sacks allowed per game. The Rams are second in the conference behind national leader Central Oklahoma (.29 sacks per game). The trenches unit has also helped Angelo State increase its rushing performance from a year ago with a little more than 130 rushing yards per contest.
Interception Streak Intact
Terrance Preston picked of a Zach Eskridge pass in Saturday's loss to No. 15 Midwestern State to keep ASU's streak of games with an interception alive. The Rams have picked off a pass in every game this season and have 13 total interceptions. That number ties the mark held by the Rams during all of last season. Alvin Johnson leads the defense with four interceptions. ASU picked off three passes in each of the first three contests.
Coming Home Winners?
Angelo State is looking to buck a recent string of losses on homecoming. The Rams have dropped the last four homecoming contests, including last season's 38-14 loss to Abilene Christian. The last time ASU won a homecoming game was Oct. 15, 2005, against Northeastern State.
Not Bad for a First Timer
CJ Akins made the most of his first career start with six catches for 146 yards, both career highs. Akins also pulled in the longest catch of his career, a quick grab behind a defender he took 67 yards down the field. Akins also carried the ball once for 12 yards. His receiving yardage was the second-most by an Angelo State receiver this season.
Carter Provides Boost to Running Game
Tristan Carter rumbled for a 33-yard gain with his first career carry and signaled that Angelo State's rushing attack would be improved this season. Through six games Carter has 92 carries for 448 yards, a 4.9 yard average, and five rushing touchdowns. Carter is averaging 74.7 yards per game and needs 77 yards to surpass Dwight Pete, the Ram's 2009 rushing leader with 524. The Rams are averaging 130.3 rushing yards per game.
Greatest Show on Turf?
The Rams are scoring 29.2 points per game, the most for an Angelo State team since the 2005 team averaged 31.5 per contest. The Rams have scored 30 or more in three different games this season, with their lowest point total at 21 in each of the team's losses to No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville and No. 15 Midwestern State the past two weeks.
Return Specialists
Angelo State special teams have shined this season with the Rams leading the Lone Star Conference in average punt return yardage (18.4) and are second in average kickoff return yardage (24.8). The punt return average is tied for sixth best in the country and the kick return yardage is the 12th best in the nation. Dekarai Pecikonis returned the Rams' first kickoff for a touchdown of the season against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Garrett Tidwell returned a punt for a touchdown against Tarleton State.
SHAM-wow!
Angelo State punter George Shamblen produced some booming, As-Seen-On-TV punts this season, including a career-best 66 yarder against Texas A&M-Commerce. Thanks to Shamblen, the Rams have been successful at giving opponents unfavorable field position and the team is second in the nation in net punting at 40.6 yards per punt. ASU's punt coverage has been great in recent history as the Rams have not allowed a punt return for a touchdown since 2004.
Neiswander Notes
• Josh Neiswander threw for 333 yards and two scores in the Rams' loss to then-No. 15 Midwestern State Saturday, the fourth-best effort of the senior's career. Neiswander completed 26-of-45 passes against the Mustangs and needs 26 more to tie Ned Cox for Angelo State's career completions mark (589).
• Neiswander surpassed 6,000 yards for his career with a 234-yard effort against Tarleton State. The Winnsboro, Texas, native is second on ASU's career passing list with 6,754 yards. Neiswander took a Sharpie to the Rams' single season record book last season, setting new highs for pass completions (242), pass attempts (388), passing yards (2,933), touchdowns (25) and completion percentage (62.4). He passed Erik Hartman (1994-97) for second all-time in yardage and has his eyes on the top spot held by Ned Cox (1983-86), who passed for 7,843 yards in his career
| Player |
Career Passing Yards |
| 1. Ned Cox (1983-86) |
7,833 |
| 2. Josh Neiswander (2006-present) |
6,754 |
| 3. Erik Hartman (1994-97) |
6,006 |
| 4. Mickey Russell (1986-89) |
5,081 |
| 5. Trey Weishuhn (2003-06) |
4,974 |
• It takes more than a couple good games to move into third all-time on a school's passing charts and Neiswander has had certainly had his share. Neiswander posted the third-highest single-game passing effort in school history at Eastern New Mexico (Oct. 3) last season, completing 29-of-47 attempts for 403 yards. Neiswander posted another top-10 performance with the second-best performance of his career (349) against the Greyhounds to open the 2010 season (Sept. 9). In all, Neiswander has six of the top 20 single-game passing efforts in ASU history.
| Yards |
Year |
Passer vs. Opponent |
| 475 |
1986 |
Ned Cox vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| 425 |
1989 |
Mickey Russell vs. Eastern New Mexico |
| 403 |
2009 |
Josh Neiswander vs. Eastern New Mexico |
| 396 |
2005 |
Trey Weishuhn vs. West Texas A&M |
| 383 |
1996 |
Erik Hartman vs. Tarleton State |
| 359 |
1989 |
Mickey Russell vs. Lamar |
| 354 |
1985 |
Ned Cox vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| 349 |
2010 |
Josh Neiswander vs. Eastern New Mexico |
| 341 |
2009 |
Josh Neiswander vs. Southeastern Okla |
| 338 |
2004 |
Trey Weishuhn vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| 335 |
1992 |
Wilbur Odom vs. Central Oklahoma |
| 335 |
1997 |
Erik Hartman vs. Northeastern State |
| 333 |
2010 |
Josh Neiswander vs. Midwestern State |
• Neiswander threw five touchdown passes with no interceptions in the Rams' 41-38, season-opening win over Eastern New Mexico. It was the second time in Neiswander's career that he's thrown for five or more touchdowns. The senior signal caller notched a career-best six touchdowns against Southwestern Oklahoma in the third game of the 2009 season (Sept. 12). Neiswander's 349 yards through the air against Eastern New Mexico were also the second-most he's ever thrown for and he was one shy of tying his career high in completions with 28.
Oldies But Goodies
These notes may be day-old, but they're still delicious:
• With four consecutive losses, Angelo State has surpassed its longest losing streak from 2009, and the villains are mostly the same. The 2009 Rams started 6-2 only to see losses to West Texas A&M, Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Kingsville dash the team's playoff hopes. This year's schedule featured the same order and results, only earlier in the season and with two different teams in the national rankings.
• Angelo State had moderate success running the football against the nation's top rush defense with 61 yards in the first half against No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville. The first half total was more than any other team had accumulated against the Javelinas in an entire game. Angelo State was limited to 15 yards on seven carries in the second half and finished with 76 yards on the ground. Tristan Carter rushed for a team-high 46 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
• Defensive tackle Devin McDonald registered a game-high 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, and was part of a Rams defensive effort that sacked Texas A&M-Kingsville quarterback Nate Poppell four times. Trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, McDonald helped the Rams send a message that they weren't intimidated by the No. 10 team in the country with an assisted tackle for loss and a sack on a three play drive that went for negative eight yards. McDonald helped stall another drive in the fourth quarter by batting down a pass from Daniel Ramirez on third-and-four.
• Dekarai Pecikonis logged a career-best 257 all-purpose yards against No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville (Oct. 9). He caught six passes for 104 yards, carried the ball twice for eight yards, and returned four kickoffs for 145 yards, including a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The all-purpose yardage was the most by a Ram since Kyle Fox rumbled for 265 all-purpose yards in the 2005 playoffs against Northwest Missouri State.
• Garrett Tidwell has provided some exciting plays this season. With ASU trailing Tarleton State, 10-0, late in the first quarter Tidwell returned a kickoff 80 yards to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Dekarai Pecikonis. Later in the first half, Tidwell dove over the pile on an extra-point try to give the Rams two points. The all-purpose player wasn't done scoring as he connected with Pecikonis on a 17-yard wide receiver reverse pass to give the Rams a 14 point lead late in the third. A week earlier, Angelo State was looking for a spark in the second half against No. 9 West Texas A&M and the Boyd, Texas native returned the opening kickoff of the second half 41 yards, then later in the third quarter scored on a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown off a reverse from Dekarai Pecikonis.
• Tristan Carter ran for a career-best 129 yards and Angelo State rushed for 201 yards as a team in Angelo State's loss to No. 9 West Texas A&M. It marked the first time since Oct. 4, 2008, that the Rams rushed for over 200 yards. In that contest nearly two years ago, Angelo State carried the ball 51 times for 285 yards against Eastern New Mexico. ASU went the entire 2009 campaign without a 200-yard rushing effort.
• V'Keon Lacey and Dekarai Pecikonis both went over 1,000 career receiving yards in the Rams' win over Texas A&M-Commerce in the Harvey Martin Classic. The catches to put the pair over a grand were also memorable, as Pecikonis scored on an 83-yard strike and Lacey on a 33-yard pass from ASU QB Josh Neiswander.
• Dekarai Pecikonis has earned two Lone Star Conference Player of the Week awards this season. Pecikonis only got his hands on the ball three times on offense during the Rams' 31-10 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in the Harvey Martin Classic, but he turned those three catches into 111 yards and a critical score. For his efforts, he was tabbed the LSC South Division Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 13). He was named the LSC South Special Teams Player of the Week after returning a kickoff 97 yards for a score in Angelo State's 28-21 loss to No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville (Oct. 11).
• A trio of Rams combined to wrack-up a good portion of the team's yards in the Rams' 41-38 win over Eastern New Mexico (9/4) during the first week of the season. Quarterback Josh Neiswander threw for 349 yards, Dekarai Pecikonis had 161 yards receiving, and Tristan Carter rushed for 118 yards. The last time Angelo State had a player with more than 300 yards passing, a player with more than 100 yards, and another player with more than 100 yards rushing in the same game was nearly five years ago. On Oct. 22, 2005, Trey Weishun threw for 396 yards and six touchdowns, Justin Carter had five catches for 106 yards and three scores, and Kyle Fox went off for 281 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
• Austin Benson has a new role this season and is making the transition look easy. The Del Rio High School product rushed for 156 yards and five touchdowns for the Rams last season, but moved to the other side of the ball as a linebacker and is second on the team with 36 tackles. Benson notched his first career interception against Eastern New Mexico.
• Nate Bayless, a redshirt junior tight end, missed the 2009 season while battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but he's back to 100 percent and contributing as a starter for the Rams. Bayless has 14 catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He caught a career-best four passes in last weekend's game against Midwestern State, a homecoming of sorts for the Burkburnett native.
• Angelo State's corner backs have benefitted from a man that once intercepted Brett Favre, defensive backs graduate assistant coach Kevin Thomas. Thomas, a former standout at UNLV, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft and played three seasons for the Buffalo Bills. Thomas tallied 83 tackles, 10 pass break-ups, a forced fumble in 38 career NFL games, and notched his only regular-season career interception against Favre. A knee injury ended Thomas' playing career.
