The Game
It might be a little cliche but go ahead and picture a thunderous cloud of dust as the ninth-ranked West Texas A&M Buffalos rumble into San Angelo Stadium for Saturday's Lone Star Conference South Division brawl with Angelo State at 6:05 p.m. Little imagination is needed when sizing up the Buffs (2-1) as the squad leads the country with 473 passing yards per game, 593 yards of total offense per game, and has scored a combined 118 points while trouncing a pair of LSC North Division foes over the last two contests. It's a tall task for the Rams, but this weekend is different than any other as LSC South Division play gets underway. Angelo State sports a sparkling 2-0 record and will match up with the first of four top-10 opponents in the next six games. The Ram defense found a way to shave 155 yards off the opponents' total from week one to week two and will need to maintain that progress against its fiercest competition of the season.

The Series
Angelo State holds a 14-8 lead in the all-time series that began in 1983, but West Texas A&M has taken four in a row and five of the last six meetings. The four consecutive wins is the third-longest streak in the series, behind spans of five (1999-2003) and seven (1987-97) wins by the Rams. The Buffs scored in every quarter en route to a 43-15 win over the Rams last season in Canyon. Angelo State's last win was a 58-53 shootout victory in 2005.

The Coaches
Angelo State: Dale Carr (Colorado State, '76) took over the ASU program in 2005 and has guided the Rams to a 25-31 overall mark, including a NCAA Division II postseason appearance in his first season. Carr was previously head coach at Tyler Junior College.

West Texas A&M: Don Carthel (Eastern New Mexico, '74) the winningest coach in WT football history, brings a record of 53-13 into his sixth season at the helm of the Buff program and has a 13-year collegiate career mark of 99-59-1.

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.

This Week's Opponent
West Texas A&M is located in Canyon, Texas, and has an enrollment of 7,550. Founded in 1910, the Buffs are members of the South Division of the Lone Star Conference and have captured a share of the division title in three of the last four years. The 2009 Buffs finished 7-5 overall and 6-3 in LSC play. West Texas A&M has six All-LSC returners, including LSC First-Team selections Bryan Braman, Tae Evans and Curtis Jefferson. WT quarterback Taylor Harris was an honorable mention selection in 2009, and leads the nation in yards per game this season. The Buffs enter Saturday's contest 2-1 after a a season-opening loss to perennial national power Grand Valley State, followed by lopsided wins over Southwestern Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma.

Ties with West Texas A&M
• Houston, Texas will have a lot to cheer for this weekend as nine Rams and six Buffs list Houston as their hometown.
• Angelo State's Sebastian Lafaele, a redshirt junior linebacker, and West Texas A&M's Hector Rodriguez, a junior offensive lineman, both attended Lee High School in San Antonio, Texas.
• Michael Connor, a redshirt sophomore running back for ASU, and Jordan Nichols, a freshman offensive lineman for West Texas, hail from Lubbock, Texas, and are Frenship High School alums.
• ASU's Lance Tissue, a redshirt junior linebacker, and Scott Fankhouse, a sophomore kicker, will be reunited on the field with former Big Spring High School teammate, Sidney Parker, a redshirt freshman wide receiver for the Buffs.
• West Texas A&M's sophomore defensive lineman Servell Dandridge and Angelo State's redshirt freshman offensive lineman Jeremey Henry both played high school football at DeSoto High School in Duncanville, Texas.
• Angelo State's Elliot Howell (senior offensive lineman) and West Texas A&M's Josh Simpson (redshirt freshman wide receiver) and Justin Williams (junior defensive lineman) all hail from Lancaster, Texas.
• Just a year ago ASU's Colby Houston, a freshman offensive lineman, and Paul Ives, also a freshman offensive lineman for the Rams, were playing on the same side as West Texas A&M's Taylor McCuller, a redshirt freshman inside linebacker, at Red Oak High School in Red Oak, Texas. Now, the pair will face McCuller on the grid iron for the first time Saturday.
• Doug Frankiln, an Angelo State redshirt freshman defensive lineman, and Jonathan Hatton, a junior defensive lineman from West Texas A&M, are used to playing opposite each other. Franklin played football at Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, while Hatton attended John Tyler High School, also in Tyler, Texas.

Two Grand
Angelo State wide receivers 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.

The First 15
The 2010 Rams are proving it's not how you start, but how you finish. In each of the first two games, Angelo State has been outscored in the first quarter, 10-6, but boast a sparkling 2-0 record. Part of the success is the second 15 minutes of the game, during which the Rams have outscored their opponents 29-7, nearly 41 percent of the team's total point output.

Taking it Away
ASU wideouts Dekarai Pecikonis and V'Keon Lacey are racking up the catches for the offense, but their counterparts in the Ram defensive secondary are also getting their hands on the ball. Angelo State's defense notched three interceptions in Saturday's win over A&M-Commerce to add to three picks against Eastern New Mexico in the season-opener. Senior DB Markeith Jones leads the Rams with two interceptions. Junior defensive back Terrance Preston returned his first career interception for a touchdown against A&M-Commerce.

Nice, Even Numbers
Several Angelo State players are approaching statistical milestones:
• Quarterback Josh Neiswander (5,839) needs 161 yards to reach 6,000 in his career.
• Return specialist and wide receiver Garrett Tidwell (2,418) needs 82 yards to reach 2,500 all-purpose yards in his career.
• Defensive back Markeith Jones (89) and defensive lineman Cody Smith (92) are closing in on 100 tackles for their careers.

SHAM-wow!
Angelo State punter George Shamblen produced some booming, As-Seen-On-TV punts in Angelo State's 31-10 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, including a career-best 66 yarder in the second quarter. He booted a 50-yard punt later in the quarter and averaged 44.7 yards on six attempts. Shamblen's effort helped Angelo State climb to No. 4 in the country in net punting. He also knocked through a field goal against the Lions.

Neiswander, Like No ASU QB Before?
Angelo State senior quarterback Josh 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). After tossing the ball for a combined 610 yards in the first two games of 2010, Neiswander has 5,839 career passing yards, the third-highest total ever by an ASU signal caller. The Winnsboro, Texas, native needs 167 yards to catch Erik Hartman (1994-97) for second all-time at 6,006. The top spot is held by Ned Cox (1983-86), who passed for 7,833 yards in his career - a number within reach (1,994 more to tie) if Neiswander has a similar season to 2009.

Getting Yards in Bunches
It takes more than a couple good games to move into third all-time on a school's passing charts and Josh 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 five of the top 20 single-game passing efforts in ASU history.

Josh's Handful
Angelo State quarterback Josh 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.

Distribution Channels
Angelo State quarterback Josh Neiswander is nearing the completion of his MBA and it looks like his classes on the distribution process are paying off. Neiswander hit nine different receivers in the win over Eastern New Mexico, including touchdown passes to five different players. Neiswander continued to spread the ball around by connecting with eight different receivers in the game against Texas A&M-Commerce, including touchdowns to three different players.

300-100-100
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). 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.

Carter's Carries
It took just one play for Tristan Carter to show he's serious about improving Angelo State's rushing attack. The junior college transfer and Tucker, Ga., native rumbled for 39 yards the first time he touched the ball in a Ram uniform and finished Angelo State's 41-38 win over Eastern New Mexico with 118 yards on 21 carries. With the effort, Carter became the first Ram player to surpass the century mark since Daniel Thomas rushed for more than 100 yards against Tarleton State, Oct. 30, 2008. Carter used his first and only catch of the game to punch the game winning touchdown across the goal line with less than a minute to play.

Bayless is Back
Wide outs V'Keon Lacey and Dekarai Pecikones were on the receiving end of a significant portion of Angelo State's passing attempts last season and didn't mind the action, but quarterback Josh Neiswander will have another reliable target this fall with the return of 6-foot-5 tight end Nate Bayless. The redshirt junior missed the 2009 season while battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but Bayless has looked like his old self with a touchdown in every game this season. A native of Burkburnett, Texas, Bayless played in eight games and caught 10 passes during the 2008 season and two of those catches were for scores.

Pecikonis Faster Than a Greyhound?
Sophomore wide out Dakarai Pecikonis averaged more than 20 yards per catch while hauling in seven passes for 161 yards and a touchdown against Eastern New Mexico. The reigning LSC South Division Freshman of the Year made two one-handed, diving catches while stretching the field for the Rams and hauled in a team-long 41-yard strike from Josh Neiswander. The seven catches and 161 yards were both career highs. His yardage total was the 15th-best single game effort in Angelo State history.

Fixture in the Box Score
V'Keon Lacey picked up where he left off last season against Eastern New Mexico when the senior wide receiver tied for the team lead with seven catches and added a touchdown grab. He paced ASU with four catches against Texas A&M-Commerce in week two. Lacey led the Rams and Lone Star Conference with 74 catches in his first season at ASU in 2009.

Making his Mark
Markeith Jones intercepted Eastern New Mexico quarterback Wesley Wood's desperation toss on fourth down and ran out the clock during his return to seal Angelo State's 41-38 season-opening win. Jones notched one of ASU's three interceptions in the contest and added three tackles. It marks the second straight year for Jones to intercept a pass in the Rams' opening game after notching an interception against Texas-A&M-Commerce to open the 2009 campaign. Jones led Angelo State with four interceptions last year and is the team leader after two contests with two takeaways.

If the Shoe Fits...
Instead of gaining yards, Austin Benson is looking to take them away. The Del Rio High School product rushed for 156 yards and five touchdowns for the Rams last season helping them to a 6-5 overall mark, but recently made the switch to linebacker and has looked pretty comfortable in his new role. Benson leads the team with 12 tackles and notched his first career interception against Eastern New Mexico.

Turning the Corners
ASU defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Matt Fryar added a little instant credibility with the addition of Kevin Thomas to his unit's staff as defensive backs coach. 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 Brett Favre. A knee injury ended Thomas' playing career.