Date:	Saturday, September 15, 2012
Kickoff:	12:00 p.m.
Location:	Arlington, Texas
Stadium:	Cowboy Stadium
Promotion:	Lone Star Football Festival presented by Firestone
Series:	First Meeting
Radio:	KIXY 94.7 FM Jeremy Bryant (Play-by-Play) Randy Ward (Color)
Live Stats:	lonestarconference.org
Tickets:	(325)942-BLUE or email tickets@angelo.edu www.ticketmaster.com

FULL RELEASE

The Game
The Rams and the No. 18 Valdosta State will play for the first time at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 at Cowboy Stadium in the Lone Star Football Festival presented by Firestone. It will be the first time the Rams have played in the Lone Star Football Festival. The game is the fourth game of the three day event.

Valdosta State
The Blazers are ranked No. 18 by the American Football Coaches Association and are 1-1 on the season. Valdosta State is coached by David Dean, who has a 42-15 career record and took the Blazers to the 2007 national championship. After an opening season 28-24 loss to  Saginaw Valley, the Blazers defeated Fort Valley St. 62-14 for their first win.

Last Week
Chadron State forced four critical turnovers, two by cornerback Conor Casey, in defeating the Angelo State Rams 19-7 in a non-conference game at San Angelo Stadium. The Eagles forced a pair of turnovers inside their own 20-yard line, another on a special teams play to set up a critical third quarter touchdown and the final time to halt a Ram fourth quarter drive. It was the first loss of the season for Angelo State.

LSC Football Festival
The Angelo State Rams will play in the Lone Star Football Festival presented by Firestone at Cowboy Stadium on Sat., Sept.15. The Rams will face Gulf South Conference's Valdosta State at 12 p.m. for the first time in program history. The LSC Football Festival will host six games over three days and has all nine LSC schools involved at Cowboy Stadium starting on Thursday., Sept. 13.

Neutral Field
This will be the Rams first game away from San Angelo Stadium this season. It is also the first time playing at a neutral field since playing Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 11, 2010 at the Cotton Bowl.

Defense Ranked
The Ram defense is limiting opponents to 228.50 yards per game this season. The yardage has the Rams ranked No. 13 in total defense in NCAA Division II. The pass defense is even higher at No. 11 in Division II limiting teams to 122 yards per game. The total defense and passing defense has the Rams ranked No. 1 in the Lone Star Conference in both categories.

Too Many Turnovers
The Rams gave Chadron State four turnovers that prevented Angelo State from finding a rhythm on the offensive end. The three fumbles and one interception were the most in a game since ACU forced two fumbles and two interceptions on Oct. 10, 2009.

Top 10 Nationally
Sophomore Rush Seaver is making a name for himself. The Lampassas native has led the Rams the last two games with 24 total tackles and is currently tied for No. 6 in NCAA Division II at 13 tackles per game.

Anchoring the Line
The Ram offensive line has seen a plethora of new faces with Trent Davis, Anthony Landry,  Anthony Lewis, Steven Jackson and Rodney Smith, all seeing playing time for the first season at ASU. Isi and Watkin Cocker, brothers from Euless, are two that have helped shore the line up as well. The duo started their first game together against Chadron State.

Career Milestones
A few Rams are close to hitting some career milestones so far this season.
C.J. Akins - 89 receptions
Austin Benson - 98 tackles
Blake Hamlin - 2,019 passing yards - 15th on career list
Alvin Johnson - 171 tackles
Dakarai Pecikonis - 95 receptions for 1,721 yards
Rush Seaver - 87 tackles

Spreading the Wealth
A total of eight Ram players have caught a pass this season while five have carried the ball. Dakarai Pecikonis leads the team with 12 receptions and Jermie Calhoun has carried the ball 37 times.

Defensive Stand
The Rams defense held Western State to 175 total yards in its season opening 42-14 win. The 175 yards is the fewest yards allowed by an Angelo State defense since Sept. 19, 2009 when Central Oklahoma only mustered 172 total yards.

Rare Feats
Fans got to see something that the Rams haven't done in quite a while during the Western State game. The first quarter blocked punt by Jared Ross and the scoop and score by Courtney Moore were both something the Rams haven't accomplished in a while. The last time the Rams blocked a punt was against Texas A&M-Commerce in 2008. Ram fans haven't seen a blocked punt returned for a touchdown since prior to 1999.

Stopping the Run
In 13 games under defensive coordinator Mike Walton, the Ram defense has held opponents under 100-yards rushing six times. The 29 rushing yards that Western State tallied is the fourth lowest.  

A Welcome Return
Blake Hamblin and Dakarai Pecikonis had celebrated returns after being injured during 2011 against Western State. Hamblin threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns while Pecikonis hauled in his first touchdown since the Southeastern Oklahoma game in 2010.

Young Guns
A year after not playing a single true freshman, the Rams had five true freshman in the first game of the season. Clayton Callicutt, Riley Davis, Jared Kutz, Brandon Lee and Joseph Pickett all saw action. Pickett averaged 50.5 yards per punt while Kutz recorded a 58.0 yard per kick average on kickoffs. Davis was the Rams fourth leading tackler and Callicutt made four tackles. Lee had one tackle for loss during the game.

Around the LSC
Joseph Pickett currently leads the Lone Star Conference in punting with an average of 50.5 yards per game. Joey Knight is third in the conference in receiving yards with 111 per game and Dakarai Pecikonie sits fourth with six receptions per game. Blake Hamblin ranks second in passing yards per game, total offense and passing efficiency.

Building a Foundation
The 2012 Rams roster will take on a younger look with 73 players being underclassmen. A total of 56 have yet to receive any experience at the collegiate level. The infusion of youth should provide the foundation needed to build success at Angelo State.

Team Captains
Isi Cocker, Blake Hamblin, Alvin Johnson and Rush Seaver were named captains by their teammates.

Five States Represent the Rams
Five states throughout the United States makeup the Rams football roster. Arizona, Illinois and New Mexico each have one player with California being second most with five. Texas dominates the roster as 93 of the team's 101 players call the Lone Star State home.

Veteran D-Line
Austin Benson, Shiloh Hickman and Kyle Patterson combined to make 92 combined tackles and 7.5 sacks last season. All three should provide the Rams with a veteran defensive line that can stop the run and provide pressure on opposing quarterbacks.  

Head Coach
Angelo State: Will Wagner (Hardin-Simmons, '96) will begin his second season as head coach of the Rams. The Odessa native helped Northwest Missouri State win three national championships as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach.

Staff Additions
Head coach Will Wagner added three new coaches to his staff. Drew Dallas and Gary Salgado both were promoted from graduate assistant positions. Dallas is the recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach, while Salgado takesRA over the special teams unit and coach the defensive line. The other new member is offensive line coach Jay Eilers. Eilers played collegiately at Northwest Missouri State and has 13 years of experience in both the high school and college ranks.

The Hidden Yards
The Rams picked up hidden yards and points from special teams last season. Kicker Jarred Martin is one of the main reason for a positive outlook from the special teams unit. Martin is the returning high scorer after connecting on 11 field goals and 37 PAT's. Martin connected on a career long of 42 yards against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

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 D-II playoff appearances and produced 57 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 and 1989. He 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 Rams' tackle Rodney Cason.

Follow From Home
If you cannot attend the Angelo State football game, ASU has you covered. Jeremy Bryant will call the game with help from analyst Randy Ward on 94.7 KIXY-FM, which will also be streamed on AngeloSports.com. Live updates will be provided on Angelo State's Facebook page along with its Twitter account, @AngeloSports.

Austin Benson


C.J. Akins