The Game
The No. 16 Angelo State football team will head to Commerce to take on LSC rival No. 12 Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. The game will be the NCAA Division II Football Game of the Week distributed on ESPN3. The game will be carried locally on KWFR 101.9FM The Fire with Jeremy Bryant (play-by-play) and Daniel Ramirez (color analyst) on the call.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce
The Lions are 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in the LSC. Texas A&M-Commerce is coming off a 63-0 win over Tarleton State. The only loss has come to No. 17 Delta State. ASU alum Colby Carthel has a 20-9 overall record at TAMUC and is 1-2 against his alma mater.
 
The Series
The Rams lead the all-time series 28-15-2 and are 11-9-1 in Commerce. The Rams have won six of last seven meetings. The last four games have been decided by a combined nine points (1, 5, 1, 2). Last season the two teams split the season series. TAMUC won the first game in San Angelo 41-40. ASU won the LSC Playoff Championship with a 35-33 win in Commerce. The Rams have won the last three games in Commerce.   
 
Rankings
The Rams dropped to No. 16 in the American Football Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the D2Football.com poll. Midwestern State has moved up to No. 12 while Texas A&M-Commerce is No. 15 in the AFCA poll. The Lions are No. 12 in the most recent D2Football.com poll. 
 
ESPN3
The Rams and Lions game will be featured at the NCAA Division II Football Game of the Week on ESPN3. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. 
 
On Pace
Donovan Thompson has been the Rams leading receiver this season and caught six balls for 103 yards this past Saturday. He now has 556 receiving yards and is No. 7 in NCAA Division II. The sophomore has caught 7.8 passes per game (No. 10 nationally) and has 39 on the season. He is No. 9 nationally catching 110.0 yards per game. He is currently on pace to break the ASU record for receptions in a season which is 74 held by V'Keon Lacey. He is also on pace to break ASU's receiving yards record in a season which is 1,091.
  
No. 1 Total Offense
The Rams have the No. 1 nationally ranked offense for the second week in a row. ASU is averaging 563.8 yards per game this season with two games over 600 yards and two over 500 yards. The high of the season was 666 yards against Western State Colorado and the lowest was this past weekend being held to 482 yards.

Total Defense
The defense continues to improve under defensive coordinator Jeff Girsch. The Rams are limiting teams to 19.4 points per game and just 336.4 yards per game which are both No. 1 in the LSC.  ASU only allows 128.0 yards on the ground and 208.4 through the air. The defense leads the LSC in sacks (15) and holds teams to just 18.8 first downs a game. The defense has only allowed six offensive touchdowns and eight field goals on the season. The last time a Ram defense held opponents to under 20 points a game for the season was in 2001.
 
Defensive Touchdowns
Jonathan Shannon has a thing for interceptions and returning them for touchdowns. The junior intercepted his second pass of the season on the first play of the second half and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. It is the second time this season he has returned an interception for a touchdown. Of the five passes Shannon has intercepted in his career while at Angelo State, three have gone for touchdowns. The Rams defense is No. 4 nationally in defensive touchdowns with three on the season. ASU has forced nine turnovers on the season (five interceptions, four fumbles).
 
Tough on 3rd Down
The defense has held opponents in check on third down. Opponents are only converting 27.7-percent (23-of-83) on third down and have forced 35 punts on the season. The defense has only allowed an opponent's offense into the red zone 10 times this season surrendering only two touchdowns.
 
Moving the Chains
ASU has recorded 141 total first downs through the first five game of the season. The Rams average 28.2 first downs a game. The breakdown includes 51 on the ground, 74 passing and 16 first downs have come by way of penalty.
 
Young Contributions
Grant Aschenbeck was one of the Rams leading tacklers on Saturday against Midwestern State with 10 total tackles. The redshirt freshman earned his fifth straight start of the season and set a career high for tackles. He is currently second on the team with 36 total tackles with 17 solo. He has also added 2.0 tackle for loss and a sack.
 
Top D-Linemen
Clayton Callicutt is just one of the top defensive lineman that ASU ha on its team. He has 12.0 tackles for loss (2.40 per game) and 6.5 sacks (1.30 per game) which are No. 9 and No. 7, respectively in the nation and lead the conference but he has help. Raymond Coen leads the LSC in fumbles recovered with two (.40 per game) and Jeremy Johnson has two forced fumbles  (.40) per game and both are tops in the league. Johnson is also No. 3 in the LSC with 6.0 (1.30) tackles for loss per game and Coen is No. 7 in the same category with 5.0 (1.00 per game). The Rams are No. 14 in team tackles for loss nationally with 9.0 per game and has 3.0 sacks per game which is No. 26 nationally.

Record Breaker
Kyle Washington continues to put up big numbers with his third game of the season (351) with over 300 yard passing against Midwestern State. The senior accounted for 500 yards of total offense (376 passing and 124 rushing) against WT which broke his previous record of 474 yards. It is the fifth highest single game total in the NCAA Division II this season. The quarterback set a career long with an 80 yard rush in the second quarter against West Texas A&M. The senior has set nine career highs this season. He owns the ASU career passing touchdowns and total offensive yards. Washington is still on the verge of breaking a few more ASU career records as well.
 

Current Record		Washington's Stats
1,205	Passing Attempts	1008
685	Completions	632
61	Passing TDs	66 (NEW RECORD)
3,743	Rushing Yards	2,401
8,212	Passing Yards	7,453
8.084	Total Offense	9,854 (NEW RECORD)

 
Washington National Ranks

Competion Percentage	No. 27/ No. 3 LSC	63.3
Completions per Gam	No. 7 / No. 1 LSC	26.2
Passing Yards	No. 7 / No. 1 LSC	1,646
Passing Yards per Game	No. 8 / No. 1 LSC	329.2
Points Responsible	No. 13 / No. 1 LSC	96
Points Responsible per Game	No. 14 / No. 1 LSC	19.2
Rushing TD's	No. 17 / No. 2 LSC	7
Total Offense	No. 5  / No. 1 LSC	391.4

Chasing 31
Clayton Callicutt has 26.5 sacks for his career. He is now tied with Greg Collins for second all-time. Collins recorded 26.5 sacks from 1990-93. The senior is chasing Dane Krager's mark of 31 set from 1998-2001. Krager owns the ASU single season record with 15 sacks in 1999. Callicutt set a career high with 8.0 sacks last season and has 6.5 sacks this season.
 
Stout Run Defense
The Rams held an opponent to less than 100 yards in three of their last five games. West Texas A&M, which entered averaging 201.7 yards per game, was limited to just 91 rushing yards. WT's Geremy Aldridge-Mitchell had gained 238 yards one week prior but despite a 72 yard rush, was held to 99 yards rushing and zero touchdowns. ASU also held Western State Colorado (47 yards) and Bacone (80 yards) to under 100 yards.  It is the fifth time under defensive coordinator Jeff Girsch that ASU has held a team under 100 yards rushing. The Rams haven't held three teams under 100 yards in a single season since 2013.
 
Scoring on the Ground
The Rams scored all five touchdowns against West Texas A&M on the ground. ASU has scored 16 rushing touchdowns on the season and leads the conference. It is the second game of the season the Rams have scored five rushing touchdowns in a single game, the other being against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
 
National Stats Rank
The Rams have been visible in the top 10 of various categories.
 

Total Offense	563.8 per game	1st
First Downs Offense	141	1st
Sacks Allowed	0.40	2nd
Defensive TD's	3	4th
Passing Offense	341.0 per game	8th

School Record
Trey Green wrote his name in the ASU record book with one run against Bacone. The junior took a handoff made a move and carried the ball 96 yards to pay dirt, the longest rush in school history. The previous long was 95 yards set by Kyle Fox in 2005 against West Texas A&M.
 
LSC Preseason Favorite
The Rams were picked as the Lone Star Conference favorite receiving 142 total votes and 17 first place votes. Angelo State has won three conference titles in program history in 1978, 1984 and 1987. Kyle Washington was selected as the LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
 
Team Captains
Kyle Washington, Talon Smith, Clayton Callicutt and Richard Franklin were selected as captains for the 2015 season by their teammates. Washington is a three-time captain while Smith, Callicutt and Franklin are serving for the first time.
 
Consecutive Games Scoring
ASU has also scored in a program record 73-straight games. The last time the Rams were shutout was in 2008 in back-to-back games versus Southwestern Oklahoma and West Texas A&M.
 
Raising the Bar
The Rams returned to the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the sixth time since entering the league in 1981. ASU has never made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Rams did make three-straight trips to the NAIA Playoffs from 1978-1980.  The Rams best record following a NCAA Division II Playoff season was in 1990 with a 7-3 record.
 

Playoff Year	Record	Following Year	Record
1987	8-3	1988	6-4
1989	11-3	1990	7-3
1994	6-5	1995	6-3-1
1997	10-2	1998	6-4
2005	9-3	2006	2-8
2014	9-3	2015	4-1

Head Coach
Will Wagner (Hardin-Simmons, '96) will begin his fifth season as head coach of the Rams. He is 25-21 in his four seasons at the helm of the Rams. The Odessa native helped lead the Rams back to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2005 and win its first playoff game since 1997.
 
411 and Counting
Angelo State has won a total of 411 football games since 1939. The following lists the coaches and record breakdown in Ram football history.
 

Pete Sikes	1939-1949	41-23-5
Max Bumgardner	1950-1968	74-74-2
Grant Teaff	1969-1971	19-11
James Cameron	1972-1973	13-7
Jim Hess	1974-1981	65-23-3
Jerry Vandergriff	1985-2004	143-101-2
Dale Care	2005-2010	28-36
Will Wagner	2012-Present	28-22

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 six NCAA D-II playoff appearances and produced 62 All-Americans. ASU has earned 31 winning seasons dating back to 1964. 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 Daniel Ramirez on 101.9 KWFR-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, Instagram, angelosports_com or on YouTube AngeloSports.