The Game
The No. 6 Angelo State football team will face its first LSC opponent of the season in West Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. in Canyon, Texas, at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. The game will be carried on KWFR 101.9FM The Fire with Jeremy Bryant (play-by-play) and Daniel Ramirez (color analyst) on the call.
West Texas A&M
West Texas A&M enters with a 2-1 record and 1-0 in the LSC after a 52-38 win over Tarleton State at the Lone Star Football Festival. The Buffs other win is over Colorado State-Pueblo with the lone loss being to Azusa Pacific. Mike Nesbitt is at the helm in his third season in Canyon. WTA&M went 6-5 last season.
The Series
The Rams lead the all-time series 14-13 with the Buffs. West Texas A&M has won the last nine. The last ASU win came in 2005 at Canyon where the two teams are tied at seven wins each. The Rams won the first ever meeting 10-3 between the two schools in 1983.
The Last Time the Rams Beat WT
The last time Angelo State defeated West Texas A&M was in a high-scoring game on October 22, 2005 in Canyon. The Rams had to travel 80 yards in 2:45 for a go ahead score to win the game. On the ninth play of the drive Trey Weishuhn hit Justin Carter on a 23-yard pass to put the Rams on top 58-53. The game featured nine lead changes and over 1,300 yards of offense. It is the same game ASU set the single game record for total offense of 748 yards.
LSC Openers
ASU is 28-17 in LSC openers dating back to 1970. Most recently the Rams are 2-2 under head coach
Will Wagner. It will be the 15th time and the first since 2003 that ASU has faced WT to open its conference schedule. The Rams have a 12-2 record when playing WT to start conference. The two losses came in 1986 and 1998.
3-0 Start
ASU has started a season 3-0 for the 10th time in program history. The best start to a season was the 1978 national championship team that went 14-0. The last time the Rams were 3-0 to start a season was in 2011.
Rankings
The Rams earned the program's highest ranking in the AFCA poll announced this past Monday. ASU moved up two spots to No. 6 and improved to No. 10 in the most recent D2Football.com poll. No. 10 is the highest in the D2Football.com poll as well.
School Record
Trey Green wrote his name in the ASU record book with one run. 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.
Stingy Defense
The Rams held an opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground for the second week. After limiting a potent Western State Colorado rushing attack to just 47 total yards, ASU contained Bacone for 80 yards rushing. It is the fourth time under defensive coordinator
Jeff Girsch that ASU has held a team under 100 yards rushing. The defense is holding teams to 17.0 points per game.
Three Games, Three Different Rushing Leaders
The Rams offense has averaged 249.7 yards per game on the ground. Seven different players have carried the ball and three have led ASU in the three games.
Kyle Washington recorded 89 yards against OPSU followed by
Ryan Byrd hitting 106 yards versus Western State.
Trey Green became the third Ram to lead in rushing with 110 yards against Bacone.
Passing a Legend
Clayton Callicutt surpassed ASU legend Pierce Holt on the career sack list in the first quarter against Bacone. The senior recorded two sacks and now has 23.5 for his career. The 2014 LSC Defensive Lineman of the Year is now 3.0 sacks behind Greg Collins (26.5) for second and needs 7.5 sacks to tie the ASU career leader in sacks Dane Krager (31.0). The Crosby native currently leads the LSC in tackles for loss (1.83 per game) and sacks (1.17 per game).
National Stats Rank
The Rams offense has been putting yards big numbers this season. The national stats have seen ASU visible in the top 10 of various categories.
| First Downs Offense
|
87
|
5th
|
| Sacks Allowed
|
0
|
T1st
|
| Total Offense
|
580.0 per game
|
6th
|
| Scoring
|
52.0
|
2nd
|
Young Contributions
The Rams have relied on a pair of young linebackers after the departure of
Rush Seaver and
Blair Smith.
Grant Aschenbeck and
Willie Brown have started all three games for ASU at linebacker this season. Aschenbeck leads the team in total tackles with 21 including a career high eight against OPSU and Bacone. Brown is third on the team with 16 and set a career high with nine tackles against OPSU.
Passing Touchdown Streak
Kyle Washington has thrown a passing touchdown in 22 straight games and has thrown at least one TD pass in 27 of his 32 games played. The senior has 65 career passing touchdowns.
Takeaways
The Ram defense has forced seven turnovers on the season. Three interceptions (
Ryan Clapsaddle,
Jonathan Shannon,
Kevin Wharry) and four fumbles (
Melvin Robinson,
Jeremy Johnson,
Raymond Coen,
Justin Jackson) ranks third in the conference and 40th nationally.
Road Warriors
The Rams hope to continue is success on the road this weekend. ASU is 6-1 in the last two seasons on the road and 14-8 under head coach
Will Wagner. Angelo State went undefeated in the regular season on the road last year.
Top Flight Receivers
Angelo State has relied on the passing game and has three of the top 10 pass catchers in the league.
Donovan Thompson is No. 1 in the LSC averaging 102.3 yards per game.
Talon Smith is fourth at 87.3 yards per game and
Anthony Pierson is 10th with 61.0 yards per game.
Record Breaker
Kyle Washington continues to rewrite the ASU record book with two new career records this season. The senior has broke the ASU career passing touchdowns and total offensive yards. Other ASU records under his name include single season passing yards (3.236), completions (265), completion percentage (.635), passing touchdowns (34) and total offense (4,147). He is also the first player to throw for 3,000 yards in a season and as a sophomore became the first in ASU history to throw for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 1,000. 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
|
918
|
| 685
|
Completions
|
574
|
| 61
|
Passing TDs
|
65 (NEW RECORD)
|
| 3,743
|
Rushing Yards
|
2,240
|
| 8,212
|
Passing Yards
|
6,726
|
| 8.084
|
Total Offense
|
8,966 (NEW RECORD)
|
Washington Part 2
Washington had a career passing day that has been rarely seen versus Western State. The senior QB threw for 423 yards on 36 of 65 passing and set career highs in all three categories. The 423 passing yards is the fourth most in a single game along with a career high. He also broke the ASU single game record for total offense with 474 yards. He is ranked in the top 10 of Division II in three categories.
| Total Offense
|
No. 10
|
360.7
|
| Rushing TD's
|
No. 9
|
5
|
| Points Responsible
|
No. 2
|
78
|
Grinding
Ryan Byrd rushed for 106 yards on 11 carries. The senior running back averaged 9.6 yards per carry with a career long rush of 42 yards. It is the fourth time Byrd has rush for at least 100 yards in his career at Angelo State.
Triple 7
Donovan Thompson,
Anthony Pierson and
Talon Smith were each on the receiving end of seven of Washington's 36 completions against Western State. Smith and Pierson set career highs for receptions in a game while Pierson added a career high with 122 receiving yards. Thompson collected 134 yards by air to set a new career high one week after setting career high in receptions (11), points scored (12) and touchdowns (2). The trio has caught 39 of the team's 63 receptions this season. Thompson is currently No. 7 nationally in receptions per game with 9.0 per game and No. 11 in receiving TD's (3).
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 71-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
|
3-0
|
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.
410 and Counting
Angelo State has won a total of 410 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
|
27-21
|
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.
