The Game
The Angelo State football team will take its shortest road trip of the season to Wichita Falls to face No. 4 Midwestern State on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Midwestern State
Midwestern State is No. 4 in the American Football Coaches Association and is 5-0 with a 4-0 LSC record. MSU is coming off a 26-25 win over then-No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce last week. Bill Maskill is in his 15th season at MSU with a 116-43 overall record and 11-3 against the Rams.
The Series
This will be the 19th overall meeting with Midwestern State leading the series 11-7. ASU is 3-6 all-time in Wichita Falls. The last victory over the Mustangs in Wichita Falls was in 2014 and the last win overall was at San Angelo also in 2014.
#BlueMob Continues to Lead Nation
The Rams special teams had their streak end of consecutive games with a blocked kick broken last week. ASU holds the ASU school record for blocked kicks in a season The Rams continue to lead all divisions, FCS, FBS, Division II and Division III, in blocked kicks this season.
Ranked Teams
The Rams will face their first ranked of the season facing No. 4 Midwestern State. It is the first ranked opponent since facing No. 12 Texas A&M-Commerce last season. The last time ASU faced a top five ranked team was on the road in Valdosta, Georgia against No. 1 Valdosta State.
Four Sacks
Markus Jones has been a force this season on defense and special teams. The sophomore set a career high with 4.0 sacks against OPSU. It is the most in a single game since
Matthew Gholston had four against TAMUC in 2013. He also has written his name in the school record for blocked kicks in a season with six. The six blocked kicks are also the most in college football in any division. He also leads the LSC in total tackles for loss with 12.
Limiting Rushing Yards for Two Straight Week
One week after the Rams defense held TAMK to just 76 yards on the ground, ASU bettered it against Oklahoma Panhandle State. OPSU netted only 42 yards on the ground on 42 carries for a 1.1 average. It is the fewest yards allowed since holding Texas A&M-Commerce to 29 on November 2, 2013. It is the ninth time since
Jeff Girsch took over as defensive coordinator that ASU has held a team to under 100 yards rushing.
Third Down Defense
The Rams have one of the top third down defenses in Division II. ASU has forced teams into a fourth down 74.6 percent of the time which is No. 7 nationally. Opponents have attempted 102 third downs this season and ASU has only allowed 26 converseions (25.4 percent) on the season. The Rams held OPSU to 4-of-19 on third down conversions this past week.
Career High Rushing Yards
Josh Stevens had his best game at a Ram. The junior rushed for a career high 131 yards on 15 carries. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry and his a season long rush of 51 yards in the fourth quarter. It is his second game of the year rushing for at least 100 yards in a game. He leads the team with 559 yards rushing and is No. 3 in the Lone Star Conference.
Defensive Takeaways
The Rams defense has continued its streak of forcing an interception or fumble in 11 straight games. The streak started against Texas A&M-Kingsville last season and has continued through the first six games of this season.
Justin Jackson intercepted a pass and the Rams collected a muffed punt. ASU has seven fumble recoveris (No. 18 in Division II) and four interceptions.
Interception Returns
Justin Jackson recorded his second career interception return for a touchdown. He picked off a pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 15 yards for the TD. His first interception return for a touchdown came against McKendree. He is tied for the lead in NCAA Division II in interception returns for TD's. He is also tied with
Fred Lawrence for the team lead in interceptions. The Rams defense as a whole is No. 26 nationally in defensive touchdowns with two.
Field Position Threat
Casey Eyman has helped the Rams flip field positions all season. He has booted 42 punts for 1,779 yards and has a LSC best 16 punts inside the 20. He is No. 1 in the LSC and No. 16 in the nation with a 42.4 punt average.
Running Wild
The Rams set a season high with 263 rushing yards against OPSU. ASU had six players carry the ball with
Josh Stevens and
Trey Green leading the way. Stephens rushed for 131 yards while
Trey Green carried the ball eight times for 64 yards. He averaged 8.0 yards per carry.
Carsen Cook picked up 47 yards wtih a 4.3 average on 11 carries.
Team Captains
Fred Lawrence,
Richard Franklin,
Willie Brown,
Donovan Thompson and
Trey Green were selected as captains for the 2016 season by their teammates.
Rams Draft Anthony Quintana
The Angelo State football team added a new member to its team by drafting TeamIMPACT's Anthony Quintana. ASU is the first LSC school to draft a player from TeamIMPACT. Anthony, a nine-year old from Water Valley, will spend the next three years with the Ram football team interacting with the team while battling recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
Road Warriors
ASU will travel a total of 8,062 miles to all seven road games this season. The longest trip of the season was 3,064 miles to Marquette, Michigan, to play Northern Michigan and the shortest is 312 mile round trip to Wichita Falls. ASU will look to improve its road record under head coach
Will Wagner. The Rams are 18-13 under Wagner on the road.
Overtime Victory
The Rams defeated Northern Michigan in triple overtime 47-41. ASU has seen very few overtime games over the years. The only other overtime game under head coach
Will Wagner was against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 29, 2011. The Javelinas won 36-33 in triple overtime. The last ASU victory in overtime was a 28-21 win over Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 6, 2007.
#RamFam Connection
Two current Rams have connections to Rams of the past.
Brennan Bibbs heard about ASU from former All-American uncle Henry Alsbrooks. Alsbrooks played defense for ASU and was a 1988 All-Americna. He recorded 271 tackles and is No. 10 all-time in career tackles. Myron Turner, Jr. plays opposite side of his dad Myron. The elder was an all-conference performer in 1989 and 1990. He is No. 8 on the career receiving yard list with 1,704 yards and led ASU in yards in 1989 with 706 yards.
Listen to the Rams
The Rams will once again be carried on KWFR 101.9 The Fire with four-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Jeremy Bryant on the call. He will add Dr. John Klingemann in the booth for color analysis. Dr. Klingemann is the chair of the history department and an associate professor at Angelo State
Live in HD
Every Ram home game will be broadcasted on RamTV Suddenlink Channel 6 and 106HD. Fans will be able to see the games in full high definition with Angelo State students directing the broadcast and giving play-by-play and color analysis.
New Offensive Coordinator
Will Wagner promoted
Drew Dallas to offensive coordinator. Dallas has been an integral part of the offensive staff at Angelo State since 2011 as a graduate assistant and promoted to assistant coach in 2012. He has worked with the wide receivers since 2011 and picked up recruiting coordinator duties in 2012.The Ram offense is coming off a record-setting season by leading the nation in total offense with 560.4 yards per game.
Head Coach
Will Wagner (Hardin-Simmons, '96) will begin his sixth season as head coach of the Rams. He is 34-28 in his three seasons at the helm of the Rams. The Odessa native helped Northwest Missouri State win three national championships as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach.
Winning Season
ASU secured the program's 32nd winning season since 1964 with a 7-4 record last year.It was the first time the Rams have had winning seasons in back-to-back years since 2000-2001 under former head coach Jerry Vandergriff.
417 and Counting
Angelo State has won a total of 417 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 1982-2004 143-101-2
Dale Carr 2005-2010 28-36
Will Wagner 2012-Present 34-28
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 Ram tackle Rodney Cason.
Follow From Home
If you cannot attend the Angelo State football game, ASU has you covered. Live updates will be provided on Angelo State's Facebook page along with its Twitter account, @AngeloSports, Instagram, angeloathletics or on YouTube AngeloSports.
