The Game
The Angelo State football team comes back to LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field to welcome No. 9 Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. 

The Series
It will be the 48th overall meeting between the two programs. The Rams and Lions have faced each other every season since 1970. The last two years the teams have played against each other four times and all four games were decided by three points or less. ASU leads the series 29-16-2 overall but TAMUC has won three of the last four meetings.  

Texas A&M-Cpmmerce
The Lions are 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference this season. Texas A&M-Commerce is led by former Angelo State football player Colby Carthel who is in his fourth season. TAMUC is ranked No. 9 by the American Football Coaches Assocation. 

Ranked Opponents
The Lions will be the second ranked opponent to face the Rams and the first to play at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field this season. ASU faced No. 4 Midwestern State last weekend on the road. Midwestern State is also the last ranked team to play at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field. 

Three Times Over 100 Yards
Josh Stevens has been a key part to the Rams offense this season. The junior has rushed for 559 yards this season including three games of at least 100 yards. Stevens is coming off a 109 yard performance against Midwestern State. He scored a career high two touchdowns including a long TD of 49 yards. He set his season high in yards against 131 yards against Oklahoma Panhandle State. 

#BlueMob Continues to Lead Nation
The Rams special teams are tied for the national lead with eight blocked kicks on the season. ASU set the school record for blocked kicks in a season with eight. The Rams blocked a kick in five straight games to start the season.  

Double-Digit Catches
Donovan Thompson had one of the top games of his career this past Saturday. He caught a season high 10 passes for 67 yards. It is the third time in his career the Houston native has made doudble-digit receptoins. He has a career high in receptions of 12 against TAMUC last season. 

Defensive Takeaways
The Rams defense has continued its streak of forcing an interception or fumble in 12 straight games. The streak started against Texas A&M-Kingsville last season and has continued through the first seven games of this season. Markus Jones forced a fumble on MSU quarterback Quade Coward and Bright Ihegworo recovered the ball.  ASU has eight fumble recoveris (No. 16 in Division II) and four interceptions. 

Third Down Defense
The Rams limited Midwestern State to just 2-of-17 on third down conversions. The Mustangs were forced to punt eight times. ASU has only allowed  40 succesfull conversions out of 123 this season. Opponents are only successful on third down 23.7-percent of the time. It is the No. 3 best percentage in Division II and No. 1 in the Lone Star Conference. 

Six Straight Punts
The Rams defense tied a season high by forcing six straight punts against Midwestern State. ASU started the second half by stopping MSU and continued for the next five possesions forced three and outs. It is the second time this season ASU has forced six consectuive punts withe the first coming aginst Tarleton State. 

Third Quarter TDs
With the Ram defense slowing down Midwestern State, the ASU offense found its stride. ASU scored two touchdowns highlighted by a 49 yard Josh Stevens run to score 14 points. It is the most points scored in the third quarter this season. 

Field Position Threat
Casey Eyman has helped the Rams flip field positions all season. He has booted 51 punts for 2,130 yards and has a LSC best 21 punts inside the 20. He is No. 3 in the LSC and No. 16 in the nation with a 41.8 punt average. 

Sack Man
Markus Jones added another sack to his season total against Midwestern State. The sophomore has 6.5 sacks on the season and is currently No. 2 in the LSC and No. 21 in Division II. He has 14.0 tackles for loss on the year which is No. 1 in the LSC and No. 8 nationally. 

On Pace for 1,000 
Josh Stevens has 668 rushing yards on the season and is No. 3 in the LSC. He has had back-to-back games with at least 100 yards rushing. If he averages  83.0 yards per game over the last four games he will become the first ASU player since Kyle Washington in 2013 to gain at least 1,000 rushing yards in a single season and the first running back since Daniel Thomas in 2008. 

Interception Returns
Justin Jackson recorded his second career interception return for a touchdown agasint OPSU. 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. 

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	34-29

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.