SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State Rams got down early and were never able to come back Saturday night, losing 54-33 to Tarleton State at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.
The Rams (2-3, 1-2 LSC) gained almost the same amount of yards offensively as the Texans (4-0, 3-0 LSC) with TSU gaining 586 to 537 for ASU. The Rams committed five turnovers, however, leading the Texans to the victory.
Payne Sullins saw the majority of time at quarterback for the first time all season, completing 26 of his 50 pass attempts for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Carsen Cook and Charlie Rotherham also saw playing time, completing another five passes for 75 yards.
Almost half of the team's completions on the night went to wide receiver Keke Chism, who set a new career high in receptions for the second straight week with 12 for 127 yards on the night. Chism's reception total was one off the ASU single-game record of 13 set by Donovan Thompson in 2017.
Chism's first catch of the day came on the Rams' third drive, with ASU already in a 13-0 hole after two early Texan interceptions. Chism hauled in a 17-yard pass from Sullins that put ASU just outside the red zone, but the Texans forced yet another turnover and capitalized for an early 20-0 lead just seven minutes in.
The Rams were finally able to get on the board with just under a minute left in the opening quarter after a shanked punt gave them a short field to work with. Sulllins completed a pass to Tashani Bibbs for 26 yards into the end zone, and when the first quarter ended ASU was down just two scores.
ASU's defense held on the next play, thanks to a drive-ending sack from Markus Jones. Jones led the team with 4.5 tackles for loss in the game and added in the one sack with nine total tackles.
Still three Rams finished the game with more tackles than Jones, with Hunter Kyle, Grant Aschenbeck and Donavyn Jackson all finishing in the double digits. Â Kyle had a particularly great night, notching a career-high 16 tackles in the contest.
After the stop, ASU scored again on a 40-yard field goal from Connor Flanigan, pulling within 10.
Tarleton scored again, however, and Angelo State's only other score in the first half came on another field goal from Flanigan, sending the two teams into the locker room with Tarleton State leading by two touchdowns.
The Texans opened the second half with a huge play, breaking off a 75-yard touchdown and then scoring again later in the third quarter to push their lead to 41-13.
ASU finally got another touchdown, scoring on a 69-yard drive that ended with Chism's only touchdown catch of the night, but Tarleton scored again to start the fourth quarter.
TSU's final touchdown of the game came with 7:58 remaining, but Markus Jones blocked the ensuing PAT for their final total of 54 points.
It was then that Cook entered the game at quarterback for the Rams, and he quickly drove them down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Lawson Ayo.
Ayo had a big night receiving as well, catching seven passes for a season high 134 yards. Two other ASU receivers had more than 70 yards on the night, as both Tashani Bibbs and Tate Kennedy caught 3 passes for 77 yards.
The Ram defense forced one final stop, and Bibbs returned the punt 60 yards, setting up the final ASU score on a Cook rush, making the game-ending score 54-33.
Angelo State will go back on the road next week, traveling to take on Western New Mexico at 2 p.m. in Silver City.
