The 2007 season will come to a close on Saturday for the Angelo State football team (2-7) as the Rams travel to Kingsville to square off with Texas A&M University-Kingsville (2-8). Kickoff at Javelina Stadium is 7 p.m.
Against the Javelinas...Saturday will mark the 41st all-time meeting between the Rams and Texas A&M-Kingsville with the Javelinas leading the series, 27-13. Last season, the Rams claimed their second consecutive win over TAMUK with a 38-20 victory at San Angelo Stadium. In 2005, ASU snapped a four-game losing skid to the Javelinas, winning 54-51 in overtime to earn a playoff berth. A win this Saturday would mark the first-ever three-game winning streak for the Rams over Kingsville. The first meeting between the two programs came in 1968 with TAMUK claiming a 44-0 victory in San Angelo.
Last Time We Met...On Nov. 11, 2006, the Rams closed out the season with a 38-20 home win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. ASU pounced ahead early and cruised to the season-ending victory after taking a 28-6 lead at halftime. Daniel Thomas led the Rams with 88 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown. Former Ram Matt McCarty sparked ASU to an early lead with two first quarter touchdown grabs. McCarty ended the game with 126 yards on just six catches. Daniel Smith and Ian Ritchey each had a game-high 12 tackles.
The Coaches...Dale Carr (Colorado State, 1987) is in his third season as the head coach for the Angelo State Rams and has a 14-17 career record at ASU. In his debut season in 2005, Carr turned around a program that had three straight losing seasons into a playoff-caliber team. The native of Odessa guided the Rams to a 9-3 record in 2005 and their first postseason appearance in eight seasons. Last fall, his squad ended the season with a 3-7 overall mark, going 2-4 in LSC South Division play. Prior to taking over at ASU, Carr spent nine seasons as the head coach at Tyler Junior College. During his stint with TJC, Carr boasted a 66-31 overall record and led the Apaches to five bowl game appearances.
Bo Atterberry (Southeastern Oklahoma, 1998) is closing out his first season as the head coach of the Javelinas on Saturday. Hired as the program's defensive coordinator after the 2006 season, Atterberry was promoted to head coach this past May. He has a 2-8 career coaching record.
Rams Fall to No. 16 Tarleton State, 38-10...Angelo State faced its fourth nationally ranked opponent in six weeks, falling 38-10 to No. 16 Tarleton State this past Saturday.
TSU freshman quarterback Scott Grantham passed for 331 yards and the Texans got rushing touchdowns from four different players to remain in contention for both the LSC title and the NCAA Division II playoffs.
For ASU, sophomore quarterback Josh Neiswander completed 23-of-36 passes for 226 yards with a touchdown in the victory. His lone scoring toss came in the fourth quarter as he connected with junior wide receiver Sam Tindol from 31 yards for the Rams' only touchdown of the game. ASU's also got a 38-yard field goal from Ryan Smith in the second quarter, a career long for the redshirt freshman.
Junior cornerback Quinton Butler led the Rams with 10 tackles and nabbed his second interception of the season. Freshman cornerback Markeith Jones was second on the team with eight stops.
Thomas Sitting Fourth...Junior tailback Daniel Thomas recorded five games with more than 100 rushing yards over a six-game span before suffering injury in the Rams' seventh game of the season on Oct. 20. Now with 2,074 career yards, Thomas currently sits fourth on the ASU career rushing list. Next on the list for Thomas to eye in 2008 is Jerry Aldridge, who rushed for 3,298 yards from 1975-78.
Very "Neis" Stats...Sophomore quarterback Josh Neiswander is ranked seventh in the LSC in both passing and total offense. Neiswander is averaging 190.6 passing yards per game, completing 54.6 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Add his 3.8 rushing yards per game and he is averaging 194.4 yards of total offense per contest.
Big Rams Up Front...The Angelo State offensive line has allowed just 11 sacks in nine games this season. The Rams are fourth in the LSC and rank among the leaders in NCAA DII in sacks allowed. Two of ASU's five seniors reside on the offensive line, Josh Hammerquist and Matt Owens.
Spreading the Wealth...The Angelo State defense has collected 12 interceptions this season by nine different Rams. Junior defensive back Quinton Butler became the third ASU player to record his second pick of the season this past weekend against Tarleton State. He joined sophomores Pete Parker and Tanner Jacobs for the team lead.
Balanced Defense...Through nine games, eight different Rams have led ASU in tackles. Junior cornerback Quinton Butler became the eighth different player to lead the Rams in stops with 10 tackles against Tarleton State. Five different linebackers ? Daniel Smith, Edward Cantrell, Jordan Cortez, D'Angelo Waites and Ian Ritchey ? have led ASU in stops this season. In addition, safety Michael McLeod led the Rams with 16 tackles against Eastern New Mexico University, the most by a Ram this season, and sophomore Dustin Arthur became the first lineman to lead ASU in tackles this year with ten against the Texas A&M University-Commerce on Oct. 20.
Scouting the Javelinas...The Rams will close out the season with their sixth road trip of the year, traveling to Kingsville to meet up with Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The Javelinas enter Saturday's game coming off of a 59-31 loss to nationally ranked Abilene Christian University. Prior to last weekend's loss, TAMUK had snapped a four-game losing streak with a 38-35 home win over Eastern New Mexico University on Oct. 27.
TAMUK ranks 11th in the LSC in scoring offense, averaging just 16.7 points per game, while sitting 10th in the league in scoring defense, allowing 32.6 points per outing.
Offensively, the Javelinas average just 301.1 yards per game, ranking 11th in the LSC, with 89.4 yards on the ground (12th in LSC) and 211.7 through the air (eighth in LSC).
TAMUK sits 10th in the conference in total defense, giving up 421 yards per game to its opponents. The Javelinas are 11th against the run (181.0 ypg) and ninth against the pass (240 ypg).
Javelina freshman quarterback David Garza has completed 55.7 percent of his passes for 141 yards per game in ten appearances this season. However, fellow freshman Daniel Ramirez has played in two of the last three games, sitting out the win against ENMU, and has averaged 194 yards per game, completing 60 percent of his tosses. Ramirez completed 17-of-26 passes for 247 yards with a touchdown against ACU last Saturday.
Senior Ray Miller is TAMUK's top rusher with 58.9 yards per game with three touchdowns. Against ACU, Miller rushed for 68 yards with a score. Freshman Ryan Lincoln leads the Javelinas with 39 catches, averaging a team-high 50.5 receiving yards per game. For the first time this season, however, Lincoln did not record a catch against ACU.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Arlen Childress leads the Javelinas with 7.5 tackles per game. Senior defensive back Clayton Cretors is second on the team with seven stops per game. Senior defensive Roderick Mosley leads his squad and the LSC in interceptions with five.
