After getting their first win of the 2014 season at AT&T Stadium, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes football team have a chance to right the ship. However, standing in the way of the Buffs on Sept. 27 is a road trip to Lone Star Conference rival Angelo State.
“It feels good to get the monkey off of our back,” Austin Carson, sophomore offensive lineman, said of the victory in Arlington. “Now we can go into Saturday knowing what [winning] feels like.”
The Angelo State Rams (2-0, 1-0 LSC) have opened their season at the brand new LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field in a big way, outscoring their opponents 80-23. Leading the Rams will be junior quarterback Kyle Washington, senior running back Blake Smith and senior linebackers Blair Smith and Rush Seaver.
Washington has had a stellar 2014 season thus far, passing for nearly 500 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for nearly 100 yards and two touchdowns. Blake Smith has also carried the bulk of Angelo State’s running game, rushing for more than 130 yards against Western State and McMurry.
The Rams’ defense is anchored by Blair Smith, who is currently leading the Rams with 19 tackles and one sack. Seaver is not far behind, with 10 tackles – including one tackle for a loss against McMurry.
“They’re playing great,” Mike Nesbitt, Head Coach, said of the Rams. “They’re doing what they want to do and they look good. They’re well-built and they have a lot of belief being 2-0 right now. It’s one of those games that our guys are going to be super excited to play.”
On the other hand, WT has recently found its niche at AT&T Stadium in Arlington last week – fueled by a reborn running attack led by junior running back Geremy Alridge-Mitchell and senior running back Venric Mark. Alridge-Mitchell led the Buffs with 118 rushing yards in 29 attempts. Alridge-Mitchell was also named the LSC Special Teams Player of the Week by returning two kicks for 125 yards, including a 93 yard scamper to the endzone and prompting the Buffalo comeback victory.
Also, Mark returns to the Buffs lineup after having to sit out the Lone Star Football Festival due to an undisclosed injury.
“We take pride in running the ball and that’s a good thing to see,” Carson said.
Defensively, the Buffs are led by redshirt freshman linebacker Carter James and sophomore linebacker Patric Youngman. Against Shorter, James tallied 12 tackles and one sack while Youngman pulled in seven tackles, two of which for a loss and one sack. While young, the hard hitting defensive unit also acquired two fumble recoveries and one interception at the Lone Star Football Festival.
“It gives us a lot of confidence just to know that our coaches are going to gameplan the right way,” redshirt freshman defensive back Hunter Streuling said. “We just have to trust in their gameplan and go out there and believe in one another.”
Streuling made a big debut in last week’s win, aiding the Buffs with eight tackles.
Also of note, the Angelo State Rams will be debuting a new blackout uniform and helmet for the game against the white-clad Buffs.
This LSC battle is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. The game will also be broadcasted live from San Angelo on KAMR NBC-4.