20140919, AMA Globe-News, ADN, D, 05 - Amarillo Globe-News

WT
Friday, September 19, 2014 amarillo.com
Amarillo Globe-News D5
Sean Steffen / Amarillo Globe-News
The Herdsmen lead Thunder and the West Texas A&M football team onto the field against Tarleton State on Sept. 18 on Happy State Bank Field at Kimbrough Memorial
Stadium.
Maroon and White Zone
FIRST DOWN: With a loss to No.
12-ranked Tarleton State, West Texas
A&M suffered its first Lone Star Conference opening loss since 2009.
It’s also the Buffs first 0-2 start to a
season since 2009. With the 0-2
start, WT fell out of the American Football Coaches Association Division II
coaches poll for the first time since
2011.
SECOND DOWN: This is the first
meeting between WT and Shorter (Ga.)
University from the Gulf South Conference. The Buffs have played a team
Schedule
Date / Result
Opponent
Sept. 4
at Colorado State-Pueblo
L, 35-6
Sept. 13
Tarleton State
L, 31-27
Sept. 20
Shorter (Ga.)
1 p.m.
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
Sept. 27
Angelo State
7 p.m.
at San Angelo
Oct. 4
McMurry
3 p.m.
Canyon
Oct. 11
Midwestern State
7 p.m.
Canyon
Oct. 18
at Texas A&M-Commerce
7 p.m.
Commerce
Oct. 25
Texas A&M-Kingsville
3 p.m.
Canyon
Nov. 1
at Eastern New Mexico
7 p.m.
Blackwater Draw, N.M.
LSC Playoffs
Nov. 8LSC Semifinals
Nov. 15LSC Championship
How to go
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday, at
AT&T Stadium in Arlington. (80,000 capacity
expandible to 105,000
with standing room)
Forecast: The stadium
A
NALYSIS, STATISTICS, QUOTES AND NUMBERS ABOUT SATURDAY’S GAME BETWEEN SHORTER (GA.) UNIVERSITY AND WEST TEXAS A&M AT 1 P.M. SATURDAY AT AT&T STADIUM IN ARLINGTON AS PART OF THE LONE
STAR CONFERENCE FOOTBALL FESTIVAL.
— Kale Steed
from the Peach State each of the past
two seasons. WT won at West Georgia,
also from the Gulf South Conference,
52-28 in 2012. WT beat West Georgia,
63-23, in Canyon in 2013.
THIRD DOWN: Shorter is in its first
full eligible season at the Division II
level. The Hawks are have been
impressive thus far with a 2-0 start to
the season. Shorter is a triple-option
type offense much like Eastern New
Mexico and is led by Eric Dodson, who
leads the team in rushing with 128
yards one rushing touchdown. The
Hawks will run Kirk Wilson and B.J
McCoy, who have a combined 238
yards on the ground in two games.
Defensively, the Hawks run a 3-5-3
defense, led by safety Jordan Shaw.
Shaw is the reigning Gulf South Conference defensive player of the week
after tallying 15 tackles, including 12
solo stops, in a 27-20 win over Mars
Hill University.
FOURTH DOWN: The WT offense
looked much improved despite losing
to Tarleton State. Against the Texans,
the Buffs went with a more balanced
approach, calling 44 running plays to
49 pass plays for a total of 93 plays.
Junior quarterback Preston Rabb made
strides in his second career start,
going 21-of-34 for 249 yards with one
touchdown. Running backs Venric Mark
and Geremy Alridge-Mitchell led the way
on the ground, combining for 135
yards. Alridge-Mitchell scored two
touchdowns. West Texas A&M’s
defense will need to improve its run
defense against the Hawks to be successful. In the loss to the Texans, the
Buffs were gashed for 298 total yards
on the ground.
Getting personal with ... Preston Rabb
Rabb, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-7,
220-pound junior quarterback from
Llano, won the starting quarterback
job during fall camp.
Rabb has gone 46-of-83 for 457
yards with one touchdown and one
interception in two games.
n You hadn’t played a meaningful
snap since high school. How much of an adjustment was it to get back on the field after four
years?
“It had its pros and cons. In a way it was
really good to learn that way. The first game
against Colorado-State-Pueblo was foreignfeeling almost. It was weird seeing a different color jersey and team.”
n What did being named the starting quarterback mean to you?
“It was awesome. It was a dream as a
kid to be a college starter, especially being
a part of a great program like WT.”
n How much did you learn from Dustin Vaughan?
“I really just sat back and watched how
he worked. He taught me a lot when
it came to preparation like watching
film and getting ready for a game.
He taught me how to handle business.”
n How much have you learned in the
first two games?
“The game is slowing down for
sure. Like I said, I’ve been out of game
speed since high school so I’m not used
to the game speed, but I feel I’ve improved
from week one to week two.”
n What’s something we don’t know about
you?
“I grew up out in the country so I love to
hunt and fish.”
n Did you have a favorite quarterback to
watch growing up?
“My favorite growing up was Peyton Manning. I got to watch a lot of Vince Young in
person. I’m a big University of Texas fan
and Vince Young fan.”
— Kale Steed
Coach speak
KAMR-TV with Clint Brakebill (play-by-play) and
Charly Martin (color commentary) and on
radio (KPRF, 98.7-FM) with Neil Horn (play-byplay) and Brice Edwards (color commentary).
Internet: Visit gobuffsgo.com for live statistics
and streaming video. Follow Kale Steed on
twitter— @KaleSteed — for game updates.
Division II coaches poll
American Football Coaches Association
14. Delta St. (Miss.)
1. NW Missouri St.
2. Colorado State-Pueblo
15. Bloomsburg (Pa.)
3. Minnesota State-Mankato
16. Ferris St. (Mich.)
4.Minnesota-Duluth
17. West Alabama
5. North Alabama
18. Winston-Salem St. (N.C.)
6. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C)
19. St. Cloud St. (Minn.)
7. Henderson St. (Ark.)
20. Harding (Ark.)
8. Pittsburgh St. (Kan.)
21. Carson-Newman (Tenn.)
9. Ohio Dominican
22. Colo. School of Mines
10. West Chester (Pa.)
23. Midwestern St.
11. Shepherd (W.Va.)
24. Winona St. (Minn.)
12. Tarleton State
13. Valdosta St. (Ga.)
25. Slippery Rock (Pa.)
West Texas A&M
head coach Mike Nesbitt
n Second season at West
Texas A&M, 11-5.
Nesbitt is 1-1 in home
openers after the 31-27 loss
to No. 12-ranked Tarleton
State last weekend. This will be Nesbitt’s
second time to coach at AT&T Stadium in
Arlington as part of the Lone Star Conference Festival.
n Nesbitt had spent 2007-2010 as an
assistant coach at West Texas A&M before
stints at offensive coordinator at Stephen F.
Austin State and the University of Houston.
n “They’ve got a great quarterback, and
they can run the triple option really good and
have an old school veer look. It will be a
great test for our defense that will have to
install a new scheme this week because this
is an offense we haven’t seen since the
Eastern New Mexico game last year.”
West Texas A&M
OFFENSE
Receiver: Jeremy Watson (5-11, 196, Sr.)
Receiver: Jarrian Rhone (5-8, 169, Jr.)
Left tackle: Stan Hasiak (6-4, 280, Jr.)
Left guard: Arthur Fatu (5-11,362, Sr.)
Center: Austin Carson (6-2, 308, So.)
Right guard: Alex Mitchell (6-3, 321, Jr.)
Right tackle: Dillon Vaughan (6-6, 298, Fr.)
Quarterback: Preston Rabb (6-7, 220, Jr.)
Running back: Venric Mark (5-8, 175, Sr.)
Receiver: Jordan Jones (6-0, 216, Fr.)
Receiver: Anthony Johnson (6-1, 186, Sr.)
DEFENSE
Left end: Jacob Laguna (6-2 266, Jr.)
Nose tackle: Alex Tucci (6-4, 281, Jr.)
Right end: LaPear Willrich (6-1, 299, So.)
Linebacker: Alex Olson (6-0, 218, So.)
Linebacker: Patric Youngman (6-1, 231, So.)
Linebacker: Carter James (6-2, 230, Fr.)
Linebacker: Markus Pierce-Brewster (6-3, 243,
Sr.)
Cornerback: Chris Ceazar (5-11, 192, Jr.)
Safety: Will Toliver (6-2, 198, So.)
Safety: Ethan Morriss (6-0,204, Jr.)
Cornerback: Torian Oakley (5-9,179, Sr.)
Shorter (Ga.)
University
has a retractable roof.
On the air: The game will be broadcast on
Starting lineups
Shorter (Ga.) University
head coach Phil Jones
n Tenth season at Shorter
University, 53-44.
Jones came to Shorter and
started the Hawks football
program in 2005 from NCAA
Division I-AA (now Football Championship
Subdivision) Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.
n Jones also coached Georgia high school
football for 29 years, his last stop coming at
Winder-Barrow High from 1984-97 where he
led his teams to the playoffs eight times and
compiled an 81-58-2 record in 14 years.
n “This is an exciting thing for us to come
play West Texas A&M. We know they have an
excellent football team. We just want to go
out there play as hard as we can. Playing in
the Lone Star Conference Festival is great for
our program. It’s a long trip, but it will be neat
to be a part of that experience.
OFFENSE
Receiver: Darius Turner (5-10, 160, So.)
Receiver: Cody Simpson (6-0, 205, Jr.)
Left tackle: Tyler Bradford (6-0, 225, Jr.)
Left guard: Brooks Austin (6-1, 265, Fr.)
Center: Ben Peterson (5-10 265, Fr.)
Right guard: Chris Beno (6-0, 270, Jr.)
Right tackle: David Richardson (6-0, 260, Sr.)
Quarterback: Eric Dodson (5-8, 165, Sr.)
Running back: Kirk Wilson (5-8, 175, Sr.)
Full back: B.J. McCoy (5-8, 215, So.)
Running back: Devin Helvie (5-10, 170, Jr.)
DEFENSE
Left end: Freddie Hart (6-3, 290, Fr.)
Nose guard: Greg Carswell (6-3, 315, Jr.)
Right end: Trevaris Horton (6-2, 265, So.)
Linebacker: Andrew Teare-Ketter (6-1, 205, Jr.)
Linebacker: Santavious Bryant (6-0, 205, Jr.)
Linebacker: Jevaris Jones (6-1, 225, Fr.)
Linebacker: Zach Butts (6-0, 227, So.)
Linebacker: Luke Wilson (5-10, 220, Jr.)
Cornerback: Wesley Clay (5-9, 160, Jr.)
Safety: Jordan Shaw (6-2, 215, Jr.)
Cornerback: Willy Dorcin (5-10, 155, Jr.)