Buffs Travel to Golden to Battle #5 Colorado School of Mines – West Texas A&M University Athletics

Football
9/3/2024 3:00:00 PM

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M hits the road for a battle with the three-time reigning Regional Champion #5 Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines on Thursday night with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. CT at Marv Kay Stadium in Golden, Colorado. 

 

WEEK 0 RECAP

The Buffaloes opened up the season with a Lone Star Conference road win over Sul Ross State last Thursday night in Alpine, 42-21. WT registered 522 yards of total offense with 383 of them coming on the ground in the victory.

 

AROUND THE LSC

Week 0 featured games on three straight days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No. 21 UT Permian Basin, West Texas A&M, Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico all started their seasons with victories. UTPB (over Western New Mexico) and WT (over Sul Ross State) were conference wins. No. 8 Central Washington and Western Oregon had byes. The highest offensive output in Week 0 was ENMU with 644 yards and nine touchdowns against New Mexico Highlands. Defensively, UTPB surrendered just 118 yards and did not allow a touchdown.

 

WEEK 1 MATCHUPS

Nin members of the Lone Star Conference will take the field this weekend including just one league contest between Sul Ross State and Eastern New Mexico in Portales. Central Washington (at San Diego) and Western Oregon (at Idaho State) battle Division I opponents while the remaining LSC schools play non-conference contests. Angelo State travels to Emporia State while WT (at Mines), Western New Mexico (at Adams State), UT Permian Basin (at CSU-Pueblo) and Midwestern State (at Western Colorado) battle RMAC rivals in Colorado.

 

A LOOK AT THE OREDIGGERS

The Orediggers made their second straight appearances in the NCAA Division II National Finals in 2023, finishing 14-1 overall including 9-0 during RMAC action to claim their fifth straight league crown.

 

2022 Harlon Hill winner John Matocha has departed, and redshirt senior quarterback Evan Foster will guide the CSM offense that averaged 46.5 points per game last season. First Team All-American Max McLeod caught 115 passes for 1,656 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Defensively, Jackson Zimmerman led the RMAC with six interceptions to go along with 41 total tackles.

 

CSM HEAD COACH PETE STERBICK

Pete Sterbick is now in his second season at the helm of the Orediggers football program, leading CSM to the NCAA Division II National Title Game in 2023. Sterbick spent four seasons at the Offensive Coordinator for the Orediggers, being named the 2022 FootballScoop D-II Coordinator of the Year.

 

THE SERIES

The Buffaloes and Orediggers meet for the second time on the gridiron on Thursday night in Golden. Mines picked up a 21-13 victory over the Buffs in Canyon on September 25, 2021 during the only other meeting in series history. 

 

HEAD COACH JOSH LYNN

Josh Lynn is now in his second season at the helm of the West Texas A&M Football program after being named the 29th head coach in WT history.

 

Lynn, widely regarded as one of the nation’s up-and-coming head coaches, came to Canyon following six seasons at the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he led the Lopers to an overall record of 35-25 including a run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Division II Playoffs. Lynn coached 61 all-conference selections during his time in Kearney while being named the MIAA Coach of the Year in 2021.

 

POUND THE ROCK

The Buffaloes produced 522 yards of total offense in the season opener at Sul Ross State with 383 of those coming on the ground. The 522 combined yards ranks tied for sixth in Division II football during week zero while WT rushed for the fourth most yards in the nation to open the year.

 

LSC PRESEASON POLL

The Buffaloes have been tabbed sixth in the 2024 LSC Preseason Poll announced during the league’s annual Media Day.

 

Central Washington picked up 20 of the possible 30 first place votes for a total of 286 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Angelo State (six first place, 260), defending LSC Champion UT Permian Basin (four first place, 244), Texas A&M-Kingsville (202), Midwestern State (153), West Texas A&M (149), Eastern New Mexico (128), Western Oregon (118), Western New Mexico (68) and Sul Ross State (42).

 

WHERE THE BUFFALOES ROAM

West Texas A&M is home to one of the premiere college football facilities in the country as Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium opened on September 7, 2019 to a capacity crowd of 10,145 fans as the Buffs toppled Asuza Pacific, 35-16. The state-of-the-art facility included Hellas Matrix FusionH XP2 artificial turf along with seven ground-level suites and the Fairly Group Club.

 

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Junior quarterback Sean Johnson introduced himself to the LSC last Thursday night as the Orlando product led the Buffs to a victory in the season opener to earn LSC Offensive Player of the Week accolades. The Orlando product completed 20-of-26 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown while carrying the ball 14 times for 167 yards and four scores. The 167 yards on the ground was the most by a Buffalo since October 2, 2021 while the four touchdowns was the most by a WT player since October 6, 2018. 

 

LIVE COVERAGE

Thursday night’s contest in Golden will be broadcasted on the RMAC Network with live stats provided by the Colorado School of Mines Athletic Communications Department. The game will also be televised locally in Denver on KCDO Local3. For more information, visit the WT Football schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.

 

HOME OF CHAMPIONS

West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II.

 

The Buffs and Lady Buffs finished third in the 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Director’s Cup standings. It marked the sixth straight and eighth overall time that WT finished inside of the Top-10 including the fifth straight inside of the Top-5.

 

ON THIS DAY

The Buffs are 0-4 all-time on games played on September 5th

 

1987 – Stephen F. Austin – L, 7-3

1992 – S.W. Oklahoma State – L, 37-0

1998 – at Central Arkansas – L, 38-30

2009 – Central Oklahoma – L, 24-17

 

THIS DAY IN SPORTS

1901 – The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, better known as Minor League Baseball is formed at the Leland Hotel in Chicago

 

1906 – Saint Louis University quarterback Bradbury Robinson throws first legal forward pass in the history of American football for a touchdown

 

1960 – Muhammad Ali wins the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal at the Rome Games by unanimous decision

 

1994 – Jerry Rice catches a pair of touchdowns and rushing for another score to surpass Jim Brown’s NFL career touchdown record (127)

 

1995 – Cal Ripken Jr. ties Lou Gehrig with 2,130 consecutive games played