#13 Midwestern State vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville MSU 1-0, 0-0 LSC; TAMUK 1-1, 0-0 LSC Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 | 7 p.m. Memorial Stadium | Wichita Falls, Texas Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio/Video (PPV): Mustangs Digital Network HOOF MARKS Midwestern State’s scheduled game last Saturday against West Florida at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola was cancelled due to the threat of Hurricane Irma. It was the first time in MSU program history that a game was cancelled. The Mustangs made the partial trip reaching Lafayette, La. before returning to Wichita Falls. The team practiced at UL-Lafayette’s Cajun Stadium. The Mustangs hold a 9-6 record in Lone Star Conference openers since the start of the Bill Maskill era in 2002. MSU was victorious in its last three league lid lifters, in five of the last seven and eight of the last 11. The Mustangs have never won an LSC opener in four consecutive years. MSU moved ahead three spots to No. 13 in this week’s American Football Coaches’ Association Division II Poll. The Mustangs are also up three places to No. 12 in the D2Football.com rankings. Midwestern State was picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference heading into the 2017 season behind Texas A&M-Commerce. The Mustangs have finished second or better six of the last eight season including league titles in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Midwestern State is looking for its fourth consecutive 2-0 start. The perennial quick starting Mustangs have won as least their first three games in nine of the last 11 years including the only perfect regular season in program history going 10-0 in 2011. Bill Maskill is in his 18th season as a head coach and 16th campaign at Midwestern State. Maskill has led the Mustangs to winning ledgers in each of his years at the helm of the program including the school’s first Lone Star Conference championship in 2009 and first undefeated regular season in 2011. Under Maskill’s guidance, MSU has advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason in the 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016 seasons while amassing a 120-46 record (.723). He was named LSC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and was the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2011. In all, Maskill has coached 23 All-Americans, 51 all-region selections and 61 All-Lone Star Conference first teamers in his 15 seasons in Wichita Falls. Maskill’s 120 wins account for 52.9 percent of MSU’s all-time victories on the gridiron. Midwestern State is 52-9 (.852) in games played before Oct. 1 since the Maskill era began in 2002 as the Mustangs improved to a perfect 5-0 in August games with a 53-6 win over Quincy (Ill.) last week. Midwestern State completed its 17th consecutive winning ledger with an 8-3 mark in 2016. In the State of Texas, the streak is matched only by defending NCAA Division III national champion Mary Hardin Baylor, which also clinched its 17th straight winning season in 2016. Midwestern State was won 13 more games than any other LSC member since the start of the 2000 season. That's an average of 7.8 wins per season for an overall mark of 134-54 (.713). The Mustangs are trailed by West Texas A&M (121-82, .596), Tarleton State (116-72, .617) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (99-86, .535). Midwestern State boasts two alumni in the NFL as Amini Silatolu (taken by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft) and Marqui Christian (taken in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft) both made opening day rosters. Silatolu is a reserve lineman making his return with the Panthers this season. He was a consensus All-America pick for the Mustangs in 2011. Christian serves as a reserve safety for the Los Angeles Rams. He was a first-team All American claiming the Cliff Harris Award as the nation’s top small college defender in 2015. The Mustangs’ tradition of O-Line Pride has produced six of the last seven Lone Star Conference Offensive Linemen of the Year including Amini Silatolu (2010, 2011), Ken Van Heule (2012), Shadow Stokes (2014), Alfredo Moreno (2015) and D2 Rimington Award winner Akoakoa Paleka-Kennedy in 2016. The Mustangs are now 20-10 in season openers since bringing back football in 1988. MSU improved to 12-2 in campaign lid lifters at Memorial Stadium and is 14-2 during the Bill Maskill era in season. AGAINST THE JAVELINAS Midwestern State owns a commanding 12-6 edge in its series against the Javelinas which dates back to the 1997 season. The Mustangs have won the last six meetings and 11 of the last 12 versus the Hoggies dating back to the 2005 season. Texas A&M-Kingsville’s lone victory during the stretch came by a 27-7 count on Nov. 6, 2010. MSU boasts a 7-1 mark against Texas A&M-Kingsville in games played at Memorial Stadium including victories in each of TAMUK’s last six trips to The Falls. The Javelinas’ only victory at Memorial Stadium was a 29-23 win on Oct. 4, 2003. Midwestern State used an 8-play, 74-yard drive capped off by Tanner Graeber’s 18-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play to nip Texas A&M-Kingsville 32-30 last season at Javelina Stadium. It was the first of five come-from-behind victories decided in the game’s final minute for the Mustangs in 2016. The Mustangs have scored at least 30 points in 11 of its last 12 meetings with Texas A&M-Kingsville. OFFENSIVE NOTES In the win over Quincy, the Mustangs churned out their fourth best team rushing performance rolling up 468 yards on the ground. It was their best effort since running for 476 yards versus McMurry in 2013. MSU's offensive outburst of 605 yards of total offense and 468 rushing yards were the tops in NCAA Division II for the week. The Mustangs amassed 600 yards of total offense for the 17th time in program history finishing with 605 in the win over Quincy. Junior running back Adrian Seales notched the fourth best individual rushing game in school history finishing the night with 243 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Seales' performance also stood as the best rushing day in all of Division II. Former All-America quarterback Daniel Polk is the only player in program history to run for more yards in a game going for 290 against Abilene Christian in 2007, 259 versus Southeastern Oklahoma in 2006 and 244 at Eastern New Mexico in 2005. That means a runner wearing MSU's No. 5 jersey has accounted for the top four rushing efforts in program history as Polk also wore the number. The performance was Seales' fourth 100-yard effort of his career. Seales needs 58 yards to become the 20th runner in school history to amass 1,000 career rushing yards. Junior running back Vincent Johnson accounted for 177 all-purpose rushing for 136 yards and three touchdowns while catching two passes for 41 more yards. Johnson jumped ahead three spots to 14th on MSU's all-time rushing list moving past Beejay Mathis (1353 yards/2007-09), Ulysses Odoms (1380 yards/2005-06) and Lester Bush (1423 yards/2008-11) and now has 1,469 career rushing yards. With three touchdowns, Johnson accounted for multiple scores for the 11th time of his career. Johnson moved past former NFL standout Dominic Rhodes (27 TDs/1999-00) in to fifth place on the program's all-time rushing touchdowns list with 29 just behind Ross Harrison (29 TDs/2003-06) and Brandon Kelsey (30 TDs/2009-12). DEFENSIVE NOTES Midwestern State limited Quincy to 246 yards of total offense in the season opener. The total was the lowest since the Mustangs held Truman State to 171 yards in the 2015 campaign starter. The Mustangs accounted for seven tackles for loss including sacks by junior Alec DiValerio, junior Paul Manus and junior Deandra Stevenson. Sophomore Marcus Wilkerson returned an interception 49 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. It was the first Pick-6 for an MSU defensive back since former All-American Dominique Rouse raced 52 yards for a score against Eastern New Mexico at AT&T Stadium on Sept. 20, 2014. Wilkerson’s score marked the first defensive TD for the Mustangs since Jordan Meyers recovered a fumble and raced 26 yards for a TD in a 76-21 win over UT Permian Basin on Oct. 22, 2016. It was the interception return for a touchdown since Harold Wills picked off a screen pass and returned it 4 yards for a score to cinch a 37-33 comeback win over Texas A&M-Commerce in the LSC Playoff Championship on Nov. 14, 2015. Junior defensive end Alec DiValerio matched a team-high with eight tackles including a strip sack, while junior safety Josh Wydermyer also notched eight tackles including six solo stops. SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES Junior Paul Manus blocked a PAT allowing sophomore DaMarcus Wilson to race for a defensive 2- point conversion in the fourth quarter. It was the first time an MSU team returned a PAT for a score in program history. Senior punter Mitchell Henton made one punt – to a short field – for 22 yards against Quincy which was down inside the 20.