Eagles, WTA&M clash on national TV
Cowboys Stadium is site for re-match of last season’s Division II playoff game
After a 40-34 double-overtime victory last week over Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, the Eagles are heading south to Arlington, Texas, where they face West Texas A&M, Canyon, tonight in a nationally-televised game from Cowboys Stadium.
The CBS Sports Network is airing the game live (please see related story, page 13). Kickoff is 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time (6 p.m. MDT).
After last week’s win in Missouri, the Eagles moved up four slots this week from 21 to 17 in the D2Football.com Top 25 Poll. West Texas A&M, ranked fourth in the same poll last week, remains in that spot going into tonight’s game. The Eagles also jumped to the No. 18 slot in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches Poll, while WTA&M held its No. 4 position in that poll.
Tonight’s game is a rematch between two NCAA Division II teams who faced each other in the first round of last season’s playoffs. The Buffaloes beat the Eagles, 38-30, Nov. 17, 2012, at Elliot Field, and advanced as far as the semifinal round, where they lost, 41-18, to Winston-Salem (North Carolina) State University.
Last year the Buffaloes finished the season 12-3, while the Eagles finished 9-3.
Like the Eagles, WTA&M won its season opener on the road last week, beating Western State Colorado University, Gunnison, 48-21.
In preparation for tonight’s game, CSC Defensive Coordinator Jeff Larson said his line needs to be more consistent than it was last week against Missouri S&T. Larson said the defense has two things to focus on tonight – maintaining better pressure on the quarterback and maintaining better coverage in its matching rounds.
Pressuring West Texas’ quarterback might prove difficult, especially since the Eagles are playing without senior safety Trelan Taylor of Spring Valley, Calif. The NCAA suspended Taylor, who led the team last season with eight interceptions, for six games this season for credit-hour rules violations apparently committed three years ago.
In their road-win last week, WTA&M’s senior quarterback Dustin Vaughan of Corpus Christi, Texas, completed 38 of 58 pass attempts, amassing a career-high 472 yards and six touchdowns. He also did not throw an interception. Vaughan’s performance earned him the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor.
But Larson is still confident in his defense.
He noted that his defense struggled on third downs in the second half last week against Missouri S&T and its goal for tonight is to maintain consistency.
“I am happy with the defense,” Larson said about the team’s performance last week. “We did create takeaways and did make the big plays when they were needed.”
On offense, Coordinator Chris Stein talked about his team’s focus for tonight.
“We need less penalties,” Stein said. “We had way too many (last week). We need to clean that up.”
Stein said he was also pleased with the way his men played and that he was happy to see his offense producing a lot of yardage.
The Eagles gained 500 yards in total offense last week, and Stein said he hopes to keep that up against West Texas A&M.
Tonight’s game kicks off the Lone Star Football Festival, a three-day fair of college football games at Cowboys Stadium sponsored by the Lone Star Conference, based in Richardson, Texas, northeast of Dallas.