Commerce, Texas – Showcasing the number one scoring offense in the NCAA DII and looking to claim the Lone Star Conference Championship outright with a win, the Lions roar back into Memorial Stadium for a showdown against McMurry Saturday with kickoff for the Homecoming competition scheduled for 4 p.m.
1st and 10- A&M-Commerce is 44-33-1 in Homecoming games.
- A&M-Commerce is coming off of its first LSC loss and first loss against DII competition after falling 40-37 in OT at Midwestern.
- The Lions enter the game at 284-209-12 in 505 LSC games ... At 5-1 in LSC play, the Lions guaranteed themselves share of the LSC title ... The 21st in program history and first since 1990.
- A win Saturday gives the Lions the outright LSC title for the 15th time ... The football program has now won at least one title under every name of the university.
- The Lions dropped out of the AFCA Top 25 after being ranked for two weeks ... The Lions entered the poll at No. 23 then spent one week at No. 22 ... It was first time since 2001 the Lions had been ranked during the season.
- The Lions retook the top spot as the NCAA's best scoring offense averaging 49.6 points per game ... A&M-Commerce is also ranked third in passing offense at 376.3 yards per game and fourth in total offense at 521.9 yards per game ... On the defensive side, the team is ranked second in team tackles for a loss ...
Saul Martinez leads the NCAA in field goals per game.
- The Lions are averaging 49.6 points per game which would shatter the previous school record of 36.2 ppg set in 1990.
- In the win over ETBU, the Lions shattered NCAA, LSC and school records ... The 986 yards of total offense set a new NCAA record.
- Following the ETBU game, the Lions were featured on ESPN's SportsCenter, College GameDay, NBC Sports, Fox Sports1 and numerous local and regional news outlets.
- The Lions experienced the biggest turnaround by a collegiate team in the state of Texas after their 7-5 season in 2013.
About the Series against the War Hawks- The two teams meet for the 16th time Saturday with A&M-Commerce leading the series at 10-5.
- The two teams first met in 1927 and played every year from 1932 to 1935 before resuming the series with games in 1957 and 1958 ... After another break, the two play for six straight seasons from 1988 to 1971 before taking a 42-year hiatus resuming in 2013.
- A&M-Commerce won the 2013 meeting 65-43 ...
Harrison Stewart threw for 370 yards while receivers
Vernon Johnson and
Seth Smith recorded totals of 147 yards and 117 yards respectively.
About McMurry- The War Hawks enter the match up at 2-5 overall and 1-5 in Lone Star competition ... McMurry has dropped four straight games including a 64-7 defeat against Tarleton State in its last game.
- McMurry has wins over Houston Baptist, 26-17, and Kingsville, 27-21, on the season.
- Matthew McHugh averages 240.9 yards per game through the air completing 121 of his 220 passing with seven INTs and15 TDs on the season.
- Jeret Smtih is the team's leading receiver with 116.6 yards per game on a team-high 41 catches ... He has also hauled in 10 touchdown passes.
- On the ground, Chris Simpson averages only 46.4 yards per game on 73 carries with one touchdown.
Fans can follow all the action from the 2014-15 season on www.LionAthletics.com, through twitter @Lion_Athletics and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LionsAthletics.
