Big Rapids, Mich. – The A&M-Commerce football team will make its first appearance in the NCAA Playoffs since 1995 when the No. 2 seeded Lions travel to the No. 7 seed Ferris State Saturday with kickoff set for 11 a.m. central time.
Don't forget Lion fans there will be two Watch Parties to view the game. The RSC's Club will host one watch party in Commerce with Lakewood's 1st and 10 set for the viewing location in Dallas.
1st and 10- A&M-Commerce fell in the LSC Playoff Championship game, 37-33, to MSU. The Lions, for the second straight season have fallen in the LSC Playoffs' Championship game after scoring 33 points. In 2014, the Lions fell to No. 2 seed Angelo State 35-33. The loss dropped the Lions to 8-3 overall.
- A&M-Commerce earned the No. 7 seed in Super Region 4 and will play on the road at No. 2 seed and No. 1 ranked in the AFCA Coaches Poll Ferris State.
- The Lions are making their fourth NCAA Playoff appearance after trips in 1990, 1991 and 1995. The Lions are 3-3 NCAA Playoff games with a pair of wins over Grand Valley State out of the GLIAC in 1990 and 1991.
- It is the Lions have made five trips to playoffs counting the two trips to the NAIA Playoffs in 1972 and 1980. All told, the Lions have appeared in the postseason 11 times following the four Tangerine Bowl games -- 1953, 1954, 1958 and 1959 -- and the two NCAA DII Bowl games -- 2013 with the Live United Texarkana Bowl and 2014 with the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl. The Lions are 9-5-1 in15 postseason games.
- Twenty-seven Lions earned All-LSC postseason honors with
Richard Cooper earning the league RB of the Year award.
- With his 76 yards,
Richard Cooper saw his DII 100-yard rushing streak come to and end. He has rushed for over 100-yards in nine of the team's 11 games. With a looming NCAA Playoff berth, Cooper could match the school record of 10, 100-yard rushing games held by Audria Thompson during the 1975 season.
- Cooper has rushed for 1,253 yards, which is seventh on the Lions single-season rushing yards lists behind Ricky Dirks who ran for 1,299 yards in 1983. Ironically, Cooper has rushed for more yards than any Lion since Dirks' 1,299 total.
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Theo Wofford brought his 2015 rushing yard total up to 979 yards on 143 carries. He needs just 21 yards to give the Lions their first 1,000 rushing duo in program history.
About the Series against the Bulldogs- The two teams meet for the first time Saturday.
- A&M-Commerce is 2-0 all-time against current teams from the GLIAC. The only wins came against Grand Valley State in the 1990 and 1991 NCAA Playoffs. The Lions won 20-14 in the 1990 meeting on November 7 and 36-15 in the 1991 meeting on November 23.
- Linking the GLIAC to the LSC Findlay topped Tarleton State in the Texans' season opener 35-34 on Saturday, September 12.
About No. 1/No. 2 seed Ferris State- The Bulldogs come into the season ranked No. 2 in Super Region 4 and No. 1 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
- Ferris State finished the season 10-0 and 10-0 in the GLIAC, which was good enough for a tie for the first place in the league standings.
- In their last game, the Bulldogs knocked of Walsh 38-7.
- Ferris State is led by the 2014 Harlon Hill winner and 2015 Harlon Hill favorite Jason Vander Laan, who has thrown 2,239 yards and 22 touchdowns compared to five INTs. He has completed 66 percent of his passes connecting on 174 of his 261 attempts. On the ground, the 6'4" 244 lb QB has run for 1,319 yards on 213 carries to average 6.2 yards per carry. He averages 131.9 yards per game with the team's second leading rusher, Jahaan Brown, averaging only 36.8 yards per game on the ground. Vander Laan has recorded 19 rushing touchdowns.
- Ferris State sports the third best offense in the NCAA and the second best scoring offense in DII.
- Their defense is the 12th best in the NCAA allowing just 281.6 yards per game and the 4th best rushing defense allowing just 75.9 yards per game on the ground
Fans can follow all the action from the 2015-16 season on www.LionAthletics.com, through twitter @Lion_Athletics and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LionsAthletics.
