COMMERCE - After the trip to Western New Mexico was successful, the No. 9 Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions will look for another happy journey, traveling to Angelo State University this weekend.

WHO: Texas A&M University-Commerce at Angelo State University
WHERE: San Angelo | LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field
WHEN: 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 22
RECORDS: Texas A&M-Commerce is 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference after a 38-24 win at Western New Mexico. Angelo State is 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the LSC after a 28-21 loss at No. 4 Midwestern State.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 9 in both the AFCA Coaches' Poll and the D2Football.com Media Poll. Angelo State is unranked.

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LIONS STAY IN TOP TEN
• The Lions are now ranked No. 9 in the nation in Division II according to the American Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll this week.
• A&M-Commerce has now been ranked in 21 straight AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll.
• This is A&M-Commerce's 27th all-time appearance in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000.
 
DOMINGUEZ PUNTS WAY TO HONORS
• A&M-Commerce punter Hector Dominguez has been repeatedly described as "a weapon" by the Lion coaching staff throughout the year, but that was never more evident in the Western New Mexico game.
• Dominguez had four punts for an average of 60.25 yards in Silver City to win LSC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Dominguez had punts of 70, 54, 57, and 60 yards.
• He is also the only punter in all four NCAA football divisions to average over 60 yards per punt with more than two punts in a game this season.
• It is the first time a Division II punter averaged over 60 yards per punt with more than two punts in a game in seven years
• Oklahoma Panhandle State's Brian Holman averaged 61.25 yards on four punts vs. Southern Nazarene on Nov. 7, 2009.
• That was 72 regular season weeks ago.
 
MORE PUNTING TALK
• Thanks to the big game, Dominguez made incredible jumps in the NCAA and LSC statistical rankings.
• Dominguez' punt average jumped 3.6 yards after week 7. He is now in the top 10 nationally after ranking 55th after week 8.
 

Week	Avg	LSC	NCAA
8	43.0 yds	1st	9th
7	39.4 yds	4th	55th
6	38.2 yds	4th	78th
5	38.2 yds	5th	68th

 
• The Lions also moved into the top 10 nationally in net punting.
• Of the top 10, only Shepherd (19), Augustana (19) and A&M-Commerce (24) have booted fewer than 25 punts this year.
 

1	Shepherd	40.89
	Concord	40.89
3	Arkansas Tech	40.83
4	Augustana (S.D.)	40.21
5	Henderson State	39.93
6	Lenoir-Rhyne	39.71
7	A&M-Commerce	39.63
8	Urbana	39.55
9	Ferris State	39.5
10	Charleston (W. Va.)	39.49

 
STILL ABOUT PUNTING! BUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE...
• On the first opportunity to touch the ball in Silver City, Shawn Hooks decided that scoring would be the best thing to do.
• He took the return 79 yards for a touchdown.
• That return not only gave the Lions the early 7-0 lead, but vaulted Hooks up the leaderboard in the statistical rankings.
• The Daingerfield native regained the lead in the Lone Star Conference statistical rankings for punt return average and also leapt into the top five in the national rankings.
 

Rk	Returner	School	Punt Ret Avg
1	Jake Balliu	Winona State	23.4
2	Paul Revis	Western Oregon	23.2
3	Braxton Graham	Missouri S&T	20.3
4	Cody Paul	Chadron State	20.0
5	Shawn Hooks	A&M-Commerce	19.7
6	Daniel Wise	Colorado State-Pueblo	19.3
7	P.J. Leonce	West Texas A&M	18.4
8	Kaylen Zachary	Central Missouri	16.8
9	Austin Panko	Pittsburg State	15.9
10	Cole Chiappiale	Shippensburg	15.7

 
NOT PUNTING THIS TIME!!! SPREADING THE LOVE
• The Lions are back in the lead in the conference in interceptions as a team, picking off 11 of their opponents' passes at this point in the year.
• While this is impressive, perhaps more impressive is that 10 of the 11 interceptions have been made by a different player.
• Brent Walker's interception at Western New Mexico made him the first player to repeat this season for the Lions.
 

Hatari Byrd	at Delta State
Garrett Blubaugh	at Delta State
D.J. White	at Delta State
Anthony Smith	at Eastern New Mexico
Chris Smith	at Eastern New Mexico
Brent Walker	at Eastern New Mexico
Trey Porter	at Panhandle State
Danny Huckaby	vs. Midwestern State
Brucks Saathoff	at Western New Mexico
Cameron Rogers	at Western New Mexico
Brent Walker (2)	at Western New Mexico

 
HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER
• Running back Richard Cooper has continued his march upwards in the all-time A&M-Commerce rushing record books.
• He is now the league leader in rushing average - both per game and per carry.
• Cooper ranks 14th nationally in rushing yards per game (123.0 yards per game) and 18th in rushing yards per carry (6.53 yards per carry).
• He is also only 92 yards away from becoming the fifth 3,000-yard career rusher in the fantastic history of Lion football.
 

Rk	Yards	Player	Years
1.	4,285	Arthur James	1966-69
2	3,757	Aundra Thompson	1972-75
3.	3,268	Cary Noiel	1978-81
4.	3,191	Ricky Dirks	1982-84
5.	2,908	Richard Cooper	2013-pres.

 
• Cooper is only the fifth Lion running back to come back for the season following a 1,000-yard season.
• Three Lions repeated their 1,000-yard season with another such milestone year.
 

RICHARD COOPER
2015	Jr.	1,380 yards
2016	Sr.	738 yards

 
PEREZ CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
•Texas A&M-Commerce quarterback  Luis Perez has been fantastic in his introduction to the Lion lineup.
• Perez is featured prominently in the NCAA Division II and Lone Star Conference statistical rankings
• He leads the LSC in two categories - passing yards per game and passing yards per attempt.
 

Stat	LSC	D2	Stat
Completion Pct	2	18	65.8%
Completion/Gm	3	30	20.83
Pass Efficiency	2	12	169.7
Pass TDs	4	24	17
Pass Yds	2	30	1,755
Pass Yds/Gm	1	13	292.5
Pass Yds/Att	1	11	9.24
Pass Yds/Cmp	2	36	14.04
Pts Responsible	4	41	102
Pts Resp/Gm	3	26	17.3
Total Offense	2	25	291.5

 
THE HOG MOLLIES
• In addition to blocking for one of the nation's top rushers and the one of the top offenses in the Lone Star Conference, the Lion offensive line has prided itself on its protection of Perez.
• The Lions rank 9th nationally in sacks allowed per game (0.67), with four total sacks allowed.
 
DOUBLE DIP
• After doing so in the Midwestern State game, Darby Smith had over 100 receiving yards in the same game that Richard Cooper rushed for over 100 yards.
• This was the fourth time the duo has gone over 100 yards each in their respective categories in the same game.
• Their 302 combined yards in these categories is the most of the four occurrences.
 

Game	Year	Cooper	Smith	Combo
at Western New Mexico	2016	182	120	302
Midwestern State	2016	128	131	259
Angelo State (LSC Playoff)	2015	116	138	254
Delta State	2015	135	110	245

 
SEASON-OPENING STREAK SNAPPED
• The Lions started the season with five consecutive wins for the first time since 1980, when ET won the first six games of the year on the way to a Lone Star Conference championship and the NAIA National Semifinals.
• The 2016 squad is the ninth team in the storied history of A&M-Commerce football to win its first four games. Six teams have won their first five games.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• The Lions return to the road this week for the fifth of six road games, all of substantial distance.
• After flying to WNMU, this is the shortest of the scheduled road trips for the Lions at just under 350 miles.
• With the addition of Oklahoma Panhandle State, Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin to the Lone Star Conference, A&M-Commerce will visit all three new schools.
 

Opponent	1-way mileage
Delta State	362
Eastern New Mexico	476
Oklahoma Panhandle State	483
Western New Mexico	853
Angelo State	341
UT Permian Basin	418
TOTAL	2,933

 
ALL-TIME AGAINST ANGELO
• The Lions and Rams will meet on the gridiron for the 48th time.
• Thanks to hosting ASU each year in the LSC playoffs, this snaps a streak of three straight games in Commerce against the Rams.
• Angelo State holds a 27-18-2 lead over the Lions in the series.
• The last six meetings between the schools have been exceptionally close, with none decided by more than five points.
 

2012	L	16-17	San Angelo
2013	L	20-25	Commerce
2014	W	41-40	San Angelo
2014-P	L	33-35	Commerce
2015	W	38-35	Commerce
2015-P	W	36-35	Commerce

 
• The Lions have five wins in San Angelo. The all-time record in Tom Green County is 5-14-1. A&M-Commerce will look to win consecutive trips to ASU for the first time.

1983	W	27-3
1995	W	24-21
1999	W	14-10
2006	W	17-9
2014	W	41-40

 
CARTHEL IN LINE FOR MILESTONE WIN
• Head coach Colby Carthel is in line for his 30th win, which would make him just the sixth of the Lions' 19 head coaches to reach this milestone.
 

Ernest Hawkins	1964-85	132-92-6
Eddie Vowell	1986-98	74-71-1
Bob Berry	1935-41, 46-50	72-34-8
J.V. Sikes	1954-63	63-34-4
M.A. Smith	1951-53	30-2-1
Colby Carthel	2012-pres.	29-13