COMMERCE - After consecutive road trips, the No. 8 Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions return home, hosting the West Texas A&M University Buffaloes for the annual Homecoming game this weekend.

WHO: West Texas A&M University at Texas A&M University-Commerce 
WHERE: Commerce | Memorial Stadium
WHEN: 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 29
RECORDS: Texas A&M-Commerce is 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the Lone Star Conference after a 62-14 win at Angelo State. West Texas A&M is 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the LSC after a 35-27 win over then-No. 4 Midwestern State.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 8 in both the AFCA Coaches' Poll and the D2Football.com Media Poll. The Lions are also ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II Super Region Four Rankings. West Texas A&M is unranked.

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network -- KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org) | Thunder Country KRVA 101.7 FM, Sulphur Springs (http://www.mythundercountry.com/)
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tamucommerce/
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/139982
TICKETS: Tickets are still available to purchase prior to the game by calling the box office at (903) 468-8756 or visiting www.WeAreLionsTix.com. Ticket windows at Memorial Stadium will open at 2:30 p.m.

LIONS STAY IN TOP TEN; UP TO 8th
• The Lions are now ranked No. 8 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 22 straight AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll.
• This is A&M-Commerce's 28th all-time appearance in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000.

A&M-COMMERCE RANKED FIFTH IN INITIAL SUPER REGION FOUR RANKINGS
• A&M-Commerce has an in-region and Division II record of 6-1 following last week's 62-14 rout over Angelo State. The Lions are one of five teams in the region with one loss, joined by Southwest Baptist, Midwestern State, Ashland, and Wayne State.
• This is the first publication this season of the Super Region rankings, which are officially used by the NCAA Division II Football Committee to select the playoff field on Sunday, November 13. The top seven teams from each of Division II's four Super Regions will qualify for the playoffs.
• Super Region Four consists of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate, Great Lakes Valley, Lone Star, and Rocky Mountain Athletic conferences. Undefeated Grand Valley State is the top-ranked team in the Super Region.

Pl	School	In-Reg	Div II
1	Grand Valley State	8-0	8-0
2	Southwest Baptist	7-1	7-1
3	Midwestern State	6-1	6-1
4	Ashland	7-1	7-1
5	A&M-COMMERCE	6-1	6-1
6	Wayne State (Mich.)	7-1	7-1
7	Colorado Mines	6-2	6-2
8	Truman State	6-2	6-2
9	Ferris State	6-2	6-2
10	Colorado Mesa	6-2	6-2

HOOKS' RETURNS SPARK LIONS
• Shawn Hooks won Lone Star Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors thanks to a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown in the 62-14 win at Angelo State.
• This is the fifth time in seven chances that the Lions have taken the Special Teams Player of the Week award.
• Hooks has now worked his way up to fifth nationally in the punt return average standings and leads the LSC.

 

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

 
GOING BACK-TO-BACK                                 
• Across all four divisions of NCAA football, Hooks is now tied with eight other players for the national lead in punt return TDs with 2.
 
FBS: Nacarius Fant, Western Kentucky; Eddie Jackson, Alabama
FCS:  Rashard Davis, James Madison
Division II: Shawn Hooks, A&M-Commerce; Cole Chiappiale, Shippensburg;  Cody Paul, Chadron State
Division III: Jordan Williams, Trinity (Texas);  Victor Bunce, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Bryce Wilkerson, Mary Hardin-Baylor
• Of the nine players to return two punts for touchdowns this season, Hooks is one of three to do it in consecutive games.
 Shawn Hooks, A&M-Commerce; Cole Chiappiale, Shippensburg; Rashard Davis, James Madison
• Of note, Trinity's Jordan Williams returned two punts for touchdowns in just the third quarter of the Tigers' 38-17 win at Austin College last Saturday. However, these were both 10-yard returns of blocked punts.
 
DOMINGUEZ LEADS LSC IN PUNTING
• A&M-Commerce punter Hector Dominguez didn't have a statistically dominant game at Angelo State, though his boot in the third quarter led to a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
• He is still the leading punter in the Lone Star Conference and is ranked 12th nationally in punting average.
• As a team, the Lions rank sixth nationally in net punting at 39.14 yards net.
• A&M-Commerce has also been exceptional on punt return defense, allowing an average of 1.64 yards per punt return.
 

Week	Avg	LSC	NCAA
9	42.3 yds	1st	12th
8	43.0 yds	1st	9th
7	39.4 yds	4th	55th
6	38.2 yds	4th	78th
5	38.2 yds	5th	68th

 
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 15th nationally in rushing yards per game (114.1 yards per game) and 18th in rushing yards per carry (6.50 yards per carry).
• He is also only 31 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.	2,969	Richard Cooper	2013-pres.

 
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 six categories - pass efficiency, passing yards per game, passing yards per attempt, passing yards per completion, points responsible for per game and total offense. 
 

Stat	LSC	D2	Stat
Completion Pct	2	19	65.0%
Completion/Gm	4	34	20.71
Pass Efficiency	1	8	168.2
Pass TDs	2	18	20
Pass Yds	3	31	2,025
Pass Yds/Gm	1	18	289.3
Pass Yds/Att	1	11	9.08
Pass Yds/Cmp	1	41	13.97
Pts Responsible	4	39	120
Pts Resp/Gm	1	24	17.4
Total Offense	1	29	287.6

 
SPREADING THE LOVE
• The Lions are back in the lead in the conference in interceptions as a team, picking off 12 of their opponents' passes at this point in the year.
• While this is impressive, perhaps more impressive is that 11 of the 12 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
Jaylon Edwards-Cooper	at Angelo State

 
DUAL THREATS
• The Lions are the Lone Star Conference leaders in both scoring offense and scoring defense, thanks in large part to the 62-14 win at Angelo State.
• Of the 15 Division II conferences, six have the same team leading in both scoring offense and scoring defense
 

School	Conference	Offense	Defense
Harding	Great American	43.8	10.3
Azusa Pacific	Great Northwest	39.1	13.8
A&M-Commerce	Lone Star	41.0	21.6
Northwest Missouri St.	MIAA	49.8	15.5
Tuskegee	SIAC	25.7	14.3
Wingate	South Atlantic	37.0	17.3

 
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 6th nationally in sacks allowed per game (0.57), with four total sacks allowed.
 
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• The Lions plus-five turnover margin in the rout at Angelo State put them back near the top of the NCAA standings in turnover margin.
• A&M-Commerce ranks fourth nationally with a plus-1.71 margin per game.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BUFFS
• The Lions have a 16-14 all-time lead in the series against WT.
• The 2014 win for the Lions snapped a six-year losing streak  to WT and A&M-Commerce regained the series lead.
• The Lions are 9-6 all-time in Commerce.
• Between Colby Carthel's tenure in Commerce and that of his father   - Don - as the head coach at WT, this is the 10th straight meeting with a Carthel as a head coach in the matchup.
 
CARTHEL FIFTH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS
• Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 30 wins.
• However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 30 wins are half of J.V. Sikes' 63 wins in fourth place.
 

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
Colby Carthel	2013-pres.	30-13
M.A. Smith	1951-53	30-2-1