COMMERCE - With at least a share of the Lone Star Conference Championship on the line for 8th-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce football team, a high stakes matchup will take place in Memorial Stadium on Saturday in the annual President's Cup game against Tarleton State.

WHO: Tarleton State University at Texas A&M University-Commerce 
WHERE: Commerce | Memorial Stadium
WHEN: 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 12
RECORDS: Texas A&M-Commerce is 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference after a 58-21 win over UT Permian Basin. Tarleton State is 5-5 overall and 5-3 in the LSC after a narrow 21-16 loss to Midwestern State.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and No. 7 in the D2Football.com Media Poll. The Lions are also ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II Super Region Four Rankings. Tarleton State 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/139983
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; STAY IN 8th
• The Lions remain 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 24 straight AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll.
• This is A&M-Commerce's 30th all-time appearance in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000.
• The Lions also held steady at No. 7 in the D2Football.com rankings.
 
A&M-COMMERCE 4th IN SUPER REGION
•  The Lions are ranked fourth in the third release of this year's Super Region Four rankings, as announced by the NCAA Division II Football Committee on Monday.
• The Lions stay in the top four of the regional rankings, which remained unchanged. Undefeated Grand Valley State still holds the top spot in the region, while Midwestern State is second and Southwest Baptist is third.
• Truman State is now in fifth place, followed by Ferris State in sixth, Colorado Mesa in seventh, Colorado Mines in eighth, Ashland in ninth and Colorado State-Pueblo in 10th.
• This is the final regular season 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.
• The first seed will receive a bye to the second round, while the second, third and fourth seeds would host first round games.
 
CARTHEL 5TH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS
• Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 32 wins.
• However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 32 wins are half of J.V. Sikes' 63 wins in fourth place.
 

1	Ernest Hawkins	1964-85	132-92-6
2	Eddie Vowell	1986-98	74-71-1
3	Bob Berry	1935-41, 46-50	72-34-8
4	J.V. Sikes	1954-63	63-34-4
5	Colby Carthel	2013-pres.	32-13
6	M.A. Smith	1951-53	30-2-1

 
HOOKS' RETURNS SPARK LIONS
• Shawn Hooks is now ranked eighth nationally in the punt return average standings in NCAA Division II.
• He ranks second in the Lone Star Conference in punt return average after the UTPB game.
 

Rk	Returner	School	Punt Ret Avg
1	Paul Revis	Western Oregon	24.3
2	Cole Chiappiale	Shippensburg	18.5
3	Braxton Graham	Missouri S&T	18.4
4	Cody Paul	Chadron State	18.3
5	Philbert Martial	North Alabama	17.7
6	PJ Leonce	West Texas A&M	16.7
7	Lavatiae Kelly	Virginia Union	16.5
8	Gary Simon	Valdosta State	15.5
9	Shawn Hooks	A&M-Commerce	15.4
10	Daniel Wise	Colorado St.-Pueblo	14.4

 
GOING BACK-TO-BACK
• Across all four divisions of NCAA football, Hooks is now tied with five other players for the national lead in punt return TDs with 2.
 

Division II
Shawn Hooks	A&M-Commerce
Cole Chiappiale	Shippensburg
Cody Paul	Chadron State
Josh Brown	Colorado Mesa
Kyle Briggs	Mercyhurst
Gary Simon	Valdosta State

 
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 now rank 3rd nationally in sacks allowed per game (0.44), with four total sacks allowed.
• A&M-Commerce has not allowed a sack in the last three games, dating back to the Western New Mexico game.
 
KINCADE SCOOPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
• Reggie Kincade was named Lone Star Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts in the 58-21 win UT Permian Basin.
• Kincade – a sophomore from Everman -  was all over the field on special teams in the Lions' 58-21 rout of UTPB with two key recoveries.
• In the first quarter, he recovered a fumble on a kickoff return and gave the Lions the ball at the Falcon 14. On the next drive, Kincade recovered a blocked punt and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown to put the Lions up 21-0.
 
SCORELESS STREAK ENDS AFTER MORE THAN 2 HOURS
• A second quarter touchdown by UT Permian Basin snapped a Lion defensive scoreless streak of more than two hours.
• The Lions did not allow a point from late in the first quarter at Angelo State until the 11:13 mark of the second quarter at UTPB.
• The streak totaled 131 minutes and 48 seconds with eight full quarters of scoreless football.
 
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 29th nationally in rushing yards per game (102.3 yards per game), taking a slight hit in that category after limited action at UTPB.
• He became the fifth 3,000-yard career rusher in the fantastic history of Lion football with his first quarter touchdown carry vs West Texas A&M.
• He is within reach of fourth place on the all-time rushing charts.
• He also has 15 career 100-yards rushing games after his performance vs. WT.
 

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.	3,097	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.	927 yards

 
A LOOK AT THE PRESIDENT'S CUP RIVALRY
• A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State battle every year for the President's Cup and the Lions will look to hold onto the traveling trophy for the fourth straight year.
• The Lions are 13-11 all-time in the trophy game, with a 6-6 record at Memorial Stadium.
• The Lions have won the last four matchups (three President's Cups and an LSC Playoff game) against the Texans, rolling to a 63-0 shutout win in Stephenville last year.
• The Lions won the first eight matchups, followed by the Texans winning 11 of 12 before A&M-Commerce's recent four-game winning streak.
 
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 seven categories - pass efficiency, passing touchdowns, 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	13	66.4%
Completion/Gm	3	36	20.00
Pass Efficiency	1	5	174.2
Pass TDs	1	14	26
Pass Yds	3	31	2,528
Pass Yds/Gm	1	16	280.9
Pass Yds/Att	1	7	9.33
Pass Yds/Cmp	1	33	14.04
Pts Responsible	2	27	156
Pts Resp/Gm	1	20	17.6
Total Offense	1	29	280.7

 
• After his five touchdown performance at UTPB, Perez has 26 touchdowns  this season, which ranks third in a single season at A&M-Commerce - and third-most in the last three seasons.
• Tyrik Rollison had 31 passing TDs in 2015, followed by Harrison Stewart with 30 in 2015.
• At 2,528 yards, he needs 472 passing yards to become the third Lion trigger man with 3,000 passing yards in a season.
 
SPREADING THE LOVE
• The Lions are in the lead in the conference in interceptions as a team, picking off 17 of their opponents' passes at this point in the year.
• While this is impressive, perhaps more impressive is that 14 of the 17 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.
• The Lions four picks vs. West Texas A&M are their most in one game this season.
• Yusef Sterling-Lowe has had the Lions' last two picks.
 

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 (TD)	at Angelo State
Pierre Leonard	vs. West Texas A&M
Uriah Harris (TD)	vs. West Texas A&M
Chris Smith (2)	vs. West Texas A&M
Yusef Sterling-Lowe (TD)	vs. West Texas A&M
Yusef Sterling-Lowe (2)	at UT Permian Basin

 
DUAL THREATS
• The Lions are the Lone Star Conference leaders in both scoring offense and scoring defense, thanks in large part to high offensive outputs and strong defensive performances in the last three game.
• Of the 15 Division II conferences, 10 have the same team leading in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
 

School	Conference	Offense	Defense
Harding	Great American	41.6	12.6
Ashland	GLIAC	44.5	14.5
Azusa Pacific	Great Northwest	39.0	12.5
North Alabama	Gulf South	40.3	15.4
A&M-Commerce	Lone Star	42.3	19.1
Northwest Missouri St.	MIAA	49.5	14.1
Assumption	Northeast-10	39.2	14.6
California (Pa.)	PSAC	52.4	14.3
Tuskegee	SIAC	26.1	13.8
Newberry	South Atlantic	37.6	18.4

 
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• The Lions plus-five turnover margin both at Angelo State and on Homecoming vs. West Texas A&M put them back near the top of the NCAA standings in turnover margin.
• A&M-Commerce is now tied for the national lead in turnover margin at plus-2.0 per game.
• This week's opponent - Tarleton State - is also near the top of the nation with a plus-1.4 per game turnover ratio, in sixth nationally.
 

Rk	Team	G	W-L	FR-INT	Plus	FL-INT	Minus	Mgn	Avg
1	A&M-COMMERCE	9	8-1	12-17	29	6-5	11	18	2.00
	Indiana (Pa.)	9	8-1	6-21	27	6-3	9	18	2.00
3	Azusa Pacific	10	9-1	8-22	30	10-2	12	18	1.80
4	Emporia St.	10	9-1	8-17	25	3-6	9	16	1.60
5	Virginia St.	10	8-2	13-10	23	5-3	8	15	1.50
6	Black Hills St.	10	7-3	7-25	32	6-12	18	14	1.40
	Tarleton St.	10	5-5	14-16	30	7-9	16	14	1.40
8	Miles	9	5-4	12-16	28	9-7	16	12	1.33
9	Harding	10	10-0	13-13	26	13-0	13	13	1.30
10	Valdosta St.	9	7-2	7-20	27	6-10	16	11	1.22

 
REALLY SPECIAL TEAMS
• The Lions have been exceptional in the kicking and coverage phases, ranking highly in the nation in all punt and kickoff categories.
 

Stat	LSC	Nation	Stat
Kickoff Return Defense	1	2	13.24
Punt Return Defense	1	5	1.64
Net Punting	1	10	38.18
Punt Returns	2	13	15.78
Kickoff Returns	3	87	20.44

 
IT'S LIT (THE SCOREBOARD, THAT IS)
• The Lions rank 10th nationally in scoring offense after putting up 58 points in a three-quarter game at UTPB.
 

Rk	Team	TDs	PAT	2PT	FG	Saf	Pts	PPG
1	California (Pa.)	63	62	0	10	1	472	52.4
2	Northwest Mo. St.	67	66	0	7	1	495	49.5
3	Indiana (Pa.)	59	57	0	5	0	428	47.6
4	Minn. Duluth	65	48	4	7	0	467	46.7
5	Colorado Mines	65	56	0	2	1	454	45.4
6	Ashland	61	57	1	6	0	445	44.5
7	Colorado Mesa	55	53	1	18	0	439	43.9
8	Bemidji St.	60	41	5	8	0	435	43.5
9	Augustana	60	49	2	6	0	431	43.1
10	A&M-COMMERCE	49	45	0	14	0	381	42.3