COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce football team is back at home this Saturday after spending the previous three games on the road to face McNeese at Ernest Hawkins Field as part of Hall of Fame and Family Weekend.
 
WHO: McNeese at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | Ernest Hawkins Field
WHEN: Saturday, October 7 | 7 p.m.
RECORDS: The Lions are 0-4, while the Cowboys are 0-5 overall and 0-1 in Southland play.
RANKINGS: Neither team is nationally ranked.
 
LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network – KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401540392?gameId=401540392
LIVE STATS: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=473500
GAME NOTES: TAMUC | MCN
TICKETS: https://lionathletics.com/sports/2021/8/18/tickets.aspx
 
A&M-COMMERCE ENTERS SECOND YEAR IN NCAA DIVISION I FCS
• The Lions begin the second season in NCAA Division I FCS this week against UC Davis.
• It is also the second season for the Lions in the Southland Conference and first under coach Clint Dolezel.
• A&M-Commerce will be eligible for FCS Playoffs during the 2026 season.
 
SLC MEMBERS IN 2023-24

Institution	Offers Football?
A&M-COMMERCE	YES
Houston Christian	Yes
Incarnate Word	Yes
Lamar	Yes
McNeese State	Yes
New Orleans	No
Nicholls State	Yes
Northwestern State	Yes
Southeastern Louisiana	Yes
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	No

 
DOLEZEL TAKES THE REINS
• Coach Clint Dolezel makes his debut this season as the Lions coach, returning to his alma mater.
• A Lion Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Dolezel is considered one of the best arena football quarterbacks of all-time and coached multiple championship teams in arena football.
• He brings along another Lion Athletics Hall of Famer, Bobby Bounds as the offensive coordinator and Dave Ewart as the offensive line coach.
• Chase Paramore (Running Backs), Jarrett Boykin (Wide Receivers), and Nathan Jester (Tight Ends) are new additions on the offensive staff, while Jay Williams (Safeties) is the lone new coach defensively.
• Both Jester and Williams spent last season on the coaching staff as graduate assistants.
 
PLAYING THE BEST OF THE BEST
• The Lions have the toughest strength of schedule in the FCS entering this week according to Massey Ratings.
• The Lions have a rating of 46.36 for its strength of schedule

1.	A&M-COMMERCE	46.36
2.	Eastern Washington	45.25
3.	Nicholls	44.10
4.	Northern Iowa	42.79
5.	Southern Utah	42.75

 
INTERCEPTION RETURN YARDS LEADERS
• Through four games, the Lions have 172 return yards from their eight interceptions on the season, which leads the FCS.
• The 8 interceptions are also second in the FCS, only behind Kennesaw State, who is in the process of transitioning to the FBS.
• The Lions are also fourth in the country with 12 forced turnovers.
 
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• After a two-interception performance against Old Dominion, Max Epps was named the Southland Conference and FCS Stats National Defensive Player of the Week last week.
• He enters week six as the FCS leader in interception return yards, with 150, which is the 50 more than any other FCS player.
• He is also tied for the FCS lead with four interceptions. 
• Epps is the first National Player of the Week in any sport for A&M-Commerce in the Division I era.
 
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE COWBOYS
• The Lions and the Cowboys are meeting for the fourth time ever and second time since the Lions joined the Southland.
• A&M-Commerce is 2-1 all-time and collected a 40-15 win in Lake Charles last season.
• The two teams are meeting in Commerce for the first time since 1970.
 
STAYING IN TEXAS
• After playing two games on the opposite sides of the country, the Lions are home in Texas for all but one game this season, playing seven straight games in the Lone Star state.
• The lone out-of-state game comes at Northwestern State to close out the season on November 11.
 
SUCCESS IN SEASON OPENERS
• A&M-Commerce fell to UC Davis in week one in the season opener, ending a streak of nine straight wins in the first game of the season.
• Prior to this season, the Lions last lost a season opener in 2012.
 
STREAK OF SEASON OPENING WINS

2013	W, 51-6, Sul Ross State
2014	W, 98-20, East Texas Baptist
2015	W, 48-17, Adams State
2016	W, 40-28, at Delta State
2017	W, 8-7, at North Alabama
2018	W, 37-36 (OT), Texas A&M-Kingsville
2019	W, 93-0, Seleccion Nuevo Leon
2021	W, 12-6, at Colorado State-Pueblo
2022	W, 52-7, vs. Lincoln (Calif.)

 
FIVE HUNDRED TIMES ON THE ROAD
• Last Saturday's game at SFA was the Lions' 500th game on the road and third of the season.
• The Lions are 229-260-11 all-time on the road.
 
A SERIES OF FIRSTS
• The Lions and ODU met for the first time.
• It was also the first time that A&M-Commerce faced a FBS opponent since moving up to NCAA Division I.
 
CALIFORNIA LOVIN'
• The game at Sac State was A&M-Commerce's first game in the state of California since playing UC Davis in 1999.
 
STILL STREAKING
• A&M-Commerce extended its non-shutout streak to 126 games last week.
• The Lions were last shutout on Nov. 12, 2011.
 
ALWAYS FARED WELL AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
•The Lions have played two nationally ranked teams so far this season.
• Dating back to the 2015 season, A&M-Commerce has picked up at least one win over a ranked team each season.
• Last season, the Lions beat No. 20/19 Southeastern on the road, for the first ranked win as a Division I FCS member.
• The Lions still have one more team on the schedule that is currently ranked. 
 
TAYLOR-MADE START TO THE SEASON
• A cornerstone for the Lion defense, Daryion Taylor recorded nine tackles in week one against UC Davis, as well as picking up an interception. He leads the team with 32 tackles. 
• The senior defensive back was picked as a preseason all-Southland Conference selection.
 
WINNING FEELING ON HOMECOMING
• By downing HCU 31-3 on homecoming weekend last year, the Lions won their eighth straight homecoming game and are 60-35-1 all-time on homecoming weekend.
• Since 2008, A&M-Commerce is 8-6 in homecoming games.
• The Lions play Nicholls in the homecoming game this year.
 
RARE FEAT FOR THE LIONS
• Last season, the Lions started 3-0 in conference play with the win over HCU. The Lions became just the fourth program to start conference play 3-0 during its first season in NCAA Division I AA/FCS, joining UAlbany (DII), Dayton (DIII), and Gardner-Webb (DII).
 

Yr.	Team	Conf.	Strk	Final Record
1983	Dayton	Pioneer	W6	6-0
1999	UAlbany	Northeast	W5	6-1
2002	Gardner-Webb	Big South	W3	3-0
2022	A&M-COMMERCE	SOUTHLAND	W3	3-3

 
RARELY MISSED HISTORY
• The Lions went 5-6 in 2022, rarely missing a winning record, stopping a streak of having a winning season for every year since 2013.
 
LIONS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION IN 2022
• After the win at Southeastern a year ago, quarterback Eric Rodriguez was among the honorable mention candidates for FCS National Offensive Player of the Week award.
• As a team, the Lions were also named as a honorable mention National Team of the Week
• On October 17, Kendall Paul was also named an honorable mention Defensive Player of the Week after earning the SLC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
 FINDING SECOND HOMES
• As is the case around the country, the Lions welcome 24 transfers to the squad in 2023. The transfers have found their way to Commerce from all levels of college football.
 

College Football Division	Number of Transfers
Division I FBS	1
Division I FCS	10
Division II	5
NAIA & Junior College	8

 
LIONS IN THE PROS
• Four Lion alums are currently, or recently signed professional football contracts, highlighted Miami Dolphins starting cornerback Kader Kohou.
• Luis Perez ended the most recent XFL season as a league champion with the Arlington Renegades, earning championship game MVP honors.
• Recent graduate, Celestin Haba signed a contract with the Winnepeg Jets of the Canadian Football League and has become a mainstay on the defensive line.
• Haba joins Jalen Edwards-Cooper in the CFL. Edwards-Cooper plays for the British Columbia Lions.
 
LION FOOTBALL RANKED NO. 4 IN "TOP 20 PROGRAMS THAT INSPIRE"
• The Lion Football program was ranked No. 4 in College Athletic Advisor's Top 20 Programs That Inspire in 2021.
• The program rankings are open to all four-year, collegiate-level programs outside of NCAA Division I and are based on a subjective assessment of student experience in four areas:
-Holistic development of student-athletes in the institution;
-Academic achievement and support for the academic success of student-athletes;
-Overall college experience for participants within the program;
-Affordability/graduation rates/student satisfaction.
• Although College Athletic Advisor's list is subjective, the organization believes these rankings "present an informed starting point for a discussion about where student-athletes can excel as 'triple-threat' competitors (academics, athletics, and socially) in college and in their future lives."