Game week notes 
KICKOFF
Sul Ross will face Louisiana College in the 18th meeting between the two teams this Saturday in a 7p.m. American Southwest Conference contest. This weekend's game can be heard live on KVLF AM 1240 with internet audio provided at www.bigbendradio.com.
MEDIA INFORMATION
QUICK HITS AND RECAP
- The Lobos improved to 2-1, 1-1 with a 35-7 ASC victory over McMurry in the Lobos' home opener.
- Saturday's win sets the Lobos on a three-game win streak since the War Hawks re-entered the Division III ranks in 2015.
- Sul Ross amassed 496 yards of total offense while holding McMurry to just 136.
- Louisiana College is fresh off a 37-34 setback to visiting Southwestern.
- The loss to the Pirates drops the Wildcats to 1-2 and 0-2 as they enter their game week with Sul Ross.
- Saturday's contest marks the 18th meeting between the two teams in a series dating back to 2002.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS (from LC sports info.)
- The Louisiana College Wildcats and Southwestern University Pirates engaged in a tale of two halves that came down to the final seconds to decide a winner.
- SU kicker Luke Fierst knuckled a 36-yard field just inside the left upright with 42 ticks left on the clock give the visiting Pirates a 37-34 lead and eventual win.
- D'Ondre Joseph threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-21 passing and freshman Wayne Griffin added 155 yards and a score on 6-of-17 passing.
- D'Angelo Moore led the Wildcats rushing attack with 61 yards on four carries, the bulk of which coming on his 54-yard touchdown run.
- Drake Battaglia and Shedrick Davis became the first receivers with over 100 yards in a game this year.
- Battaglia ended with 142 yards on three catches with two touchdowns, and Davis caught five passes for 118 yards.
- Defensively the Wildcats senior linebacker Ryan DeMattie was all over the field, making 21 total tackles in the game including seven solo stops. Willie Smith made eight stops and broke up three passes in the game.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 15, 2016)
- For the first time since 2004, the Sul Ross Lobos beat Louisiana College as Sully ended their 12-year skid with a 21-14 ASC win over the visiting Wildcats at Jackson Field last season.
- As a team the Lobos edged their Wildcat counterparts in total offensive yardage by a 302-300 margin.
- James Davis passed 31 times completing 19 throws for 169 yards and a touchdown.
- Savedra led the receiving corps with five receptions for 70 yards and a score.
- Adrion Smith netted 44 yards off of eight carries.
- Ennis Harmon and Zack Roberson totaled eight and seven tackles respectively to lead the defense.
- Roberson posted an interception for an eight-yard return and finished with a pair of breakups.
- Jermaine Stevens also shouldered two breakups in the victory.
SERIES HISTORY
- Sul Ross and Louisiana College will face each other for the 18th time on the football field Saturday. The Wildcats lead the all time series 14-3.
- The Lobos defeated LC in their very first meeting in 2000 by a score of 42-11.
- The only other Sul Ross victories over the Wildcats came in 2004's 48-41 win and 2016 win Sully pulled out a 21-14 victory.
SUL ROSS TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL NOTES (vs. McM)
- Sul Ross pounded out 496 yards of total offense while limiting the War Hawks to 136.
- The Lobos saddled 30 first downs while McMurry mustered nine.
- Sully was 5 of 12 in third down conversions. The War Hawks were 0 for 9.
- Sul Ross converted on 5 of 6 trips into the opposing red zone while McMurry was 1-1
- The Lobos ate up 381 yards on the ground while holding McMurry to 88.
- Davis finished the night completing 10 of 18 passes for 109 yards and a score.
- Freshman Jalen Styner posted 86 yards rushing.
- Savedra led receiver with four receptions for receptions for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
- Zack Roberson led defenders with 12 tackles (10 solo/2 assists) and posted a sack.
AROUND THE ASC
Texas Lutheran at McMurry, 1 PM-Abilene*
No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor at Southwestern, 6 PM-Georgetown*
Sul Ross State at Louisiana College, 7 PM-Pineville, La.*
Howard Payne at Belhaven, 7 PM-Jackson, Ms.*
No. 10 Hardin-Simmons at East Texas Baptist, 7 PM-Marshall*
*ASC game
CONFERENCE RECAP
Southwestern-37, Louisiana College-34
PINEVILLE, La.- SU kicker Luke Fierst knuckled a 36-yard field just inside the left upright with 42 ticks left on the clock give the visiting Pirates a 37-34 lead and eventual win over the stunned Wildcats.
East Texas Baptist –79, Belhaven-40
MARSHALL– East Texas Baptist delivered a 45-point attack in the second half and cruised to a 79-40 thumping of visiting Belhaven Saturday night in Marshall.
No. 7 Hardin-Simmons-63, Howard Payne-3
BROWNWOOD- Hardin-Simmons' seventh-ranked football team passed its first road test of the year as it dominated Howard Payne 63-3 in American Southwest Conference action at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood on Saturday.
No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor-50, Texas Lutheran-7
BELTON- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team scored on its opening possession and never looked back as the top-ranked Cru rolled to a 50-7 victory over Texas Lutheran Saturday night in Belton.
QUOTES FROM COACH JOHN PEARCE
ON THE CHANGE IN PLAY BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND HALF: Honestly, I was more concerned about this game than I was our first two games. On paper we had the favor but that didn't show in the first half. We had about 85 yards of penalties in the first half and things were just sloppy. Maybe the week off had some kind of an impact but that's really hard to gauge. My message at halftime was we need to clean things up and just play our game. We had a couple more penalties in the second half but I think that was just having some new guys playing their first college football game. I was pleased with our offense and how our backs carried the ball. Our defense limited them to just 136 yards of total offense so we really came out in the second half, I believe, with much greater focus and intensity. Overall, I'm proud with how the guys adjusted from one half to the other.
ON JAMES DAVIS AND HIS RUNNING GAME: I have folks asking me if I get nervous when James runs the ball in terms of him getting hurt. But this is football. There's always a risk of injury no matter what position you play or how athletic you are. Our fans have seen him and know how smart he is when he's running. He knows when to get out of bounds. But there is never a time where there is absolutely no risk of getting hurt. I'm not worried about it. He's played this game long enough and we both know there's always a chance for something bad to happen.
THOUGHTS ON THE DEFENSE: This game was probably our best outing since I've coached at Sul Ross. I think back to our game last season at East Texas Baptist and how we held one of the top rated offenses in the nation to 18 points. If we were a baseball team we would have pitched a no-hitter in those two games. I loved their physicality and that's something we addressed all last week.
ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Jermaine [Stevens] had some big plays for us on our returns. He had a huge 52-yard punt return that put us in position to score. So he had a great day. He was given some fantastic blocks and when you combine his speed and agility with block protection, some big things are going to happen. Ronin [Williams] had some great blocks on our punt returns. So that's really what it takes. You need two or three great blocks and tremendous running effort with the return guys, which, again puts our offense into position to convert.
THOUGHTS ON THE YOUNGER RUNNING BACKS: We don't run the triple option so it can be frustrating for some of our younger backs in our system. We only utilize one at a time. But Will [Grear] had a good early part of the game. He popped his shoulder but he came back and did conditioning on Sunday. Jordan [Batson] took over and didn 't miss a beat. I was really pleased with Jalen [Styner]. He's just a freshman but he looked really smooth in the latter half of the game. Robert Atlee, who is another one of our freshman backs, came in and also had a big day. He's one of our other big bruisers.
KEYS TO DEFEATING LOUISIANA COLLEGE: They're a good football team and well coached. I watched about two hours of film on them Sunday night
and I think we're going to have our hands full. They're good up front. They played Hardin-Simmons really tough. Then they took on a physical Southwestern team. They love to throw the ball so it's going to be a good test for secondary. They have a similar makeup to ours so I'm looking for a good, physical, balanced game on both sides of the ball.
ON PLAYING IN THE SECOND LONGEST ROAD TRIP OF THE SEASON: Our guys like playing on the road. It's not the most ideal situation when you're having to drive all night Thursday but that's just small college football. I've been doing this for 25 years and our players are used to it. We try not to have a lot of down time in terms of when we're off the bus. We'll try to schedule practice in Shreveport at the Independence Bowl so things like that provide some breakup on these long road trips. I like the fact that it's a night game because it offers our players a little extra rest Saturday morning. But, again, our guys enjoy it. They're accustomed to playing on these long trips so I don't see that being any kind of an issue.
OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST HOME GAME: I loved the fanfare and the support we got Saturday. Our players really respond when the community and the university comes out to support the team. It was just a great overall atmosphere for the players and our fans.
INJURY REPORT: Aside from Will popping his shoulder out, we're looking good injury and health wise. Our training and strength and conditioning staff have also done a phenomenal job of looking after our athletes and getting them the treatment they need to play this game.
