KINGSVILLE, Texas – With their record even at 1-1 following a 35-7 victory over Simon Fraser on Sept. 9^th, the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team will hit the road for the second straight week for a contest with No. 13 Midwestern State at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas on Saturday with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

This showdown will mark the beginning of the Javelinas' Lone Star Conference slate, which includes eight games. It is also the first of five conference road games for the team, as their schedule will also take them on visits to Angelo State, UT Permian Basin and Eastern and Western New Mexico.

"When you talk about our drive for 35," said coach Daren Wilkinson, "and the things we want to get accomplished as a football team, you have to do it in conference play. I think we have as good a conference as there is in the country. Midwestern State has been the team that is right there at the top. Playing a team like that in the first conference game is fun for our guys and we're excited about the competition."

Wilkinson's offense took several steps in the right direction in their win over SFU, running up 426 total yards and averaging better than five yards per play. While Conner Smith got the start at quarterback, redshirt freshman Cade Dyal took the majority of the snaps and was impressive in relief. He fired three touchdown passes without an interception and completed 14 of his 23 passes. Both Smith and Dyal would figure to see the field on Saturday.

"Our confidence in them comes from their confidence in themselves," said Wilkinson. "It's real obvious when one is playing with confidence and one isn't. We just have to work in practice on continuing to put them in good situations so they can build that confidence."

The star of the show for the Hogs on offense was receiver Jordan Thomas, who caught six passes and added one carry for 150 total yards and three touchdowns. The senior scored his team's final three TDs against the Clan, running for a 15-yard score and pulling in TD catches that covered 39 and 70 yards, with the latter representing Kingsville's longest play of the season. Thomas's performance puts him atop the squad's leaderboard in scores, with three, receptions, with 11, and receiving yards, with 183. Running back Nick Pelrean added 97 yards on the ground, 63 of them coming on one play, which counted for six points. The Houston native stands as TAMUK's leading rusher with 199 yards to go with two trips to the end zone.

For the Mustangs (1-0), they enter Saturday after a two week layoff following the cancellation of last week's game with West Florida due to Hurricane Irma. Coach Bill Maskill is in his 16^th season at the helm of the program and has crafted a record of 120-46 while leading Midwestern State into postseason play seven times, including in 2016.

This year got off to a flying start for Maskill and his troops with a 53-6 destruction of Quincy (Ill.) University. Midwestern accumulated 468 yards on the ground against the Hawks, 243 of them by Adrian Seales, a total that represented the most rushing yards in Division II in week one. Not far behind was Vincent Johnson, a member of the 2017 All-LSC second-team, who needed only seven totes to rack up 137 yards and three scores, including one from 61 yards out. The junior was also his team's leading receiver with 2 catches for 41 yards. MSU's ground attack was so effective, they only needed 137 yards passing, which came from a pair of quarterbacks in Layton Rabb and Javin Kilgo, who completed 10 of their 19 throws.

"Those two running backs are excellent players," said Wilkinson. "They're probably the two best backs in the conference. [Midwestern State] wants to be a team that runs the ball first and throws the ball to move the chains. We've got to be able to stop the run. We need to play gap assignment football and be physical and tough enough to make tackles when they are there."

On defense, Maskill graduated a pair of all-conference defensive lineman, but they started this season by limiting Quincy to less than 250 total yards and holding them without an offensive touchdown. They also forced three turnovers while collecting a trio of sacks. Defensive back Marcus Wilkerson contributed a touchdown with a 49-yard interception return.

The Javelina defense is led by Caleb Valentine, who tops the LSC with two-and-a-half sacks, and Kuziah Ferebee, who holds a share of the conference lead with two interceptions. Valentine had one-and-a-half of the nine sacks TAMUK totaled against Simon Fraser, a number that nine players contributed to. Ferebee's theft was one of three for a defense that has forced five total turnovers and has helped forge a turnover margin of plus-three.

The all-time series between these two rivals favors Midwestern State, as the Mustangs have won 12 of 18 meetings, including the last six, but the last two bouts have been decided by one score. Kingsville's last victory in the series came in 2010, when they triumphed 27-7.

"Our players know they can play with these guys," said Wilkinson, "because we've proven that the last two years. In 2015, we were not a very good football team and we took these guys down to the wire when they were the No. 1 seed in the region. We need to start playing for four quarters so we can beat these guys."

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on WILD 105.5 FM and KTAI 91.1 FM in Kingsville and Javelina fans can also find the link online at javelinaathletics.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow and interact on all Javelina social media accounts. For full coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville football, follow @JavelinaFB on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina football (/JavelinaFootball) and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.

Come and join us on September 23 for our special brunch honoring Fred Nuesch's 50 years with Javelina Nation during Hall of Fame Weekend. The event will be held at 11 a.m. in the Grand Ballrooms at Memorial Student Union Building at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Tickets and tables are still available and all proceeds will benefit the Joan & Fred Nuesch Endowment at TAMUK. For more information on ticket and/or tables, please contact Dennis Hawkins via email (dennis.hawkins@tamuk.edu) or phone (361-593-4787) by September 18.