The No. 9 WTAMU Buffalo football team traveled to Wilford Moore Stadium in Abilene, Texas on Oct. 26 to take on 2014 Lone Star Conference newcomer, the McMurry WarHawks, for the first time since Sept. 14, 1957. In a game that featured 147 combined points and 1,401 total yards, the Buffs were able to prevail 90-57.
WT rushed for a total of 241 yards and passed for another 452 for a total of 693 yards, but McMurry was able to total 708 yards on 300 rushing yards and 408 passing yards. The Buffs offense was outgained for the second time this season and for the second consecutive week.
“The defense has to execute better,” senior Taylor McCuller said. “There’s no reason why we can’t do better.”
The WarHawks opened the scoring explosion with 9:22 to play in the first quarter with a two-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Rodriguez to Greg Livingston making it 7-0. After each team exchanged interceptions, senior Dustin Vaughn connected on a 72-yard touchdown pass to junior Anthony Johnson to tie the score, 7-7, with 7:15 remaining in the first. WT would go on to score 24 unanswered points on a 27-yard field goal by senior Sergio Castillo, Jr. and two touchdown passes from Vaughn to sophomore Jarrian Rhone, one for nine and another for 21 yards after a surprise onside kick, putting the Buffs in front 24-7 with 40 seconds left in the first.
“My main goal this season has been to get yards after the catch,” said Rhone. “I feel like I accomplished that today and I just need to keep doing it the rest of the season.”
McMurry would get a 61-yard touchdown connection from Rodriguez to Livingston to cut their deficit to 24-14 after one quarter.
WT would get another 14 points on a seven-yard touchdown run by sophomore Geremy Alridge and a 36-yard fumble recovery to give the Buffs a 38-14 game with 8:45 to play in the second. Rodriguez would throw a three-yard touchdown to Clinton McCoy to cut WT’s lead to 38-21 with 5:23 before halftime. The Buffs would get an 18-yard scoring run by Alridge, and after senior Curtis Slater’s fourth interception of the season, Vaughn would find junior Jeremy Watson for a 36-yard touchdown and a 52-21 lead with 1:37 remaining in the half. WT’s defense would commit a pass interference penalty as time expired, allowing Rodriguez to hit Jeret Smith for a seven-yard touchdown sending the game to the locker room with a 52-28 score.
“We knew coming into this game that we were going to need to put up a lot of points,” Vaughn said. “Whether it’s field goals or touchdowns we knew that we needed to score as often as possible, we couldn’t let off the gas.”
The third quarter took over an hour to complete because the two offenses exploded for 52 combined points in the frame. The quarter was highlighted by Vaughn’s one-hundredth touchdown pass, going to senior Aaron Harris for 63-yards on a short screen for a 62-35 lead with 9:46 remaining in the quarter. Vaughn also threw an eight yard pass to senior Trevor Hammargren and Harris and Alridge each had touchdown runs in the quarter; while the WarHawks got rushing touchdowns from Chris Simpson and Paxton Grayer and Rodriguez threw another score to Grayer for an 83-49 Buffs lead after the third.
“The offense did a good job of controlling the tempo in the third and fourth quarters,” Interim Head Coach Mike Nesbitt said. “Every time we come to Abilene something crazy happens no matter what school we’re playing. We did a good of fighting throughout this game.”
McMurry brought the game back to 83-57 on a 57-yard touchdown run by Grayer with 13:12 to play. The Buffs would get a two-yard scoring run from junior Jamison Sterns for a season-high 90 points to complete the scoring with 3:29 left on the clock.
Vaughn finished the game 27 of 40 passing for 452 yards and six touchdowns. Harris ran the ball 11 times for 136 yards and one score. Rhone had three catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns for WT, and Johnson had five catches for 97 yards and one touchdown.
WT improved to 7-1 on the season and remains 3-1 against LSC competition, leaving them a half a game behind Tarleton, who lost their first conference game against Texas A&M-Commerce. The Buffs will look to keep the Wagon Wheel in Canyon, as Eastern New Mexico will come to Kimbrough on Nov. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
