UT Permian Basin at Tarleton State
Saturday, Sept. 22 - 7 p.m. - Memorial Stadium - Stephenville, Texas

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LAST TIME OUT
UT Permian Basin dropped their home and Lone Star Conference opener to #7 MSU Texas 43-21 Saturday night at Ratliff Stadium. The Falcons forced a pair of turnovers on downs on the Mustangs first two drives of the night and scored the first points of the game on a 97-yard drive that ended with an eight-yard run by Marquis Simmons for a touchdown. MSU Texas went into the half with a 14-7 lead after scoring on its final pair of possessions in the half, and scored on its first three possessions of the third quarter for a 36-14 lead.

Freshman quarterback Taylor Null was 22-35 passing in his first start of the season, throwing a pair of touchdowns on the night. 

Marquis Simmons ran for a season-high 101 yards on 24 carries with his first touchdown of the season. 

Kristian Brown led the Falcons with five catches for 120 yards and a touchdown. Ben Galaviz scored a TD for the third straight game to go with four catches and 63 yards, while Mitchell Leonard and Kyle McBride each had five receptions.


UP NEXT
UT Permian Basin Goes on the road for the first time this season in Lone Star Conference play Saturday, Sept. 22 for a 7 p.m. kick off against Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas. Tarleton State own a 2-0 lead all-time in the series, defeating the Falcons in Odessa 32-17 last season. UTPB held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, but Tarleton out-scored the Falcons 18-0 in the second and third quarters to earn the victory. Kristian Brown hauled in a pair of receptions for 82 yards, including a 74 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Kameron Mathis threw for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Brandon Infiesto ran for 128 yards on 29 carries to lead the Falcon ground game.

SCOUTING THE TEXANS
Tarleton State improved to 2-0 this past Saturday with a 44-7 win in their Lone Star Conference opener on the road at West Texas A&M. The Texans carried a 23-7 lead into halftime and shut out the Buffs in the second half in the 37-point victory. 

Quarterback Ben Holmes was 13-17 for 194 yards on the day, but the Texans did all of their scoring on the ground. Xavier Turner scored three touchdowns on eight carries for 43 yards.  D'Anthony Hopkins led TSU with 61 rushing yards on 12 attempts and a touchdown, and Hopkins added 10 carries for 53 yards and a score.

Meanwhile the Tarleton defense shut down West Texas A&M on the day, holding the Buffs to just 123 yards of total offense. TSU racked up 15 total tackles-for-loss on defense in the victory.

NULL LEAVES THE NEST
UTPB quarterback Taylor Null made an impressive debut last week against #7 MSTU Texas.  A true freshman from Artesia, N.M., Null saw his first taste of game action at the collegiate level in the team's home opener. He helped lead the Falcons down the field on a 14-play, 97 yard drive where Marquis Simmons punched in an 8-yard TD for a  7-0 lead wtih 13:21 remaining in the second half. He ended the night with a pair of TD passes in the second half, a 27 yard catch by Ben Galaviz and a 56 yard strike to Kristian Brown. Null finished the game 22-35 passing for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

GALAVIZ MAKES IT THREE
Junior wide receiver Ben Galaviz made it three straight weeks with a touchdown reception to start 2018. Galaviz opened the season with three catches for 78 yards at Texas Southern, scoring on a 64-yard pass in the fourth quarter. The next week at Northern Michigan, Galaviz caught an 18-yard pass for the Falcons first points of the game on the first play of the second half. Last week against #7 MSU Texas, he caught his third score of the season on a 27-yard pass halfway through the third quarter. He has 12 catches for 186 yards and 3 TDs through three weeks.
 
O'KELLEY AMONG THE BEST IN NATION
John O'Kelley had two of the best games of his career to start 2018. The Freshman of the Year in the Lone Star Conference in 2017, O'Kelley spent all night in the Texas Southern backfield, racking up seven tackles to lead the Falcon defense. He recorded three of the team's four sacks for 18 yards, 3.5 tackles for loss, forced a fumble and blocked an extra point that Diameon Brewer took to the end zone for two points. He came back with a tremendous effort against Northern Michigan, leading the Falcons with 13 tackles, 5 tackles-for-loss and three sacks. After three weeks he led all players in the Lone Star Conference in both tackles-for-loss and sacks with 8.5 and 6.