UT Permian Basin Football heads west this weekend, taking on Western New Mexico in the first-ever night game at Altamirano Field in Silver City, N.M.

All-time the Falcons are 2-1 against Western New Mexico, winning in an instant classic last year when the Falcons scored 14 points in the fourth quarter for a 21-20 comeback victory with the winning score coming with just 15 seconds remaining.
  
Last year these teams played a defensive battle and were tied at halftime at seven.  The Mustangs scored in the third quarter and added a punt return for a touchdown, but the extra point was blocked to grab a 20-7 lead on the Falcons.  Freshman quarterback Taylor Null remained calm finding receiver Kristian Brown for a 14-yard score to make the score 20-14.  The defense would force a punt with 1:51 remaining and the Falcons would drive down the field scoring on a nine-yard Marquis Simmons run with 15 seconds to take the 21-20 lead.  Keegan Gray's interception as time expired sealed the comeback for the Falcons.

The year prior the Falcons went to Silver City and came out with a 41-32 victory.  Trailing 14-0 after a quarter, the Falcons scored 27 straight points to take the lead.  Kameron Mathis threw two touchdown passes while Chris Hoad returned an interception for a touchdown in the run.  The Mustangs made things interesting, but a pair of blocked extra points kept the Falcons in front.  They'd seal the game with a 24-yard touchdown run in the final minute for their first Lone Star Conference win.  

The Falcons have won two-straight in the match-up but lost the first meeting 68-17.  The Falcons struggled to stop the Mustang offense who had 535 total yards while the Falcons were held to just 145 yards through the air.  The Falcons did rush for 197 yards in the effort. 

Last weekend, Senior linebacker Chris Hoad tied his single game tackles record Saturday night as UT Permian Basin football suffered a 49-7 defeat against #4 Tarleton at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa.

Hoad, who now has the most tackles in a game the top six times in Falcon history, ended the night with five solo tackles and 14 assisted tackles to tie his all-time mark of 19 tackles in a game for the third time in his career.

Adrian Walker got the Falcons on the scoreboard in the second quarter, capping off a 13 play, 75 yard drive with a touchdown run. Taking over on their own 25 yard line, Davion Sutton started out the drive in the backfield by picking up a trio of first downs. Clayton Roberts hit Ben Galaviz for a 26 yard pass down to the Tarleton 16 yard line to pull the Falcons inside the red zone. After Roberts rushed himself for four yards to convert a 3rd-and-four, Adrian Walker dove into the end zone from six yards out for his first touchdown of the season.

Caleb Forrest paced the Falcon receivers, leading the team with four catches for 61 yards on the night.

Marquis Simmons had a team-best 44 yards on 13 carries.

Keegan Gray added 14 tackles on the night, collecting three tackles for loss for seven yards. Xavier Brooks had nine tackles with a forced fumble and a pair of fumbles recovered.

Western New Mexico fell to 0-4 last weekend with a 45-21 loss to West Texas A&M in their Lone Star Conference opener.  The Mustangs fell behind 24-0 at the half before their offense showed life in the second half, scoring all 21 points.  They buoyed the Buffs in the second half and cut into the lead, trailing by 17 in the fourth but couldn't come up with a defensive stop.

CJ Fowler led the passing attack throwing 30-for-49 for 344 yards and three scores without an interception.  The Mustangs couldn't get the ground game working, running for a total of 59 yards with Oly Taase shouldering most of them with 42.  Reggie Colson III had a big day receiving with nine catches for 98 yards and a score while Joshua Powell had four catches for 76 yards and a pair of scores.  Defensively Roosevelt Calhoun Jr. led the way with 14 tackles while Isaiah Perez added 13 tackles. 
 
Fowler leads the Mustang offense under center where he's thrown for 1,167 yards, six touchdowns with a 56.6 completion percentage.  His 291.75 yards per game lead the Lone Star Conference as the Mustangs have thrown for the second most yards in the conference.  DeAndre Williams leads the ground attack with 285 yards while Vincent Brown has already scored six rushing touchdowns this season.  Colson is currently third in the conference with 409 receiving yards and has added three scores.  

The Mustangs rank fourth in the conference in total offense averaging 417.3 yards per game but rank last in the conference in total defense allowing 525.8 yards per game.  They're eighth in points per game, averaging 25.0 while last in points allowed with 43.5 per game.  Overall the Mustangs have lost 14 straight with their last win on Nov. 11, 2017 when they beat West Texas A&M 21-17 on the road.