ODESSA, Texas (September 20, 2024) – In 2023, one of the turning points in the season for The University of Texas Permian Basin football team was a 29-17 home win over No. 16 nationally-ranked Texas A&M University-Kingsville that allowed the Falcons to improve to 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference. In an effort to again start 2-0 in the LSC this season, UTPB will look to build off of a 67-14 home win over Adams State University last weekend and channel that into another successful matchup at home against Kingsville during "Week 3" of the regular season.

The win over the Javelinas last year marked the first win in program history over a nationally-ranked team.

Sophomore Kory Harris had an eight-yard touchdown run with 6:47 to go in the third quarter to put UT Permian Basin up 20-10.

A key turning point came with 3:28 left in the third quarter. A miscue on a punt gave the Javelinas the ball on UTPB's five-yard line, but Victor Idusuyi came up with two tackles for a loss including a sack to push TAMUK back 10 yards.

After that, Texas A&M Kingsville lost traction. Quarterback Kenny Hrncir ran 18 yards to make it 27-10 at the 11:17 mark of the fourth quarter. The Javelinas would answer with a score, but UTPB got the ball with 7:51 left and took 5:46 off the clock before punting with 2:05 to go.

That punt by Sergio Landeros landed on the TAMUK one-yard line. On the next play, Elden Titania tackled the runner in the end zone for a safety. The Falcons got the ball back and ran out the clock.

The rushing attack for UTPB netted 222 yards and three touchdowns, spearheaded by Harris with for 104 yards.

Defensively, UTPB held the Javelinas to just 97 yards on the ground and 241 yards in total offense.  Champ Mathis had 10 tackles with one for a loss and forced a fumble. Idusuyi finished with three tackles for a loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry. The Falcons had six quarterback hurries in total with four by senior Dominique Varela.

In this year's matchup against the Javelinas, the run game could again play a pivotal role as the Falcons are coming off a game against Adams State in which they rushed for 306 yards and finished with 612 yards of total offense. It was the third most total yards in a single game for UTPB in the Kris McCullough era.

Harris rushed 24 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns against the Grizzlies, the second-highest rushing total in his career, and averaged 6.5 yards per rush. As a team, the Falcons averaged 6.0 yards per carry and 7.8 yards per play. Meanwhile, the UTPB defense held ASU to 92 rushing yards and 225 yards of offense, very similar to the numbers they allowed against TAMUK last season.

Coach McCullough said earlier this week that he believes this game will be won in the trenches, so that could bode well for a Falcons' offense that is now averaging 190 rushing yards per game, has scored six touchdowns on the ground in three games, and is putting up nearly 500 yards of total offense (499.7) per game.

UTPB has the LSC's top offense at 499.7 yards per game, followed by Eastern New Mexico (481.3 ypg) and West Texas A&M (370 ypg). Central Washington owns the top defense at 246.5 yards per game, while UTPB (252) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (260.5) are also holding opponents under 300 yards per game.

JAVELINAS UNDER THE LENS
TAMUK fell 16-13 at home vs. Colorado Mesa University in its season opener three weeks ago before bouncing back last week with its first win of the year, 27-7 at Mississippi College.

In the Thursday night game against CMU during "Week 0", the Javelina defense held the Mavericks to just 80 total rushing yards and forced a pair of turnovers, but the offense struggled to come away with points in the redzone, highlighted by three missed field goals. Ultimately, a fourth-quarter, 30-yard touchdown gave the Mavericks the lead and the win.

Then in the win over MC last weekend, Texas A&M Kingsville forced three turnovers and held the Choctaws to just seven points on Friday night at Robinson-Hale Stadium.

Defense led the way for the Javelinas, who forced two fumbles, turned MSC over on downs twice, and picked off Choctaw QB Eli Anderson once. Junior linebacker Jaylen Hackney came up with the interception and recovered a fumble for TAMUK with under 1:10 of gametime late in the second half, while redshirt junior Demarcus Hendricks posted a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss.

The defense also held the Choctaws to just 16 rushing yards and six total first downs in the second half.

Offensively, 162 combined ground yards from the running back duo of redshirt senior Roger Hagan and sophomore Santana Scott helped give the Javelinas their win and burn the clock late. Hagan posted 95 total yards and two of the team's three touchdowns.

The season's first win gives TAMUK momentum headed into its first Lone Star Conference contest of the year at UTPB.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP: TAMUK AT UTPB
The Falcons and Javelinas meet for the ninth time on the gridiron this Saturday with TAMUK holding a 5-3 advantage in the series. Saturday marks the fifth trip by the Javelinas to the Permian Basin, but it will be the first game played between the two teams in Midland with the prior four taking place in Odessa. UTPB is 2-2 at home vs. TAMUK.

In addition, UTPB's Coach McCullough is looking for his third win in as many seasons as a head football coach against TAMUK. In addition to his win over the Javelinas in his first season with the Falcons in 2023, McCullough was victorious, 38-21, over TAMUK in his final game as the head coach at East Central University in the 2022 Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl.

Texas A&M-Kingsville was announced to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. After finishing last season with a 7-3 overall record (5-3 LSC), the Javelinas sit only behind Central Washington, Angelo State and UT Permian Basin in the preseason rankings.

Texas A&M-Kingsville posts a conference-best 27 LSC championships, with its first coming in 1959 and last in 2009. UT Permian Basin won its first LSC crown in 2023 and is the defending conference champion.

LSC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
All three reigning LSC Player of the Week award winners will participate in the game between UTPB and TAMUK.

UT Permian Basin senior quarterback Dylan Graham threw four touchdown passes to four different targets without an interception against Adams State and was subsequently named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week. Graham finished 15 of 25 passing for 272 yards and helped UTPB produce more than 600 yards of offense and score the most points in the conference this season. He had a TD pass in each quarter and his longest scoring toss was for 47 yards. Graham also connected on a 51-yard pass.

Sophomore kick returner Traylen Suel showed off his speed with a 96-yard return for a touchdown against ASU and was named the LSC Special Team Player of the Week. Suel, who finished with 140 yards on three returns, provided UTPB with its first points in the third quarter. He also hauled in a 47-yard TD pass less than two minutes later.

From TAMUK, junior defensive end DeMarcus Hendricks was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week after recording two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to help the Javelinas defeat Mississippi College 27-7 on the road. In addition, Hendricks had three tackles for a loss of 25 yards as TAMUK kept the Choctaws off the scoreboard for the final three quarters. Hendricks, who also recovered a blocked a punt, had both his sacks in the second half. He spearheaded a unit that allowed just 284 yards of offense en route to the first win of the season.

TAMUK HEAD COACH
Michael Salinas is entering his fifth season as the head coach of Texas A&M-Kingsville football after being hired after the 2019 season.

Salinas is the 12th coach in the history of Javelina football and has a 20-16 record across his four-plus seasons.

Salinas began his coaching career at Texas A&M-Kingsville from 2002-2004, where he was an assistant to Richard Cundiff coaching the secondary. The Javelinas took part in two NCAA Division II playoff appearances during this time.

From there, Salinas was the defensive coordinator at West Texas A&M for the 2005 season. He then went on to be the special teams coordinator at Sam Houston State University (2006-2008). His time in Huntsville, Texas, was followed by stints at Harlingen South High School in 2009 and 2010 with another stop at the collegiate ranks in 2011 at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas.

Salinas was tasked in 2012 with the opening of Robert Vela High School in Edinburg, Texas. There, he was responsible for building the athletics program and the football team from the ground up. He was a three-time Your Valley Voice Coach of the Year from 2013 to 2015 and compiled a 31-5 record over three years starting in 2014. His most recent stop before Texas A&M-Kingsville was at Weslaco High School for the 2018 season.

Before his coaching career started, Salinas was a three-year letterwinner for the Javelina football program from 1995 to 1999. He was part of three LSC Championship and two West Region Championship teams under Ron Harms.

GAME INFORMATION
UTPB returns to Lone Star Conference action at home against Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The action will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, as the Falcons look to keep their streak of nine straight conference wins under Coach McCullough going. It will be the second year in a row the Falcons host the Javelinas, but will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams at Astound Broadband Stadium. It will also be Military Appreciation Day; First Responders Day; and Wear Red, White and Blue Day.

To watch LSC football games all season long, tune in to FloSports (monthly and yearly subscriptions are available).

To follow the action for the Falcons all season long, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://utpbfalcons.com/coverage.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday night's contest will be broadcasted on FloSports. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history. Fans have two different subscription options: $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year ($8.33/month).
 
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