UTPB Athletics

CANYON, Texas (October 10, 2026) – After a nationally-ranked win in nonconference action the week before, the No. 23 University of Texas Permian Basin football team returned to Lone Star Conference action and had to scrap until the very end to pull out a 24-17 victory at West Texas A&M University. It was the Falcons' fifth win in a row (5-1) and represents a 4-0 start in Lone Star Conference play. The Falcons are now just one of three remaining 4-0 teams in the LSC (No. 13 Central Washington University, Texas A&M University-Kingsville).

Despite giving up 36 passing yards and two third-down conversions on WT's first drive of the game, the UTPB defense did what it does best, coming up with an interception on third-and-long (3rd-and-10). Defensive lineman Tylinn Lewis tipped the short pass and reigning D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week McKyle So'oto came down with it for the team's 14th interception of the season and seventh during the first quarter.

On third-and-four to start off UTPB's first drive of the game, Nate TenBarge rolled out to his left and found his guy, Traylen Suel, wide open for a big 28-yard chunk play after his defender fell down in coverage. Then just three plays later and again on third down (3rd-and-10), TenBarge stayed in the pocket and found Tre Brown, who caught the ball in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line before hitting the brakes, spinning back in the other direction and finding no one in front of him for a 31-yard touchdown less than five minutes into the game.

The WT offense answered UTPB's quick two-minute scoring drive (6 plays, 65 yards) with a quick tempo to start its next drive, which resulted in a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive ending with a two-yard rushing touchdown by Contae Cason.

After four punts in a row between the two teams, UTPB scored again on its first drive of the second quarter, going on a lengthy nine-play, 75-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by back-to-back runs of five yards and eight yards by TenBarge, an 18-yard run by Camden Tyler to get the ball down to the four-yard line, and a four-yard touchdown rush by TenBarge two plays later. 41 of the Falcons' 50 yards of offense on the drive came on the ground, but it also came at the cost of TenBarge, who would leave the game with an injury after his touchdown.

After an interception thrown by backup quarterback Solomon James to set the Buffaloes up at the UPTB 42-yard line, the UTPB defense did not give in, forcing three straight incompletions to give the ball right back to the offense. The UTPB defense limited WT to just 48 total yards in the second quarter and four three-and-outs in the first half.

The most valuable player of the first half for WT might have been punter James Ingham, who punted six times for an average of 48.7 yards, had three punts of over 50 yards, and put two punts inside the 20-yard line.

TenBarge came back out to start the second half for the Falcons, but a three-and-out by UTPB was followed by a nine-play, 67-yard drive for WT that ended with a 28-yard field goal to make it just a 14-10 Falcons' lead early in the third quarter.

The UTPB offense nearly had its second three-and-out to start the second half, but a colossal mistake by the Buffs with two players on the field wearing the same jersey number during the punt instead gave the Falcons an automatic first down. As the 12-play, 75-yard drive continued, Micai Thompson recorded two receptions for 18 yards and two rushes for 13 yards, Brown nearly got into the endzone again with a 16-yard reception, and then Khalil Eichelberger took it the final yard for a rushing touchdown to make it a 21-10 Falcons' lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.

The UTPB defense continued to work hard, getting a turnover on downs after the Buffs got into Falcons' territory. However, after an interception by the WT defense at the 50-yard line, the Buffs then converted a fourth-down pass (11 yards on 4th-and-5) as the third-quarter clock expired. Two plays into the fourth quarter, a 34-yard touchdown pass by Knox Porter to Joseph White got the Buffs back to within four points (21-17) of the Falcons.

A 12-yard completion from TenBarge to George Sims cutting across the field on third-and-seven helped the UTPB offense avoid a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and get the drive moving after WT's second touchdown of the game. TenBarge followed with back-to-back eight-yard completions to Suel for another first down and hit Heston Kelly on a slant for 11 yards and the third first down of the drive. Two plays later, Thompson made multiple defenders miss on a run up the middle and popped off a 25-yard run to get the ball down to within the 10-yard line. However, after being unable to get into the endzone, the Falcons opted to go with the field goal to make it a seven-point game (24-17) with nine minutes remaining, and Diego Chavarria was true from 22 yards out. It was the longest drive of the game in terms of the number of plays (13 plays, 71 yards).

On the next WT drive, back-to-back sacks by the Falcons' Nicholas Elko and Godgive Ugochukwu helped force a three-and-out. It was followed, however, by a three-and-out by the Falcons' offense, and the punt put the Buffs at their own 35-yard line, 65 yards away with exactly 6:30 to play. On fourth-and-two from the UTPB 36-yard line, So'oto quickly got into the backfield and got his hands up to knock down the pass from Knox and give the ball back to UTPB with 4:17 on the clock.

With the ball back with the Falcons and on third-and-three from the WT 46-yard line following the two-minute timeout, an incomplete pass by TenBarge made it fourth down, and the Falcons punted it back to the Buffs one last time. After a high-punt by Matthew Sebade, WT would take over for its final drive of the game at the 15-yard line, leaving the Buffs 85 yards to go with just one timeout and 1:47 on the clock.

Two plays into that final drive, Isaiah Mathews recorded UTPB's 20th sack of the season as Porter existed the game with an injury. WT backup quarterback Jayden Macedo came into the game on third-and-11 and fired a 34-yard completion downfield to get the Buffs off and running. However, after two more completions got the ball to the UTPB 35-yard line, Macedo tried to squeeze one into triple coverage in the middle of the field and it was picked off by Nicholas Butler to seal the game. It was Butler's third interception in the last two games.

It was a slight edge in total yardage (413-378), first downs (22-21) and yards per play (5.1-4.8) for the Falcons. Both teams converted on just six third-down plays, both committed 10 penalties, both had two interceptions, and both had seven points off turnovers. In addition, both teams were pass heavy in this one, throwing the ball at least 46 times for an average of 11.8 yards per completion.

For the UTPB offense, TenBarge completed 17 of his 33 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Suel registered six catches for 63 yards and Brown had four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively for the Falcons, Jayden Plater recorded six solo tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups. Jaden Welch had five tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. So'oto had five tackles and an interception.

Porter was 26-for-52 passing (50 percent) for 287 yards, one touchdown and one interception for WT, and Contae Cason was limited to seven rushes for 14 yards with a score.

"The blessing of discipline was our focus this week, knowing it would be a separator not only in the game, but also in our continued growth and maturity as a complete team," said UTPB Head Football Coach Chris Softley. "We had some correctable issues, but we also showed growth. Our defense did a tremendous job stepping up and getting stops when we needed them most. We are thankful to earn another LSC win. We are continuing to grow, learn and improve each week as we work toward maxing out the team we know we can be."

Next up, the Falcons will play at home for only the second time in their first seven games of the season. UTPB will take on Western Oregon University starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, from Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland, Texas. It should be a competitive matchup as the Wolves have edged the Falcons by three points in each of the last two seasons.