UTPB Athletics

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (November 7, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin football team came from three scores down in the third quarter to get within one score early in the fourth quarter, but with the ball in Mustangs' territory and the Falcons down by just eight points, UTPB was unable to come all the way back as No. 24 nationally-ranked Midwestern University held on for a 49-34 victory.

It was a matchup between the second and third-place teams in the Lone Star Conference standings as MSU (8-2 overall, 7-1 LSC) clinched second place and kept its playoff hopes alive while UTPB (6-4, 5-3) is now in a tie for third place.

It was also a matchup between the top offense (MSU) and the top defense (UTPB) in the LSC. Coming into the game, MSU led the LSC in total offense (544.6 yards per game) while scoring a conference-best 44.3 points per game. On the flip side, UTPB led the LSC in total defense (370.1 yards per game) while allowing a league-low 23.2 points per game.

Each of MSU's four drives in the first half ended with either a touchdown or an interception by the UTPB defense doing its best to keep the Falcons in the game.

MSU's first possession of the game ended in just three plays after the league-leading 19th interception of the season for UTPB was returned 30 yards for a touchdown by Nicholas Elko to open the scoring. It was UTPB's fifth defensive touchdown of the season, ranking among the top-four in all of NCAA Division II.

MSU looked like it was going to score on each of its next two drives, but five plays into the second quarter, a pass off the hands of the Mustangs' receiver instead went to Jayden Plater, who returned it 50 yards from the UTPB five-yard line into MSU territory to the 45-yard line.

After missing from 47 yards out earlier in the half, Diego Chavarria drilled his next field goal attempt from 49 yards to make it 10-7 Falcons five minutes into the second quarter.

One of UTPB's best drives of the game came to end the first half when the Falcons went 14-plays for 79 yards over the final 4:13 of the period. Braxton Baker found Tre Brown for a 19-yard pickup on third-and-15 to get the drive moving, went to George Sims for a 28-yard gain to get into MSU territory, and then passed it to Cheno Navarrette for 10 yards on fourth-and-three to get it to first-and-goal. T. Brown nearly got into the endzone with a catch and run in the final seconds, but a great play by the MSU defense stopped him at the two-yard line and forced a 19-yard field goal by Chavarria to make it a one-point game (14-13) at the intermission.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Mustangs would prove to be too much to handle early in the second half. MSU scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the half as quarterback Kaden Brown was able to buy time rolling out to the right before hitting his man, Dominic Cox, the reigning LSC Offensive Player of the Week, who took it back across to the other side of the field and outran the Falcons into the endzone. MSU then took advantage of great field position following a fumble by Nate TenBarge on his first play of the game, leading to a six-yard touchdown rush by K. Brown just two plays later to make it a 28-13 lead. It was K. Brown's second rushing touchdown of the game.

After the MSU offense and defense both showed off early in the second half, it was the special teams' unit's turn as a high snap on a punt on UTPB's ensuing drive (three-and-out) was picked up by the Mustangs and taken in from 12 yards out for another touchdown, making it three MSU touchdowns within the first seven minutes of the second half (35-13 lead).

The Falcons' special teams' unit made a play on its next punt when Mason Van Sickle ripped the ball loose from the returner and Miles Thompson recovered it at the bottom of the pile at the MSU 15-yard line. Just one play later, Baker passed it to T. Brown, who made the sliding catch at the one-yard line, and then on the very next play, TenBarge came back into the game and took it the final yard for a rushing score to make it 35-20 with 4:26 remaining in the third quarter.

An unfortunate roughing the punter penalty on UTPB after a stop on third down was followed one play later by a 47-yard touchdown pass by K. Brown to a wide open Aanjay Feliciano, making it 42-20 after the Mustangs' fourth touchdown of the third quarter.

Four straight completions by Baker ended the third quarter, and then after the teams switched sides of the field, four more consecutive completions by Baker, three of which went to Traylen Suel, ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass by Baker to Suel. Suel just got his feet in for the score as UTPB cut into MSU's lead a little bit (42-27) in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Baker went 8-for-9 for 60 yards on the drive for the Falcons.

Things got interesting when an illegal touching penalty on the Mustangs led to a punt, setting the Falcons' offense up in plus-territory to begin their next drive. Baker came out firing, completing back-to-back passes of 23 yards and 13 yards to backup tight end Ryder Ribitzki on the first two plays, and then threading one into the endzone to T. Brown for a 12-yard touchdown two plays later. The extra-point by Chavarria made it a one-score game (42-34) with over 10 minutes left to play.

On the next drive for MSU, a four-yard tackle for loss by McKyle So'oto pushed the Mustangs back to third-and-13, and after K. Brown's run on third down was stopped well short, a short 28-yard punt by Daniel Scarabino started UTPB's next drive near midfield at its own 45-yard line.

UTPB looked poised to go on another scoring drive after a 15-yard catch and run by Camden Tyler, but after back-to-back incomplete passes by Baker, MSU brought the pressure on third-and-10, resulting in a sack fumble by Baker forced by Hornel Cloubou to give the ball back to the Mustangs at the UTPB 40-yard line.

K. Brown used his legs to pick up 16 yards on third-and-12 to pick up a much-needed first down for MSU, and then he did it again on third-and-four, getting around the corner on a keeper and going 14 yards to get it down to the six-yard line. A one-yard rushing touchdown by the Mustangs' Kenji Johnson under the two-minute timeout made it 49-34 with 1:42 remaining.

After a 14-13 score at halftime, MSU outscored UTPB 28-7 in the third quarter and 35-21 in the second half.

With the Falcons in desperation mode despite back-to-back first-down completions from Baker to T. Brown, an interception by Ethan Dishman at the UTPB 30-yard line was all she wrote.

Although the UTPB defense came away with three takeaways, MSU had four, including three fumble recoveries. This led to the Mustangs leading the game 21-10 on points off turnovers. It was UTPB's first game losing the turnover battle since "Week 0" at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

MSU outgained UTPB 407-289 overall and held the Falcons to negative 29 rushing yards, including negative 36 rushing yards in the second half. It was UTPB's lowest rushing total since 2018 (11/3/2018 vs. Texas A&M Commerce, -69 yards). The Falcons, however, did out-pass the Mustangs 318-212, and were within just one first down (24-23) of the Mustangs.

MSU came into the contest ranking No. 2 in all of NCAA Division II in total offense with 544.6 yards per game, while the passing attack was No. 1 in the nation with 363.0 yards per game. The Mustangs had also picked up more first downs than any other program in D2 with 254 through nine games.

For UTPB, Baker finished 32-for-50 for 318 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. For MSU, K. Brown was 20-for-28 for 212 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. However, K. Brown also led all players in rushing, adding 13 attempts for 94 yards and two more scores, giving him a total of five touchdowns on the afternoon. K. Brown came into the game leading the nation in total offense per game with 353.1 yards per outing and lived up to the billing. However, he also ranked second in passing yards (2,975), but was out-passed this time around by Baker.

T. Brown led all pass catchers with 13 receptions for 129 yards and a score for UTPB. His 13 catches tie the UTPB single-game record set just last season by Jace Wyatt in the playoffs at Western Colorado University (Nov. 29, 2025).

So'oto led the UTPB defense with a game-high 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Eli Leiataua added eight tackles, Jaylin Broadus had seven, and Devin Green had six.

UTPB Head Football Coach Chris Softley said afterwards, "We showed tremendous maturity and resilience after a number of self-inflicted setbacks. We had our chances late, but must put ourselves in better positions early. In a game like this with two high-level teams, critical mistakes get amplified. The focus of our week has been to 'control what we can control.' Little things become big things and that was true today. We are grateful to have one more week to fix our mistakes."

The Falcons will conclude the regular season next weekend against Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Senior Day will begin at approximately 1:25 p.m., followed by kickoff at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, inside Astound Broadband Stadium.