Less than 48 hours after the Falcons’ 36-7 loss to Angelo State, UTPB head coach Kris McCullough confirmed the grim news Monday at this week’s press conference.
UTPB quarterback Dylan Graham is out for the season with a lower body injury.
The fifth-year senior picked up his injury during the second drive of the game Saturday at Astound Broadband Stadium.
He would not return as his season came to an end.
McCullough would not give any more details about Graham’s injury.
Less than two hours later, the Falcons suffered another defeat as the Rams remained undefeated in Lone Star Conference play, improving to 3-2 overall, 3-0 in conference.
UTPB’s playoff and Lone Star Conference title hopes all but ended with the 29-point loss as the Falcons now sit at 3-3, 2-2.
That’s likely to be the least of the Falcons’ worry as they must now find a replacement for Graham as they head west to face No. 11-ranked Central Washington (4-1, 3-0) at 8 p.m. Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash.
“We’re going to have practices this week and see who will take that spot,” McCullough said about who the new starting quarterback will be.
Against Angelo State, Issac Mooring and Christian Kaopua both saw time at quarterback.
Mooring went seven of 17 for 113 yards passing and a touchdown while rushing for four yards on one run.
Kaopua went eight of 15 for 50 yards and an interception and rushed for only 18 yards from 11 carries.
>> ANY POSITIVES? If there was something (anything) positive for the Falcons to take from Saturday’s loss, it was that both offenses had close to the same amount of total yards.
Angelo State finished with 280 yards of total offense from 54 plays while UTPB had 277 yards from 71 plays.
The Rams finished with only 112 yards passing while UTPB had 169.
Angelo State won the ground game with 168 yards from 38 carries while UTPB had 108 yards from 38 carries.
“Last Monday, I said that both defenses were really solid and Angelo State struggled on offense as well.” McCullough said. “Yes, they scored 36 points but if you look at it, if you take the 86-yard touchdown run that should’ve been called back because of a penalty, we have more yards than them. … Our defense still played lights out.”
That 86-yard touchdown run was scored by Braeden Fuller with 12:07 left in the third quarter that helped expand Angelo State’s lead to 22-0.
UTPB’s defense held the Rams to a scoreless first quarter.
“When you lose your quarterback, you lose your edge and I didn’t do a good enough job of rallying the troops together at halftime. But I’m still proud of our defense and our special teams. on offense, when you lose that guy, it’s not easy to have someone come in against that good of a defense. As a play caller, I had to keep things simple. I didn’t want to put too much on their plate.”
>> PENALTIES: It wasn’t just losing their starting quarterback that hurt the Falcons.
UTPB was penalized 11 times for a total of 114 yards while Angelo State only had three penalties for 25 yards.
“The stat sheet will say that we had 11 penalties but eight of those weren’t penalties,” McCullough said. “We’re a disciplined team. We have been since I’ve gotten here. As far as I’m concerned, we’re still a disciplined team.”
>> AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Central Washington defeated Eastern New Mexico 44-28 while Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-1, 3-0) also kept its LSC title hopes alive with a 40-13 win against Midwestern State (2-3, 1-2).
Western Oregon (3-2, 3-0) also remained undefeated in conference play with a 34-10 victory against Western New Mexico (2-4, 0-4).
>> CHANCE FOR REVENGE: Central Washington’s hopes of winning the 2023 LSC title were dashed with a 42-14 loss to UTPB last November in Midland.
There’s a good chance the Wildcats haven’t forgotten.
Central Washington enters this week’s contest with a four-game winning streak.
The team’s only defeat so far this season came against Division I opponent San Diego in a 26-7 loss on Sept. 7 on the road.
Despite losing last year’s game to UTPB, the Wildcats still managed to make the NCAA Division II playoffs, advancing to the quarterfinals before losing to Colorado School of Mines.
