UTPB had no trouble putting away Western New Mexico in last week’s 41-3 season opening win at Ratliff Stadium.
Had it not been for the 12 penalties, the final score could’ve been more lopsided.
UTPB had 130 yards of penalties in its Lone Star Conference game against Western New Mexico.
The Mustangs, on the other hand, had only four penalties for 40 yards.
UTPB head coach Kris McCullough addressed that issues with his players at halftime.
“We have to take it easy on the penalties,” McCullough said at this week’s press conference. “We need to control our emotions better. We just had a lot of excitement and may have celebrated too much. But we got that taken care of at halftime. Nothing a little up-downs can’t fix in the locker room.”
Aside from that, there wasn’t much else to be negative about as UTPB’s offense — now led by quarterback Dylan Graham — looked to be just as good as last year’s unit.
It wasn’t until the second half when the Falcons’ offense took off, scoring 37 points to turn a 14-3 halftime lead into a 38-point win.
Graham wouldn’t disappoint in his starting debut with the Falcons. The grad student would go 31-of-50 for 404 yards of passing with three touchdowns.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Cooley had eight receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Ben Patterson had four receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown as well.
“I was very proud of Dylan Graham,” McCullough said. “He sat on the bench the entire year last season and going to every single game and traveling, I was proud of his effort. I thought he should’ve been conference player of the week. But our receivers have been explosive for two years. it was fun to watch them perform. Jeremiah Cooley did drop a touchdown pass, but that 83-yard touchdown that Patterson had, it wasn’t great protection … but it was a very explosive offense. I wasn’t thrilled with our ground game, but I was proud of our passing for the most part.”
Only a touchdown and two field goals came in the first half for the Falcons before the second half opened up.
“I thought the second half was much better than the first half,” McCullough said. “I’m proud of the way our guys got out there and played. Going into the first game, you don’t quite know what your team is and I thought our defense played lights out. On offense, we scored on eight out of 10 drives. We just need to finish some drives better. I was proud of our fight on both sides.”
>> WHAT ABOUT THE RUN GAME?: While not much else can be said of UTPB’s passing attack from last week, the Falcons’ running game left more to be desired as UTPB had 162 total yards of rushing from 38 carries.
Running back Kory Harris led UTPB’s ground game with 21 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown.
>> LSC HONORS: One week into the season and the Falcons already have two players earning Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors.
Linebacker Tristan Exline and kicker Angel Diaz were named the Defensive Player of the Week and the Special Teams Player of the Week, respectively.
Exline had two sacks to lead a unit that didn’t allow a single touchdown and surrendered only 118 yards of total offense.
Exline also had four tackles and helped UTPB hold Western New Mexico to 1-of-12 on third down conversions.
Diaz went a perfect 4-of-4 on field goals, including his longest of 47 yards. He was perfect on extra points for UTPB.
>> FIRST IN THE CONFERENCE: UTPB and West Texas A&M are tied for first in the Lone Star Conference standings.
That’s because they were the only two schools to play conference games last week.
West Texas A&M (1-0 overall, 1-0 in conference) defeated Sul Ross State 42-21 last Thursday in Alpine.
The Falcons will spend the next two weeks playing nonconference opponents, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest against Colorado-State Pueblo Saturday in Pueblo, Colo.
After that, UTPB will face Adams State at 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.
The Falcons’ next conference game will be against Texas A&M-Kingsville at 6 p.m. Sept. 21 in Midland.
>> LOOKING AHEAD: Colorado State-Pueblo (1-0, 1-0) comes in having defeated South Dakota Mines 35-6 last Thursday in Rapid City, S.D.
The ThunderWolves are no strangers to the NCAA Division II playoffs, having qualified four times over the last seven years.
The program also won a national championship in 2014.
Colorado State-Pueblo’s offense put up 604 total yards of offense in last week’s season opening win.
Quarterback Devin Larsen went 30-of-45 for 508 yards passing which included five touchdowns.
“You just have to make sure you know your teams,” McCullough said. “Our defensive coordinator did a phenomenal job in week one of planning against Western New Mexico. I think Colorado-State Pueblo is the most explosive team that I’ve seen since I’ve been out here. They have a great quarterback and great slot receivers … This is going to be a tough task for our defense.”
