Lone Star Conference heats up as September reaches its end. The Week 5 slate features a quartet of LSC matchups, including no. 12-ranked Central Washington looking to stay perfect against Div. II competition on the season. 

• Subscribe To FloFootball To Watch The 2024 College Football Season
• Best D2 Football Players In 2024. Here's The Top 100

The Wildcats are at home hosting Western New Mexico in Saturday’s nightcap, the conclusion of a quadruple-header on FloFootball.

West Texas A&M at Western Oregon

Playing one of the most grinding schedules in all of college football, West Texas A&M comes off a three-game stretch that pit the Buffaloes against then-No. 5 ranked Colorado School of Mines; then-No. 15 Western Colorado; and LSC counterpart and then-No. 14 Central Washington.

This weekend's WTAMU’s run of top 15-ranked opponents, but things don’t get much easier with the Buffaloes traveling to the Pacific Northwest to meet Western Oregon.

The Wolves are playing their home opener after facing a pair of FCS opponents, Idaho State and Cal Poly, and kicking off LSC action last week with a 39-17 romp at Sul Ross State. WOU pounded away with its usual steady diet of the run, racking up 264 yards via 53 carries. Four Wolves reached the end zone on the ground, and five rushed for at least 36 yards.

Dominique Loggins leads the Western Oregon rushing attack with 183 yards on 43 carries through three games. Fresh Ison and Jeremaine Land are not far behind him.

The WTAMU defense has allowed 183 rushing yards per game and given up 11 rushing touchdowns. In its lone win, however, the Buffalo defense held Sul Ross State to just 56 rushing yards.

Controlling the ground game should prove pivotal for both the Buffs and host Wolves. WTAMU’s offense has made hay with dual-threat quarterback Sean Johnson, who is producing 7.5 yards per carry. Johnson’s scored six touchdowns via the run and another three through the air.

Johnson should be Saturday’s X-factor — one way or the other. If he gets loose, WTAMU will get on the winning track after three straight tough losses. If WOU can contain him, the Wolves will continue the Buffs’ woes.

PREDICTION: Western Oregon 24, West Texas A&M 20 

UT Permian Basin at Midwestern State 

Through a 2-2 overall start and 1-1 beginning to LSC play, UT Permian Basin has been fascinatingly up-and-down in wins vs. losses. The Falcons are scoring 54 points per game in their two victories with a 41-3 blasting of Western New Mexico to open the conference docket, and a 67-14 blowout of Adams State in non-conference play. 

In losses to a playoff-caliber CSU-Pueblo team and last week’s setback in LSC play vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville, UTPB’s scoring output dips to 18.5 points per game. A constant for the Falcons across all three games, however, has been quarterback Dylan Graham’s passing output. 

Graham has thrown for multiple touchdowns in each outing, and his 11 in total are tied for fourth-most among all Div. II quarterbacks. Conversely, Midwestern State comes in ranked No. 12 nationally against the pass with just 135.7 yards allowed through the air in three games. 

The Mustangs improved to 2-1 last week with a 36-15 defeat of Eastern New Mexico. While the Greyhounds’ run-heavy offensive style contributes to Midwestern State’s overall passing defense numbers, it’s worth noting that the Mustangs intercepted as many attempts as ENMU completed. Ryan Melton, who made both picks, is up to three on the season after snagging an interception Week 0 vs. Missouri Southern. 

Midwestern State won that matchup, 18-11. The Mustangs’ only loss came in Week 1 vs. nationally ranked Western Colorado, the best passing offense MSU has seen to this point. That game turned into a 38-33 shootout with almost 90 combined pass attempts and more than 600 yards through the air. 

UTPB may need to similarly push the pace to prevent Midwestern State from grinding the tempo in its favor and dominating the ball. 

PREDICTION: UTPB 31, Midwestern State 30 

Sul Ross State at Texas A&M-Kingsville 

Texas A&M-Kingsville comes home to Javelina Stadium for the first time in a month and does so with a winning streak to its credit. 

The Javelinas opened LSC competition last week with a 20-14 defeat of UTPB, having jumped on the Falcons early and holding them off down the stretch. The LSC victory followed a 27-7 defeat of the Gulf South Conference’s Mississippi College. The Javelinas defense has been overwhelming through its first three games. A yield of 12.3 points per game ranks 12th in Div. II and is the stingiest in the LSC.

It’s another tough matchup for Sul Ross State in Year 2 of its transition to NCAA Div. II. The Lobos opened with losses to WTAMU in league play and against LSC counterpart Eastern New Mexico in a non-conference contest. They picked up their first win of 2024 in a 52-51 overtime shootout with NAIA opponent Wayland Baptist.

Quarterback Andrew Martinez put together his best performance of the season in the win with four touchdowns. However, in two games before beating Wayland Baptist, Martinez threw a pair of scores against both West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. Last week vs. Western Oregon was Martinez's first and only time this season not throwing for multiple touchdowns. 

The Lobos will need to generate all the offense they can muster against Texas A&M-Kingsville. 

PREDICTION: Texas A&M-Kingsville 38, Sul Ross State 17

Western New Mexico at Central Washington

Central Washington has emerged as a potential national championship contender and early front-runner in the LSC championship chase. The Wildcats look to stay perfect against Div. II opponents and move to 2-0 in the conference when they play their home opener against Western New Mexico.

CWU opened with three games and two wins, beating Colorado Mesa and routing West Texas A&M after a loss at FCS opponent San Diego. The Wildcats' defense shined in its wins with just 15 points allowed over the two games.

They held Colorado Mesa to just 56 rushing yards behind an 11-tackle effort from Chase Coalson and Chase Loidhamer’s two tackles for loss pacing the Wildcats to eight TFL as a team. CWU followed up the next week holding West Texas A&M to just three points and 219 total yards, with a scant 76 through the air.

The Wildcats’ overwhelming showing at WTAMU included All-American Tanner Volk snaring his first interception of the season. While flexing its defensive muscles on both sides of the ball, CWU has played complementary ball on offense with a multifaceted rushing attack.

Kennedy McGill’s 92.3 yards per game paces the Wildcats with Tyler Flanagan rolling up a shade less than 70 — and a team-high five touchdowns — and Cam Daniels is rushing for 31.3 yards per game. 

CWU's run game feeds into a whopping 34:55-25:05 advantage in time of possession. On the flip side, Western New Mexico ranks near the bottom of Div. II with 28:01 average time of possession. In wins over New Mexico Highlands and Adams State, WNMU maintained possession for more than 33 minutes. 

In losses to UTPB and Angelo State, during which the Mustangs scored just three combined points, they had possession for just a little longer than 26 minutes. 

PREDICTION: Central Washington 34, Western New Mexico 10

Latest Division 2 College Football Rankings 

AFCA Coaches Poll

• Harding (Ark.) (29) - Prev. 1
• Grand Valley State (Mich.) - Prev. 2
• Valdosta State (Ga) - Prev. 3
• Colorado Mines - Prev. 4
• Ferris St. (Mich.) - Prev. 5
• Lenior-Rhyne (N.C.) - Prev. 6
• Minnesota St. - Prev. 8
• Kutztown (Pa.) - Prev. 7
• Slippery Rock (Pa.) - Prev. 9
• Pittsburg St. (Kan.) - Prev. 10
• Emporia St. (Kan.) - Prev. 13
• Central Missouri - Prev. 11
• Central Washington - Prev. 14
• Western Colorado - Prev.15
• Indianapolis (Ind.) - Prev. 16
• Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) - Prev. 17
• West Alabama - Prev. 23
• Augustana (S.D.) - Prev. 18
• Charleston (W.Va.) - Prev. 19
• Henderson State (Ark.) - Prev. 20
• West Florida - Prev. 12
• Colorado St.-Pueblo - Prev. 22
• Central Oklahoma - Prev. NR
• Delta St. (Miss.) - Prev. 24
• Indiana (Pa.) - Prev. NR

Dropped Out: Virginia Union (21), Wingate (N.C.) (24t)

Others Receiving Votes: Johnson C. Smith (N.C.), 17; Findlay (Ohio), 12; Bemidji St. (Minn.), 8; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 7; Davenport (Mich.), 7; Southern Arkansas, 3; Clark Atlanta (Ga.), 2; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 2; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 2; Frostburg St. (Md.), 2; Virginia Union, 2; Angelo St. (Tex.), 1; New Haven (Conn.), 1.

Watch D2 Football On FloFootball 

Here's the D2 broadcast schedule on FloFootball for week 5 of the college football season. Subscribe to watch. 

Saturday, September 28

All Times Eastern.

• No. 5 Ferris State vs American International - 12:00 p.m.
• Mississippi College vs Chowan - 1:00 p.m.
• Tusculum vs No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne - 1:00 p.m.
• Southern Connecticut State vs St. Anselm - 1:00 p.m.
• New Haven vs Bentley - 2:00 p.m.
• No. 21 West Florida vs No. 2 Grand Valley State - 3:00 p.m.
• West Texas A&M vs Western Oregon - 4:00 p.m.
• No. 24 Delta State vs Erskine - 4:00 p.m.
• Emory & Henry vs Limestone - 5:00 p.m.
• Pace University vs Franklin Pierce - 6:00 p.m.
• Post vs Assumption - 6:00 p.m.
• Mars Hill vs Wingate - 6:00 p.m.
• UVA Wise vs Newberry - 7:00 p.m.
• Shorter vs North Greenville - 7:00 p.m.
• No. 17 West Alabama vs No. 3 Valdosta State - 7:00 p.m.
• UT Permian Basin vs Midwestern State - 8:00 p.m.
• Sul Ross State vs A&M-Kingsville - 8:00 p.m.
• Western N.M. vs No. 13 Central Washington - 9:00 p.m.

Archived Footage On FloFootball

 Video footage from all events will be archived and stored in a video library for FloFootball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

Watch The 2024 College Football Season On FloFootball  

FloFootball is the home of the best FCS, Division II and Division III football action all season long. 

Don't miss the latest college football action by bookmarking the FloFootball schedule page for the latest games. 

Join the College Football Conversation

• Follow us on Twitter @FloFootball
• Follow us on Instagram @FloFootball
• Follow us on TikTok @FloFootball
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook