LSC week 7 power rankings: Tarleton keeps streaking, WT moves up a spot

West Texas A&M quarterback Nick Gerber, right, hands the ball off to Jordan Johnson during a game earlier this year. [Mackenzie Teal/ Press Pass Sports]

1. Tarleton (6-0, 4-0): Fourteen points in the opening 33 seconds paced the No. 4 Texans to a 49-10 thumping of Eastern New Mexico. Tarleton has now won 16 straight regular season games and 12 straight Lone Star Conference matchups dating back to last year.

2. Angelo State (5-1, 3-1): The Rams bounced back after a loss to Tarleton though it wasn’t as smooth as they’d hoped. ASU had to pull away from a stingy Western New Mexico team in the third quarter for a 31-14 victory. Congrats to former Caprock running back Kaleb King on his first career collegiate touchdown. King scored on a 3-yard run for the Rams in the third quarter.

3. A&M-Commerce (5-1, 2-0): What a performance by the No. 20 Lions. TAMC rolled MSU-Texas 54-28 to stay unbeaten in the conference race. Quarterback Miklo Smalls earned LSC Offensive Player of the Week spreading around five touchdown passes on 186 yards passing. The Lions head to Tarleton for an LSC showdown on Saturday.

4. E. New Mexico (4-2, 2-2): It wasn’t the showing the Greyhounds hoped against a powerful Tarleton team. ENMU fell behind early and never recovered. What hurt the most is the Greyhounds ineffective use of a powerful run game. The Texans held ENMU to 173 yards Saturday, nearly 300 yards below their season average.

5. W. Texas A&M (5-1, 2-1): It was far from pretty, but the Buffs were able to sneak away with a 14-10 win at UT Permian Basin. In somewhat of a recurring theme, WT struggled in the first half, trailing 10-0. In the second half, the offense woke while the defense clamped down. The Buffs now get an LSC showdown at home with Angelo State on Saturday.

6. MSU-Texas (3-3, 1-3): The Mustangs tail spin continued with a lopsided loss at Texas A&M-Commerce, giving MSU-Texas its first three-game losing skid since the 2005 season. The Mustangs try and avoid a four-game losing streak since 1999 when they host host Western New Mexico on Saturday.

7. W. New Mexico (1-5, 1-2): They didn’t get the win, however, the Mustangs gave Angelo State all it wanted despite coming up short, 31-14. Quarterback and LSC passing leader C.J. Fowler threw for 337 yards in defeat.

8. UTPB (2–4, 0-4): UT Permian Basin looked to had snapped its LSC losing skid Saturday, but couldn’t hang on to a late lead at home to West Texas A&M. The Falcons have now dropped nine straight conference games dating back to last year. Despite the loss linebacker Chris Hoad made 14 tackles.

9. A&M Kingsville (1-5, 0-3): Frustrations continue to grow for the Javelinas following a 26-14 home loss to Western Oregon. Leading 14-7 at half, the Wolves scored 19 unanswered to hand TAMK a fourth straight loss. The Javelinas travel to MSU-Texas on Saturday.

LSC Standings

Team   LSC   Overall

Tarleton   4-0    6-0

A&M-Commerce   3-0  5-1

Angelo State 3-1    5-1

West Texas A&M   2-1  5-1

E. New Mexico  2-2  4-2

W. New Mexico   1-2    1-5

MSU-Texas 1-3    3-3

A&M-Kingsville  0-3  1-5

UT Permian Basin    0-4    2-4

Week 7

Saturday’s games

UT Permian Basin at Chadron St., 1 p.m.

A&M-Commerce at Tarleton, 6 p.m.

Angelo State at W. Texas A&M, 6 p.m.

E. New Mexico at W. New Mexico, 7 p.m.

A&M-Kingsville at MSU-Texas, 7 p.m.