Lions to take on longtime rival TAMUK in week 3 at AT&T Stadium.

Opponent: Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Date: Saturday, September 20, 10 A.M.

Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Mascot: Javelines (Or Hoggies)

Location:  Kingsville, Texas

Enrollment: 8,067 (Total)

Conference: Lone Star

Head Coach: David Calloway

Offensive Scheme: Pro-Set

Defensive Scheme: Multiple

2013 Record: 2-8 Overall

2013 Result: A&M-Commerce-41, TAMUK-28

Overall Opining: TAMUK is a blood rival and has been for a long time. Moving this game to a neutral site was a good decision and I think the atmosphere will be great. Having a Saturday game will be advantageous and I think that we really have a shot to send a message three games into the season. Last year, this group totally trashed the Hoggies down in Kingsville and could have really made it worse than it really was. At some point in the game, we were up 41-7 and had pulled our starters. We had also lost Tyrik Rollison for the season, so having them at Cowboys Stadium will have a totally different dynamic and I am really anxious to see what we will do against these guys next year. It is also the Chennault Cup game, so this is a hardware game. A win would mean a win against a conference foe at the world’s premier sporting event, oh and also a trophy to go with it, which would mean 3 straight Chennault Cup Championships.

Storylines: In all honesty, TAMUK plays a very basic style of Football and they pretty much always have. They have a balanced offense and a simple defense that emphasizes fundamentals rather than complicated schemes. Last year I watched the game on TV and one thing I noticed is that Carthel seemed to be two steps ahead of what the Hoggies were doing. On offense, TAMUK looked completely impotent even when they got to moving the ball, they sputtered and Carthel and Co. were mixing up coverages and forcing TAMUK’s QB Dean Brantly into some bad decisions throwing and running. On defense, TAMUK tried to play off our receivers and then get into press coverage at some points, all of the attempts results in disaster. When they pressed, we gashed them with a run, when they played off, Rollison and Harrison Stewart ate them alive. The one story line will be can we just walk into a huge stage and take down a rival that will have a lot of people coming to root them on? We basically sacrificed a home game for this game, but I have a feeling this is what this group needs. They could handle it last year, and the team is a year older and more mature. This is a rivalry game however, and I do not expect the folks from South Texas to go quietly into the night. This is a game that I will be looking forward to out of all the games in the early part of the year. Should be exciting.