In their final game of the season, the Texas A&M University-Commerce football team (4-5) will face Southwestern Oklahoma State University (1-9). A win would give the Lions the Lone Star Conference North Division title outright.
A&M-Commerce clinched a share of the North Division title with their win against Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
“I didn’t like the way we won,” head coach Guy Morriss said. “We came back and found a way to win it, which I guess is good, building up our confidence.”
Morriss wants to see his team start strong against Southwestern instead of the way they did against Southeastern, where they were behind by seven points after the first 13 seconds.
“We need to get out of the gate fast,” he said. “We need to come ready to play. The day is going to come that we aren’t going to be able to come back.”
Despite Southwestern’s paltry 1-9 record, Morriss is worried that his players may overlook a tough opponent. He doesn’t want the Lions to relive their 2007 season where they lost the final game and the North Division title to Southwestern Oklahoma.
“Our kids read the paper; they know what [Southwestern’s] record is,” Morris said. “The thing that scares me about Southwestern is that we might overlook this team. If we play the way I know we can play, we should be fine.”
Morriss is looking for his defense to contain the run early in the game, forcing Southwestern to become a one-dimensional offense.
“At that point in the game we can start bringing pressure and try and disrupt the quarterback’s rhythm,” he said. “Defensively, they’re pretty basic in their approach. That will help us, because the simpler they are, the easier it is for us on offense.”
The Lions hope to repeat their successful rushing attack from last week, when Marcus Graham rushed 30 times for 171 yards and a touchdown.
“Now that I’ve seen them do it, I expect them to do it again this week,” Morriss said. “So it’s going to be a challenge to repeat that performance.”