Five days after a 20-17 loss to Tarleton State, the No. 16 Midwestern State Mustangs were faced with the task of rebounding from that loss, and reminding the rest of the Lone Star Conference that they were not to be taken lightly. The Mustangs response to this ended up being the 65-14 thrashing of the Texas A&M – Commerce Lions at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington during the annual LSC Football Festival on Sept. 13.

“The worst thing that could have happened to us was Tarleton sneaking up on MSU and beating them last week,” Commerce coach Guy Morriss said. “They turned it around and took it out on us.”

MSU coach Bill Maskill said the main difference between the Mustangs’ season opener against Tarleton and the game against Commerce was the team’s mental preparation.

“We focused well going into the game and were well-prepared,” Maskill said. “But we played sluggish, flat, and unemotional. I had to do a better job of getting our team mentally and emotionally prepared. We were flat at the end of warm-ups and even in the locker room when we were up 10-7 at halftime.”

After the opening game loss, the main focus for the Mustangs was not the way they played, but the mental state of the team. The very next day, Maskill said the priority for the Mustangs was to come back mentally from the loss.

“I told them that if [the loss] doesn’t hurt, then it doesn’t mean anything,” Maskill said. “The seniors made up their mind that it wasn’t going to happen again. That attitude trickled down to the rest of the team at that moment.”

In Arlington, however, the players stormed their way on to the field and immediately made their presence known. The Mustangs scored a field goal on their first drive down the field, and ended the first quarter with a 23-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Mustangs scored on a 7-yard pass and on a 37-yard field goal for a total of 10 more points.

Before the first three minutes had ticked off the clock of the second half, the Mustangs defense continued its onslaught on the Lions, coming up with two interceptions, one that resulted in a 32-yard return from Neiko Conway. The other allowed the offense to score a 9-yard rush from Jimmy Pipkin.

“To be able to get the two quick scores within a few minutes coming out of halftime just ignited us and turned the momentum,” Maskill said.

“I was impressed with how we were able to shovel a lot of people in and out. We were concerned with what our health and physical condition would be, and I think our kids handled it outstandingly. I feel like we accepted a challenge to keep pounding the nail in and play two more quarters, and we did that.”

The Mustangs’ running game was a thorn in the Lions’ paw. The players ran for a total of 376 yards and five touchdowns en route to their 51 point victory, four of them coming in the third quarter.

Chauncey Harris was the front runner for the Mustangs’ running game with 148 yards on four carries and two touchdowns (each being 50+ rushes).

“As well as we ran the ball, I think we can run it even better,” Maskill said. “We will continue to be a team that improves from week-to-week; and as the season goes on, the competition will also get better.”

The Mustangs (1-1) resume conference play against the Texas A&M – Kingsville Javelinas in Kingsville on Sept. 22.

“[MSU] is the class football team in our conference this year, again,” Morriss said. “They are the benchmark, as far as I’m concerned, in this league.”