RICHARDSON, Texas – As the Western Oregon University football team gets set to join the Lone Star Conference this upcoming fall season, the LSC released the 2022 conference schedule on Wednesday.
"We're really excited to see the first schedule as we join the Lone Star Conference this coming fall. We have five home conference games which will make for a great atmosphere allowing our home crowd to see what the LSC has to offer. While we will see some new teams in the conference this year, we look forward to playing the teams that we've seen over the past few years in what will always be a competitive schedule in one of the top conferences in Division II," head coach Arne Ferguson said.
The Wolves will play nine conference games with five being played at home. WOU will see some familiar faces over the past few years including Western New Mexico, Angelo State, Central Washington, West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State, Simon Fraser and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Wolves will also play UT Permian Basin for the first time this year.
The LSC schedule starts in week three for WOU as they will play at Western New Mexico. WOU and WNMU have played each other three times since 2002 with the Wolves winning all three games. Two of the three games have been played in Silver City, including the past two meetings. The teams last played each other in 2017 with WOU rolling to the 58-21 road victory. In fact, WOU has won all three meetings by at least 19 points.
Following the road trip to Silver City, WOU will play their first conference home game on Sep. 24 against UT Permian Basin. This will be the first meeting between the teams at UTPB recently started their football program back in 2016. This past season, the Falcons went 5-5 and picked up LSC wins against West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico.
Back-to-back home games will take place on Oct. 1 when Angelo State travels to Monmouth. These two teams have seen a lot of each other in recent years playing in 2018 and 2019. In the first meeting in 2018 in Monmouth, the game went right down to the end before the Rams claimed the seven-point win. During the last meeting in 2019 in San Angelo, the Rams took the 25-point victory.
A very familiar face awaits the Wolves on Oct. 8 when they will travel to Ellensburg to play Central Washington. This will be the first season since 2007 that the two teams will play each other once during the conference slate. This past year, the Wildcats won both meetings and have won three straight in the series including an overtime win during the final meeting of 2019. Prior to that game, WOU claimed a big road win at Ellensburg, which was the program's first road win in Ellensburg since moving to Division II. Since 2000, Central Washington holds a 29-7 series record, going 16-1 in Ellensburg and 12-5 in Monmouth.
Two more home games will complete October for the Wolves as they will play West Texas A&M in Monmouth on Oct. 15. It was a game to remember when these teams played each other last year in Monmouth on Oct. 2. With the game coming down to the final seconds, the Wolves were able to drive the length of the field to score with 17 seconds left to complete an 89-yard game-winning drive. The Buffs were intercepted on their final attempt to preserve the 41-38 win for the Wolves. That was the first meeting between the teams.
The fourth home game of the season arrives the next week on Oct. 22 when Eastern New Mexico will travel to Monmouth. These teams have seen a lot of each other over the past few years playing twice since 2018. During the first meeting in 2018 in Portales, the Wolves nearly pulled off the late comeback win before falling by five. In 2019, the teams again went to the end in Monmouth with WOU fighting back in the second half before the Greyhounds came away with the eight-point victory to hold a 2-0 series record.
WOU will complete October with a road game at Midwestern State on Oct. 29. WOU and Midwestern State played once in the series meeting which came in 2019 in Monmouth. It was a big game for the Wolves as they held a 24-16 halftime lead and then limited the Mustangs to just six points in the second half to take the 37-22 victory.
In November, WOU will play a pair of games first hosting another very familiar face in Simon Fraser on Nov. 5. This will be the first time since the 2001 season that the two teams will play just once during the conference schedule. Outside of the first meeting in 2000 that Simon Fraser picked up the win, WOU has won the past 23 meetings in the series. In the games last year, WOU rolled to a 39-point win in Monmouth and picked up a 17-point win in Canada. WOU has gone 12-0 at home and 11-1 on the road in the series.
The final LSC conference game will be on Nov. 12 when the Wolves travel to face Texas A&M-Kingsville. This has become a regular road trip for the Wolves as this will now be their fifth straight trip to play at Kingsville since 2007. Overall the teams have played five times since 2006 with WOU going 4-1. The Wolves won the first four meetings in the series that was snapped this past season with the Javelinas claiming the 14-point win at home. WOU also played at Kingsville in 2019 and 2018 coming away with 12-point and six-point victories. Back in 2007 was the first trip to Kingsville for the Wolves and WOU came away with the eight-point victory.
Date At Opponent Location
Sep 17 (Sat) Away Western New Mexico University Silver City, N.M.
Sep 24 (Sat) Home UT Permian Basin Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
Oct 1 (Sat) Home Angelo State Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
Oct 8 (Sat) Away Central Washington University Ellensburg, Wash.
Oct 15 (Sat) Home West Texas A&M Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
Oct 22 (Sat) Home Eastern New Mexico Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
Oct 29 (Sat) Away Midwestern State University Texas Wichita Falls, Texas
Nov 5 (Sat) Home Simon Fraser University (B.C.) Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
Nov 12 (Sat) Away Texas A&M University - Kingsville Kingsville, Texas
