Gameday Notebook: Lights offense stumped by Western defense

After a solid showing in their win over Eastern Oregon University last weekend, the Lights had one of their worst games of the season on offense. Against the Bulldogs, the Lights recorded season lows in first downs, passing yards, rushing yards and total offense.

The Lights went three-and-out on their first six drives of the game and did not get their first first down of the day until the final moments of the first half. The Lights only recorded five first downs in the game.

In his second straight start at quarterback, Kaymen Cureton completed six of his 20 pass attempts for 29 yards and an interception. The Lights were missing their top runner Izayah Boss for the second straight game and his absence was felt. Cannan Smith led the Lights with nine rushing yards on nine attempts. But several sacks on Cureton resulted in the Lights ending the day with negative-nine rushing yards. As a team, the Lights only gained 20 yards of offense.

The only score of the day for the Lights came from a special teams mistake by the Bulldogs. With under three minutes left in the game, Western lined up to punt at the 50-yard line. However, the snap went over the punter's head and Smith recovered the ball in the end zone for the Lights' only score of the game.

If there was a bright spot for the Lights' offense, it is that they did not turn the ball over in the first half. In the first game between the Lights and the Bulldogs this season, the Lights turned the ball over three times to give Western great field position. But Saturday, the Western offense did not need those mistakes to drive down the field and put the ball in the end zone.

However, the Lights's turnover troubles resurfaced in the second half of the game with a fumble and interception by Cureton. The Lights have now turned the ball over in all nine games this season and turned it over more than once in seven of them.

MSU-N defense unable to change momentum

The Lights' defense had been the ball club's biggest strength this season. Even when they allow big plays and points, the Lights would often take away the ball to give their offense more possessions and shift momentum. But Saturday, the MSU-N defense failed to create a single turnover.

Western quarterback Jon Jund had himself a day against the Lights as he completed 19 of 23 passes for 275 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions. In their previous meeting, Jund completed 46.6 percent of his passes for 196 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Western backup quarterback Peyton Broennek also threw for 115 yards and a touchdown in relief. Western finished the day with a combined 390 passing yards, a season-high allowed by the MSU-N secondary.

It was only the second game this season that the Lights did not record an interception and the first game this fall the MSU-N defense did not create a takeaway. The Lights had recorded an interception in six straight games before this past weekend.

Dylan Wampler continues to clean up the middle

While Saturday saw few positives for the Lights, junior linebacker Dylan Wampler had to be one of them. He finished the afternoon with 13 total tackles, a high for both teams. With 91 total tackles this season, he only has two more games to break the century mark. His 91 total tackles also keeps him as the leader in the statistical category in the Frontier Conference. The next closest player is his teammate Hunter Riley with his 69 tackles.