BEAUMONT, Texas – For those not keeping track, Saturday's matchup between No. 20 (STATS Perform FCS Top 25 poll) Lamar University and East Texas A&M marks the midway point of the 2025 schedule. After Saturday's game, half the schedule will be done. To this point, the Cardinals have taken care of business remaining in the polls for five weeks, posting a 4-1 overall record and getting league play off to a strong start with a victory over Nicholls Saturday in Beaumont.
 
While the Cardinals (4-1/1-0 SLC) make their way north riding the longest win streak since 2018, a win Saturday would mark the program's best overall start since the 1974 season. That year Lamar finished the year 8-2 (.800).
 
Saturday will not be an easy contest, as Big Red returns to the site where it recorded a Ben Woodard 50-yard game-winning field goal to get past the Lions.
 
East Texas A&M (formerly Texas A&M-Commerce) has had a tough start to the season with a 1-4 (.200) overall record but appears to have turned things around in their conference opener. The Lions are coming off an impressive 30-point thumping of Northwestern State. ETAMU's record is also skewed a bit due to the fact that the Lions played both No. 16 SMU and No. 14 Florida State during the non-conference portion of its schedule.
 
The series between the two schools dates back to the 1951 season with East Texas A&M holding a slim one-game advantage, 8-7 (.533). The Lions won the first five meetings, but the series has turned in LU's favor recently with Lamar having won consecutive games and four of the past five.
 
Saturday's game is set for a 6 p.m. kick off from Commerce Memorial Stadium. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.
   
LU vs. the Lions
Lamar is 7-8 (.467) all-time against East Texas A&M but has won four of the last five games in the series. Big Red is 3-3 (.500) all-time against the Lions in Commerce, a mark that includes last season's thrilling contest that saw LU rally to win the game on 50-yard field goal. The series between the two teams dates back to the 1951 season.
 
Going Streaking
The Cards have won four consecutive equaling the run from the 2023 season. A win Saturday would equal the longest streak since Big Red rattled off five straight in 2018.
 
Getting Stronger as the Game Goes On
Lamar's defense continues to prove it gets stronger as the game wears on. After holding Nicholls to just three-second half points, the Cardinals are now holding opponents to paltry 7.0 points per game (35) in the second half. If you remove the Cardinals' game at FBS North Texas, that number drops to 5.3 points per game in the second half.
 
Lighting the Fuse(lier)
Just a week after earning SLC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, the nation's second-leading punt returner was at it once again. Senior Kyndon Fuselier returned four punts for 104 yards (26.0 ypr) and a touchdown. The return for a score was an 88 yarder with less than four to play and proved to be the difference. It was also the fourth-longest return in program history missing the record by two yards.