GUTTING IT OUT
Former Badger Null sprains ankle, leads WTAMU past ACU
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Under pressure and playing hurt, Null completed this 38-yard pass to receiver Charly Martin. The completion set up the game-clinching field goal with 3:34 to play.

ABILENE - In the biggest football game of his life, Keith Null sprained his ankle late in the second quarter.

How did the 2004 Lampasas High School graduate respond?

By not missing a snap and leading the sixth-ranked West Texas A&M Buffaloes to a 41-31 win over 12thranked Abilene Christian at Shotwell Stadium on Saturday.

The junior quarterback, who entered the game leading all of NCAA Division II with 25 passing touchdowns, completed 29 of 47 passes for 160 yards and four touchdowns.

"He hurts his ankle in the second quarter, plays four quarters and throws four touchdowns," said WTAMU quarterbacks coach Ryan Leaf, who was the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFLDraft. "He just took the team on his back and beat them. I'm just really, really proud of him and what he does for this university. He makes my job easy."

With the win, Null's Buffaloes improve to 8-0 overall, 6-0 in the Lone Star Conference and 4-0 in the LSC South, setting up a potential conference-deciding showdown at undefeated Tarleton State in three weeks.

PHOTOS BY GABE WOLF Lampasas High graduate Keith Null threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns, leading West Texas A&M to a 41-31 win at Abilene Christian on Saturday.

Null had rallied the Buffaloes from a 10-0 deficit to a 22-17 lead when he sprained the ankle trying to beat two defenders to the corner of the end zone on a first-and-goal situation. ACU's defense would hold WTAMU to a field goal on the drive and keep the score at 25-17.

The WTAMU defense held ACU on the ensuing drive, which gave Null's offense the ball at the ACU 48 with 1:52 left in the half. Null, limping noticeably, engineered a three-play scoring drive that gave the Buffaloes a 31-17 halftime lead and provided his team enough cushion to hold off the Wildcats in the second half.

With an ankle swollen to the size of a grapefruit, Null returned to the huddle in the third quarter. He threw for 164 yards and a touchdown in the second half, despite having severely limited mobility in the pocket.

West Texas A&M junior quarterback Keith Null is congratulated by friends and family after leading the No. 6- ranked Buffaloes past No. 12-ranked Abilene Christian on Saturday.

Leaf said Null, who has thrown for 2,814 yards in eight games, proved in the second half that he has become a complete quarterback, managing the clock, protecting the football and making big plays with his arm when the team needed them most.

The WTAMU offense converted 8 of 14 third downs and controlled the ball for 33 minutes and 57 seconds on the day.

"Part of it is that he's had a year with me to see how I coach, to learn how I communicate and learn how I teach," Leaf said. "And Keith has gone out and applied it to what he does on the field. He's bought into whatever I've had to say, and just taken it and run with it."

Null's favorite target Saturday was senior tight end Kolo Kapanui. A Hawaii native who transferred to WTAMU last year from Southern California after a hip injury, Kapanui caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Null didn't ignore his top receiver, All-American senior Charly Martin. He hit Martin with a touchdown in the first half, and when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, Null set up the gameclinching field goal with a 38-yard pass to Martin that gave the Buffaloes a first-and-goal.

Martin was the favorite target of graduated WTAMU quarterback Dalton Bell, who is under contract with the Green Bay Packers. Martin has caught six of Null's nationleading 29 TDs.

"We had so many questions hanging over the program at the beginning of the year," Martin said. "Everybody was saying, 'You've lost Dalton. What are you going to do?' But inside the locker room, we knew there was no question what we were going to do at quarterback. I really don't believe any of us were worried.

"Obviously, the outside world didn't know about Keith, but we knew about Keith. We knew he was a great quarterback with a great work ethic and who is a great leader. Tonight, he got banged up, and he still carried us to a victory. That's the kind of guy you want leading your team and the type of guy I want throwing me the ball."

Null is trying to follow in the footsteps of Bell, who guided the Buffaloes to back-to-back LSC crowns and the first two Division II playoff berths in school history. At 8-0, the team appears poised to make it three straight titles and playoff berths. Null, though, refuses to take the credit.

"What helped me a lot was that I was here three years before I (was named the starter), and I got to play under Dalton Bell and learn from Coach Leaf," he said. "Just to sit back and watch the things he did well and try to pick up on those things has helped me. Coach Leaf and I have been together one more year, and that helps because he's got such a great grasp on the offense."

With Null sitting second in the nation in passing yardage and first in touchdowns, he has a shot to lead the country in both categories, but Martin said Null couldn't care less about his numbers.

"I really think it's all about the person Keith is," said Martin. "He's a great football player, and he shows that, but the person Keith is is unbelievable -- the leadership he shows on this team. He's a great person who comes from a great family.

"Take football out of the equation, and Keith's still the guy you want to be around. He's loose. He'll keep a smile on your face, and you couldn't ask for a better leader."