Call them Texas Tech North, even though they wear maroon and white instead of red and black.

Just like the Red Raiders, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes have college football fans from these parts hog wild about the 2008 season. The Buffs have an unblemished record, top-10 national ranking and prolific passing attack, and just like Mike Leach’s bunch, Don Carthel’s crew has visions of not only winning a conference championship but fighting for the national crown.

West Texas A&M (4-0, 2-0 Lone Star Conference), which is shooting for its fourth straight conference title, is ranked sixth in the latest American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll, having outscored its opponents by nearly 30 points per game. And the Buffs are putting up Tech-like numbers offensively.

The Buffs are averaging 47.2 points and 528.8 total yards per game – compared to 45.8 and 572.8 for the Red Raiders – and quarterback Keith Null is doing an awfully good impression of Graham Harrell. The senior from Lampasas ranks second among Division II quarterbacks with 1,415 passing yards, and he shares the national lead with 13 touchdown passes.

Want some more parallels to the Red Raiders? Senior receiver Charly Martin is just a shade behind Mike Crabtree with 24 catches for 408 yards and five TDs, and the Buffs also have added a ground game to their arsenal. Sophomore Keithon Flemming, who last year become the school’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2000, already has 334 yards and five TDs, and he’s averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

The Buffs haven’t been bad on defense either, allowing fewer than 20 points and 300 total yards per game, and a couple local products are helping to lead the way. Abernathy graduate Jared Brock, a two-time all-American at outside linebacker, is among the team leaders with 20 tackles, five tackles for losses and two quarterback sacks. Former Lockney standout Mark Ford, the Buffs’ other starting outside linebacker, has nine tackles including two for losses.

A few other area high school standouts also are contributing for the Buffs – Denver City’s Brittan Golden (receiver), Tahoka’s Jay Tillman (running back), Nazareth’s Zane Farris (linebacker) and Lockney’s Graden Long (offensive line) – as the team approaches the meat of its schedule.

West Texas A&M travels to face Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday – the teams have won or shared the last seven LSC titles – and then has a homecoming matchup with No. 21 Midwestern State on Oct. 4 in Canyon.

Two weeks later, the Buffs might break the Division II home-game attendance record (23,276) they set last year. No. 4 Abilene Christian, which coaches picked to finish ahead of West Texas A&M in the LSC, will visit Kimbrough Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18 in what could be a battle of unbeatens.

Texas Tech will be playing in College Station that day, so if the Red Raiders kick off early and gas prices aren’t too outrageous, you might want to make the trip north to check out the other college football powerhouse on the South Plains.