It wasn’t the outcome West Texas A&M faithful wanted in a 24-13 loss to Azusa Pacific.

But fans leaving Kimbrough Stadium Saturday night had to feel good about the direction the football program is heading under first-year head coach Hunter Hughes and his coaching staff.

In some people’s mind, they had to be thinking that a veteran Cougars team was going to come in and blow WT out.

The Buffs were picked seventh in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll, while starting four total seniors on both sides of the ball.

Instead, the Buffs gave the No. 13-ranked Cougars everything they wanted, including a second half whipping in the trenches.

By the end of the game the APU defense was gassed, calling timeouts to catch their breath.

Covering WT the past four years, I’ve never seen a Buff offensive line man handle a defensive front like Dillon Vaughan, Travis Vornkahl and company did Saturday night.

To put in prospective, redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Houghtaling was 9-of-21 for 94 yards.

Houghtaling had a respectable first career start without making any mistakes, however, he was over shadowed by a punishing ground game that chewed up 223 yards on 49 attempts.

That’s going against a tough, fast APU defense that allowed 115 yards a game on the ground last year.

The Buffs also won the time of possession battle, having the ball 33 minutes. Name the last time that happened.

When Hughes stood on the podium at his inaugural press conference in December he promised power football.

Well, he’s delivered.

In the nine months since Hughes arrived, WT is a complete makeover from the pass happy air raid of the past 12 years. That formula was a huge success for a longtime, but I’m a believer that this style of football will win games in the LSC.

Junior running backs Myron Buchanan and Warren Witherspoon did an excellent job of running downhill, much to Hughes’ philosophy he’s been instilling since April.

Buchanan had 48 yards rushing before leaving with an undisclosed injury at half. Witherspoon picked up the slack in the second half, using the holes given from an outstanding line, going for a career-high 144 yards on 24 carries.

Witherspoon will hold himself accountable for a costly fumble late, that allowed Cougar defender Adrian Shocks to scoop and score a 46 yard return to seal the win with a minute to play in the game.

Yet, if WT doesn’t have Witherspoon, are they even in the game?

Catching up with the man they call "Spoon" in the lockeroom, he was even shocked how quickly the Buffs have changed in his three years here.

"Since the spring we’ve been hitting each other," Witherspoon said. "It was easy to come out here and be rough. It was easy to come out and be physical. That’s all we’ve been doing for months. Practices are so hard, it made game time a little easier. We should have won. We took a step though and I feel like we have something to look forward to."

The Buffs offense now needs to work on finding the endzone. WT mustered two field goals in three red zone chances, not to mention a missed field before halftime. Not good.

Hughes and new defensive coordinator Miles Kochevar’s defense was also impressive. Minus a couple of missed assignments, the new look 3-4 scheme hampered the Cougars running game, and gave talented quarterback Andrew Elffers fits.

Keep an eye on linebacker Daelin Young. The 6-foot-2 senior had two sacks last night. He has big time potential for a huge season.

The secondary showed its youth, struggling with big play receiver Weston Carr, but overall it’s a unit that will only get better under their defensive minded coach.

Records: Azusa Pacific improves to 1-0; West Texas A&M falls to 0-1.

Noteworthy: The Buffs’ lone touchdown came on a 36-yard interception return by Kevon Thomas.

Amarillo.com: Look for the Buffs’ game story against Azusa Pacific on amarillo.com

Azusa Pacific 24, West Texas A&M 13

Azusa Pacific 10 0 7 7 — 24

West Texas A&M 0 0 7 6 — 13

FIRST QUARTER

APU —Jacob Hall 25 FG, 9:56

APU —Gavin McDaniel 3 run (Hall kick), 1:12

THIRD QUARTER

WT —Kevon Thomas 36 interception return (Alex Schrag kick), 7:37

APU — Weston Carr 27 pass from Andrew Elffers (Hall kick), 4:18

FOURTH QUARTER

WT —Schrag 25 FG, 14:51

WT —Schrag 29 FG, 7:05

APU —Adrian Shocks 46 fumble recovery (Hall kick), 1:00

APU WT

First Downs ;5;19

Rushing Yards;81;223

Passing Yards;236;94

C-A-I;15-22-1;9-21-0

Punts-Avg.;5-41.2;4-45.2

Fumbles-Lost;0-0;1-1

Penalties-Yards;9-86;3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATS

PASSING —APU: Andrew Elffers 15-22-1-236. WT: Justin Houghtaling 9-21-0-94.

RUSHING —APU: Gavin McDaniel 16-55, Elffers 9-45, Zikel Reddick 1-0. WT: Warren Witherspoon 24-144, Myron Buchanan 13-48, Collin Bailey 4-22, Jordan Johnson 1-18, Houghtaling 7-26.

RECEIVING —APU: Carr 9-161, Darrell Adams 3-46, Gaige Allen 1-15, Gavin McDaniel 1-11, Lucas Widmer 1-3. WT: Avery Lewis 3-42, Payton Gonzales 2-19, Kailan Noseff 2-19, Buchanan 1-11, Witherspoon 1-9.

LSC standings

Team LSC Overall

Angelo State 0-0 1-0

Eastern New Mexico 0-0 1-0

Midwestern State 0-0 1-0

Texas A&M-Commerce 0-0 1-0

Tarleton State 0-0 0-1

Texas A&M-Kingsville 0-0 0-1

UT Permian Basin 0-0 0-1

West Texas A&M 0-0 0-1

Western New Mexico 0-0 0-1

Saturday’s games

Eastern New Mexico at Western New Mexico, 1 p.m.

Texas A&M-Kingsville at Simon Frasor, 3 p.m.

Midwestern State at West Florida, 5 p.m.

William Jewel at Texas A&M-Commerce, 6 p.m.

Colorado State-Pueblo at West Texas A&m, 6 p.m.

Northern Michigan at Angelo State, 6 p.m.

UT Permian Basin at Lamar, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma Panhandle State at Tarleton State, 7 p.m.