BELTON — In the four meetings between UMHB and ETBU since the spring of 2021, two have been decided by single digits.
There was the 2020-21 win by a 30-28 score in Marshall, as UMHB kicker Anthony Avila drilled a 37-yard field goal with 2:12 left to put The Cru in the lead. Then last season, in Belton, it was the Tigers who went up 10-0 after the first quarter. UMHB didn’t score until the 6:28 mark of the second, but countered with 21 of the game’s final 23 points in a much-needed 21-12 victory.
A year after that, the conference opponents are set to meet in Belton once again. And this has all the makings of being a pivotal test for both teams. ETBU is looking to keep its perfect record intact, with its first 3-0 start since 2017. UMHB is back in the national conversation after beating UW-Whitewater and is looking to carry the confidence from that road win into the ASC opener.
There is great significance in this matchup, and we break it all down in today’s Week 5 Football Preview, presented by The Floor Store & More.
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Quick Facts
Kickoff time: 1:00 p.m. CT
Place: Belton, Texas (Fredenburg Field at Crusader Stadium)
Records: ETBU (3-0, 0-0 ASC), UMHB (2-1, 0-0 ASC)
Follow
WATCH: The game will be broadcasted on cruathletics.com.
LISTEN: Ward Whites (play-by-play) and Jordan Cox (color commentary) will have the call over the airwaves (and on the UMHB broadcast). The game can be heard locally on KMIL105.1 FM. Fans outside of the local area can listen live at cruathletics.com/listen.
STATS: UMHB will provide live stats here.
All-Time Series History
UMHB carries an 18-game winning streak into the matchup, having won in every meeting since the 2004 season. ETBU’s last win—and only win—in the series came in on Nov. 8, 2003, in Belton, when the Tigers threw for 414 yards in a 28-21 victory. The Cru is 21-1 all-time against ETBU and has averaged 43.5 points per game against the Tigers.
A look at The Cru
UMHB enters its conference opener well-rested and confident, having last played two weeks ago in a massive 35-17 win at then-No. 3 UW-Whitewater. Last Saturday’s game in Belton against John Melvin University was canceled due to a lack of available players for JMU, so UMHB’s last time in a game setting was one of the highlights of the program’s recent history.
How does that play into this matchup? We will soon find out, but there is no doubt that UMHB is in a good spot as ASC play rolls around. Ranked 14th in the nation by D3football.com and 17th by the American Football Coaches Association, The Cru displayed what it was capable of against Whitewater, with three offensive touchdowns and two defensive touchdowns, along with holding the Warhawk rushing attack to just 88 yards.
But at this point, even in Week 5, the sample size is very small. UWW is the only Division III opponent UMHB has played thus far, and just the second countable opponent on the schedule. There are still some unknowns with UMHB, but the conference schedule—and the next two games in particular—should make things much more clear. Larry Harmon spoke at his press conference on Monday about grabbing hold of the momentum from UWW and not losing that, regardless of the opponent on the opposite sideline. “That will be the message all week,” he added.
UMHB enters this matchup with an established core on both sides of the ball. The offense, led by second-year starting QB Isaac Phe, took a step forward against Whitewater after having trouble with turnovers and passing consistency in the season opener. The passing attack averaged 192.5 yards/game through those first two contests, and as long as UMHB can keep its turnovers to a minimum—The Cru has had at least three turnovers in its first two countable contests—the offense is tough to stop. AJ Williams and Jerry Day Jr. are reliable targets for Phe at receiver, Christopher Gacayan might just be the best tight end in the ASC, and Asa Osbourn has established himself as a solid pass-catcher out of the backfield, with two receiving TDs. If there is one offensive area in which UMHB will likely seek improvement against ETBU, it’s in the run game. Outside of Kamerin Ferguson’s 96-yard TD run at UWW, the rushing attack has been mediocre, at best. Nobody except Ferguson has more than 34 rushing yards on the season, and UMHB had just two first downs on running plays against UWW.
Defensively, The Cru has looked sharp under first-year defensive coordinator Mark Carey. Against the pass, UMHB’s linebackers and secondary have turned in three quality performances, limiting Bethel to just 61 yards through the air, and intercepting UWW five times. The Crusaders are allowing just 152.5 passing yards per game and also took a step forward in their run-stopping ability against UWW. UMHB’s defensive line, led by Justin Hines-Moore, has done an excellent job of putting consistent pressure on the pocket, forcing hurried passes and scrambling from the opposing quarterback. But once they force him out of the pocket, the defensive front doesn’t stop there. They contain the QB well, and the longest gain a QB has had against UMHB this season is Avaun Rucker’s 14-yard carry in the season opener.
3 Players to Watch
DB Da’marion Morris: The accolades came pouring in for Morris after his stellar showing against UWW, as he was named Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Non-FBS Player of the Week as well as the ASC’s Defensive Player of the Week. Morris intercepted two passes, returned one for a touchdown, broke up another pass, forced a fumble, and tallied seven solo tackles. The sophomore is playing at a high level early in this season and will be a serious threat against ETBU’s passing attack.
DE Justin Hines-Moore: So far, Hines-Moore has been the headliner of UMHB’s defensive line, as the former UCONN transfer is the only player on the roster with multiple sacks (3.0) and has nine total tackles.
RB Asa Osbourn: The transfer from Navarro College has fit into his role well in these early games, giving UMHB an offensive advantage with a consistent pass-catching running back when Osbourn lines up in the backfield. He has five catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, and that is not counting his receiving TD against Westgate Christian. His five receptions are the second-most on the team.
Scouting the Tigers
Before this season, the last time ETBU had opened a year with three straight wins was in 2017, when the Tigers finished third in the ASC in head coach Scott Highsmith’s final year at the helm. They are not only 3-0 but have done it with remarkable offensive precision, averaging 55.7 points per game in dominant victories over LaGrange, Hendrix, and Centenary. Quarterback Kaden Brown, who committed to Division I FCS South Dakota State out of high school, enters Week 4 with the 15th-best passing yards per game average in D-III (288.3 YPG). And when it comes to total offense? No team in the country is averaging more yardage per game than ETBU’s 599 YPG, a full 20 yards/game more than Hope College, who is No. 2 in that category.
It is impressive, to say the least, as the ETBU seems to be clicking on all cylinders. But those numbers also need to be viewed with context. The LaGrange defense, who ETBU tallied 57 points and 687 yards of offense against in the season opener, has allowed 546 yards per game, the third-worst average in Division III. Neither Hendrix nor Centenary rank within the Top 170 in Division III in that category either, with Hendrix at 389 YPG and Centenary giving up 407 YPG. And of those three, only Hendrix has a winning record.
But UMHB’s defense will be faced with a serious challenge nonetheless. A balanced offensive approach under the direction of first-year coordinator Ryan Smith has paid dividends for the Tigers, with the rushing attack averaging 281.7 yards/game alongside an average of 317.3 passing yards/game. ETBU is far from one-dimensional with the ball in its hands, and that’s one of the biggest reasons why the Tigers present such a significant threat entering ASC play. They have exactly 11 touchdowns on the ground and 11 through the air this season.
Don’t forget about the defense, though. In all the offensive hype, it can be easy to miss the fact that the Tigers have surrendered just 16.0 points per game and a total of six touchdowns thus far. The defensive front enters Saturday’s game with an ASC-best five sacks, and much of the pressure from the front seven has resulted in inefficiencies in the opponent’s passing game. ETBU has allowed just 134.0 yards through the air per contest, the best mark in the league, and ranks second amongst ASC teams in defensive efficiency. If there has been a visible weak point so far, it’s in the Tigers’ ability to stop the run. They’re allowing opponents an average of 3.8 yards per carry, the highest mark of any ASC team. Against Centenary last Saturday, nine of the Gents’ 11 first downs came on running plays. But it hasn’t necessarily hurt ETBU, especially since they’ve limited explosive running plays against all three opponents; last week, Centenary’s longest gain on the ground was just 24 yards.
3 Players to Watch
QB Kaden Brown: A dual-threat playcaller with remarkable accuracy, Brown has been the centerpiece of the ETBU offense this season. While the second half of that statement is true for many teams, it isn’t too often that a quarterback is both his team’s leading rusher and passer. Brown’s 276 rushing yards lead the team (an average of 9.2 yds/carry) along with his 865 passing yards. The former Midlothian Heritage QB has completed 73.1% of his passes and accounted for 14 TDs in his first three games in an ETBU uniform.
WR Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox: When Brown looks for a receiver downfield, especially in the red zone, don’t be surprised when the ball ends up going in Llanas-Wilcox’s direction. The 5-10 wideout has caught five of Brown’s 11 passing TDs this season and has big-play potential, considering he is averaging 17.5 yards per catch. The sophomore from Cameron, Texas will be looking for more success against The Cru defense this time around after recording just one reception for 19 yards in last year’s meeting.
DE Jahkamian Carr: When it comes to pressuring the quarterback, few in the ASC are as effective as Carr. The Longview product is coming off a 2023 season in which he tallied an ASC-best 7.0 sacks, and in his senior year this fall, Carr has 13.0 tackles with 3.5 for loss. He enters the conference opener after a strong showing against Centenary in which he recorded three quarterback hits in addition to two tackles for loss.
Storylines
Familiar faces: Between the two rosters, there are a number of connections, likely more than we will see in any of UMHB’s other matchups this season. ETBU brought in three players who spent 2023 on UMHB’s roster in center Elijah Mankins (All-ASC Third Team as a freshman), safety Gabriel Adewusi (3 rec, 32 yds as a WR for UMHB), and running back Jordan Woodard. Mankins and Adewusi have appeared in all three games for the Tigers, with Mankins starting at center for the high-powered ETBU offense, and Adewusi tallying the fifth-most tackles on the team (11.0) from his spot in the secondary.
UMHB added four transfers from ETBU over the offseason as well: cornerback Davien Willis, cornerback Robert Williams, defensive end James Wright, and linebacker Joey Verrett. Additionally, safety Joey Johnson played two seasons at ETBU, tallying 122 tackles and five pass deflections before transferring to D1 Lamar for last season. Willis, Williams, Wright, and Johnson are on the varsity roster, with Johnson having the most tackles of those four (7.0). Williams has 2.0 tackles and a fumble recovery in his first season with The Cru. The Cru’s defensive line coach, Jordan Collins, also came to Belton by way of ETBU. He spent five years in Marshall, eventually taking over the defensive coordinator role last fall.
Brown vs the UMHB D-Line: Brown is undoubtedly the best dual-threat QB UMHB has faced this season, and his running ability makes him a threat even when forced out of the pocket. But UMHB’s defensive line has stepped up time and time again, developing chemistry as the season goes on. This matchup has the potential to determine a lot. ETBU’s efficient offense starts with Brown, and the Tigers move the ball at a fast pace. Brown doesn’t need long to make his reads and execute a proper throw, which puts more pressure on UMHB’s defensive front to get into the backfield as fast as possible. How UMHB handles ETBU’s quick-operating offense has the potential to determine a lot in this matchup.
In the conference opener: UMHB has won 24 consecutive ASC openers dating back to a 20-6 win at McMurry on Sept. 23, 2000. The Cru will look to extend that streak to 25 on Saturday. ETBU is looking for its third-straight season with an ASC opener win, with the Tigers last loss in a conference opener having come at UMHB in 2021.
Week 4 ASC Schedule
No. 12 Endicott at No. 7 Hardin-Simmons, 1:00 p.m.
ETBU at No. 14 UMHB, 1:00 p.m.
Westgate Christian University at Howard Payne, 4:00 p.m.
