BELTON — Saturday’s loss to Hardin-Simmons has been described in all sorts of ways. Disappointing. Frustrating. Surprising. It was a stunning defeat, more so because of the way HSU won, going up 44-0 by the end of the third quarter in a battle between a pair of Top 15 conference rivals. UMHB put three touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter, but it was far too late to make a comeback by that point.
But in a fast-moving conference schedule, one that sees every ASC team play its other three league opponents twice during the regular season, there is little time to dwell too heavily on the miscues. Memories of the loss will not fade quickly, but the hope is that they will be used as motivation, rather than something that holds this team back from its full potential.
“What we did against Whitewater, Hardin-Simmons did against us,” UMHB head coach Larry Harmon said Monday. “It got us down and had us on our heels. We could never recover. We obviously had a long day yesterday, and talked about what the future holds, what’s possible, and what we need to do to have life after the regular season.”
The league slate gives UMHB another challenge on Saturday: The Cru’s first road game of ASC play. The Crusaders are set to face Howard Payne (2-4, 0-2 ASC) in Brownwood in a game that marks the halfway point of the ASC schedule for UMHB, but the first in a series of three consecutive road games. It will be an important four-week stretch, one that will, in all probability, determine whether The Cru reaches the postseason or not.
“We’re in no position to overlook anybody,” Harmon said of the upcoming matchup with HPU. “We’re going to pin our ears back and play at a fever pitch level Saturday.”
Here are three takeaways from Harmon’s press conference as The Cru sets its sights on a win at Howard Payne.
A change at QB
After three of Isaac Phe’s first eight passing attempts landed in the hands of HSU defenders, Jake Wright, a transfer from D2 Pittsburg State, was inserted into the game for UMHB’s sixth drive.
Wright never left the game, and bounced back in the second half after throwing five straight incompletions, one of which resulted in HSU’s fourth interception of the first half. The Houston native finished 12-of-23 with 226 yards and a touchdown in his UMHB debut.
Harmon praised Wright following Saturday’s game, noting that the sophomore “showed the fire and tried to lead his team,” and on Monday, Harmon said that it will be Wright starting under center against HPU.
“Right now, we’re going to switch our quarterbacks and go with No. 5 and see how that goes this week,” he noted.
He added more detail to the answer in a response to a later question, when asked about the inefficiencies in the passing game and what had been seen on film.
“You look at the production and the grade sheets, and Jake graded out better, so he’s going to get the nod this week,” Harmon said. “I’m anxious to see how Isaac responds. I know he’s a tremendous competitor and I’m sure he will bow his neck and prove that he was better than how he performed Saturday. I fully expect Jake to say, ‘Well, I’m getting this opportunity and I’m going to do everything I can to keep it.’ We need to make sure that we have competition across the board at all positions. If we don’t perform very well, then we need to feel the pressure.”
A parallel to ‘04?
The 2004 season saw UMHB struggle through a similarly-poor performance at home against a surging HSU squad, falling 49-22. It was a deflating loss in terms of The Cru’s playoff chances, but UMHB took care of business in its next three games, beating ETBU, McMurry, and Austin College by a combined 203-69. The Crusaders earned a Pool C bid to the Division III postseason, taking down Trinity in the first round and Hardin-Simmons in a revenge win in the second round. UMHB kept the momentum going against Washington & Jefferson before stunning Mount Union in the national semifinals, 38-35. The Cru reached its first-ever Stagg Bowl as a result, falling narrowly to Linfield, 28-21, in the title game. Those in the program in 2004 still attribute much of the fire seen in the playoffs to the loss to HSU and the refined focus that stemmed from it.
Now, exactly 20 years later, it seems UMHB could take a similar path as The Cru enters Week 7 of the regular season. With the playoff field expanded to 40 teams for the first time in history this season, the Crusaders are still very much in the postseason picture.
“Absolutely, if we can get our heads on straight, make a run, and play at the capacity that we’re able to play at,” Harmon said, when asked how the scenario in 2004 might give UMHB optimism for the future of the season. “I still believe we’re a team that can beat anybody any Saturday.
“As long as we do that and take care of our business, with extra teams being added into the playoffs, I think it would be very hard for us not to get an at-large bid [if we end up needing it]. We feel like we can do it. The guys said that’s what they want to do and they’re committed to it. They understand that they’re going to have to do some hard things. But they want that challenge. All you can do is go back to work, bow your neck, and go prove it every Saturday.”
Moving forwards
As far as areas for improvement, Harmon noted a variety of aspects that he and the coaching staff will be looking to progress in or clean up as the week goes on. Sunday’s review of the film highlighted several places that contributed to UMHB’s inefficiences and mistakes against HSU, on both sides of the ball.
For the challenges in the passing game in particular, it came down to trust and timing.
“After watching the film, we feel like we had guys that were open that could’ve taken advantage of what the defense was doing,” he said. “We just didn’t get the ball there or got it there late. We were way too inefficient with our passing game to take advantage, with how aggressive those safeties from Hardin-Simmons were playing, and that’s kind of how we got smothered.”
He also pointed out that the gameplanning aspect becomes more complex with the double round-robin conference format. Facing every team twice, especially with such a short span of time between games, forces the coaching staff to think both short-term and long-term about how to approach each matchup, aiming to secure a favorable result in the first meeting, but well aware that the opponent will be more prepared in the second meeting, having already gone up against The Cru once.
“You’re not going to be able to do the same thing you did the first time, right or wrong, the second time,” Harmon said. “Because [the opponent] is going to have a plan for it.
“So we’re back to, ‘We’re going to run our offense, run our defense, run our special teams, and get better at what we do.’ That’s where we’re at right now.”
UMHB enters Week 7 ranked No. 23 in the nation by D3football.com with a 2-2 record. The Cru is seeking its 17th straight win over Howard Payne, a streak that began in 2006. Saturday’s kickoff from Gordon Wood Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
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