Week 9 Football Preview: No. 24 UMHB heads to No. 5 Hardin-Simmons, Set to meet Cowboys twice in a season for the sixth time

Photo by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru

ABILENE — Rivalry week has arrived for The Cru…again. For the second time in this 10-game regular season, the 24th-ranked Crusaders find themselves in a matchup against their nationally-ranked rivals from Abilene.

Hardin-Simmons is No. 5 in D3football.com Top 25 with two weeks left until the postseason, and in all reality, the ASC title conversation will look a lot different once this game is played. With an HSU win, the Cowboys claim the conference title outright. With a UMHB victory, things suddenly become interesting. If The Cru manages to win by more than 21, it creates a situation where the margin of HSU’s game at ETBU on Nov. 16 suddenly becomes very important. If HSU wins by eight or less, and UMHB beats Howard Payne, the Crusaders would hold the tiebreaker advantage. If HSU wins by nine, the third tiebreaker of total margin of victory against the fourth-place team—HPU—determines the champion. If HSU wins by 10 or more, the Cowboys take the crown. And of course, if ETBU were to pull off an upset, UMHB would take the title outright. But that’s getting a little too far ahead. 

Right now, the focus from UMHB is on checking the first box, beating HSU to stay in title contention. And even ASC championship aside, a win in Abilene would guarantee The Cru a spot in the Division III playoffs, something that is looking very likely at the present moment, but is by no means set in stone just yet. There’s also the element of what happened the first time these two met this season. On a sunny day in Belton, UMHB found itself buried in a hole that just kept being dug deeper, partially due to their own miscues, and even more so as the result of a well-prepared HSU team on a mission to not let another lead slip away inside Crusader Stadium, as it had in both 2019 and 2021. HSU did just that, making a statement in a 44-21 win that was determined by halftime. 

UMHB has another chance, though. An opportunity to return the favor on HSU’s home turf, secure its playoff hopes, and stay in the conference title mix, all in one 60-minute battle. High stakes? It doesn’t seem to get any higher than this in the regular season. With that, here’s our comprehensive game preview.

Quick Facts

Kickoff time: 1 p.m. CT

Place: Abilene, Texas (Shelton Stadium)

Records*: UMHB (4-2, 3-1 ASC), HSU (8-0, 4-0 ASC)

*-Only countable games are noted

Follow the Action

WATCH: The game will be broadcasted live on hsuathletics.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: Live stats are available on hsuathletics.com.

All-Time Series History

UMHB leads the series 22-8, though HSU has won the last two meetings, the first time the Cowboys have done so since 2001. 17 of UMHB’s 22 wins over the Cowboys have come in the regular season, with an additional five postseason wins. The two rivals meet in Abilene on Saturday for the third consecutive season and the fourth season in the last five years. In 2022, UMHB handed HSU a 50-20 defeat at Shelton Stadium, and the Cowboys returned the favor last year, winning 24-14 for their first win over The Cru since 2015. UMHB and HSU met earlier this season on Oct. 12 in Belton, with the Cowboys capitalizing on three first-quarter interceptions en route to a 44-0 lead and an eventual 44-21 win. 

A Look at The Cru

Steady progress has been shown in the two games since the HSU loss, with a 41-0 shutout of Howard Payne and a 27-14 win over ETBU, both on the road. UMHB finds itself in a favorable position when it comes to the playoff conversation, currently third amongst projected at-large bid teams in NPI if the season ended today and No. 22 overall in NPI. The Cru is 3-1 in road games this year, including the 35-17 win at UW-Whitewater, which remains a marquee victory when evaluating their resume.

Offensively, Jake Wright is set to make his first start under center against the Cowboys after making his official debut in the first meeting against HSU. He came in starting in the second quarter of that contest and played the entirety of the second half, finishing 12-of-23 through the air for 226 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Wright started each of UMHB’s last two league games, raising his totals to 686 passing yards, a completion percentage of 60%, and six passing touchdowns against a pair of interceptions. He’s done a good job of distributing the ball to a variety of pass-catchers, with 10 different players recording at least one reception in the win over HPU and eight different receivers making a catch against ETBU. UMHB’s offensive line continues to be productive, having allowed just three sacks this season, the fewest of any team in the ASC. Look for UMHB’s run game to get into rhtyhm as well. The rushing attack was the primary reason for The Cru’s first-quarter touchdown drive in last week’s win at ETBU and three running backs have tallied over 200 yards on the ground this season. Kamerin Ferguson leads the way with 449 yards, along with Asa Osbourn’s 307 yards. Daunte Blake has 202 yards coming into this weekend. 

On defense, UMHB is coming off back-to-back strong performances, as The Cru shut out Howard Payne and held ETBU to its lowest scoring output of the season. UMHB’s defensive front continually puts pressure on the opposing quarterback, and the real challenge in defending the pass will be the performance of the Crusader defensive backs. The first meeting against HSU saw several big gains for the Cowboys go over the heads of UMHB’s defenders in the secondary and that is something The Cru will be more prepared for this time around, hopefully avoiding the lengthy completions deep downfield. Against the run, UMHB is the lone ASC team allowing fewer than 100 yards per game on the ground, at 98.2. 

Scouting the Cowboys 

Hardin-Simmons has put itself in the national spotlight this season, highlighted by the Cowboys’ notable wins over Endicott (currently ranked No. 11 nationally) and UMHB. With an 8-0 record, HSU is No. 4 in NPI, and very much fighting for a Top 8 seed in the national playoffs at this point in the season. Saturday’s contest marks the Cowboys’ third straight home game, and HSU has won its last 12 contests inside Shelton Stadium with the last loss coming to UMHB in 2022. 

Quarterback Kyle Brown has been a difference-maker for the Cowboy offense this season, as the West Texas A&M transfer has 1,756 yards through the air and 20 passing scores, averaging 219.5 passing yards/game. His receivers have been just as good, with five tallying 15+ catches, including junior Dozie Ifeadi, who leads HSU in receiving touchdowns, with six. As a unit, HSU offense is second in the league in yards per game, at 429.0 and is averaging an ASC-best 41.0 points per game against conference opponents. The rushing attack (more on that below) is also a critical piece of HSU’s success, with three reliable ball carriers on the roster. Noah Garcia headlines the backfield with 11 touchdowns and 6.1 yards/carry, and Braylon Henry averages 6.3 yards/carry, having scored seven times. Colton Marshall, who has been used more in short-yardage situations, has 232 yards and four touchdowns. 

On defense, look for HSU’s linebackers to have a big effect. Kaiden Roden comes into the game as HSU’s second-leading tackler, with 67.0 total and a team-high 8.5 tackles for loss. Charlie Patterson has 52.0 tackles from his spot at linebacker, including 5.0 sacks. UMHB will need to avoid succumbing to HSU’s blitzes, as the Cowboys have been the league’s best team when it comes to getting to the opposing quarterback. HSU has 13 sacks in ASC play. No other defense has more than eight. Safety Harrison Foster enters with a team-high two interceptions and 67.0 total tackles and should be a factor when it comes to the performance of UMHB’s passing attack. The Cowboys are the only ASC team allowing fewer than 20 points per game in league play, averaging just 16.5 heading into Saturday’s matchup. 

Storylines

The second time around: While this is the first instance of UMHB and HSU meeting twice during the regular season, multiple matchups within the same season have happened on five occasions in program history in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2015, and 2018. The Cru and the Cowboys met once in the regular season and once in the postseason, with 2004 and 2015 seeing HSU win the first go-around and UMHB take the second. Notably, UMHB won by multiple scores in the second meeting in each of those two seasons. 

Keeping it on the ground: Hardin-Simmons’ rushing attack is currently averaging an ASC-best 202.8 yards/game, and the effectiveness of the run game is critical to the Cowboys’ offensive flow. When the run game has found traction against The Cru, it has historically played well in HSU’s favor, with the Cowboys going 6-1 in games against UMHB in which they rushed for over 100 yards. However, HSU mustered just 87 rushing yards (2.8 yds/carry) in this season’s first meeting against UMHB. The Cru’s defensive front will yet again be critical in containing the HSU backfield and winning the battle in the trenches in order to hold the Cowboys below 100 rushing yards. 

Success on special teams: Harmon noted in Monday’s press conference that special teams is a point of pride for both programs and should factor into Saturday’s matchup. That’s true, as UMHB and HSU have both posted solid numbers on special teams this season. HSU’s Dameon Gomes comes in averaging 29.44 yards per kickoff return, with two of his returns ending in touchdowns this season. Gomes also averages 22.18 yards per punt return, which ranks No. 1 in all of Division III. On the other side, UMHB kicker/punter Edwin Lopez ranks in the Top 30 nationally in punting average, at 40.33 yards/punt. Three of his 24 punts have gone 50+ yards and nine have ended up inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Lopez is also 4-of-6 on field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards in his first season as UMHB’s starting kicker. 

Week 10 ASC Schedule

East Texas Baptist at Howard Payne, Saturday, 1 p.m. 

Mary Hardin-Baylor at Hardin-Simmons, Saturday, 1 p.m. 

ASC Standings 

1. Hardin-Simmons, 4-0
2. UMHB, 3-1
3. ETBU, 1-3
4. Howard Payne, 0-4