After taking a step forward in ETBU win, UMHB turns its attention to Saturday’s rivalry matchup at Hardin-Simmons

Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru

BELTON — What a difference a win can make. 

Seven days ago, No. 22 UMHB was in the midst of a two-game losing skid, set to go on the road for the second week in a row to an undefeated ETBU team in a pressure-packed American Southwest Conference opener. There was some uneasiness from the outside in regards to what the rest of the season might hold. Back-to-back double-digit losses can have that effect. 

But UMHB won that game in East Texas. The Crusaders shut out the Tigers, 21-0, down the stretch of the final two quarters after the two offenses exchanged touchdowns for much of the first half. They showed playoff-caliber qualities; the resilience to bend, but not break when ETBU took the lead four different times, the physicality in the trenches from an offensive line that paved the way for a season-best 284 rushing yards and a defensive line that tallied six tackles for loss, the ability to finish promising drives in the end zone, something they did six different times. 

“At the end of the day, we learned a lot,” UMHB head coach Larry Harmon said Monday. “I think we grew a lot as a team. A lot of young players, new players, were pressed into starting positions due to people being hurt and not traveling to ETBU. They kind of had that baptism by fire and came out of it. We’re going to be a better team this week just because of that.” 

The win itself is noteworthy—Marshall can be a difficult place to play and UMHB is now 1-0 in ASC play for the 26th straight year—but the timing of the win? Even more impactful. Because waiting on the other side is The Cru’s highest-stakes test of the season: a trip to No. 6/9 Hardin-Simmons. It goes without saying that heading to Abilene on the heels of a confidence-building road win is far different than entering Shelton Stadium’s challenging environment coming off a loss. 

The season-opener against Bethel offered a chance for some early momentum under the lights of Crusader Stadium. The Week 2 matchup against UW-Whitewater provided an eye-opening result that pushed The Cru to improve up front on both sides of the ball. The trip to Mars Hill gave UMHB a taste of facing Division II competition. To this point, all four games have served a distinct purpose. The same is true for Saturday’s duel at HSU. 

Yes, it’s the first anticipated rivalry showdown of 2025 between Texas’ longstanding D3 powerhouses. Yes, UMHB has an opportunity at its first regular season win over the Cowboys since 2022. And the fact that both are nationally-ranked—HSU at No. 6 in the AFCA Poll and No. 9 in the D3football.com Poll, UMHB at No. 22 in both polls—adds to the storyline. But most importantly, as has been the case in most years, the winner will gain an inside track to the ASC title. 

The ASC’s double round-robin schedule means they will play again in Belton on Nov. 8, so Saturday’s result will not be the singular determining result in the conference title race. But it will undoubtedly give the winner a crucial leg up, and in a season where the ASC is likely to put only its conference champion in the NCAA playoffs, winning the league title suddenly becomes all the more important. 

“You shouldn’t have to create any emotion,” Harmon said, asked about the week of practice leading up to facing HSU. “That should be there. There was a stretch where it was so one-sided that we lost that. Our recent performances, and Hardin-Simmons having success against us, I think it’s bringing it back to where we don’t have as much thinking that it’s not going to be that big of a game, that we can just pull it out whenever we want. I think everybody knows that we’re in for the fight of our lives.” 

On offense 

For the third straight week, both Kirkland Michaux and Seth Mouser took snaps at quarterback for The Cru. Michaux, a graduate student, completed 15-of-24 passes for 195 yards in his fourth career start for UMHB, playing the entirety of the first half. In the second half, Mouser took over at quarterback, going 5-of-8 passing for the second week in a row, but with a season-best 95 yards against the Tigers. Mouser also tossed his first touchdown pass in a UMHB uniform with his 13-yard game-tying completion to B.J. Stewart. 

The duo, both of whom are newcomers this season, combined to throw for a season-high 288 yards and two touchdowns. Harmon said Monday that while they “planned” to use both Michaux and Mouser against the Tiger defense, the decision to solely go with Mouser in the second half stemmed from Michaux dealing with a minor rib issue. 

“We planned on playing both quarterbacks,” Harmon noted. “Then Kirkland got banged up a little bit with his ribs. So that was the overall deciding factor to go with Seth in the second half. Seth executed our offense well enough to get some points on the board and get away with a victory.”

Harmon added that Michaux “is not out” and is “just bruised up a little bit” when asked about his status on Monday. 

While the passing game found significantly more traction than it had in previous weeks against UW-Whitewater and Mars Hill, the run game proved to be the centerpiece of UMHB’s highest-scoring performance to date. Asa Osbourn ran for a career-high 130 yards and three touchdowns and Kamerin Ferguson added another 100 yards, giving UMHB its first game with a pair of 100-yard rushers since an 80-7 win over McMurry on Oct. 27, 2018. 

As a unit, the Crusader backfield had nine carries of at least 10 yards, breaking numerous explosive plays on the ground. The running backs had plenty to do with that, but so did the offensive line, a position group with three new starters this fall. The quintet of Carson Gaido, Adam Walden, Kyle Willingham, Joseph Montez, and DJ Greer was deservedly selected to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Tuesday for its performance, and Harmon praised their efforts when asked about the success of UMHB’s run game. 

“It was just good to see our offense be executed the way it’s supposed to be executed,” Harmon said. “Watching the film, our offensive players got to see, ‘Oh, this is how it all fits together. If everybody does their job, we can be very successful.’” 

On defense

A significant shift happened between the first and second halves on Saturday, and it was the second-half performance that UMHB will soon look to replicate in Abilene. After giving up four touchdowns in the first two quarters—including two on the opening play of the possession—The Cru settled in and held ETBU at bay. The Tigers marched inside the UMHB 20-yard line just once in the second half, struggling to find much success on the ground or through the air in that span. 

ETBU also finished with a season-low in rushing yardage. UMHB’s pass defense held the Tigers to an average of just 11.3 yards per completion in the second half, a sharp contrast to the 29.1 they averaged in the first two quarters. 

“We calmed down and read our keys a lot better in the second half,” Harmon said Monday. “We changed our front to make it a little less movement. The big thing was we just started getting off blocks to where the [ETBU] run game completely went away and it was a lot easier to play the pass after that.”

Preparing for HSU

It’s been said before by UMHB football alums that there is a different type of intensity present on the practice fields in the days leading up to a duel with the Hardin-Simmons. The tradition of the rivalry and the magnitude that comes with a Top 25 matchup in conference play have potential to bring out the best in everyone. But there is always the challenge of managing that energy through a full week of practice and into Saturday, allowing it to positively drive the momentum, especially going on the road. 

“I think you’ve got to control it in practice,” Harmon said. “In your competition stuff, you just let it go. Then when you get into your scout work, you try to hold the reins back just a little bit so they’re not burning themselves out. But the main deal is the mental side of it; the film study, completely understanding the game plan, trying to get as much information as you can before the ball is snapped. I think that’s the most important thing.” 

Saturday’s duel will notably be a rematch of last season’s second-round playoff matchup, a game that UMHB won narrowly, 17-13, upsetting the No. 2 overall seed in Abilene. HSU is off to a 4-0 start this fall, with three of those victories coming at home. The Cowboys currently hold a 16-game regular season home winning streak, which dates back to the 2022 season. 

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT at Shelton Stadium. HSU All-Access will broadcast the game on hsuathletics.com.