Photo of ETBU senior WR Zay Thomas by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru/@lukezayas_photography
BELTON — Just over a month ago, UMHB stepped onto the field at Ornelas Stadium in Marshall for its ASC opener against ETBU. At that point, The Cru was seeking its first win since Sept. 6, and on the second leg of a three-game road swing that also included trips to Mars Hill, North Carolina, and Abilene, Texas. UMHB found a way to get that win, too, pulling away from the Tigers late, 42-28, after the contest was deadlocked at 28-28 through two quarters.
It was a crucial road win in an environment that is traditionally challenging for ETBU’s opponents, and at the same time, seemingly set off a three-game losing skid for the Tigers. After a 4-0 start, their first in nine seasons, ETBU dropped its ensuing games to Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons.
And that recent history sets the stage for Saturday’s rematch in Belton, as Round 2 of the ASC slate kicks off for The Cru. ETBU is 0-3 in league play, searching for its first victory since Sept. 27. But the Tigers played Hardin-Simmons fairly well at home two weeks ago, falling 34-16, and are coming off a bye week, which means they’ll be well-rested heading to Belton. UMHB is locked in on keeping its narrow, but viable playoff hopes alive, with The Cru seeking a three-game win streak and their fourth home win of 2025.
We did this a month ago, looking at “5 things to know” about ETBU. But as is the case in a rapidly-evolving season, there are new storylines to highlight regarding the Tigers, including personnel changes and some noticeable differences in the offensive approach.
So what should you know about ETBU in this rematch? Glad you asked. Here’s five things that stand out about the Tigers.
Spriggs at QB
While it will be the same opponent as it was in Week 4, if all stays the same from ETBU’s last outing on Oct. 18, The Cru defense will be tasked with slowing down a new quarterback on Saturday.
Freshman Shai Markajani started ETBU’s first six contests, completing 50.7% of his passes with 11 TDs and six interceptions. But he was taken out of the Howard Payne loss on Oct. 11 with ETBU trailing 33-10, relieved by backup Jaylen Spriggs. Spriggs went 7-of-9 for 118 yards in the fourth quarter in Brownwood, then started the following week at home against Hardin-Simmons, with Markajani listed No. 2 on ETBU’s two-deep depth chart.
Against the potent Cowboy defense, Spriggs held his own, completing just over half of his passes (16-of-30) for 180 yards, a TD, and an interception. At that point, his 180 passing yards were the second-most surrendered by HSU’s defense to an opposing quarterback in a single game in 2025. That sort of performance is likely to warrant a second start for Spriggs coming out of the open date, though we won’t know that for sure until Saturday.
A dual-threat quarterback from Fort Worth, Spriggs has now started for two different D3 programs over three seasons at the college level. He began his career not far from Belton at Southwestern University, playing in all 10 games for the Pirates in both 2023 and 2024. Last fall, Spriggs posted a pair of 220-yard passing performances, throwing for 1,291 yards. He was 101-of-199 passing (50.7%) and threw six touchdown passes, though that also came with 10 interceptions. His running ability showed up in 312 rushing yards—the second-most on the team—and a team-leading eight rushing touchdowns.
A shift in offensive approach
One of the big storylines with ETBU’s offense through the early part of this fall surrounded the run game, with Paul Woodard ranking amongst the country’s leading rushers and the Tigers overwhelming opponents on the ground. But there has been a noticeable shift in ASC play: the Tigers aren’t running the ball quite as much, but they’re also throwing it more.
Through ETBU’s four non-conference games, all of which were wins, the Tigers averaged 40.8 rushing attempts per game, while throwing it an average of 22.0 times per game. Compare that to the numbers from their three conference games over the previous month: 28.6 rushing attempts per game, 32.0 passing attempts per game. That’s right, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction for this Tiger offense, who now throw the ball more than they run it, after averaging nearly double the number of run plays to pass plays through their first four games.
There is no way to know exactly what has caused this recent trend in ETBU’s offensive gameplan. The fact that the Tigers have trailed by double-digits in the fourth quarter of all three ASC games probably has a role to play, as teams traditionally throw it more when facing a deficit. There’s also a factor of the quality of opposing defense the Tigers have gotten in conference action compared to the non-conference portion of the schedule, which has undoubtedly taken away some of those opportunities for explosive gains on the ground. After all, the average national rank of ETBU’s three D3 non-conference opponents’ run defenses is currently No. 217 (for context, there are 241 teams playing football at the D3 level in 2025).
But the passing attack has seemed to find more traction with its increased role as of late. Six of ETBU’s seven touchdowns in ASC play have come through the air, and they head to Belton having thrown for 200-plus yards in all three conference matchups this season. In considering only stats from league games (non-conference is excluded), ETBU ranks No. 2 in the ASC in passing offense behind Hardin-Simmons, averaging 244.7 yards per game.
Kobe Chambers: Priority #1 defensively in pass coverage
In the season’s first meeting between UMHB and ETBU, Chambers was the Tigers’ primary weapon in the receiving game, catching a pair of touchdown passes and tallying 126 yards. But that performance wasn’t a fluke. The following week at HPU, the native of Greenwood, Mississippi, caught two more touchdowns in his second-straight 100-yard receiving performance (138 yds). Through Round 1 of ASC play, Chambers has 14 catches for 295 yards and four touchdowns, leading the conference in receiving yards per game (using stats from ASC games only).
Chambers transferred in this season from Centenary College, where he led the Gents in receptions (49), receiving yards (573), and TD catches (6) in the program’s inaugural varsity season in 2024.
A year later, he’s well on his way to reaching that yardage mark again, with 437 receiving yards through seven games, and has done it with 24 catches, seven of which have gone for TDs. In fact, just to highlight Chambers’ presence for this ETBU offense through another statistical lens, the graduate student has been on the receiving end of 53.8% of the Tigers’ passing TDs this season. All of that, combined with the success he had against UMHB on Oct. 4, makes him a player to watch in this matchup, and a receiving threat The Cru will have to prioritize.
The defensive holes have been in stopping the run
ETBU has given up its share of big gains through the air recently—both HPU and HSU had a completion of 65+ yards—but it’s been in stopping the run that the Tiger defense has seemed to struggle most. That has allowed opposing offenses to establish drives with the run and only throw it when they want to, usually when the safeties and linebackers are drawn in for run-stopping support.
Each of ETBU’s last four opponents—Texas Lutheran, UMHB, HPU, HSU—have rushed for over 200 yards against the Tigers, who have given up an average of 238.8 rush yards per game in that stretch. And it’s important to note that those yardage totals aren’t the result of ETBU giving up a few long gains from time to time, but rather a consistent approach from opponents who know they can keep the ball on the ground and steadily move forwards, capable of picking up three to five yards on nearly every play. The recent stats show that dynamic as well: those last four opposing offenses have run the ball an average of 46.75 times per game, while averaging just 15.25 passing attempts per game.
Similar to what was mentioned above about the quality of opposing defense increasing as the season has gone along, the same is true for the offenses the Tigers have faced. The offensive lines are more experienced than what ETBU saw in non-conference and so are the running backs. It helps explain the fact that ETBU didn’t allow a red zone rushing TD through each of its first four wins, but in three ASC games, the Tigers have surrendered nine.
This is a defense that has proven it can force turnovers
For as much as the Tigers have struggled defensively over their last three games, the one thing to know from a strength perspective with ETBU’s defense is the turnover capability. This is a defense that is tied for the nation’s lead in fumble recoveries (10) and has intercepted at least one pass in six of its seven games. In total, ETBU has come up with 17 takeaways in 2025, an average of 2.4 per game.
That includes the first meeting with UMHB, when the Tigers picked off both Kirkland Michaux and Seth Mouser once apiece for their first multi-interception performance of the season. They also came up with a fumble recovery on The Cru’s third possession, which led to ETBU’s second touchdown drive of the contest.
The UMHB game set off a streak of three consecutive games with a fumble recovery, as the Tigers added another in the fourth quarter against HPU, and had two more against HSU. ETBU forced a total of three fumbles in the loss to the nationally-ranked Cowboys, their second-most of the season behind the performance against Oklahoma Panhandle State, a game in which they forced—and recovered—five fumbles.
All that to say, ball security will be key on Saturday, both in the run game and when UMHB takes to the air. Seven different Tigers have at least one interception, and eight have a fumble recovery. Cole Confessore’s two INTs and Dominick Williams’ three forced fumbles each lead the ASC.
Kickoff from Crusader Stadium is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday. Be sure to follow us on our social media accounts (@TrueToTheCru on X, Facebook, and Instagram) for coverage and come back to TrueToTheCru.com postgame for our full game story and breakdown, including insight from head coach Larry Harmon and players.
