BELTON — It will be an East Coast opener for UMHB Football in its 2026 season.
In an interview on In The (D3FB) Huddle with Frank Rossi and James Baker, Rowan University head coach Pat Ruley revealed his team will kick off its 2026 campaign by hosting UMHB in a 6 p.m. ET Friday night duel on Sept. 4 in Glassboro, New Jersey.
“For me, as we’re looking to continue to try to elevate this thing and create a great experience for our guys, I’ve always said I want to go test ourselves against the cream of the crop in the country,” Ruley said on the podcast, which just wrapped up its 18th season covering Division III Football. “The administration that we have here now is certainly in support of us maybe having a little bit of a greater travel budget and those expenses that come into that, at the expense of us actually going and playing quality people and trying to create a national brand here.
“We ended up scheduling a game with somebody who in a lot of people’s world, people don’t want to schedule them. I think that happens with some of these people that are out there nationally that are looking for games; people don’t want to schedule them. So Week 1 in 2026 we have the boys from Belton, Texas at Mary Hardin-Baylor that are coming up here Friday night of opening week at 6 p.m.
“We’re going to play the three-time national champions in the last decade and test ourselves and really see what we’re made of against one of the Mount Rushmore programs of the 21st century in Division III football. I’m really excited to do that.”
>> To watch the full interview on In The (D3FB) Huddle, click here.
Ruley is entering his third season leading Rowan, who has increased its overall win total in each of his first two seasons at the helm. After going 5-5 the year prior to his arrival, the Profs went 6-4 in 2024, and followed it up with an 8-2-1 mark in 2025. Rowan went 5-2 in NJAC play, finishing third in the league behind Christopher Newport and Salisbury, each of whom made the NCAA playoffs. The Profs took CNU into double overtime in an eventual 49-41 loss on Oct. 4 and nearly knocked off Salisbury as well, edged narrowly, 31-28 by the then-undefeated Sea Gulls.
Rowan won the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl—a game that was part of the ECAC Bowl Series—against Utica, 26-20, on Nov. 22. It marked the Profs first ECAC postseason win, while also giving the program its most wins since 2019.
UMHB has faced Rowan once before, overpowering the Profs, 59-8, in the Second Round of the 2013 NCAA Playoffs. The Cru is 4-0 all-time against the NJAC, factoring in its three wins over longtime league member Kean. UMHB has played both current NJAC affiliate Christopher Newport and former member Wesley multiple times, but none of those matchups came when either program was part of the league.
The season-opener against Rowan is UMHB’s second non-conference game to be announced for 2026, as Keystone College announced on Feb. 14 that it had signed a two-year home-and-home scheduling agreement with UMHB. Keystone will make the trip to Belton in Week 5.
