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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team gets just its third chance to play in front of a home crowd this season when the Cru plays host to Howard Payne University this Saturday at 2:00 PM. UMHB enters the game with a 7-0 overall record and a 5-0 mark in American Southwest Conference play and the Cru is ranked 4
th in the nation by the AFCA and 6
th in the country by D3football.com. Howard Payne will bring a 2-6 overall record and a 1-5 mark in the ASC into Saturday's game. UMHB leads the all-time series between the two teams 10-2 and with sole possession of first place in the ASC, the Cru is also the only team still in control of its own destiny in the race for the conference crown and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Yellow Jackets are one of the last two ASC teams to beat the Cru, topping UMHB 24-20 in 2005 and Howard Payne also knocked off Mississippi College last season when the Choctaws had sole possession of first place in the conference.
“They have a good quarterback and a bunch of good receivers so we really expect them to use the same blueprint everyone else is using and throw it a bunch against us,” Cru head coach
Pete Fredenburg said. “They are very active up front on defense and our players understand that we will get their maximum effort on Saturday. We can't look past anyone and we have got to quit playing sporadically. If we are going to make the playoffs and really make a run, we are going to have to get better at that. Our players need to learn that we can't just turn on the effort when we want to. We have to be ready to play every game.”
UMHB has won at least a share of five straight ASC championships and seven of the last eight league crowns. The Cru has also advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships in six straight seasons and eight of the last nine years. UMHB needs to win two of its last three games to clinch at least a share of the ASC title and lock up the automatic berth in the postseason. The Cru is off to a 7-0 start for the sixth time in 13 years of UMHB football.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on KTEM-AM 1400. The audio broadcast will also be streamed live on the Internet at
www.myktem.com. The UMHB athletic department will also provide a live video stream and live statistics during Saturday's game. You can access those links through the UMHB athletic department web site at www.cruathletics.com.
