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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team will face its second straight unbeaten conference foe when the Cru takes on Louisiana College in an 11:00 AM kickoff this Saturday in Pineville. The 4
th-ranked Cru improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in American Southwest Conference play with a 42-28 victory over Hardin-Simmons last Saturday. Meanwhile, Louisiana College picked up its first victory of the year, but joined UMHB and Sul Ross State as the only teams still unbeaten in ASC play, with a wild 45-42 victory over Mississippi College. The Wildcats are 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the ASC following that victory and Louisiana College features one of the most prolific offenses in the league. That fact isn't lost on the UMHB coaching staff.
“Our team is a work in progress, especially on defense,” Cru head coach
Pete Fredenburg said. “We are establishing ourselves and sorting out who our best players are and we are trying to find the best fit for everyone. We need to get the right players in the right spots and we'll be okay, but we have to keep improving. This team has some really good skills players and they create some problems with their offense, so we have to ready to rise to the challenge.”
UMHB is 9-0 against the Wildcats all-time and the Cru is coming off its best offensive showing of the season. UMHB ground out 439 yards rushing against a Hardin-Simmons defense that had allowed a combined total of 344 rushing yards through the first three games of the season. The Cru will look for a similar output against an LC defense that is giving up an average of 48.3 points and 510.3 yards of total offense per game this season.
“We really felt like our offensive line has a chance to be one of the best we've ever had,” Fredenburg said. “They had been a little bit of a disappointment in the first two games, but the line was really physical and really stepped up against HSU. We were pleased with the offensive output and we hope to keep that going.”
The kickoff time was moved up to 11:00 AM to avoid a conflict with LC's home soccer games. This will be the earliest regular season kickoff in the history of the UMHB football program. You can listen to the game in Central Texas on KTEM-AM 1400. You can also listen to a live audio stream of the game through the links on the UMHB athletic department web site at www.cruathletics.com.
