Game Notes
Belton, Texas – For the first time in three weeks, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team will get a chance to play in front of its home crowd when the Cru plays host to Howard Payne University this Saturday. UMHB will take on the Yellow Jackets in a 1:00 PM kickoff.
UMHB (5-0, 4-0 ASC) is coming off a 17-7 victory at 5
th-ranked Hardin-Simmons University last Saturday in Abilene. The Cru posted its 20
th consecutive victory as the defense held the nation's top ranked offense to seven points and 191 yards of total offense. UMHB forced four turnovers and eight sacks in the victory as the team posted its second win over a top ten opponent this season. That victory also closes out a stretch that saw the Cru play four ASC teams currently in the top six in the league standings and a then 6
th-ranked non-conference opponent in Linfield College. While UMHB is happy to be undefeated at this point, that certainly does not mean the Cru coaches or players are satisfied.
"We just won an incredibly big game and we have a wonderful opportunity to build on that," Cru Head Coach
Pete Fredenburg said. "We want to take what we did at Hardin-Simmons and learn and get better from that. We certainly aren't taking Howard Payne lightly, and we know they will present some challenges for us, but we need to focus on us and how we can continue to improve as a team. We have some lofty goals as a program and we have a lot of work to do and places we can get better in if we are going to reach those goals."
Howard Payne is 1-4 overall and 1-3 in ASC play after falling to East Texas Baptist 57-7 last Saturday in Brownwood. The Yellow Jackets are under the direction of UMHB graduate and former Cru quarterback and assistant coach Braxton Harris. This marks the first time
Pete Fredenburg will match up against a former player as head coaches.
UMHB leads the all-time series between the two teams 17-2 and HPU has never beaten the Cru in Belton. The Yellow Jackets' last win over UMHB came in a 24-20 decision in Brownwood in 2005.
The Cru enters Saturday's game ranked #1 in the country by both the American Football Coaches Association and D3football.com. UMHB will be hosting "Touch Downs" day at Crusader Stadium in connection with Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
For more information on parking, traffic flow and game day events, please visit the following link:
http://www.umhb.edu/stadium/directions-and-parking. UMHB will also be offering a free fan shuttle to help with parking issues on game day. The shuttles will run from the Crusader SportsPlex off of Crusader Way to Gate One at Crusader Stadium. The shuttle service will begin at 11:30 PM and will run until 4:30 PM or 30 minutes after the game ends. There will be signage at the SportsPlex and at Gate One for pick up and drop off points. Howard Payne fans are encouraged to enter the stadium through ticket window #3 at the southeast corner of Crusader Stadium.
Saturday's game will also be broadcast live on K101.7 FM and through the station's web site with the pre-game show starting at 12:30 PM. UMHB will provide free live video streaming and live statistics for the game with access to both available at the following link:
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/umhb/.
