First off, a great win for HPU (always cheering for the underdog).

This week, I don't even think I am cheering for the underdog. 

Should be a great game this weekend.  My son and I will be there.  We saw the game at TLU and although they beat TLU fairly handily, I don't think we saw anywhere near the best game McM can play.  Too many costly penalties and the McM Qb didn't have his best game missing a lot of open receivers with the OLine having problems giving the Qb enough time.

Two weeks to fix those problems, a look at the historical records, and I think we will have a great ballgame this week.

From my previous post, it is hard to tell I was excited as heck about the McM win against TLU.  But I don't think I saw anything close to the potential of the team.  McM had some dumb penalties in all 3 phases of the game that prevented the game from being a blowout.  The good thing was that the coaches saw and said the same thing during the gam

I really enjoyed seeing the support of both the parents of the players and of the alumni.  If you exclude the TLU band, McM had more fans in the stands than TLU did.  6 years ago, I bought 20 programs and gave them to everyone on the McM side of the stands.  Funny what a few wins will do for fan support.

My son and I will be at the HSU game in 2 weeks where McM is going to beat HSU for the first time in what seems a lifetime.

I have also noticed a substantial drop in the posts since HSU and MHB have lost a game.  Most of the MHB posts have been about the change in QB. 

Just got back from the game.
McM Coach was mad at his players for not executing just like always, only difference was that McM was ahead by 20 points instead of down 20 at the time with only a couple of minutes to play.

The highly tauted offense was not really hitting on all cylinders and still figured out how to score 36 points with some big plays.  Pretty good wind blowing and the QB faced a strong pash rush all day and you could tell they never got in a good rhythm all day.

The defense had 5 picks and although they gave up some yards, they were the difference in today's game.

I was impressed with the effort of the TLU team, making several good drives and forcing the McM team to never feel fully
in control until the last 5-6 minutes.  TLU's defensive line kept a lot of pressure on the QB all day.

Instead of getting to enjoy a 4 game win streak this week (off next week with HSU in 2 weeks), I think the team is going to have some pretty tough practices this week. 

MHB plays old school football like what I saw when I was growing up in West Texas watching (and then playing against) Odessa Permian.  They line up run the ball down your throat and play defense with a swarming style where 5-6 players are going to hit the man with the ball.
They don't use finesse and throw the ball all over the field.  The O-line is going to be physical and make their blocks and expected to put their man on the ground or drive them 5 yards off the line of scrimmage.  Nothing fancy just we can execute better than you can.
Dirty isn't the appropriate word, getting down in the dirt and playing hard nose football is more like it.

HPUdad & HPU Back-up,
HPU has been in much the same shape (a little better) as McM since Adam King left.  Multiple coaches, not competitive with the MHB's and HSU's.
No shame to being the back up to King, in my opinion he was the best athlete I saw in the ASC.  Maybe not the very best athlete, but his speed and strong arm made him the most dangerous athlete in the league.
I think there are enough good football players in West Texas to allow HPU and McM to have competitive teams in the ASC if the schools can get a good coach that is willing to stay around and establish a program.
Concerned that McM coach will leave after next year (obviously a heck of a coach), just hope he has turned us around enough to let us change the culture of the football program.
Wish more of all the schools would post on the board, not just MHB and HSU fans.

TigerDad, I really appreciate your comments about McM and the 6 senior players on the team.  McM has struggled through this decade.  Trinity, HSU and MHB are examples of the type of programs that consistently have put consistent winners on the field and in the classroom.  Trinity and HSU may not be having the season that we all expected but I am sure they will be back on top quickly.

My son was one of those that played for 4 years at McM (+1 year as a graduate assistant).  The few that played with him are some of the finest young men that I have ever known.  I am sure this years 6 seniors are of the same quality.  It takes a lot of heart to stay and try and make a difference, it is a lot easier to leave and go somewhere else.

Hopefully, McM will win a couple more games this year and establish a firm foundation for the future.  The ASC and the other Texas D3 programs will all benefit.

This will be a telling week for the ASC in my opinion.
MHB @ HSU - The top 2 teams for the last 7-8 years, although big question mark with HSU performance so far this year. I understand the injuries, but HSU in the past would send in the 1A team and keep on beating everyone but MHB.  HSU takes definite pride at home. 
MC @ LC - The 2 teams that seem to be striving to get to the top tier of the conference with the winner possibly taking over the 2nd best team status. 
ETBU @ McM - McM has competed much better this year with should of/could of games against a Trinity (appears to be not as strong as normally are) and Austin College (disappointing loss but appear to be better team this year).  Time for McM to get a big win.

My comments and rankings of the ASC this year so far:
1) MHB - Dominating 3 wins, class of the ASC it appears
2) MC - Beat HSU, Milsaps(? best in SCAC)
3) LC - Beat HSU handily, though they should have taken care of Huntindon
4) HSU - 1 & 3, never thought I would write that down, lost their outstanding QB but the HSU I used to know would have had the depth to still win except against MHB, and I know they lost some defense but again should have the depth to overcome MC and LC
5) ETBU, solid wins against SRSU/TLU
6-9) A pickem, it looks like they all might have a chance to win 2 games against each other and possibly surprise a HSU or ETBU if they have an off day.

Crubdad - My son graduated a couple of years ago from McM.  My wife and I missed 2 games over the 4 years (sent my mom to 1 and made a JV game for another).  We loved the away games, most are a lot closer to Houston.  Looking back, you will never complain about the many hours on the road because you will have the memories forever.  Now we get invited to all his teammates weddings and feel good to be part of McM.

I am looking for several wins from McM this year.  Not planning on seeing a win this week.

Still proud to be associated with McM.

Haven't been able to post in a while, but business (oil) is slower and allowed to get back on the site from the office (IT relaxed the rules).

Really excited about the new coach at McM.  I know he has a past but looking for him to change the culture.  I know he has done a great job in communicating with the alumni football players.  Looking forward to meeting him over this year.

Trinity is probably too good for this week but I think it will be an exciting season for McM.

roocru, sorry if you look like me our wives must have a great sense of humor.  But at least we raised our sons right, I was real impressed with yours and Ralph can vouch for mine.  Hope we can all get together for a cold one some time.  Just sorry we didn't get to stay longer (my wife was feeling pretty puny that night).
Small world sometimes, our sons playing against each other in the high school playoffs and then at college.  And then your son is living about 3 miles from where I live.  My son just moved back to town.

GO MHB.  Make the ASC proud.

Akins, you can sure pick winners on the ASC pickems game, but I guess I am a little old school like oldchoctaw.  I have been around the game (watching game film with the coach living next door, playing, and watching games) my entire 50+ years. I assure you I am not clueless.  I hope Gray is coaching McM in 10 years so he will still be remembering this past weeks outcome because at some point MHB will get theirs.  With a 40 point lead, you don't throw the ball downfield trying to score quickly.  You pass on 2nd and third and long to keep possession, you try to run the ball down their throat and eat up the clock.  If you score while doing that that is fine.  You have already won the game and you don't need to embarass your opponent.  So when the other team pull's their starters you are supposed to pull yours also when you are obviously a better and deeper team, so that your second and third team can run up the score to 80 or 90 points.  What are you trying to prove.  Sportsmanship is part of the game also, learning how to win without being a braggart and learning how to lose when you get beat.

I knew I would get a response with what I wrote.  I still believe what I wrote and I hope most coaches teach how to be good winners on and off the field.  I think that is one of the most important part of the game.

My son and I traveled to Belton today expecting a whuppin but wanting to see the team play. I was encourage by a couple of things.  First, about 150 fans in the stands on the visitor side, quite an improvement a few years ago when we had less than fifty for any away games.
Second, the team didn't get down when we misplayed the opening kickoff and MHB recovered.  The defense got a turnover (one of many in the 1st half) and the offense drove down and got a field goal.  McM led after the 1st qtr by 3 to nothing and kept it close until the last couple of minutes of the first half.

The defense played great in the first half, getting multiple turnovers to stop drives.  The heat and the size and depth of MHB wore them down late in the 2nd qtr. The offense struggled until late when the MHB reserves came in.  I think our QB did a good job in throwing the ball first and not scrambling out of the pocket and trying to make a play.  I don't know the exact turnover count, but we turned the ball over too many times to win against a powerfull MHB team.

I was a little peeved about how agressive MHB was late in the 3rd qtr with the game in hand and still throwing the ball on first down even with the 2nd team QB in the game.  I don't mind teams throwing the ball on 3rd down and long to make first downs but it appeared they were trying to insure (or improve) their #2 national ranking.  We have a playoff in D3, MHB can prove their ranking by running the table and finishing the year unbeaten, they don't need to run up the score.

Gray and his coaches had the team prepared and ready to play, then just got outmanned by a much deeper MHB team.  Hopefully, some of the current McM players and parents are lurkers on the website and will convince most of the players to stay with the program and finish out their 4 years. 

Now for the McM questions.

Coach Gray will be great for the program if the administration and alumni will let the team and the coach grow over time.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will the McM football team become a winner overnight.  Gray is young, energetic, a great coach and individual and relates well with his players.  He brought in the largest recruiting class in many years, but now has to keep them for the next 4 years which is really tough when you are losing.  The players and their parents have got to "Believe" (McM motto for the year) and stay with the program and establish a foundation that the team can build on.  He got a real exciting QB that has 2 years of eligibility which will help jump start the program.

I am sure the alumni and alumni want to be's (me being one of them) will be hit up by McM's #1 alumni, this board's very own Ralph Turner.  Ralph was named to chair a fundraising campaign for the university.  He did almost ruin the alumni magazine, being that his picture was on the front cover with a full page picture later in the magazine. In spite of his picture on the front cover, I hope the McM faithful step up and make the financial committment that will help the university which will also help the football program.

I have been out of touch this week as my company decided that D3football is a really bad site so I can't look at it at work and I noticed several comments that I need to put my 2 cents on.

One of the reasons that MHB and HSU are the quality teams in the conference is that they play the top talent in D3.  You don't get better by playing teams you can beat and that play the same type of game as your conference.  If you are a bad team, you don't notice the improvement, if you are already a good team that is how you get better.  Also, it takes a committment from the administration and alumni of the school to spend the money to get them to far away places.  D3 football is not a revenue neutral activity, with the majority of the fans being students and family that get in free.  McM is starting to make those committments with the new field and stadium improvements, but need to garner more financial support if the football team is to succeed.

Another reason that MHB and HSU are the quality teams in the conference is that they have quality coaches that have been at the program for a long time, establishing a program that becomes a "plug and play" as others have mentioned. HSU is having problems this year but that is not because the coach got studid or became a bad coach all of a sudden.  And heck yeah I hope McM takes advantage this season and beats the tar out of them, heck I will take a 1 point win.  MHB needs to build their own stadium instead of using the local high school field.

Mississippi College has a leg up on improvement in that they were once a D1(?) division team with a great stadium and workout facility.  A win this week will go a long way in making them a viable contender for the elite of the conference.

TLU was the team many of us ASC supporters thought would be the next contender for the top but the multiple coaching changes over the last couple of years has taken them back several steps. 

Every team in the conference will benefit if we can get more teams in the upper level of D3 football instead of the Big 2 and then everyone else.