FB: American Southwest Conference

[DFWCrufan]

And 2017 comes to a close, not what we would have wanted but UMU outperformed, earned and deserved this title. Cru D line, absolutely monster... If 2018 is going to be different in the end, a working O line has to be found.

The QB can't do much when the defenders are in the backfield practically before the ball is.

No Doubt, I'm not laying it on the QB, the whole O line has to be rethought as a unit, 4th quarter they seemed near listless. I realize it's cold, it hurts and tired and such but this is what your worked for months for, 15 minutes. Point is the D line is well developed, same has to be done on the O line, otherwise the plan is to hope for picks and fumbalinas and maybe the O can deliver. There was just no rhythm on O last night.

[umhb2001]

They didn't mention it but does anybody know if TJ Josey got hurt?  He played early but I never saw him on the field again.

His wildcat run resulted in a first down and injured ribs. They put a pad on him to protect it, but he couldn't go.

[D O.C.]

DFWcrufan... Having meticulously avoided football theory classes I wouldn't know how an OC prepares the line for a QB whose instinct is to run around.
Just practice pocket protection and then downfield blocking?
Always been a fan of downfield blocking. Any tub-o-lard who can't get down one more block...
IMHO

[mr_mom]

Congratulations to a proud, battling CRU team.  I enjoy watching your home games because of the high quality broadcasts ... wish UMU would learn that a few successful alumni would gladly support providing a free broadcast instead of a $9.99 feed that comes and goes.

Looking forward to meeting you again in 2018 for a "home game" in Texas. 

Happy Holidays to the CRU Nation!
Mom

[GillCJ1]

Bummer about the outcome of the game, but very proud of the work our boys from Belton put in this season.  Throughout the year that D was straight up nasty.  Wilkerson will be missed on Special Teams.  Offense needs improvement (particularly the line).  CR3 will hopefully work his tail off in the offseason and come back even better as a Sophomore.  He showed some real potential at various points in the season.  Looking forward to watching him mature.

Congrats to Mount on a well-executed Stagg.  There was still hope from this Cru fan in the 4th quarter, but the TD and subsequent safety made it a difficult hole to dig out of (especially with the lack of offensive production).  Part of that was on the Cru as it's been a problem all year, but Mount deserves a ton of credit for their defensive performance as well.  As I said, a well executed game.  A tip o' the hat to the Purple Raiders on a great season.  Hopefully see you again in late 2018!

Win or lose.  Always proud to be a Crusader.  Go Cru!

[GillCJ1]

Sorry for the DP, but in some early off-season coaching news it appears that former Belhaven HC Hal Mumme has found himself a new home.  He'll be the OC for FCS Jackson State University.  http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/jackson-state/2017/12/17/jsu-hire-air-raid-guru-hal-mumme-next-offensive-coordinator/959789001/

[Kelly Boggs]

GillCJ1 summed things up pretty well.

The Stagg Bowl was somewhat of a microcosm of the season for UMHB. The offense was a concern for many of us and was reflected on comments made here as the season progressed. We used different terms to describe what we saw: inconsistent, struggling, needs improvement, a work in progress were all used at some point or the other during the season. To put it mildly, The CRU offense was nowhere near championship caliber. UMHB struggled against lesser defenses and, in the playoffs, were pretty much kept in check the final three playoffs games - including The Stagg. The concern as the playoffs progressed was, "Could the UMHB offense score enough to win?" As long as The CRU defense gave the offense short fields to work with, UMHB generated enough points to secure a win. The only aberration was the Linfield game where The CRU offense had two 90+ yard drives. The hope that was kindled in that game was dashed when St. Thomas controlled the UMHB offense. There was no one reason for The CRU's offensive malaise, but it was there all season long.

I write the above to say Mount Union had a great defensive game plan and exploited UMHB's obvious weaknesses. All credit to UMU, however, the Purple Raiders did not put the clamps on some kind of offensive juggernaut. Every serious UMHB fan knew the offense was not up to the par of past CRU offenses and was not championship caliber. 

On the defensive side of the Stagg Bowl for UMHB, The CRU did enough to win. They kept a high powered Raider offense in check. Concerning the long pass for a TD, two UMHB defenders had an opportunity to make the interception and did not. The UMU receiver maintained concentration and made a great catch. All credit goes to Hill for making the play. UMHB's defense created a couple of turnovers, but they were pretty deep in CRU territory and the offense quickly gave the ball back to UMU.

The call for running into the kicker on the punt return seemed to be the right call for me sitting in the stadium. Others said replay made it seem a bit more controversial. I suspect that is a bit of UMHB bias coming through. It really matters not, because it is the call the ref made, so a great play was wiped out. It was a play The CRU really needed.

I find it amusing to read some posts concerning this game. If I had not watched the game and did not know the score, I would assume UMU beat UMHB 50-0. The game was, in fact, a close game that was in doubt until the 4th quarter. At least, from a UMHB perspective, there was hope into the 4th quarter.

On Thursday night I was talking with some folks and I said that I believed there were three scenarios that were possible for the Stagg.

1) UMHB's offense does not show up at all. It doesn't move the ball and give any help to the defense. In this, WORSE CASE scenario, I said the worse I see The CRU getting beat is 14-0, maybe 17-0. In the survey before the game, I indicated UMU would score less than 16 points in the game. I had watched an incredible defense all year long and unless UMU had an other-worldly offense, they would have a problem against UMHB's defense.

2) In the BEST CASE SCENARIO, I could see the UMHB O playing the best game of the year and CR3 performing to the potential we know he has. In this scenario, I said I could see UMHB winning 21/24-10.

3) A sort of in the MIDDLE SCENARIO, I could see the offense getting some success and UMHB's defense holding serve and it could go either way being decided by a FG. 

After the safety, I texted one of the people I talked to on Thursday evening and the message simply said: "WORSE CASE SCENARIO."

I offer no excuses. UMU had a great defensive game plan and stymied a UMHB offense that we all knew was anything but championship caliber this year. The UMHB defense played well enough to win, but, again, Mount Union's defense was much better than The CRU offense on Friday night.

I have seen some complaining that Fulford was nowhere on the all-American list. There is no doubt he is a very good quarterback. However, IMO, Germinerio from Brockport and even Baca from East Texas Baptist were better against UMHB. They both gave The CRU fits and did not have near the supporting cast that Fulford has. Note I stipulated IMO.

If UMHB is to make another run at the Stagg Bowl next year that are some obvious issues to be addressed. I hope/believe the coaches will do all they can in order to have The CRU in position come September.

Congratulations to Mount Union! UMU's 13 crowns reins supreme.

[Hooyah Cowboys]

My deepest condolences to the McLane family as they fell just short of buying their 2nd consecutive national championship.
I know this probably hurts now but don't worry, I'm sure your freely gifted, D1 like facilities will continue to lure players like Ajay Fanene and Blake Jackson who otherwise would have never heard of Belton, TX.
At least this season you were able to scrape by against the  school out in Abilene that couldn't buy half your stadium if they sold their entire campus. (With a backup QB by the way, but that's irrelevant)
Congrats to Mount Union and screw the Cru!!

Until next year, Hooyah Cowboys!

[jamtod]

My deepest condolences to the McLane family as they fell just short of buying their 2nd consecutive national championship.
I know this probably hurts now but don't worry, I'm sure your freely gifted, D1 like facilities will continue to lure players like Ajay Fanene and Blake Jackson who otherwise would have never heard of Belton, TX.
At least this season you were able to scrape by against the  school out in Abilene that couldn't buy half your stadium if they sold their entire campus. (With a backup QB by the way, but that's irrelevant)
Congrats to Mount Union and screw the Cru!!

Until next year, Hooyah Cowboys!

[Kelly Boggs]

Hooyah,

jamtoTommie hits the nail on the head. +k

UMHB did not start playing in the new stadium - that includes the student union - until 2013. The UMHB record against HSU from 1998 to 2012 was 13 wins and 5 losses. Three times during this stretch UMHB beat HSU twice in the same season. How do you explain UMHB's success over this stretch?

The past two seasons HSU had an opportunity to get a second shot at UMHB in the playoffs, however, in both seasons HSU was dominated by Linfield. Linfield does not have a state of the art facility but somehow managed to dominate HSU with the Cowboys starting QB playing this year. How to explain the losses to Linfield?

If you are going to blame the Cowboys inability to beat UMHB because of the stadium, HSU might as well drop football or move to another conference, because I can assure you the stadium is not going anywhere, that is unless you come down and blow it up.

I've heard some say that UMHB lives rent-free in the minds of many HSU fans, etc... You make me believe that it's true.

[HSUCowboy2015]

Hooyah,

UMHB did not start playing in the new stadium - that includes the student union - until 2013. The UMHB record against HSU from 1998 to 2012 was 13 wins and 5 losses. Three times during this stretch UMHB beat HSU twice in the same season. How do you explain UMHB's success over this stretch?

The past two seasons HSU had an opportunity to get a second shot at UMHB in the playoffs, however, in both seasons HSU was dominated by Linfield. Linfield does not have a state of the art facility but somehow managed to dominate HSU with the Cowboys starting QB playing this year. How to explain the losses to Linfield?

If you are going to blame the Cowboys inability to beat UMHB because of the stadium, HSU might as well drop football or move to another conference, because I can assure you the stadium is not going anywhere, that is unless you come down and blow it up.

I've heard some say that UMHB lives rent-free in the minds of many HSU fans, etc... You make me believe that it's true.

Not everyone is like that here in Abilene. I will be the first to admit I can't stand UMHB, but I will also say I respect the hell out of them. It's not easy doing what Coach Fred has done there. He is also a first class man, I have had the privilege of getting to
speak to him on multiple occasions because of my personal relationship with Coach Jimmie Keeling.

With all that being said UMHB fans may want to give Coach Keeling some credit for your success seeing as how he let Coach Fred come view how we did things when UMHB started their program. But also you have to credit Fred for taking that knowledge and enhancing and growing his program to new heights that HSU has never gotten too.

Hence my jealousy haha

[Kelly Boggs]

HSUAlum255,

Everyone has fans who we wish were not our fans. The UMHB fans I KNOW have nothing but respect for the HSU program - I would even add all other athletic programs as well. We know anytime HSU is the opponent, it will be a tough game.

Coach Fredenburg does give credit to HSU's Keeling and UMU's Kehres and others for helping form the blueprint of UMHB football.

[dlippiel]

dlip just wants to say how impressed he was with the level of football being played during the Stagg. Holy **** that was some good football and dlip can do nothing but stare in awe at both UMU and UMHB. What great programs! To dlip, these two programs are great for D3 football and set the bar so very high for the rest of us. To have such excellent students playing football at that high of a level is just ****ing awesome. Congrats to UMU on your title and congrats to UHMB on getting to the Stagg and playing your hearts out. Much much respect and admiration from this East Region fan.

[Hooyah Cowboys]

"Fans we wish weren't fans." That's hilarious.

As a former HSU football player, it's a good thing I don't represent the HSU fan base but rather the men that you all show up to watch on Saturdays and spend your weekdays evaluating.
These men don't respect MHB and are happy that they don't have to spend another year listening to the Cru act like they earned something.
And before I have to read your rant on how classless my beliefs are, I can assure you that every team I ever played against had this same mindset or they got beat by 50.
Anybody that's ever played for the Cowboys or the Cru has a strong hate for the other and that will never change. Respect for your rivals is for the fans and bad programs like Howard Payne.

Also, don't give me some BS quote from a press conference to "prove" the mhb players are more classy than that because we all know that's politically correct speak that's vastly different from what's said on the field and in the locker room.
We hate you, you hate us. And that's ok.

[Kelly Boggs]

HC,

I see you did not attempt to answer the question concerning UMHB's success pre-Crusader Stadium or Linfield's wins in the playoffs the past two seasons. Facts are really hard to deal with, aren't they?