FB: American Southwest Conference

[Toby Taff]

Props CRU96.  +1 to ya.

Pat,

Don't leave the coat at home.  You may not need it, but Texas is a strange bird when it comes to weather.  Forecast for today in Abilene high of 72, tomorrow high of 48 Low of 26 with a chance of snow in the am rain in the afternoon.  Saturday highs in the mid to upper 60's.  Be a boyscout  and be prepared.

A Texas winter coat may be the same thing as a Minnesota sweater.   

Ralph, I wear shorts if its over 50 and I have a real coat.  Even after living in Utah and Germany, and visiting Wisconsin in December/January (my brother got married on Dec 31 in Wisconsin) I can honestly say the coldest I have ever been (phenomenologically) was in Central Texas.

[CRU96]

Ralph, and Toby,

Thank you, I felt the need to share from my experience.
Toby, I remember playing a Homecoming six man game in 1995 to help bring football to UMHB.  Nothing like playing with rented HS JV gear from Academy High School!

[Ralph Turner]

Props CRU96.  +1 to ya.

Pat,

Don't leave the coat at home.  You may not need it, but Texas is a strange bird when it comes to weather.  Forecast for today in Abilene high of 72, tomorrow high of 48 Low of 26 with a chance of snow in the am rain in the afternoon.  Saturday highs in the mid to upper 60's.  Be a boyscout  and be prepared.

A Texas winter coat may be the same thing as a Minnesota sweater.   

Ralph, I wear shorts if its over 50 and I have a real coat.  Even after living in Utah and Germany, and visiting Wisconsin in December/January (my brother got married on Dec 31 in Wisconsin) I can honestly say the coldest I have ever been (phenomenologically) was in Central Texas.

Ehhhh....Your blood got too thin!      

[jaypeter]

A quote from CruAlum90 on another board:

Besides, I know the U wants another shot at us, seeing as though we are the only team in america with a winning record against em..... GO CRU..... GO TEXAS FOOTBALL

You have a good thought, but there are more than a handful of teams that Mount has a losing record against...at least 20 by my count, with another 7 series that are tied.  But, you are in some good company, seeing as some of these teams you may have heard of outside of even the most diehard DIII circles:  Notre Dame, The Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Syracuse and some others of that sort.  Though, if Mount wanted to schedule Syracuse and Michigan in the near future, they may have a chance to even things out!  Washington and Jefferson even has a perfect 4-0 record against Mount, but then again they haven't met since 1941.

As far as more recent business, I believe that Mount's recent playoff victory against Hobart may have evened out their record with the Statesmen.  Before this year, I think Mount had a losing record against them.  They even have a shut-out win over West Virginia in their only game.

But, your one defeat does still sting pretty hard with us.  You beat us on our field, at our game, and in our weather.  But, it was also "only" the semi's.  I think most Mount Union faithful would like little else than to have an opportunity to beat Whitewater in Salem this year.  How many teams get a decent shot of playing the last two teams to beat them, and that shot coming in the championship game?  Granted, it's all a moot point if Mount Union doesn't beat Wheaton this weekend, and team that does not have a winning record against Mount Union.

But, your point is still good...we'd love a tast of revenge, even thought we'd love the Walnut and Bronze even more!

EDIT: After double checking my facts, I think that Hobart may still have a winning record against Mount Union, winning 2 to Mt's 1 this year.

[roocru]

Why do I love D III football?  It is easy.  UMHB vs. UWW in the Semi-Finals in Belton with the winner playing for the National Championship.  UMHB needs to remember they not only represent the CRU family, but all the ASC, and the South Region in this HUGE game. 

I cannot believe that in 10 years we are playing for the right to go to the Stagg in our home stadium.  UWW is worthy of our respect, and we must play the best game of the year to win.

I have been out of pocket for the last couple of days, but I want to weigh in on the HSU/UMHB banter for a moment.  I do not believe that UMHB is as prepared for this game against UWW without the close, hard fought game with HSU.  The Cowboys are not just a rival game they are formidable in their ability to play well and yes, win big games.  To my fellow CRU fans, we must not become arrogant jerks, and forget the road it took to get to where we are playing in the semis this weekend. 

On of the greatest lessons I ever learned in football was how the Mt. Union fans treated UMHB fans in Alliance.  With grace and humility, and then the mystic of the game was unbelievable.  They were even gracious in defeat.  CRU faithful I appeal to our honor code, to be honest with ourselves.  We beat a very good HSU team, and that has prepared us for now. 

So do not kid yourself, HSU will not go away and hide, they have already begun thinking about next year. By the way, we need to focus on Whitewater, they seem to have our number right now. (0-3 in the series) Time to focus in on the business at hand,  having the Warhawks on our mind.

My opinion only, but we must remain humble my friends, hungry, yet humble.

I don't believe I have ever heard this said better!!  In fact, if we had  a message thread for classic posts, this would definitely be on it!!    +k from me as well!!!

[Toby Taff]

Ralph, and Toby,

Thank you, I felt the need to share from my experience.
Toby, I remember playing a Homecoming six man game in 1995 to help bring football to UMHB.  Nothing like playing with rented HS JV gear from Academy High School!

Heath, I remember that.  The first homecoming football game.  Texas style 6-man.

[crufootball]

As a recent grad of UMHB, I obviously love the success we are currently having on the football field but it is a lot of fun to hear about the days when we played 6 man football against each other and the early history of the program. I had the good fortune to work on the newspaper and yearbook staff as a student, and my favorite story I wrote was about Coach Shinn and how he scored the first TD and how he and the program has progressed since that point.

On a completely different thought, I was looking over the stats on NCAA.com to get ready for the game this weekend and I am stumped at one stats means. Does anyone know what pass effciency defense means and how is it different than pass defense?

[CRU96]

Ralph, and Toby,

Thank you, I felt the need to share from my experience.
Toby, I remember playing a Homecoming six man game in 1995 to help bring football to UMHB.  Nothing like playing with rented HS JV gear from Academy High School!

Heath, I remember that.  The first homecoming football game.  Texas style 6-man.

It was a night to remember.  I enjoyed meeting Legendary Head Coach Coach Grant Taft (honorary coach for the game) that evening.  Never would have dreamed we would be where we are today!  

From Girls school to D3 Semi-Finals.

Prepare well boys this one is big!

Go Cru!

[Toby Taff]

Ralph, and Toby,

Thank you, I felt the need to share from my experience.
Toby, I remember playing a Homecoming six man game in 1995 to help bring football to UMHB.  Nothing like playing with rented HS JV gear from Academy High School!

Heath, I remember that.  The first homecoming football game.  Texas style 6-man.

It was a night to remember.  I enjoyed meeting Legendary Head Coach Coach Grant Taft (honorary coach for the game) that evening.  Never would have dreamed we would be where we are today!  

From Girls school to D3 Semi-Finals.

Prepare well boys this one is big!

Go Cru!

Heath,
I feel obligated to point out it's Grant Teaff not Taft.  Since my last name is often misspelled Taft, its a pet peave.

[williethewarhawk]

As one who attended the '06 game in Belton, I can only hope this game will have the same intensity as that one.  What an unbelievable defensive battle!!  The MHB speed at the LB spots was unbelievable and UWW found ways to create very timely turnovers.  But probably the biggest individual force in that game was Kleppe (#95), the '06 d3football.com defensive player of the year.  The Cru had absolutely no answer for that kid!!  I think Pete Fredenburg probably still has nightmares of #95!!  

For all of you who were also at that game in '06, just wanted to hear your thoughts on the game.

Always remember, Pound the Rock and GO HAWKS!

[Bill McCabe]

As one who attended the '06 game in Belton, I can only hope this game will have the same intensity as that one.  What an unbelievable defensive battle!!  The MHB speed at the LB spots was unbelievable and UWW found ways to create very timely turnovers.  But probably the biggest individual force in that game was Kleppe (#95), the '06 d3football.com defensive player of the year.  The Cru had absolutely no answer for that kid!!  I think Pete Fredenburg probably still has nightmares of #95!!  

For all of you who were also at that game in '06, just wanted to hear your thoughts on the game.

Always remember, Pound the Rock and GO HAWKS!

Klepp was a nightmare for UMHB.  He created havoc all day long and had a lot to do with the Cru's inability to score.   It's not very often that a DT can completely dominate an offense.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph, and Toby,

Thank you, I felt the need to share from my experience.
Toby, I remember playing a Homecoming six man game in 1995 to help bring football to UMHB.  Nothing like playing with rented HS JV gear from Academy High School!

Heath, I remember that.  The first homecoming football game.  Texas style 6-man.

It was a night to remember.  I enjoyed meeting Legendary Head Coach Coach Grant Taft (honorary coach for the game) that evening.  Never would have dreamed we would be where we are today!  

From Girls school to D3 Semi-Finals.

Prepare well boys this one is big!

Go Cru!

Heath,
I feel obligated to point out it's Grant Teaff not Taft.  Since my last name is often misspelled Taft, its a pet peave.

Grant Teaff, former McMurry player and Head Coach and a Distinguished McMurry alumnus.

See!  If Coach Teaff had not been there for the start of the program, then you wouldn't be where you are now.  

Unfortunately, it has been more than 40 years since Coach Teaff coached at McMurry.  Time flies.  (The first McMurry game that I remember seeing was a 14-14 tie with Youngstown OH State in November 1964 at Shotwell Stadium.)

[Bill McCabe]

Ralph, my son has told me that Coach Teaff was the first season ticket holder at UMHB.

[Bill McCabe]

As one who attended the '06 game in Belton, I can only hope this game will have the same intensity as that one.  What an unbelievable defensive battle!!  The MHB speed at the LB spots was unbelievable and UWW found ways to create very timely turnovers.  But probably the biggest individual force in that game was Kleppe (#95), the '06 d3football.com defensive player of the year.  The Cru had absolutely no answer for that kid!!  I think Pete Fredenburg probably still has nightmares of #95!!  

For all of you who were also at that game in '06, just wanted to hear your thoughts on the game.

Always remember, Pound the Rock and GO HAWKS!

Another thing I remember from the 06 game was the number of chances UMHB had to take the lead.  The defense did a great job of getting the offense the ball in scoring position.  Klepp took care of that.  I hope there is not another one like him!   

[Bob.Gregg]

Bob,  W&J was completely outmatched..

Not that it would have changed the winner/loser, but perhaps the relativity of the game,

Outmatched without question.

63 even if W&J holds onto the ball that drive and stays in game plan?  I doubt it.

But, really, as I said to the Cal. U. of Pa. knuckleheads celebrating the fact that W&J lost 63-7 as compared to their own loss of 45-7, what's the difference between losing by five touchdowns and eight touchdowns, really?

Enjoy the win and good luck.  Beat UWW & take your best shot against Mount "THE Measuring Stick" Union.

Otherwise, you'll be just like the other 30 teams that 'made the playoffs'.