FB: American Southwest Conference

[UMHB03]

Trinity showed that their defensive ranking was legit. The Crusaders D was just a little bit better. It's really unfortunate that D3 has to put so much emphasis on geography in it's pairings. Trinity is better than half the teams that are still playing. They deserved a home game against someone other than the # 2 team in the country.

That said, as much credit as the Trinity defense deserves, UMHB needs to make some serious adjustments on offense. With all due respect to Birmingham, what we saw today should be enough to get us through to the 3rd round if the defense maintains it's dominant form, but 13 points isn't going to cut it against SJU or Linfield.

[Etchglow]

It was a good game, way too close for my liking but good. I was kind of hoping we wouldn't see ultra conservative playoff Pete this early in the playoffs, but oh well. That wind was brutal for both teams though.

[zipmac22]

To me it looked like King wasn't his normal self. At the end of the first half I thought that Coach Fred would of put Redding in at QB since King wasn't getting things done. It would seem that King's turf toe was still an issue. The lack of running a play other than running up the middle is for the birds. I get Coach Fred doesn't want all his plays out for scouts and game films to see, but this is the playoffs. At the end of the game if we don't have enough points then it really doesn't matter about all the plays not being seen.

The defense did a great job and at times were out there too much when the offense went 3 and out. The wind was tough, but we failed to use it to our advantage when it was at our backs. If the same offense from today shows up next Saturday we won't stand a chance, and as great as our defense is they wouldn't be able to pull out enough great plays to pull off a win.

[Riley Zayas]

Great defensive effort from both teams. This is what playoff football is meant to be. The Cru was tested, but pulled away late for the 13-3 win. Aphonso Thomas had 70 fourth-quarter rushing yards and a TD.

https://truetothecru.com/2021/11/20/thomas-late-touchdown-gives-umhb-football-13-3-first-round-playoff-win-over-trinity/

[BSCpanthers]

See you guys next Saturday.  Y'all feel free to post a 13 next week too.   

[umhb2001]

What we saw today is what has come to be oh so expectant of Crusader football. The offense runs the same play over and over and the D gets us through. It's madness.

We have so many weapons, but we want to go vanilla so as to not show more than we have to. It's really frustrating.

Brandon Jordan can be so dominant. Today he looked like he didn't want to be out there.

We have got to use KJ and Ruck more. Oh and the point above about King not being himself, that was because he was scrambling away all afternoon. The OLine should have learned a lot.

On to the next.

[CruFrenzy]

Credit to Trinity for defending the UMHB offensive plan of attack, I do believe they are a top 10 defensive unit. With that being said, it wasn't much of a plan. Our (UMHB's) defense is very good this year but if our plan is run the ball for 2 yards a carry on first and second down and hope for a big play, special teams return or pick 6 to win games I have serious concerns about our survival come round 3. 13 points won't come close to cutting it against Linfield, St. Johns or anyone we may meet after that (Wheaton/Wis-Whitewater). Hoping to see the coaches open it up bit in the coming weeks.. not trying to be negative just posting my thoughts.

[crufootball]

Credit to Trinity for defending the UMHB offensive plan of attack, I do believe they are a top 10 defensive unit. With that being said, it wasn't much of a plan. Our (UMHB's) defense is very good this year but if our plan is run the ball for 2 yards a carry on first and second down and hope for a big play, special teams return or pick 6 to win games I have serious concerns about our survival come round 3. 13 points won't come close to cutting it against Linfield, St. Johns or anyone we may meet after that (Wheaton/Wis-Whitewater). Hoping to see the coaches open it up bit in the coming weeks.. not trying to be negative just posting my thoughts.

As much as we all can get frustrated by our style, the coaches might say they will take 13 every week if they can limit the other team to 3 (haha). 13 points has been enough to win more than a few playoff games.

With that said I must admit I did not think Trinity was going to be as good as they were, they were very impressive and if they can take a step forward next year there is no reason they can't win their conference again and hopefully be rewarded a home playoff game.

Also at this point I would love to extend the Texas Sub Bracket and have HSU and Trinity play this week, I am not sure who I would pick to win but I bet it would be a real good game.

[justafan12]

I have been to a few Cru games in Belton when my son played there.  Maybe 2500 to 3000 in attendance each time.

We are thinking of going to the game this Saturday; will there be tickets available that day or will it be a sellout prior to the game? 

[crufootball]

I have been to a few Cru games in Belton when my son played there.  Maybe 2500 to 3000 in attendance each time.

We are thinking of going to the game this Saturday; will there be tickets available that day or will it be a sellout prior to the game?

Unfortunately this will probably be the least attended game of the season, the game of Thanksgiving weekend is never attended well and this year our students are all done with exams as well so tickets will be easy to come by.

[justafan12]

Just announced, Belhaven leaving the ASC for USA South.  I had heard this as a rumor so I guess it is official.

https://blazers.belhaven.edu/news/2021/11/22/general-belhaven-university-announces-move-to-usa-south-conference.aspx

[Hawks88]

Just announced, Belhaven leaving the ASC for USA South.  I had heard this as a rumor so I guess it is official.

https://blazers.belhaven.edu/news/2021/11/22/general-belhaven-university-announces-move-to-usa-south-conference.aspx

I had heard this too a few days ago. Welcome aboard. Much shorter trip for us than Averett who they will be replacing.

[Cowboy2]

Credit to Trinity for defending the UMHB offensive plan of attack, I do believe they are a top 10 defensive unit. With that being said, it wasn't much of a plan. Our (UMHB's) defense is very good this year but if our plan is run the ball for 2 yards a carry on first and second down and hope for a big play, special teams return or pick 6 to win games I have serious concerns about our survival come round 3. 13 points won't come close to cutting it against Linfield, St. Johns or anyone we may meet after that (Wheaton/Wis-Whitewater). Hoping to see the coaches open it up bit in the coming weeks.. not trying to be negative just posting my thoughts.

As much as we all can get frustrated by our style, the coaches might say they will take 13 every week if they can limit the other team to 3 (haha). 13 points has been enough to win more than a few playoff games.

With that said I must admit I did not think Trinity was going to be as good as they were, they were very impressive and if they can take a step forward next year there is no reason they can't win their conference again and hopefully be rewarded a home playoff game.

Also at this point I would love to extend the Texas Sub Bracket and have HSU and Trinity play this week, I am not sure who I would pick to win but I bet it would be a real good game.

Trinity has been solid all year defensively. I need to go back and look but I think their 1's only gave up 1 score outside of the BSC game all year. Offensive unit is a young unit. I think they have 9 starters returning. Heck the whole team is young and got a lot of playing time this season. They've got a lot of players that are returning. Look at the team notes from last weekends game.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/cruathletics.com/documents/2021/11/18/UMHB_FB_GAME_NOTES_NOV_20.pdf

They've been trending up. Last season they lost to HSU by 6 in and Berry by 4 to finish the SAA as Co-Champs (8-2). Each game was decided late like the UMHB game.

I would love to see a runner up game. I've watched both teams all season. I think it would be another great game!

[Ron Boerger]

Now everyone in the ASC has to find another out-of-conference game for at least a couple of years (assuming Centenary (LA) ends up in the ASC in 2024) - starting next season. 

[HSUCowboy2015]

Now everyone in the ASC has to find another out-of-conference game for at least a couple of years (assuming Centenary (LA) ends up in the ASC in 2024) - starting next season.

Yep! And as an HSU fan.. not too thrilled about it. Playing Trinity the past few years was great, but we cannot afford to keep scheduling Wayland Baptist, SAGU, or Texas College. Southwestern will be leaving the ASC in the near future too. Should be interesting to see what plays out moving forward.