FB: American Southwest Conference

[zipmac22]

Congratulations to Hardin Simmons for their win. They came to Belton to play football and The Cru came to twiddle their thumbs and many played for themselves and not for the team.

I was hoping that The Cru team that played and beat Whitewater would of showed up today with more of that same drive and intensity, but I digress.

It's clear that a lot of the players don't respect or see Coach Harmon as the spearhead of the football team. Too many of those individuals are more interested in their advancement and not to bring back former luster that Cru Football once had.

I'm afraid that if the administration doesn't made a change of the head coach as well as a new OC any faint idea of moving up to D2 or FCS would be hard pressed to happen. Three years to take a top notch D3 powerhouse team together even better is long enough. The whole UMHB football program is at risk of losing its once top tier status and become an average (if not a sub par team) in just a few more years. Once that happens the ability to draw top area high school players will be a thing of the past.

[Crubacker]

@umhbalum.........I guarantee Coach Mann would have done a better job coaching than what we saw today.  How is he responsible???

I haven't seen Harmon really get onto anyone-------a lot of this is coaching but if the players aren't in the position they are suppose to be, that's on the player.  The defensive line did a good job today, secondary and linebackers couldn't cover a blanket.  Didn't hardly see any blitzes, CB's didn't know where the ball was. 

UMHB play calling----------somebody said it best earlier...run, run, pass, punt.  Way too predictable.  Padron's play calling should be questioned by Harmon.  Hey, had a lot of rushing yards------who cares, you got monkey stomped.  Pathetic offense.  Don't know where Phe was throwing the ball, majority of his throws were into double coverage.

[Crubacker]

I was embarrassed to watch that game.  Pathetic coaching and pathetic play.

[CruFrenzy]

@umhbalum.........I guarantee Coach Mann would have done a better job coaching than what we saw today.  How is he responsible???

I haven't seen Harmon really get onto anyone-------a lot of this is coaching but if the players aren't in the position they are suppose to be, that's on the player.  The defensive line did a good job today, secondary and linebackers couldn't cover a blanket.  Didn't hardly see any blitzes, CB's didn't know where the ball was. 

UMHB play calling----------somebody said it best earlier...run, run, pass, punt.  Way too predictable.  Padron's play calling should be questioned by Harmon.  Hey, had a lot of rushing yards------who cares, you got monkey stomped.  Pathetic offense.  Don't know where Phe was throwing the ball, majority of his throws were into double coverage.

Coach Mann is the athletic director. Just like all other athletic departments the decision to hire, fire or keep the head football coach falls on him. So absolutely some responsibility falls on Randy.

He's one of my favorite people in the entire world fwiw, but there needs to be accountability from the top down and it's clear bringing back Harmon only delayed the inevitable.

If we moved on from the current staff this is a job that would have 500+ legit applicants overnight. This is a sought after job. Championship history, best small school facilities in the nation and the ability to be one of the higher paying sub FBS jobs in the nation (just ask coach Fred).

Sad result today, I do believe the championship culture is completely gone. We have the talent to beat almost anyone but also have the culture to lose to almost anyone... oof.

[umhb2001]

Worst day in UMHB football history. This is a team without identity.

[Toby Taff]

I'm not ready to jump off the ledge yet. The defense was gassed by half time but hassled HSUs qb all day. GG s I should have had 14 more points, but that's why those guys don't play WR.

The good 5 settled in and showed an arm and speed.2 tds were scrub time tds but the 1st still had 1s out. They wanted the shutout.

Phe's issue today was arm strength more than anything. A couple of those pics were the right reads, he just couldn't get the ball there. One was just bad. I had a convo with a player in the stands that basically said he makes good reads just isn't strong enough to make deep over the top throws.

The bad: 4th and 2...let's run our weakest rb up the middle. WHAT? I said before the play, if they run up the middle padron should be fired on the spot. I also don't understand  the fascination with 23. 24 and 34 consistently run more productively between the tackles.

The DBs...9 just letting wr's go is crazy, as the kids say. Thought they did better, but still not good. I hope 5 gets the start and reps next week.

NOW to alma mater #2 congrats Cowboys, I'll see yall around Abilene this week.

[Etchglow]

I'm not ready to jump off the ledge yet. The defense was gassed by half time but hassled HSUs qb all day. GG s I should have had 14 more points, but that's why those guys don't play WR.

The good 5 settled in and showed an arm and speed.2 tds were scrub time tds but the 1st still had 1s out. They wanted the shutout.

Phe's issue today was arm strength more than anything. A couple of those pics were the right reads, he just couldn't get the ball there. One was just bad. I had a convo with a player in the stands that basically said he makes good reads just isn't strong enough to make deep over the top throws.

The bad: 4th and 2...let's run our weakest rb up the middle. WHAT? I said before the play, if they run up the middle padron should be fired on the spot. I also don't understand  the fascination with 23. 24 and 34 consistently run more productively between the tackles.

The DBs...9 just letting wr's go is crazy, as the kids say. Thought they did better, but still not good. I hope 5 gets the start and reps next week.

NOW to alma mater #2 congrats Cowboys, I'll see yall around Abilene this week.

Yeah, I think the starting QB spot has to be Wright's.  He didn't look too bad those last few possessions and, he has a decent arm.  Phe's 10 interceptions in the first 4 (countable) games is the most by a UMHB quarterback in a single season since Zach Anderson in 2013. 

Edit to Add:  Wright passed for more yards in a single game today than Phe has in 14 games for UMHB.

Honestly, the multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties was just icing on the cake.  I wasn't paying attention as to what Durand Hill did to get ejected for a single Unsportsmanlike penalty (Usually throwing a punch or someone mentioned hitting a ref?), but Harmon needs to come down on that hard.  I mean, Hill is a freaking Captain and All-American...

[Toby Taff]

Honestly, the multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties was just icing on the cake.  I wasn't paying attention as to what Durand Hill did to get ejected for a single Unsportsmanlike penalty (Usually throwing a punch or someone mentioned hitting a ref?), but Harmon needs to come down on that hard.  I mean, Hill is a freaking Captain and All-American...

When they announced ex the ejecton they said he hit or touched a referee. They showed the replay and I couldn't see anything.

[Crubacker]

Don't know if UMHB OC is now up in the box or still down on the sidelines but his play calling was terrible and too predictable.  Pee Wee coaches could have figured out what he was going to do.  Didn't understand this--------in the game against UWW, they had Phe rolling out more and he seemed to be very effective that way, this game they had him sitting in the pocket. 

Both QB's need to improve their timing on their throws also.  They would have someone open and take too long to throw the ball and when they finally did, the defense already closed in.  Got some pressure on the HSU QB but need to do it more often.

Extremely disappointed in the play of the secondary.  Against UWW, they were all over the field.  Against HSU, it seemed like they were short 2-3 guys because receivers were just left wide open.  Again, more pressure on the QB, less time to throw and he was not a fast runner.

Absolutely agreed with Toby Taff-----------the 4th and 2 and that is the play you choose?  If OC can't be more creative than run, run, pass, punt----------he's got to go!!!!

Head coach just seemed to roam the sidelines talking on his headset for most of the game.  Saw very little reaction from him on anything.

Illegal participation penalty on #97 was pathetic.  Took his time getting off the field, HSU snapped it and gave them an additional 5 yds and they went for it on 4th down and got the first.  PATHETIC!!!!!!!

[Ron Boerger]

Per Riley Zaras/TruetotheCru.com, Jake Wright will be the QB starter this weekend at Howard Payne.

[Crubacker]

I saw a lot more wrong in that game than Harmon apparently did.  Secondary was lost, offensive line was inconsistent on blocking, QB play was poor, play calling was terrible, defense was not aggressive enough. 

[Etchglow]

I saw a lot more wrong in that game than Harmon apparently did.  Secondary was lost, offensive line was inconsistent on blocking, QB play was poor, play calling was terrible, defense was not aggressive enough. 

Yeah. Just saw Riley's coverage of the press conference... It seemed like a lot of focusing on one or two small things and missing the elephant in the room. What the press conference should've been:

"In hindsight, this game was the result of multiple failures at every level of the game. Frankly, our game plan sucked, and we didn't execute it very well at that. We also failed to motivate our players enough and came out flat for 3 quarters. We also ran into some discipline issues with the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and that kind of behavior is not acceptable here. Going forward I'm challenging everyone involved to do better and be better."

[crufootball]

Per Riley Zaras/TruetotheCru.com, Jake Wright will be the QB starter this weekend at Howard Payne.

While other changes may be needed I think this had to happen at this point. I don't think Phe is a bad QB but I don't think he has the stuff needed to be a deep in the playoffs type of QB UMHB has come to expect. Really hoping Wright can be the spark that UMHB has been lacking and do a copy of the UMHB experience 20 years ago where HSU also came into Belton and had their way with the Cru on own homecoming.

[UMHB03]

Per Riley Zaras/TruetotheCru.com, Jake Wright will be the QB starter this weekend at Howard Payne.

While other changes may be needed I think this had to happen at this point. I don't think Phe is a bad QB but I don't think he has the stuff needed to be a deep in the playoffs type of QB UMHB has come to expect. Really hoping Wright can be the spark that UMHB has been lacking and do a copy of the UMHB experience 20 years ago where HSU also came into Belton and had their way with the Cru on own homecoming.

I agree. By all accounts Phe is a good kid, but he just isn't the answer at QB. We have to win out, including beating a team that just run-ruled us in our own house, if we want to make the playoffs. Winning the rest of our games is very unlikely either way, but the only prayer we have of doing so is by making a change at QB and hoping that Wright is the second coming of King, Hammack, or Jackson.

[crufootball]

Per Riley Zaras/TruetotheCru.com, Jake Wright will be the QB starter this weekend at Howard Payne.

While other changes may be needed I think this had to happen at this point. I don't think Phe is a bad QB but I don't think he has the stuff needed to be a deep in the playoffs type of QB UMHB has come to expect. Really hoping Wright can be the spark that UMHB has been lacking and do a copy of the UMHB experience 20 years ago where HSU also came into Belton and had their way with the Cru on own homecoming.

I agree. By all accounts Phe is a good kid, but he just isn't the answer at QB. We have to win out, including beating a team that just run-ruled us in our own house, if we want to make the playoffs. Winning the rest of our games is very unlikely either way, but the only prayer we have of doing so is by making a change at QB and hoping that Wright is the second coming of King, Hammack, or Jackson.

As I have said before I am the eternal optimist about UMHB football but I truly don't think it is that unlikely that we could go to Abilene and beat them. Yes they handled us with ease on Saturday but to me it felt like our defense folded when it became clear it wasn't going to be our day. You give them a reason to stay focused ( including a healthy Te'Ron Brown) and a better offense and a repeat of 2004 is not out of question.