The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team will continue its three-game, season-opening road swing with another American Southwest Conference showdown at Texas Lutheran University this Saturday. The two teams will face off in a 6 pm kick off at Bulldog Stadium in Seguin in a battle of undefeated teams.
UMHB improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in ASC play with a 68-7 road victory at Sul Ross State last Saturday in Alpine. The Cru, ranked #2 in the country by both of the national polls, rolled up 533 rushing yards and scored seven touchdowns on the ground. UMHB also finished with 690 yards of total offense, while the Cru defense limited the Lobos to seven points, 26 yards rushing and 112 yards of total offense in another dominating performance. UMHB leads the country in scoring offense and total offense going into this weekend’s contest and the Cru coaches are looking for improvement from the defense this week.
“I feel like our defense is a little behind the offense right now, just because of the skill guys we have on offense,” UMHB Head Coach Pete Fredenburg said. “Our secondary is really talented and our front four just keeps getting better and better. I think defense wins championships and that will still be what we build around. We just have a lot of room to grow on that side of the ball.”
Texas Lutheran is coming off a 23-0 win over Belhaven University last Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi. The Bulldogs are tied with UMHB as the top scoring defense in the conference with both teams giving up an average of seven points per game. TLU lost starting quarterback Kyle Grona in the season-opener, but have bounced back well. The Bulldogs have used a balanced offense through the first two weeks and Texas Lutheran provides the biggest challenge of the season so far for the Cru.
“They are very well-coached and do a lot of things well,” Fredenburg said. “They keep bringing in better players and this will be a huge test for us. I think it is a test we need, because we really have to focus on getting better each week, regardless of who we are playing.”
UMHB leads the all-time series between the two teams 19-1 and the Cru has taken the last 18 meetings. The Bulldogs only victory came in a 34-24 win in the 1999 season finale in Seguin. UMHB will once again be led by Defensive Coordinator and acting head coach Larry Harmon as Fredenburg sits out the final game of his school mandated three-game suspension. Harmon has a 2-0 record in that role.
The game kicks off at 6 pm and will be broadcast on KRock 101.7 FM with the pre-game show starting at 5:30 pm. UMHB will also provide a live video stream and Texas Lutheran will provide live statistics from the game. Links to all of the live coverage are available on the Cru Athletic Department website at cruathletics.com.
