UMHB (2-0) moved up a spot to No. 2 in the D3football.com Top 25, jumping ahead of Wisconsin-Whitewater and onto the heels of two-time defending national champion Mount Union (Ohio).
The first American Football Coaches Association poll of the season will be released today.
The Crusaders and Purple Raiders have a memorable yet brief history with each other. UMHB upset host Mount Union in a national semifinal in 2004, one of only two years in which the Purple Raiders did not appear in the national title game during the past 11 seasons.
“I check to see what those other teams are doing because I have a vote in the coaches poll,” UMHB coach Pete Fredenburg said Monday during his weekly press conference. “So I keep up with it, and I think all of our guys probably look to see what those other teams are doing.
“But do we talk about it? No.”
The Purple Raiders received all 25 first-place votes and tallied 625 points in the D3football.com poll. The Crusaders totaled 572 points. Whitewater, which plays host to UMHB on Oct. 27, slipped to No. 3 after losing to St. Cloud State (Minn.) over the weekend.
UMHB finished the 2004 season ranked second and was last ranked No. 2 during the fifth week of 2005 before losing at American Southwest Conference foe Howard Payne.
Around the ASC
It’s no surprise that UMHB - 1-0 in the ASC after last week’s 55-14 thrashing of Sul Ross State - is one of two undefeated teams in the conference. However, the identity of the league’s other unbeaten squad, as well as those of its winless teams, is shocking.
Mississippi College (2-0, 1-0) is the ASC’s only other unbeaten team, while Hardin-Simmons (0-2), Howard Payne (0-2, 0-1) and Texas Lutheran (0-3, 0-1) - three squads accustomed to finishing in the top half of the league standings - have yet to crack the win column.
“I’m surprised with Hardin-Simmons,” Fredenburg said of the Cowboys, who have yielded 99 points while losing to Wisconsin-La Crosse and Linfield (Ore.). “I don’t know if La Crosse and Linfield are just that good, or if Hardin-Simmons is struggling. But it’s the first time since I’ve been associated with this conference that they’ve been 0-2.”
UMHB takes on Texas Lutheran at 1 p.m. Saturday in Seguin. The Crusaders visit Hardin-Simmons on Oct. 6 and Mississippi College on Oct. 20.
Weekly honors
UMHB sophomore Quincy Daniels was named ASC Special Teams Player of the Week, marking the second straight week the Belton product has earned an ASC honor.
Daniels, who garnered offensive honors two weeks ago, returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown against Sul Ross.
nedrennan@temple-telegram.com
