BELTON - With what is annually considered its biggest regular season game in the rearview mirror, it would be somewhat easy for Mary Hardin-Baylor to begin looking to far down the road.

The Crusaders, however, say the scars left from last week’s collision will keep them focused on the path ahead.

“The things that’s going to keep us from having a letdown is just how the Hardin-Simmons game went,” UMHB coach Pete Fredenburg said during his weekly press conference Monday, two days after his third-ranked Crusaders escaped with a 20-18 victory over the 11th-ranked Cowboys. “I don’t think our defense was very satisfied, and we need to be able to effectively throw the ball. Those are areas that we really need to improve on.”

UMHB’s offense mustered only 34 yards through the air and failed to reach the end zone on several opportunities. On the other side, its defense gave up 287 passing yards at an average of 15 yards per completion.

“We did some things defensively that were somewhat disappointing,” Fredenburg said. “Not to say that Hardin-Simmons didn’t contribute to that, but we feel like we could have done some things better. We let them have the tight end open two or three times, and that’s uncharacteristic of our defense.

“Then when your offense goes down and misses one field, gets another one blocked and false starts on the 1-inch line, those are things you have to correct.”

The win over the Cowboys gave the Crusaders (4-0, 3-0 American Southwest Conference) the inside track for the ASC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

UMHB is 41-4 all-time against its five remaining conference opponents. Next up is Louisiana College (2-2, 0-2) in a game that kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bates Stadium in Pineville, La.

Injury report

Quincy Daniels, who injured his knee on the Crusaders’ first play against Texas Lutheran on Sept. 20, received a positive report after undergoing arthroscopic surgery last week. The preseason All-American tailback could be back on the field for UMHB in as few as four weeks.

“The doctors were trying to determine the extent of his ACL damage, and if it was bad enough, then they were going back in to repair it,” Fredenburg said. “They decided not to do that. They’re trying to rehab him so that he can get his leg back in shape with a brace on without the ACL surgery.”

Fredenburg said tailback Matt Hurst, who missed the second half last week with a “stinger,” has recovered.

The only bad news on the injury front came in regard to Pi’Dadro Davis, who was assisted off the field after making a second-half catch on Saturday.

“He has a high ankle sprain and will be out for a while,” Fredenburg said of Davis, who has nine catches for a team-high 233 yards and three TDs.

Doing the little things

UMHB leads the ASC in the major statistical categories of scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, rushing offense and rushing defense.

But the Crusaders are also taking care of business in other departments, proven by their spot atop the conference in the statistical categories of kickoff returns, punt returns, kickoff coverage, third- and fourth-down conversions, and red-zone offense and defense.

“We stress special teams and game situations a lot,” Fredenburg said. “All of our coaches also have special teams duties, and they spend time teaching situational things.”

Weekly honor

UMHB senior quarterback Josh Saenz was named as the ASC’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against HSU.

Saenz ran for 162 yards - a school single-game record for a quarterback - and two TDs while directing an offense that controlled the ball for more than 39 minutes.

Slight playoff tweak

It was recently announced that the 32-team field for the Division III playoffs will have 23 automatic qualifiers rather than 22. The Northern Athletics Conference will get the newest AQ, which was no shocker.

What came as somewhat of a surprise was the DIII ommittee opting to take away a Pool B bid - reserved for independents and teams from conferences without an AQ - rather than a Pool C at-large bid to make up the difference.

“I can’t speak for the committee as for why they made the decision, but it’s a good deal for our conference,” Fredenburg said. “Historically, the Pool B teams that have gotten in haven’t represented very well, consistently.

“I think this decision allows 9-1 teams from respected conferences to still have a good chance at the playoffs.”

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