The absence of Pete Fredenburg's footsteps along the sideline was hardly noticeable, though, because his fingerprints remained all over the Crusaders program.
With Fredenburg resting at home under doctor's orders, UMHB still pounded the ball with its rushing attack and swarmed on defense, burying Howard Payne by halftime and cruising to a 45-7 victory Saturday afternoon at Gordon Wood Stadium.
"Coach Fredenburg is such a great leader that even when he's not there in person, his presence is there," said senior cornerback Brett Parker, who had a pair of interceptions. "And we just knew that we needed to buckle down and win one for the big guy."
Fredenburg, who had paced the sideline for the first 136 games in UMHB history before Saturday, was treated earlier in the week for shortness of breath and his status for next week's regular-season finale is unknown.
"Pete experienced some shortness of breath the past few days, going back to last week," UMHB vice president for athletics Ben Shipp said prior to kickoff. "He felt like he reached a point where he needed to go to the emergency room. The doctors ordered him to stay home and rest.
"We'll find out more as reports come back. He won't be with the team until doctors clear him, and hopefully we'll know more come Monday."
The ninth-ranked Crusaders (8-1 overall, 6-1 American Southwest Conference) remained tied for the league lead, kept their playoff hopes alive and had this one in the bag by intermission.
UMHB led 35-0 just 3½ minutes into the second quarter and rolled up 314 first-half yards, compared to 67 by HPU (4-5, 2-5).
"Getting up on them by a few scores early cut their offense in half," said offensive line coach Joe George, who took over Fredenburg's gameday duties. "Once we got a comfortable lead, they knew they couldn't beat us with the screens they like to run. They knew they had to try to throw the ball down the field."
Tailback Bryson Tucker ran 67 yards untouched on the game's third play for a 7-0 lead and the rout was on.
Tucker quickly added a 7-yard score. Pi'Dadro Davis rose to haul in a perfectly placed 32-yard touchdown pass from starting quarterback Kyle Noack. Backup QB LiDarral Bailey ran from hash mark to hash mark and 20 yards backwards before throwing what was officially a 5-yard TD pass to Tucker. And Quincy Daniels capped the onslaught by running in from the 5 with 11:30 left in the second quarter.
