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Hardin-Simmons is hosting Howard Payne for the second of three straight home games. HSU and Howard Payne opened the season on Sept. 7 in Brownwood with the Cowboys picking up a 38-6 win. This marks the start of the second trip through the ASC schedule for the Cowboys.
 
The game was switched to a Friday game because of expected stormy weather on Saturday. The two teams had a crazy weather day before. In 2011, the game in Abilene was slated to start at 1 p.m. and finally began at 6:50 p.m. because of lightning delays. It was delayed again at 8:38 p.m. with 8:00 to play in the third quarter. The teams came back on the field at 9:45 and finished the game at 10:27 p.m.
 
HSU is still fifth in both national polls. Howard Payne is unranked and not receiving votes in either poll. HSU has been ranked for 98 straight weeks and in the top 10 for 61 of those weeks.
 
The moving of the game has also altered the Senior Day festivities that were originally slated for Saturday. With a couple of dads being high school coaches and other conflicts it made Friday not an option. The Senior Day has been moved to next week against UMHB at 11:50 a.m. With the change, two seniors had family that had already made travel arrangements. We will honor Johrdan Howard and Evan Hill prior to Friday night's game.
 
The Opening Kickoff
The Cowboys start the second half of American Southwest Conference play with a 3-0 league mark. HSU will play Howard Payne for the second time this season. Playing teams twice in a season is different but not unprecedented. HSU and Howard Payne played twice in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1996, In 1995, the two teams played three times including a game in the NAIA playoffs.
 
Up Next
HSU closes its three-game home stand with a game against Mary Hardin-Baylor. That game is slated for 1 p.m. and will now also be Senior day. 
 
Last Time Versus HPU
The Cowboys stymied the Yellow Jackets' offense and held them to six points and 272 yards in a 38-6 win to open the season in Brownwood.  Kyle Brown was 22-of-33 for 209 yards through the air in his Cowboy debut and Noah Garcia had 87 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground. Harrison Foster led the Cowboy defense with 11 tackles and an interception.
 
A Cowboy Win Would
?Be the 517th in school history.
?Be the 18th straight against Howard Payne.
?Be the 12th straight home win.
?Be the 17th straight ASC win.
 
Rarefied Air
There is little doubt the Cowboys are building one of their best seasons in school history. In 87 years of Hardin-Simmons football, the Cowboys have won the first eight games of the season on just seven previous occasions and the Cowboys will try to make it eight on Friday. The 1937 team started 8-0 and then had a tie, the 1941 team went undefeated at 9-0, the 1942 team started 8-0 and finished 9-1-1 and the 1946 team went undefeated at 11-0. In the Division III era, the 1999 and 2000 teams both started the season 12-0 before falling in the playoffs. The 2004 team started 10-0.
 
Team Defense
HSU leads the ASC in scoring defense at 16.6 points per game and leads the league allowing just 285.9 yards per game.   
 
Century Club
Tailon Garrett had his second 100-yard receiving game of the season on Saturday against ETBU and the fourth of his career. He caught nine passes for 112 yards. The nine receptions tied his career high and it was his second-straight 100-yard game against East Texas Baptist. He was named the ASC offensive player of the week.  
 
Meet At The Quarterback
Two weeks ago against McMurry the Cowboys had four sacks and last week the Cowboys added a season-best five quarterback sacks. HSU has moved up to the top of the ASC with 15 sacks on the season, two ahead of East Texas Baptist. Charlie Patterson had two sacks in the game and had 12 tackles. Patterson is tied for the ASC lead with four sacks. He was named the ASC defensive player of the week for his play. Kaiden Roden, Brody McClure and Mark Champion all added sacks for the Cowboys. 
 
Sneak Attack
HSU has never been afraid to run a fake on field goals. Braden St. Ama scored last week on a fake field goal as he followed kicker Grayson Bearden into the end zone. Gatlin and Garrett Martin both scored touchdowns as the holder on fakes in recent memory.
 
Garcia Scores Again
Noah Garcia had 87 yards on 11 carries against ETBU and scored his conference-leading 11th touchdown of the season. On the TD drive, he had all three plays including rushes of 18 and 28 yards. Something new in the Cowboys' arsenal showed up on that drive. Senior running back Colton Marshall has started working at tight end and he had two devastating blocks on those back-to-back runs to open the hole for his running back mate. Garcia also topped the 2,000-yard mark in career all-purpose yards. He now has 2,057 in his career.
 
Marshall Moves To Top 10
Speaking of Marshall, he is still playing running back as well and he had 76 yards on seven carries and scored a touchdown. He also had a chance at another TD but the officials ruled he lost the ball before hitting the pylon and it went out of the end zone for a touchback. With his 76 yards, he is now 10th on the career rushing charts at HSU. He is fourth all-time with 34 career rushing touchdowns and needs three more to get to a tied for second place.
 
Who Would You Cover?
The Cowboys' have several weapons on offense, but its top four receivers Tailon Garrett, Kris Sims, Dozie Ifeadi and Wes Douglas have proven to be tough covers. All have a touchdown of at least 34 yards on the year and all have multiple touchdowns. Garrett has 32 catches for 424 yards and four scores, Sims has 21 catches for 368 yards and two scores, Ifeadi has 19 catches for 249 yards and five TDs and Douglas has 14 catches for 170 yards and three scores. Tight end Brock Gibson also has a pair of receiving touchdowns on the year. Garrett had a 67-yard touchdown last week and Douglas added a 38-yarder.
 
Quick Strike Offense
HSU has had plenty of quick-strike offense this season. The Cowboys have five one-play touchdown drives on the year including Douglas' 38-yard touchdown last week. HSU has eight scoring drives this season that have gone less than a minute. On the flip side, the Cowboys also had its longest length drive of the season last week, with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took 7:06 off the clock. Braden St. Ama capped the drive with a touchdown on the fake field goal.   
 
Stat Tracks
HSU has won six of seven coin flips this season. The only time the Cowboys lost the flip was against Mary Hardin-Baylor…Senior captain Corbyn Cornell leads the Cowboys in special teams tackles with six…HSU has not allowed a point on the opponents' first drive of the game or the first drive of the second half the entire season…The defense has forced a punt on the first drive of the second half in all seven games this year…The offense has scored on six of the seven opening drives of the game, including five touchdowns.
 
Moving Up The Charts
Junior placekicker Grayson Bearden has now made 40 PATs and four field goals on the season.  He ranks third in the ASC in scoring with his 52 points. For his career, he has made 118 PATs which is fourth all-time at HSU. His 13 field goals have him fifth all-time.
 
About The Yellow Jackets
Howard Payne comes into the game 1-5 on the year and 0-3 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are last in the conference in scoring offense at 22.7 points per game and are allowing 33 points per contest. They also allow a league-high 386.3 yards per outing. Blessing Ngene leads the team with 245 yards rushing. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 2.2 yards per rush on the year. Zy Gravitt is averaging a league-best 279.2 yards per game through the air. He has 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Gus Charles is the top receiver in the conference, averaging 129.6 yards per game. He has 34 catches for 648 yards on the year. Kale Shaw leads the defense with 40 tackles, Jacob Korrodi has 39 and Peyton Lowe 38. HPU has just three sacks on the year and they have allowed 20 sacks on offense.
 
 

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