5/6 Hardin-Simmons (7-0, 3-0 ASC) at Howard Payne (3-4, 1-2 ASC)
Nov. 1 | 1 pm | Gordon Wood Stadium | Brownwood, Texas
Full Game Notes | Broadcast | Tickets
 
Jesse Burleson Show – https://youtu.be/aDkUUkStyac
Player Profile Jeremiah Richard - https://youtu.be/PSGJDuCEpBU
 
 
The Opening Kickoff
Hardin-Simmons will play the first of two straight road American Southwest Conference games as the Cowboys begin their second trip through the ASC schedule on Saturday at Howard Payne. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium. HSU won the first meeting between the two teams this season on Oct. 4, 69-14. That game was the homecoming game and was the 19th straight win for the Cowboys over Howard Payne. Kyle Brown went 21-of-29 for 351 yards and four touchdowns. Wes Douglas had four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns and Kaiden Roden had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Cowboys improved to 7-0 with a win over Nelson. It was HSU's 14th straight win over a scholarship program. It was also the 18th straight regular-season home win. The Cowboys are 7-0 for the second straight season and just the 10th time in school history.
 
Up Next
HSU will travel to Belton to play Mary Hardin-Baylor for the second time this season. The Cowboys have won four straight regular-season games against the Crusaders. The game will be a 1 p.m. kickoff.
 
In The Polls
Hardin-Simmons stayed at No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association poll and is No. 6 in the D3football.com poll. The Cowboys are also No. 5 in this week's NPI ranking with the NCAA. HSU has been ranked for 110 straight weeks and in the top 10 for 72 of those weeks.
 
A Cowboy Win Would
? Be the 527th in school history.
? Be the 14th straight win against a scholarship program.
? Would mark just the ninth time in school history to start 9-0.
? Be the 50th all-time win over Howard Payne.
? Would be the 23rd straight ASC win.
? Would be the 25th straight regular-season win.
? Be the 115th in the Jesse Burleson era.
 
About Howard Payne
Howard Payne comes into the game with a record of 3-4 overall and 1-2 in American Southwest Conference play. They fell 41-17 to Mary Hardin-Baylor last week. They are on their fourth quarterback of the season in freshman Bryce Still. He went 29-of-37 for 213 yards and two touchdowns last week at UMHB. Howard Payne averages 22.6 points per game and is allowing 30.1. They have been particularly good against the run, allowing just 104.6 yards per game on the ground and 3.5 yards per carry. Running back Blessing Ngene leads the team with 667 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He has four straight 100-yard rushing efforts, including 110 in the first meeting between the two teams. Cade Rochinski leads the team with 49 tackles.
 
The Series With Howard Payne
HSU has played Howard Payne more than any other opponent and is looking for its 50th all-time win over its Baptist rival. HSU leads the all-time series 49-24-4 and has won 19 straight meetings. HSU owns a 22-13-1 advantage in Brownwood.
 
Brown Continues To Climb On The All-Time Charts
Kyle Brown had his best passing game as a Cowboy as he went 23-of-29 for 420 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown. The yards and completions were both career highs as he improved to 17-1 as the starter. He has moved into the top 10 in several categories. He is third in passing yards per game at 228, fifth in passing efficiency at 169.6, seventh in completion percentage at 66.1, his 9.6 yards per pass is tied for second and his 14.1 yards per completion ranks 10th. He has 4119 yards and need 150 to get to 10th in passing yards. He needs one more touchdown pass to move to 10th in TD passes with 39. He earned his second-straight and third this season American Southwest Conference offensive player of the week honor.
 
Offense Has Another Big Day
The Cowboy offense had a day against Nelson racking up 685 yards and 68 points. HSU had 459 yards through the air and 226 came from the ground attack. The offense averaged 9.5 yards a play on the day. The Cowboys scored seven rushing touchdowns. Noah Garcia had two, Braylon Henry had two, Aidan Rios had two, and Kyle Brown added one as well.
 
Lights Out
The Cowboy defense continued its impressive season. For the third straight game, they allowed less than 100 yards rushing and under 300 total yards. They have only allowed over 300 yards of total offense two times this season. While they did allow two long touchdowns, they did not allow Nelson to get inside the 20-yard line and only allowed one third-down conversion on 11 attempts. They also continued their winning ways in taking the ball away four times, twice by fumble recoveries and two interceptions. On the year, they have 12 takeaways, eight via interception and four fumble recoveries and have scored four defensive touchdowns and recorded a pair of safeties.
 
Century Club
Wes Douglas had his third 100-yard plus reception day and sixth touchdown in the game against Nelson. He finished with 104 yards and a touchdown. He leads the Cowboys with 30 catches for 517 yards and six touchdowns.
 
Noah Doing Noah Things
Noah Garcia set a new career-long record for a reception when he went 62 yards when Brown found him over the middle for a touchdown. On the day, Garcia had 85 yards receiving and 73 on the ground. He found the end zone twice on the ground as well. He continues to climb the all-time charts as well. He now ranks fifth in yards with 2,515 and passed Steven Rockwell last week. He will pass Derrick Grant with 37 more. He now has 34 rushing touchdowns and needs one more to catch former backfield mate Colton Marshall and three more to move to second all-time past Lance Moore, Quinton Jones and Marshall. He ranks 10th nationally in all-purpose yards per game with 160.1 per contest.
 
Rios Scores Twice
Aidan Rios saw action against ETBU late in the fourth quarter; however, last week, he made his name known. Rios scored his first career touchdown on a 9-yard run early in the fourth quarter and broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run to seal the scoring for the Cowboys. The hard-working junior who is team favorite was mobbed by his teammates when he scored his first touchdown. He is a player that spent two years on the Devo team and has worked his way into Saturday reps. He finished with 70 yards on four carries.
 
Complimentary Football
The Cowboys forced a season-best four turnovers against Nelson and turned them into two touchdowns and a field goal. This year the Cowboys have forced 12 turnovers and nine times they have been turned into points (eight touchdowns and a field goal). Four of those TDs have come on returns by the defense.
 
Pick Time
Micah Henderson recorded his first interception of the season and the third of his career on Saturday. Freshman safety Bruin Wright also recorded his first career interception. All five HSU starters in the secondary have an interception this year. Cornerbacks Keyon House and Collin Hill and safeties Henderson, Mike Akinbisola and Harrison Foster. Foster has returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns. 
 
First Starts
Tate Butcher received his first career start last week as Keyon House sat out. Braylon Henry had his first start as the Cowboys started with Garcia in the slot and Henry in the backfield. Freshman Christian Ashe made his second straight start replacing the injured Mark Champion.
 
New Faces
The Cowboys played 79 players last week against Nelson and several players received their most prominent action on Saturday. Aidan Rios had 70 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman offensive tackle Micah Willis - who had moved to tight end and is now back at offensive tackle - played. Freshman Shawn Kazouh had three tackles including the big hit of the game, Ethan Bard had two tackles including a half-sack and freshman linebacker Colyn Donnelly had five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. 
 
Noteables
The Cowboys had another undefeated October and have now won 21 straight games in the month, dating back to a 15-14 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2019...HSU is now 76-1 under Jesse Burleson when they score 40 or more points...HSU is 73-5 when it wins the turnover battle under Burleson...Nelson  went 1-for-11 on third down and opponents are now 0-55 against the Cowboys when they convert less than 25 percent on third down in the Burleson era.
 
NCAA Stats
Team
The Cowboys rank 26th nationally in third-down defense, allowing just a 30.7 percent conversion rate...HSU's four blocked kicks ranks 15th nationally...The Cowboys are completing 69.5 percent of their passes which ranks 18th...The defense ranks sixth in defensive touchdowns with four...HSU ranks 32nd with 283.1 yards per game through the air...HSU ranks 36th nationally in rushing at 201.4...The defense ranks 34th allowing just 16.7 points per game...The offense ranks 13th in scoring at 45.4...HSU ranks 10th in passing efficiency at 184.52...HSU is 41st in pass defense at 166.3 yards per game...The defense ranks 19th in tackles for loss per game at 7.9...HSU is 17th in total offense at 484.6...The defense is ranked 38th at 271.6 yards per game.
Individual
Pedro Altamirano is second nationally with 39 touchbacks...Kyle Brown ranks sixth in yards per attempt at 10.3...Kaden Turner would rank seventh in punting if he had enough attempts to qualify...Keyon House is ninth with two blocked kicks...Noah Garcia is 10th in all-purpose yards at 160.1...Brown is 11th in passing efficiency at 180.8...Altamirano ranks 19th in fields goals per game...Brown is 25th in completion percentage and passing yards...Mike Akinbisola is 36th in passes defended per game with 1.29...Altamirano ranks 39th in total points scored. 
 
ASC Stats
Team
HSU leads the offense in total offense by 15.5 points per game over second-place ETBU...The defense leads the league in scoring defense by 7.3 points over UMHB 16.7-24.0...In total offense, the Cowboys averages 70.3 yards per game more than ETBU...In total defense, the Cowboys allow 86.3 yards less than second-place HPU...HSU is second in rushing offense and defense...Lead the league in passing offense and defense...Lead the league with eight interceptions...Lead the league in third and fourth down conversion percentage on both offense and defense.
Individual
Noah Garcia (79.7) is third, Braylon Henry fourth (54.9) and Ty Thompson (29.4) ninth in the league in rushing yards per game...Kyle Brown leads the league with 1817 yards, 15 touchdowns and 180.8 passing efficiency...Wes Douglas (517), Kris Sims (414), Garcia (308) and Dozie Ifeadi (275) rank first, fourth, seventh and eighth in receiving yards...Pedro Altamirano leads the league with 60 points, Garcia is third, Douglas sixth and Thompson 10th...Kaden Turner leads the league with 43.7 yards per punt...Altamirano leads with seven fields goals and 39 touchbacks...Kade Sink, Harrison Foster and Kaiden Roden rank fifth, sixth and eighth respectively in tackles...Hayden Hays is second, Sink third Roden fourth in tackles for loss... Hays and Caden Sampson-Stuckey rank fourth and seventh in sacks...Mike Akinbisola leads the league with nine passes defended and eight breakups...Foster is tied for the lead with two interceptions.
 

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