6/6 Hardin-Simmons (6-0, 2-0, ASC) at Howard Payne (5-1, 1-1, ASC)
Saturday, Oct. 31 - 1 p.m.
Gordon Wood Stadium - Brownwood, Texas
Full Game Notes | Broadcast | Tickets

Jesse Burleson Show - https://youtu.be/iLFGI6wsBCI
Kaden Turner Player Spotlight - https://youtu.be/MnpBuP0aJ0g
 
 
Opening Kickoff
Hardin-Simmons looks to extend its winning streak to seven games with a road American Southwest Conference game at Howard Payne on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood. HSU is 6-0 on the year and 2-0 in ASC play. Howard Payne comes into the game with a 5-1 record and is 1-1 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets' lone loss came 33-10 at Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Cowboys are coming off a 52-0 win last week at Nelson. HPU had a bye last week. 

The Series
The Cowboys lead the all-time series with Howard Payne, 50-24-4. HSU has won 20 straight meetings between the two teams. HSU won 54-24 in Brownwood in the last meeting a year ago. Jesse Burleson is 17-0 against Howard Payne. The Cowboys have a 22-13-1 all-time advantage in Brownwood and have won 13 straight at Gordon Wood Stadium.
 
Up Next
The Cowboys will host Schreiner for a 1 p.m. game for senior day. The Cowboys' 34 seniors will be honored on the videoboard at halftime of next week's contest.
 
In The Polls
Hardin-Simmons stayed at No. 6 in both the D3football.com Top 25 and the American Football Coaches Association poll. The Cowboys have been ranked for 137 consecutive weeks, including 78 weeks in the top 10. HSU owns the nation's third-longest active ranking streak. North Central leads the way with 233 consecutive weeks, followed by Saint John's at 148. Wheaton ranks fourth with 91 consecutive weeks. HSU was ranked No. 8 in this week's NCAA NPI rankings of the season. The NPI rankings are used to select and seed teams for the NCAA playoffs.
 
A Cowboy Win Would
• Be the 535th victory in school history.
• Be the 21st straight win over Howard Payne.
• Be the 123rd win of the Jesse Burleson era.
• Extend HSU's October winning streak to 27 games.
 
Streaks
• HSU has won 26 straight games in October, dating back to Oct. 26, 2019. The last October loss came on a walk-off field goal by Mary Hardin-Baylor.
• The Cowboys are 26-1 in their last 25 conference games.
• HSU has won 34 straight games against ASC teams other than Mary Hardin-Baylor.
• HSU has at least four sacks in every game this season.
 
Last Time Out
The Cowboys pitched their second shutout of the season and rolled to a 52-0 win over Nelson in Waxahachie. The Cowboys held Nelson to 121 yards of offense on 1.9 yards per play. HSU recorded five sacks in the game. Offensively, HSU rushed for 392 yards in the contest and six different rushers had 40 or more yards. The win was the Cowboys' 16th straight win over a scholarship school and HSU is 21-1 against scholarship schools since joining Division III in the 1996-97 school year.
 
Record-Setting Day For Pedro
Senior kicker Pedro Altamirano had a record-setting day with three short field goals against Nelson. He has 11 makes on the season which ties him with Brian Beddow for the school record in a season. He also has 21 field goals in his two-year career and he is tied with Jamie Pogue and Mark Smith for the career record at HSU. He also had three field goals in a game for the third time this season, which ties him for the single-game mark. On top of the kicking he also caught a 2-point conversion pass from Kaden Turner. He was named the ASC Special Teams player of the week and is a semifinalist for the Fred Mitchell Award, which is given to the top Non-FBS kicker in the nation.
 
 
Sack Attack
HSU added five more sacks last week against Nelson, including two by Chuks Ikwuemesi. HSU has at least four sacks in every game this season and  lead the nation at 4.17 per game. Kaiden Roden leads the way 5.5 sacks and Tyett Morris and Ikwuemesi each have 4.5. Not only have the Cowboys put the quarterback on the ground, they are also getting there a ton. Sophomore  linebacker Colyn Donnelly has 11 quarterback hurries on the year, which is already a single-season record. HSU has 36 quarterback hurries on the season.

Sudden Change
The Cowboys have done a great job in sudden change situations this year. The Cowboys have converted all seven turnovers forced by the defense into scores and six of those are touchdowns. On the other side, HSU has committed nine turnovers and opponents have only turned those into 13 points (one TD and two field goals).

Keyon Named ASC Defensive Player of the Week
Keyon House set a new career high with nine tackles last week against Nelson. He was super effective taking away the short passing game as he had 3.5 tackles for loss from his cornerback spot.

Big Boys Get The Award
Technically, Mason Butchee was named the offensive player of the week in the ASC, but that is only because the ASC would not allow the entire offensive line to receive the award. The front paved the way for 392 rushing yards and did not allow a sack. The 392 rushing yards were the ninth-most in a game in Cowboy history.

Third Down Success
The Cowboys rank second nationally in third-down conversion rate on the season at 62 percent (51-of-97). The defense leads the conference and is 41st nationally allowing just 30.2 percent on the year (29-of-96). The defense has allowed 63 first downs all year, which is 33rd nationally.
 
Offensive Ranks
The Cowboys rank sixth nationally in scoring offense, sixth in total offense and ninth in rushing. The Cowboys have allowed just three sacks which ranks seventh nationally and are seventh in red-zone efficiency at 93.9 percent.

Defensive Ranks
The Cowboys rank second in rushing defense in the nation, allowing just 39.8 yards per game, The defense ranks 29th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 14.7 points per game and rank 43rd in total defense allowing 271.7 yards per game. HSU leads the nation in sacks and is second in tackles for loss.

About Howard Payne
The Yellow Jackets are 5-1 on the year and average 38.8 points, while allowing just 19.2 per game. HPU is averaging 294.7 yards per game in the air and 173 per contest on the ground for a 467.7 yard per game average. They are allowing 327.2 yards per contest and just 94.5 per game on the ground. Blessing Ngene leads the ground game with 539 yards and J.D. Mays has 376 yards. Bryce Still has completed 112-of-168 passes for 1,703 yards with 16 TDs and just four interceptions. Deuce Martin has 30 catches for 630 yards and five scores. HPU has 11 defenders with at least 19 tackles on the year.
 
 
 
 

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