TLU Football preview for game No. 3 (at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas)

Texas Lutheran Football Game Notes

Texas Lutheran at Hardin-Simmons

Noon, Saturday

Abilene, Texas (Shelton Stadium on Parramore Field)

Full Game Notes (pdf)

Video Webcast

Audio-only Webcast

Game-By-Game

Texas Lutheran v. Hardin-Simmons

(HSU leads, 19-3)

1998 at Hardin-Simmons 83, TLU 6

1999 Hardin-Simmons 35, at TLU 26

2000 at Hardin-Simmons 42, TLU 14

2001 Hardin-Simmons 45, at TLU 7

2002 at Hardin-Simmons 56, TLU 7

2003 Hardin-Simmons 29, at TLU 12

2004 at Hardin-Simmons 59, TLU 29

2005 at TLU 32, Hardin-Simmons 27

2006 Hardin-Simmons 35, at TLU 7

2007 at Hardin-Simmons 63, TLU 34

2008 Hardin-Simmons 52, at TLU 6

2009 at Hardin-Simmons 38, TLU 22

2010 Hardin-Simmons 63, at TLU 17

2011 at Hardin-Simmons 67, TLU 17

2012 Hardin-Simmons 65, at TLU 58 (2OT)

2013 at Hardin-Simmons 73, TLU 44

2014 TLU 37, at Hardin-Simmons 14

2015 Hardin-Simmons 35, at TLU 27

2016 at Hardin-Simmons 48, TLU 38

2017 Hardin-Simmons 33, at TLU 30

2018 at Hardin-Simmons 58, TLU 14

2019 TLU 38, at Hardin-Simmons 27

Battle for top of ASC West Division

The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs and the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys take to Shelton Stadium on Parramore Field this Saturday in Abilene, Texas for an ASC West Division showdown. The 1-0 Cowboys host the 2-0 Bulldogs in a match-up that likely determines who will host the American Southwest Conference Championship Game on March 27. The ASC West Division champion will host the ASC East Division champion. The ASC West runner-up travels to the ASC East runner-up for a playoff game between No. 2 seeds.

Bulldogs halfway through ASC West

While Hardin-Simmons had its bye week in the first week of ASC Football competition, the Bulldogs have played two games and are 2-0, with a road win at Howard Payne and a home win over Sul Ross State. TLU edged the Yellow Jackets 39-38 in Brownwood on Feb. 6 and dominated Sul Ross State 24-3 last Saturday in Bulldog Stadium. TLU has this Saturday's road game with Hardin-Simmons and the March 13 home game with McMurry remaining on the 2020-21 spring football schedule. The home game with McMurry will start at 2 p.m. in Bulldog Stadium. Two wins in the next two games assure TLU of hosting the ASC Championship Game, to be played against the ASC East No. 1 seed. If TLU goes 1-1 over the next two games, the Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed and will have to go on the road for the fifth and final game of the 2020-21 campaign. All ASC cross-seed match-ups are scheduled for March 27.

Winter weather pushes season back

Postponements due to weather issues in February prompted changes to the TLU and American Southwest Conference 2021 spring semester football schedules. The revised schedules for the league's 10 football programs were approved by the conference's directors of athletics. First, the adjustments move games originally scheduled for Feb. 13 to March 13. TLU was scheduled to play McMurry University at Bulldog Stadium in Seguin on Feb. 13. The Bulldogs and War Hawks now will play at 2 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium on March 13. Games originally scheduled for Feb. 20 have been moved to March 20. The Feb. 20 game day was to be TLU's bye-week date. The Bulldogs' bye is now March 20. The final day of the ASC's spring 2021 schedule – for playoff games between East and West Division seeds – will be staged March 27.

Free webcasts for many of TLU's home events

TLU is committed to providing free webcasts for as many home athletics events as possible this semester. Free webcasts, with links on tlubulldogs.com, can be viewed on your smart phone, your home computer, and your home smart tv (by connecting your computer to your tv, usually via an HDMI cable). Webcasts are archived and are available for viewing on-demand. TLU Football webcasts use the KWED AM 1580 audio as the audio feed for the TLU video webcasts. KWED AM 1580, with Mike McBride and Greg Burnett on the call this Saturday, will broadcast all five TLU football games this year. An audio-only version is streamed on seguintoday.com, and of course each broadcast can be found in the Seguin area on the radio, at AM 1580.

Anticipated rematch from 2019 game

Hardin-Simmons will be out for a bit of revenge on Saturday after what the Bulldogs did to the Cowboys in 2019. TLU knocked off then-No. 6 HSU in a 38-27 road upset in Shelton Stadium. TLU took full advantage of five HSU turnovers, returning three of those miscues for touchdowns. Daniel Enriquez, Manny Longoria, and Jackson Worley all scored defensive touchdowns against the Cowboys. Worley's 25-yard interception return for a score in the fourth quarter sealed the road win.

2019 win just second win at Shelton for TLU

TLU's 2019 victory over HSU was just the second time a Bulldog squad walked victoriously out of Shelton Stadium. TLU's only previous victory over HSU came in 2014, a 37-14 Bulldog win, that propelled the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division III playoffs. TLU is 3-19 overall against HSU and 2-10 at Shelton Stadium.

Big day last week for Chris Monroe

Texas Lutheran senior running back Chris Monroe starred in the Bulldogs' rushing attack last week in the win over Sul Ross State. Monroe rushed for a near-career high of 176, missing his personal best rushing mark by five yards. Monroe carried the ball 21 times and averaged 8.4 yards per carry. As a team, the Bulldogs rushed 62 times for 384 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

Monroe continues climb up rushing ranks

Senior running back Chris Monroe now has 1,778 career rushing yards. That total puts Monroe within 25 yards of tying, and within 26 yards of breaking, A.J. Saucedo's hold on the No. 4 spot in TLU's D3-era rushing chart. Saucedo rushed for 1,803 yards in a four-year career that spanned the 2012 to 2015 seasons. Saucedo carried the ball 385 times and scored 18 TDs. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Monroe has scored 13 career touchdowns, and he averages a D3-era best 6.3 yards per carry.

The return of Wade Freeman III

The Bulldogs welcomed back to varsity action all-conference quarterback Wade Freeman III, who missed the season-opening win at Howard Payne due to a non-COVID-related health issue. Freeman was given the all-clear in the week leading up to the Sul Ross State game, and he played in the game as the backup to Seth Cosme. Freeman played in series in both halves and even found his way to the endzone, on a 14-yard run in the third quarter. Freeman overcame a fumble on his very first play from scrimmage to rush for 27 yards on nine carries. He was 1-for-3 through the air. He completed a pass for nine yards.

Another great outing for freshman Willis

First-year running back DaKory Willis continues to impress. The Flatonia, Texas native carried the ball 12 times for 78 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns - the first two scores of his collegiate career. Willis scored on runs of 14 and three yards. His 14-yarder proved to be the winning touchdown. It came at the 2:05 mark of the second quarter and broke a 3-3 tie with Sul Ross State.

Bulldogs get thinner on defense

An already thin TLU defense, got even thinner after Saturday's home win against Sul Ross State. The Bulldogs lost defensive leader Dakwa Davis, the senior linebacker and leading tackler, to an injury that likely will keep him out for the rest of the year. The Bulldogs also lost starting linebacker Caleb Giles, a true freshman, to a season-ending injury. The Bulldogs' front seven is especially banged up. The team has moved H-back James Gipson to the defensive line to bolster that unit.

Davis nabs ASC Defensive honor

Senior linebacker Dakwa Davis claimed his first career ASC Defensive Player of the Week honor. Before departing with an injury in the second half against Sul Ross State, Davis led TLU's defense with a game-high 11 tackles. He added 4.5 tackles for loss, resulting in 15 yards of losses for the Sul Ross offense. Davis also added a half-sack. Davis leads TLU in total tackles (20) and tackles for loss (4.5).

Ocampo receives Special Teams honor

TLU junior place-kicker Juan Ocampo received his third career ASC Special Teams Player of the Week award. Against Sul Ross State on Saturday, Ocampo connected on a 34-yard field goal into a stiff south wind at Bulldog Stadium. He was also a perfect 3-for-3 on extra points and averaged 51.8 yards per kickoff with one touchback. Ocampo forced a couple of fair catches on his kickoffs into the wind. Ocampo, the 2018 ASC Freshman of the Year and a 2018 First Team All-Conference and All-Region selection, has made 18 career field goals in 26 career attempts. He is 92-for-96 in career PATs. Ocampo is now fifth on the TLU D3-era career field goals made list. He has scored 146 career points, which puts Ocampo eighth on the TLU D3-era list.

Matt waited 443 days for first home win

Ricky Matt became the 22nd head football coach in school history on Dec. 12, 2019. He waited 422 days to coach his first game, and win his first game, as head coach of the Bulldogs. Matt (pronounced "MOTT") then waited an additional three weeks for his first home game (and first home win) as head coach. In all, Mott waited 443 days from the time he was hired to the time he coached and won his first home game at Bulldog Stadium. 

Cosme solid in second career start

Sophomore quarterback Seth Cosme started his second consecutive game and helped TLU to another conference victory. The Angleton, Texas product is completing 61.3 percent of his passes through two games. He has thrown for 267 yards and two touchdowns and has yet to throw an interception. Cosme also has rushed 26 times for 138 yards and two scores. He averages 5.3 yards per carry. Last week against the Lobos, Cosme completed five of his nine passing attempts (for 37 yards) and rushed 10 times for 55 yards, with a long run of 26.

Run games, run defenses key Saturday

Texas Lutheran and Hardin-Simmons come into Saturday's game with the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked rushing offenses in the American Southwest Conference. TLU averages 299.5 yards on the ground per game. HSU rushed for 292 in its opening-weekend victory against McMurry. TLU averages 5.3 yards per carry. HSU averages 5.5 yards per rush. HSU has the top-rated rushing defense. The Cowboys allowed just one yard of rushing on 25 attempts in last week's victory over McMurry. TLU is fourth in the ASC, allowing only 137.0 on the ground through two games.

Defensive success with Coach Matt

Ricky Matt's three years at TLU as defensive coordinator produced three of the best statistical years in the Bulldogs' non-scholarship era, which started in 1998. The Bulldogs went from allowing 38.2 points per game in 2016 (the year before Matt's arrival) to allowing 29.2 in 2017 – a nine-point improvement per game. TLU also went from two overall wins in 2016 to six wins in 2017. The points allowed per game by the TLU defense has gone from 29.2 in 2017, to 26.9 in 2018, to a new TLU DIII-era record of 18.4 points per game in 2019. Under Matt, TLU became a much better defense against the run. The Bulldogs went from giving up 171.6 yards of rushing per game in 2016 to allowing only 91.8 yards per game in 2017.

Record-setting defense with Matt

The 2018 squad set the TLU DIII-era record for rushing defense by allowing only 76.5 rushing yards per contest. The 2019 squad came within six yards per game of tying the mark of the 2018 team. In 2019, the TLU defense gave up only 82.5 yards on the ground per game. In Ricky Matt's three years as defensive coordinator, the Bulldogs have produced the top three rushing defense seasons of TLU's NCAA Division III era, spanning 22 seasons.

Pass defense numbers vastly improved

TLU's pass defense numbers under Ricky Matt also have enjoyed significant improvement. In Matt's first season as defensive coordinator, 2017, the Bulldogs allowed 309.1 passing yards per game. That number dropped to 259.8 per game in 2018 and fell to 203.7 per contest this season. The Bulldogs' 2019 pass defense allowed the fewest passing touchdowns (10) in TLU's 22 seasons since the re-start of the football program in 1998. The total number of opponent touchdowns allowed (24) in 2019 also set a new TLU DIII-era record for fewest TDs allowed in a season. The 2019 squad broke the DIII-era record by six touchdowns.

Completions record for Freeman in 2019

TLU QB Wade Freeman completed 65.6 percent of his passes in 2019, setting a new TLU DIII-era record for single-season completion percentage. He threw 14 touchdowns and tossed only four interceptions. Freeman also rushed for 622 yards and seven touchdowns and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. He led the team in rushing. Twice, Freeman was named the ASC Offensive Player of the Week.

5-game schedule in the COVID era

Texas Lutheran will play a five-game varsity football schedule this spring semester. TLU and all of its fellow football members in the American Southwest Conference will play four games against divisional opponents and a final game against a cross-divisional opponent. For the first time in ASC history, the conference's football schedule will be played under a two-division model with teams closing the 2020-21 season with a playoff pitting teams cross-seeded in a single game.

Two divisions for ASC in winter ball

Each ASC Football division will have five teams. Belhaven, East Texas Baptist, Louisiana College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Southwestern will be in the East Division. Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, McMurry, Sul Ross State and TLU will be in the West. The ASC's fall sport 2020-21 schedules are subject to change and contingent upon health and safety guidelines of the NCAA and local, state, and federal entities.

TLU re-ups FB affiliate membership

Texas Lutheran University's football affiliate membership with the American Southwest Conference has been extended four years. The ASC announced on Aug. 18 the extension of affiliate membership in the sport of football for both Southwestern University and TLU. Southwestern and TLU play the bulk of their athletics programs as members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. TLU has 18 intercollegiate programs in the NCAA Division III. Three of those programs do not have membership in the SCAC. TLU Football is an affiliate member of the ASC, and TLU Men's Indoor Track & Field and Women's Indoor Track & Field compete as independents. TLU and Southwestern have played with the ASC since the 2017 season. The new affiliate agreement will run for the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. "We are excited to continue our affiliation with Southwestern and Texas Lutheran," said ASC Commissioner Amy Carlton. "And we look forward to the continued success both programs have brought to the league."

Bulldog success in ASC since re-join

Texas Lutheran has finished among the top three in the ASC Football standings in each of the last three seasons. The Bulldogs were the 2019 conference runner-up with an 8-2 overall record and an 8-1 league mark. Since coming over from the SCAC when the conference's football league disbanded, TLU Football has registered an ASC record of 21-7 with an overall mark of 22-9. TLU has produced 24 ASC All-Conference players. In 2018, place-kicker Juan Ocampo was named the 2018 ASC Freshman of the Year, and recently retired head coach Carl Gustafson earned ASC Coach of the Year twice (in 2017 and 2019). As a member of the ASC, TLU has had four All-America picks – guard Alejandro Briseno in 2017, safety James Bell in 2019, offensive lineman Garrett Garza in 2019, and defensive lineman Manny Longoria in 2019. Austin College, a former football member of the ASC and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, begins play in the 2021 season as a new football affiliate with the ASC.

TLU in 23rd season of football since re-start

Since re-starting the football program for the 1998 season, Texas Lutheran is in its 23rd season of non-scholarship football. Counting those previous 22 seasons and the two games so far in the 23rd season, the Bulldogs have won 104 games and lost 108. In conference games, TLU is 76-91 (counting games in the American Southwest Conference and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference). TLU is 65-87 all-time in ASC play.

Road to 2021 spring FB started in July

On July 22, 2020, Southwestern University and TLU, as affiliate football members of the American Southwest Conference, jointly announced that both universities were suspending their intercollegiate football competitive seasons for the fall of 2020 due to ongoing health and safety concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The two universities made plans for football intercollegiate contests in the spring semester of the 2020-21 academic year, provided health and safety conditions warranted a return to the sport and a blanket waiver was provided by the NCAA to allow such activity. The Bulldogs and Pirates, and later the entire ASC Football establishment, spent the days and months since July preparing for this spring football season. TLU has implemented testing and healthcare guidelines that are in line with the NCAA's requirements. Each player on the field Saturday will have passed COVID screening in the days just prior to kickoff.

No D3 postseason possibilities for FB now

On Aug. 5, 2020, NCAA Division III championships in fall sports for 2020-21 were canceled. With the health and safety of the division's student-athletes, coaches, athletics administrators and communities as its priority, the DIII Presidents Council made the decision to cancel the championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related administrative and financial challenges. The DIII Presidents Council's decision affected the TLU sports of football, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's cross country, men's cross country, and women's volleyball. These sports will not have DIII postseason possibilities in the 2020-21 academic year. 

Last game - Texas Lutheran

Bulldogs 24, Sul Ross State 3

Feb. 27, 2021 - Bulldog Stadium

Seguin, Texas (Texas Lutheran)

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran rolled up 384 rushing yards and held Sul Ross State out of the endzone in a 24-3 home win for the Bulldogs Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.

The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 overall and to 2-0 in the American Southwest Conference.

Sul Ross State dropped to 0-2 and to 0-2 in the ASC.

TLU won for the seventh straight time against the Lobos.

TLU senior running back Chris Monroe rushed for a near-career high of 176, missing his personal best rushing mark by five yards. Monroe carried the ball 21 times and averaged 8.4 yards per carry.

As a team, the Bulldogs rushed 62 times for 384 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

The Bulldogs fell behind 3-0 before Juan Ocampo's 34-yard field goal tied the game at the 10:04 mark of the second quarter.

DaKory Willis gave TLU its first lead on a 14-yard TD run with 2:05 to play in the first half. TLU took a 10-3 lead into the half.

Bulldog quarterback Wade Freeman III, playing in his first game of 2021, gave TLU a 17-3 lead in the third quarter with a 14-yard scamper.

Last game - Hardin-Simmons

Cowboys 49, McMurry 7

Feb. 27, 2021 - Wilford Moore Stadium

Abilene, Texas (McMurry)

ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' football team retained the Wilford Moore Trophy with a 49-7 win over McMurry in the season opener on Saturday at Wilford Moore Stadium.

The Cowboys opened the scoring on the first drive of the game when Kyle Jones hit Jalen Crawford on a 39-yard touchdown pass to cap a 6-play, 65-yard drive. Marc Reed scored the first of his three touchdowns on the day in his debut as the starting running back for the Cowboys. His first score came on a 1-yard run with 1:38 to play in the first quarter.

HSU pushed the lead to 21-0 when Jones hit Jayden Coleman on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 to play in the first half.

McMurry took the opening kickoff in the second half, but Nathaniel Finch had a strip sack and recovered the fumble to give the Cowboys a short field and Reed scored from seven yards out to make it 28-0 with 13:17 to play in the third quarter.

Jones threw his third touchdown of the game in the third quarter when he hit Kai Brinkerhoff for a 17-yard touchdown on a perfect fade pass. Sophomore quarterback Gaylon Glenn made it 42-0 late in the third quarter when he scored his first touchdown as a Cowboy on a 9-yard touchdown run.

Each team scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter as Marc Reed scored his third rushing touchdown and Kristopher Martin scored for McMurry on a pass from Carlos Garibay.  

The Cowboys will return to action next Saturday at noon against Texas Lutheran. McMurry fell to 1-1 on the year.