Howard Payne will attempt to continue its rapid ascent in the American Southwest Conference when the 2022 campaign kicks off Sept. 3 against league foe Texas Lutheran. The Yellow Jackets are projected to finish only behind perennial national powers Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons in both the ASC preseason poll, and as well the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football preseason projections.
Regarding HPU’s sudden return to the upper echelon of the ASC, Bachtel said, “One of the biggest keys is we have a lot of guys in our program who have played a lot of ball games. Obviously, the fact can’t be dismissed that (former HPU) Coach (Braxton) Harris and his staff set us up with a good table coming in. But from the time our full staff got here the No. 1 thing we wanted to do is build genuine relationships with kids, and when you do that, they’re willing to do whatever we ask, how we want it done. We want kids that will run through a brick wall for us and that’s what you’ve seen the past 18 months since I’ve arrived. The kids genuinely love playing football, they love playing for each other, they love Howard Payne University, they love our coaches and what we’re doing, and it reflects out on the field.”
As the Yellow Jackets’ status in the ASC has sky-rocketed, the question becomes what will it take for Howard Payne to become a threat to preseason No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor and No. 6 Hardin-Simmons?
“I go back to the Hardin-Simmons game last year and you saw a glimpse of where we’re starting to catch them,” Bachtel said. “Ultimately, when you play those guys, you cannot turn the ball over. Versus Hardin-Simmons we turned it over five times, three of them were inside the red zone and two of those three were inside the 10 and we came away without points. We had an opportunity to be up on Hardin-Simmons, 14-0, in the first four minutes and we didn’t capitalize. And when you let those guys stick around, their tradition and their belief system comes back out and ultimately what happened is we lost a little confidence.
“You’re starting to see our program become similar to where those schools are in terms of retention has been so good. Mary Hardin-Baylor is currently bringing back 40 seniors, and we have 12. We had every kid who had a COVID senior year come back, and when you start seeing that it’s one of the No. 1 things you have to do – retain your players. You can’t keep playing football games with 18- and 19-year-olds against 22- and 23-year-olds. Over the majority of the last decade, that’s what you’ve seen, but that’s no longer Howard Payne football.”
While Howard Payne certainly appears to be a program on the rise, the Yellow Jackets also must prove the 2021 calendar year was not simply a flash in the pan.
“To an extent, there’s still a lack of respect for the program considering where we’ve been and what we’ve done in the short amount of time that we’ve been here,” Bachtel said. “The one thing that people think about Howard Payne is Jake Parker’s not here, so can they duplicate the success they’ve had without him? But we still have great football players here.”
Areas in which HPU will need to improve in order to make a run at a conference championship, according to Bachtel include defense, particularly in the secondary, and the offensive line, specifically the ground game.
“I think what you’re going to see is defensively we’re going to be better,” Bachtel said. “Jimmy Jakubowski, Aaron Alderete, Kyle Bell, and Dylan Zeno, those are all guys who have played four years already and are going into their fifth season, and they’ve been playing since their freshman year. Defensively you’re going to see a little bit of an uptick and even toward the end of the season against the really good teams, they had some trouble running the ball. We need to see a major improvement in our secondary play, and I think you’re going to see that. You could see some young guys back there, too.”
Sophomore quarterback Landon McKinney was the lone Yellow Jacket named to the ASC Players to Watch list, and he is anticipated to lead the HPU offense once again.
“We need to see improvement up front offensive-line wise,” Bachtel said. “We need to be able to run the football consistently, especially against the top two teams. We’re not saying we have to do that to win, but we have to do that to be able to keep box numbers right. In those two games, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons, they can drop eight and play the pass, so you really have to be able to run the ball. We have a few transfers that are going to help us right away, and I think you’re going to see increased run production from guys like Tauren Bradley and Steven Willis. Otis Nixon is back and was the second-leading receiver in the conference, and we’re also looking for a breakout year from Hunter Cheek. Landon, if he turns out to be the starting quarterback, has already played in 15 games and he’s just a sophomore.”
Among the highlights of preseason practices, Bachtel has cited both the skill level and enthusiasm the 2022 Yellow Jackets possess.
“I’ve really loved our energy, we’ve got great energy,” Bachtel said. We’ve got some good leaders out there that are trying to lead us in the right direction and uphold our standard. We’ve had great buy-in from young guys or newcomers that have seen there’s a change in the program and they want to be a part of that.
“The other good thing I’ve seen is we’ve got several really, really good football players. We’ve got some dynamic players that are going to come out and everyone will see them. We have a lot of experience on the field on both sides who have played a lot of games and some of them are still young.”
Asked what the biggest keys will be for Howard Payne to achieve the success Bachtel has envisioned, he said, “The No. 1 thing is we have to stay healthy. If we can stay healthy and keep some guys out on the field we’re going to look back and say we had a chance to be in that position. Second, we have to find a way to eliminate some turnovers in key ball games. You look at our three losses and some of the biggest things that pop up are turnovers we did not create and turnovers that were created versus us. We have to win the turnover margin. Another thing is we can’t give up key plays in the special teams. When you look at our three losses we had two blocks versus Belhaven on a field goal or extra point, Hardin-Simmons returned a kickoff back, and Mary Hardin-Baylor returned two punts that set them up inside the red zone. Those are the things that are glaring issues that have to be addressed. If we can figure those things out I think we’re going to be OK.”
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HOWARD PAYNE YELLOW JACKETS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| Sept. 3 | at Texas Lutheran* | 1 p.m. |
| Sept. 10 | George Fox | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 17 | Hendrix (at Prosper) | 3 p.m. |
| Sept. 24 | East Texas Baptist* | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 1 | at Sul Ross* | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 8 | McMurry* | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 15 | Southwestern*# | 2 p.m. |
| Oct. 22 | OPEN | |
| Oct. 29 | at Hardin-Simmons* | 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 5 | Mary Hardin-Baylor* | 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 12 | at Austin College* | 1 p.m. |
* American Southwest Conference Game
# Homecoming