All the Yellow Jackets (6-2, 5-1) must do to achieve their goal is knock off defending national champion and third-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-1, 6-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium. Howard Payne can create a three-way tie atop the ASC standings with a win and earn a share of the conference title, if the Yellow Jackets follow up with a victory at Austin College in next week’s regular-season finale.
On the heels of last week’s 28-19 defeat at the hands of Hardin-Simmons (7-1, 5-1), Bachtel feels the Yellow Jackets have risen to the level of being able to compete with the top two teams in the league.
“The last two years that we’ve played Hardin-Simmons has really boosted our confidence,” Bachtel said. “We have players, we have an excellent, outstanding coaching staff and we have the support from our administration helping us become one of the top teams in this conference. There’s a distinct difference in the top three and everyone else and it’s because of the three factors I mentioned. It’s a growing confidence and I think it will continue to grow. For the first time since 2004 and 2005 we’ve had back-to-back winning seasons. Howard Payne is on the rise.”
Reflecting on last week’s setback, in which Howard Payne opened a 19-7 halftime advantage, Bachtel said, “The keys to the ball game last week were we couldn’t turn the ball over, we had to control them somewhat defensively and we couldn’t give up special teams plays. We gave up two huge special teams plays and if you take one of the two out it’s a different ball game. Like many teams who have played us in big games before, Hardin-Simmons just came out and played keep away in the second half. They had two eight-minute-plus drives and limited our opportunities to go score. Our defense played absolutely outstanding, and our first-half game plan went really well. It was a big game and for the first time truly in my two years here the expectation is no longer to play the big boys and expect to lose. Our kids expect to win now and you could see that visibly on their faces after the ball game, and that means that we’re heading in the right direction.”
Mary Hardin-Baylor has reeled off six straight wins since a 28-24 loss at Wisconsin-Whitewater. UMHB is producing 45 points and 492 yards – 276 passing and 216 rushing – per contest, with six turnovers. The Crusaders defense gives up just 15 points and 302 yards – 203 through the air and 99 on the ground, per game, with 15 takeaways.
“Everybody is looking at their record and that they’ve already got a loss, but it was by a couple of points to a really good Whitewater team,” Bachtel said. “Mary Hardin-Baylor is battled tested and forged by the fire of that ball game. That’s where you see the separation from Mary Hardin-Baylor to Hardin-Simmons. Maybe if they didn’t play that game and Muhlenberg (62-13 win), maybe the Mary Hardin-Baylor game with Hardin-Simmons might have been closer, but they’re battle-tested.
“The questions they had defensively coming in as far as being young and inexperienced, they’re not young and inexperienced anymore. They’ve played really great. Watching all eight games they played, they’ve steadily gotten better every week. They’re the defending national champions for a reason. There has been no drop-off.”
UMHB quarterback Kyle King has completed 149 of 222 passes for 2,111 yards with 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Leading receivers include K.J. Miller (43-593, 7 TDs), Brandon Jordan (30-400, 8 TDs), Jerry Day, Jr. (27-521, 6 TDs), Jamaal Hamilton (17-256, 3 TDs), and Jerry Cephus (12-150, TD). Top ground gainers include Alphonso Thomas (656 yards, 6 TDs), Kenneth Miller, Jr. (314 yards, 2 TDs), and Kenneth Cormier, Jr. (285 yards, 5 TDs).
Howard Payne counters with a defense that yields 28 points and 397 yards – 264 passing and 133 rushing – per outing, while creating 16 turnovers.
Defensive stalwarts include Kyle Bell (67 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Jessie Paris (52 tackles, 4 for loss), K.C. Cornelious (48 tackles, 2.5 for loss), Jarett Brown (46 tackles, 3 for loss, 3 interceptions), Peyton Lowe (39 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), James Jakubowski (35 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception), Jaden Elie (22 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 2 sacks), Brevin Wilson (20 tackles, 5 for loss, 2.5 sacks), and Aaron Alderete (20 tackles, 3 for loss).
The UMHB defense is led by Durand Hill (65 tackles, 4.5 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries), Johnny Smith-Rider (48 tackles, 13 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), Omari Frazier (42 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), Brownwood graduate Tommy Bowden (33 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), and Trey Belyeu-White (33 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries).
The Yellow Jackets offense is averaging 44 points and 533 yards – 331 through the air and 202 on the ground – per game, with 14 turnovers.
Quarterback Landon McKinney has connected on 145 of 253 pass attempts for 2,435 yards with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Leading receivers include Otis Lanier (49-813, 10 TDs), Jordan Carroll (28-593, 7 TDs), Hunter Cheek (17-440, 6 TDs) and Samuel Sims (12-187, 2 TDs). The ground game is anchored by Tauren Bradley (425 yards, 3 TDs), Billy Reagins (415 yards, 6 TDs), and Javian Myles (415 yards, 6 TDs).
“We said it before George Fox and before Hardin-Simmons, in big games you can’t turn the ball over and you can’t give a team extra opportunities,” Bachtel said. “There are not a lot of holes in their defense and not a lot of weaknesses to expose. We’re going to have to try to score when we have our chances and utilize those points, even if it’s field goals. We have to try and get points on the board, so we’ll have to take some calculated risks. We started last year’s game up 14-0 and they buckled down and just said we weren’t going to get anymore.”
“Defensively, we have to find a way to try to keep at bay a few of their weapons and not let them all go off. They have three outstanding receivers, two great backs and they return all five linemen from a national championship team. They look different than they have the last 20 years, but they’re still really good.”