Much better second half by UMHB. Outscored ETBU 21-0, and limited the boneheaded penalties.

The OL and RBs were impressive. I think the path forward may be to lean on the running game to keep the defense off the field and limit the number of passes our QBs have to throw.

We'll definitely be underdogs next week and we have a long way to go before we can win that game, but the second half at least showed this team is capable of playing solid football when it wants to.

Terrible performance by the Crusader defense in the first half. You could put a bunch of traffic cones out there to put up more resistance than our secondary. Absolutely embarrassing. And if #5 sees the field again after singlehandedly keeping an ETBU scoring drive alive with a bonehead dead ball penalty, then Harmon should be fired immediately after the game. Inexcusable lack of discipline, yet again.

Michaux still can't hit the broad side of a barn half the time. Most high school QB's would hit the wide open WR on that flea flicker 10 out of 10 times. I find it hard to believe that we don't have anyone better.

Brain dead play call on the final play of the half.

The running game has been the lone bright spot.

After 3.5 games, I think it's safe to say that this UMHB team is barely average, if that. In other words, another typical Larry Harmon team.

Quote from: CruFrenzy on September 29, 2025, 03:20:58 PM

Quote from: Reverendbiker on September 29, 2025, 03:11:35 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on September 27, 2025, 05:33:35 PMThe penalties and overall lack of discipline on this team (and all of Harmon's teams) are absolutely unacceptable.

If you are using penalties as an indicator of lack of discipline on "all of Harmon's teams," you might want to pick a new metric. In his 24 seasons at the helm, Pete Fredenberg's teams averaged 67.0 yds/game in penalties. In Harmon's three complete seasons, his teams have averaged 57.7.

Good stat! That honestly surprises me a little but I think it's the unsportsmanlike penalties that we've seen an uptick in that are a little concerning. Those have definitely gone up, someone posted the actual numbers as of las season it was like a 150% increase.

I think you nailed it. It's the inexcusable penalties that make the issue stand out. I can handle an occasional holding call when a guy is trying to protect the QB, or a late hit/roughing the passer when a guy is hustling to make a play and just can't pull up in time. Those kinds of penalties sometimes happen (though still shouldn't happen as often as they do) when guys are playing hard. It's the unsportsmanlike behavior that should get guys benched - cursing at the opponent, pushing and shoving after the play, taunting, etc. Totally selfish and unnecessary

And obviously, when more of your kick returns are called back on penalties than aren't, that can't be defended.

The penalties and overall lack of discipline on this team (and all of Harmon's teams) are absolutely unacceptable. I think we have more 15 yard penalties through three games than most teams have in an entire season. Harmon needs to start benching guys for that, but I'm sure he won't. Lack of discipline is the only identity his teams have. I think there was a penalty on almost every kick return we had, including one that wiped out a TD and a few others that wiped out long returns. It's almost automatic at this point. Embarrassing.

We still need a QB. Michaux is not the answer. He is one of the most inaccurate passers I've ever seen, and he isn't mobile enough to offset that handicap. I'm not sure what the staff sees in him that make them think they can get anywhere with him running the offense. He gives them almost no chance against quality opposition.

Quote from: Crubacker on September 23, 2025, 04:18:06 PMLoser is back on trolling again

And unfortunately the "ignore" feature doesn't work, and the admin don't police trolls.

Quote from: Crubacker on September 20, 2025, 04:38:48 PMDefense played decent in 1st half, but too long on the field.  Offense has to sustain drives.  Today, was a little predictable----don't get back into Padron days(run, run, pass)  Michaux was inconsistent---had wide open receivers and overthrew them a lot.  He made some good throws but few and far between.  Defense in 2nd half could not stop run, got bulldozed.  Defensive ends-----don't understand it, every play they were crashing down and the runner was going right past them----its like they weren't even looking for the ball(terrible defense)  The CB's playing 8+ yards off the receivers-----so tired of that.  Press them at the end line, knock them off their route.  Stupid penalties at costly times-------the roughing passer penalty was a good call--------he hit the QB in the head with arm swipe------automatic roughing call.  That was stupidity on the player.  Fast start and illegal shift penalties take them out of FG range-----stupid, stupid, stupid-----lack of discipline and composure.

Certainly didn't play like a 6th ranked team and didn't deserve that ranking to begin with.  Missed an extra point-------get a 15 yard kick catch interference penalty--------just stupid mental mistakes.

That roughing the passer penalty was huge-----had them 3rd and long, stopped them and get hit with that-----that seemed to really be a game changer because they went flat after that.

Poor play calling at times as well.  Hate seeing a poor performance like this.

If that was a good call on the roughing the passer then that's a terrible rule. Nothing about a defender's hand brushing against the QB's helmet warrants a 15 yard penalty. I couldn't even tell that he touched him on the replay.

I agree about the penalties though, especially the kick catch interference. It's disheartening to see the same old lack of discipline every year. It's starting to become a trademark of Harmon's teams.

Well, the good news is Whitewater is the best D3 team we'll face this year unless we somehow advance a few rounds into the playoffs. At least, I hope they are because if not we're in trouble.

The bad news: the defense is sub-standard to put it kindly, especially against the run. That was a concern I had after watching the first scrimmage. I had hoped that the heat might allow UMHB to wear Whitewater's defense down in the second half, but instead they wore ours down. After the phantom roughing the passer call in the 3rd quarter, they completely folded. Even after three years of it, I still haven't gotten used to seeing UMHB athletes get manhandled that way. That should never happen.

Michaux has some athleticism but he lacks accuracy and composure. He missed too many wide open receivers today. Mouser didn't look any better in limited action.

Does anyone know why the punter always launches the ball into the end zone instead of trying to pin the opponent deep? This is the second game in a row of that.

In summary, this is a team that could sneak into the playoffs, as Hardin-Simmons haven't exactly look like world beaters so far either, but at the moment they don't look like a team that can seriously contend for the 3rd year in a row.

Quote from: Etchglow on September 05, 2025, 10:51:51 AMGame notes are up!

https://cruathletics.com/documents/2025/9/5/2025_FINAL_BETHEL_NOTES.pdf

Missed on Teutsch from above, but all the other few guesses were right haha.

Odd that Teutsch isn't on the 2-deep. Did I miss something?

Anyone want to make an educated guess what the starting lineup for Saturday looks like?

After the grim scrimmage reports from the last couple of Augusts, which turned out to be prophetic, it's nice to be reading positive reviews and reasons for optimism this year.

I'm curious what everyone thought about the scrimmage yesterday.

I was encouraged. Without a current roster, or solid grasp on the Spanish language, it was hard to single out and evaluate many of the individual players, but the team seemed to be a lot more in-synch than they have been in the pre-season scrimmages the past few years. I was struck by how crisp the offense looked by comparison, and how much I missed Lee's scheme. Also the QBs were pretty sharp compared to what we've seen the past couple of years.

As far as critiques, they need to shore up the defensive interior. They got gashed up the middle a few too many times for my taste. Also, the center snaps were a bit sloppy at times, though that may improve with more reps.

Overall I'm excited about the potential of this team. I'll probably go back and watch the scrimmage again if they ever get around to releasing the 2025 roster.

Any word if either scrimmage is going to be streamed?

While I'd prefer more D3 opponents, this is a very intriguing schedule all things considered. I'm not crazy about going 9 straight games without a bye week, but there are some pretty interesting matchups.

Quote from: TheChucker on May 19, 2025, 10:29:00 AM

Quote from: Reverendbiker on May 19, 2025, 09:54:42 AM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on May 18, 2025, 04:17:03 PM

Quote from: Reverendbiker on May 18, 2025, 02:57:13 PM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on May 17, 2025, 02:16:08 PMI think our non con should be a great test, should tell us a lot about where our program is at right now.

Agree 100%. I don't want to hear any more talk about the Cru's weak non con schedule. One D2 opponent, One D3 national powerhouse,and two of the best NAIA teams in the country (one of whom beat us handily last year). Coach better have this team ready to play...

Who is the second NAIA team we are playing?

I must've missed that. Other than Bethel TN.

Announcement to drop soon.

I'll play and guess. Texas Wesleyan? They're the only NAIA Top 25 team within a two-state trip.

RANK    INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]    RECORD    FINAL POINTS
1    Grand View (Iowa) [16]    14-0    350
2    Keiser (Fla.)    12-1    336
3    Morningside (Iowa)    12-2    315
3    Benedictine (Kan.)    11-3    315
5    Montana Western    10-2    287
6    Indiana Wesleyan    11-2    276
7    Northwestern    9-3    270
8    Georgetown (Ky.)    9-3    259
9    St. Thomas (Fla.)    9-2    224
10    Montana Tech    9-3    218
11    Texas Wesleyan    10-1    215
12    Friends (Kan.)    11-2    201
13    Southwestern (Kan.)    11-2    173
14    Dickinson State (N.D.)    10-2    160
15    MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)    9-2    154
16    OUAZ (Ariz.)    8-2    115
17    Baker (Kan.)    9-2    109
18    Concordia (Neb.)    8-2    99
18    Southeastern (Fla.)    7-2    99
20    Dordt (Iowa)    8-2    92
21    Campbellsville (Ky.)    9-2    57
22    Pikeville (Ky.)    6-6    54
23    Saint Francis (Ind.)    8-4    47
24    Southern Oregon    8-3    44
25    Taylor (Ind.)    9-2    25

That's my guess as well, though I could also see it being OUAZ. They always struggle to put together a full schedule just as we do.

Whoever it is, they need to get a move on. It's less than a week until Memorial Day and we still don't have a schedule.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on May 12, 2025, 10:01:51 AMMost of the SCAC non-conference games have been published:

Austin: Kalamazoo, Centenary (non-conf); other games not yet available.
Centenary:  Westgate Christian (sigh), @Millsaps, ETBU, @Austin (non-conf)
Hendrix:  Maryville, @Huntingdon, Millsaps, and Rhodes.
Lyon: @ETBU (ouch), Arkansas Baptist, @Greenville, Westminster(MO).
McMurry:  Southwestern, @HSU, @Huntingdon, HPU
TLU:  Trinity, HPU, @Southwestern, ETBU. 

Unless this has changed, Austin's last two non-conference games are @Rhodes and Westgate Christian.

Austin 2025 schedule