Game Week Notes 
KICKOFF
The eighth-ranked Cowboys and Lobos will face each other for the 40th meeting this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. This weekend's contest marks only the second home contest for the Lobos. The game can be heard live on KVLF AM 1240 with internet audio provided at www.bigbendradio.com.
MEDIA INFORMATION
QUICK HITS AND RECAP
- Sul Ross (3-2, 2-2 ASC) dropped a 29-27 decision to Southwestern in ASC action over the weekend.
- Sully overcame a 19-7 halftime deficit in the effort and put up 17 points in the second half.
- Southwestern kicker Luke Fierst kicked the game-winning field goal for the Pirates with three seconds remaining in regulation and improved Southwestern's record to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference competition.
- Previously No. 5 Hardin-Simmons fell 17-7 to No. 1 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at a packed out Shelton Stadium in Abilene last Saturday.
- The loss drops the Cowboys to 4-1 and 3-1 heading into this weekend's contest with the Lobos.
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS (from HSU sports info.)
- Hardin-Simmons' football team fell 17-7 to No. 1 ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in American Southwest Conference action at a packed Shelton Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
- Both defenses made it tough on the opponent as the teams combined for just 24 points and 461 yards. UMHB had 270 yards of offense and the Cowboys were held to a season-low 191.
- Chris Miller led the Cowboys with eight tackles, 2.5 for loss and a sack. Donavon Hailey added two sacks for HSU. The Cowboys had five sacks as a team.
- Ty Hooper was 19-for-36 passing for 160 yards and three interceptions for the Cowboys.
- Devonte Walker had eight catches for 115 yards.
SERIES HISTORY
Hardin-Simmons leads the all-time series with the Lobos, 36-3, dating back to 1928 when the Cowboys defeated Sul Ross, 27-7.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 1, 2016)
- A second half rally late in the third quarter propelled No. 10/12 Hardin-Simmons University to a 53-29 conference opening victory over visiting Sul Ross in front of a crowd of more than 2,700 Saturday at Shelton Stadium.
- As a team the Lobos outperformed Hardin-Simmons in rushing yards, 280-134 but the Cowboys pulled up the slack with 394 yards through the air with 187 aerial yards for Sul Ross.
- James Davis ran the ball 14 times netting 183 yards with two scores. Davis completed 17 of 31 passes for 187 and two strikes but was picked off three times.
- Wesley Moss led Lobo receivers with five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.
- Jacob Castaneda paced the defense with 11 tackles while Damian Espizona recorded a forced fumble.
- Zack Roberson added a sack in the effort.
SUL ROSS TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL NOTES (vs. SU)
- A 18-yard, time-expiring field goal by Southwestern's Luke Fierst lifted the Pirates to a 29-27 victory over visiting Sul Ross in an action packed ASC contest Saturday night.
- For the game, the Lobos mustered 277 yards of offense while the Pirated tallied 325.
- James Davis completed 12 of 26 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown.
- Jordan Batson netted 58 yards off of 13 carries and a score.
- Freshman receiver Darrell White led receivers with three receptions for 64 yards.
- Jacques Wisner led defenders with 11 tackles including seven solo.
- Wisner also posted three and a half stops for a loss of ten yards.
- Job Mason recorded a fumble recovery and an interception while Damian Espinoza posted a break up.
- Jakorey Richard also notched an interception for a return of 37 yards.
AROUND THE ASC
Howard Payne at Mary Hardin-Baylor-1:00 PM, Belton
Texas Lutheran at East Texas Baptist, 2:00 PM, Marshall
Southwestern at Belhaven, 6:00 PM, Jackson, Miss.
Hardin-Simmons at Sul Ross St., 6:00 PM, Alpine
McMurry at Louisiana College, 6:00 PM, Pineville, La.
*ASC game
CONFERENCE RECAP
No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor-17, No. 5 Hardin-Simmons-7
ABILENE- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team built an early lead and then relied on the defense to make it stand up as the Cru topped 5th-ranked Hardin-Simmons 17-7 Saturday afternoon in Abilene.
East Texas Baptist-57, Howard Payne-7
MARSHALL- Dominating on both ends of the ball from start to finish, the East Texas Baptist University football team used 35 second half points in a 57-7 victory over Howard Payne University in American Southwest Conference play. The Tigers are now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the ASC.
McMurry-42, Belhaven-30
ABILENE- Sophomore quarterback Kevin Hurley Jr. returned to the McMurry University lineup and engineered a second-half comeback, leading his team to a 42-30 Homecoming game win over Belhaven University at Wilford Moore Stadium.
Texas Lutheran-47, Louisiana College-30
SEGUIN- Texas Lutheran rushed for 358 yards and amassed 538 yards of total offense to pull away from Louisiana College 47-30 in Saturday's Homecoming victory for the Bulldogs.
QUOTES FROM COACH JOHN PEARCE
THOUGHTS ON DEFENDING AGAINST SOUTHWESTERN'S TRIPLE OPTION: There was some concern of how we were going to defend it and adjust to it. But I think what hurt us more than anything was we didn't tackle well. We had some issues with open field tackling. I think we were shocked in the first half with how they optioned the ball even though we scouted it and prepared for it all week. We did have a little more of an emotional response in the second half and we were able to get some stops. We're still struggling with getting and sustaining pressure on the quarterback. When you're going against the triple option you're supposed to hit the quarterback every time and we didn't do that.
ON THE OFFENSE AND FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: Like the defense, the offense started clicking in the second half. We came down to a fourth and short situation but didn't get the push we needed. That was one of the keys to the game. We had the clock in our favor but just missed some big opportunities to put the game away especially on late-down conversions. We had a missed assignment on our offensive line where the Mike backer was blocked instead of the Will backer. That was critical and might have led to a 10-yard run or more had we blocked the right linebacker. But that's football. You try to capitalize on your opponent's mistakes and that's what they did to us Saturday night.
ON RESPONDING TO A LATE-GAME LOSS: We'll have to regroup and put this behind us. Yes, we will learn from our mistakes but to get better you can't dwell on what happened a weekend or two ago. We have a very talented Hardin-Simmons team coming to Jackson Field this week so all our focus will be on them. We have to get that bitter taste of last Saturday out of our mouths. We still have a lot of football ahead of us. We'll have to do a much better job of tackling in the open field or they'll hang 80 points on us like they did against East Texas Baptist. Right now, it's little things that are beating our football team. We're letting teams stay with us. Some of our younger players are struggling to overcome adversity. We had three personal fouls that should not have happened. I understand we're in the heat of battle and competition gets fierce but we have to keep our cool and move on to the next play.
THOUGHTS ON PASS PROTECTION: We knew they were going to try and pressure James [Davis]. Southwestern plays a lot of cover zero and they blitz a lot. It's interesting to see how missed blocks shifted from one part of our offensive line to the other. In the first half, it was our tackles who were missing assignments. They got that corrected in the second half but then the problems would shift to our center and guards. So we need to play as a whole unit up front for James and our receivers to come up and make some big plays for us. But I thought we did a better job of protecting the pass in the second half.
ON CAPITALIZING ON SOUTHWESTERN TURNOVERS: Those kept us in the game. Job [Mason] had a big scoop and score in the first half. We had an interception that led to a field goal later on. They had a bad snap that helped shift the momentum in our favor. So we were able to initiate some drives and some scores off those miscues. Again, it's taking advantage of opponent errors. You can run 40, 50 or even 60 plays a game and two or three plays can make the difference in a win or a loss.
CONCERNS WITH SPECIAL TEAMS: We continue to kick the ball well but there were some other issues we need to address. John [Stevens] has been having some groin issues with his kicking leg so he wasn't able to put the ball as deep on kickoffs like he's been doing. Southwestern also had a talented kick returner who made some big returns against us. You look at the block punt they turned into a safety in the first half. We are a directional punting team. We have a second line we call the shield. If you look at the film it looks like Manny [Retana] was going to punt the ball to the right hand side but we shielded to the left. So it looks like it was just an issue of miscommunication.
ON NO. 8 HARDIN-SIMMONS: They're the second-best team we'll face all year with probably the best offense we'll go up against this season. They were held to just seven points last week against the best defense in the nation. But again, if we don't clean up our open field tackling, we'll have 80 points scored against us. They run the ball very well. Our job as coaches is to get our players emotionally and mentally charged for this game. There's a lot hanging in the balance especially that second place slot that is up for grabs.
INJURY REPORT: We have some bumps and bruises but thankfully nothing like torn ACLs or anything of that nature. One of our receivers is recovering from a concussion so he'll be day-to-day this week. But these things are to be expected at this juncture of the season. Every week there's the chance somebody is going to get beat up. But that's the sport we play.
