The next three weeks will be a grind for the Sul Ross State football team, which includes two meetings with nationally ranked opponents.
Sul Ross seeks to rise to the challenge and remain unblemished in the American Southwest Conference as it hosts the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets on Saturday.
A win for the Lobos would give them their first three-game winning streak since 2016.
>> HEAD TO HEAD: Since Sept. 26, 1987, Howard Payne is 31-15 against Sul Ross.
The Yellow Jackets won the last three meetings, which ended a five-game winning streak in the series by the Lobos from 2014-2018.
Sul Ross is 6-4 in against Howard Payne in the last 10 games.
The series was dominated by the Yellow Jackets from 1989-2005 as they won 25-straight games against the Lobos.
>> THE YELLOW JACKETS: Howard Payne is riding a two-game winning streak after defeating East Texas Baptist and Hendrix College by the scores of 33-21 and 67-10, respectively.
Under first-year head coach Jason Bachtel, the Yellow Jackets are trying to continue the momentum after going 7-3 overall last fall, their best record since 2005.
Sophomore quarterback Landon McKinney completed 18 of 29 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns in the win over East Texas Baptist last week.
McKinney has 1,356 yards with 10 touchdowns on the year. McKinney currently leads the nation in passing yards.
Against East Texas Baptist, graduate student wide receiver Jordan Carroll had five catches for 152 yards and two scores while senior receiver Otis Lanier recorded two touchdowns on five catches for 149 yards.
Carroll leads the receiving corps with 382 yards off 13 catches with four touchdowns.
Senior running back Tauren Bradley along with sophomore Javian Myles have led the rushing attack with a combined 460 yards and seven touchdowns.
Defensively, graduate student defensive back Kyle Bell leads the way with 27 total tackles and four pass breakups.
Graduate student cornerback Jarrett Brown has tallied 24 total tackles and two tackles for loss.
>> THE LOBOS: Sul Ross is on its first winning streak since the program captured two games in a row in 2019.
As the current Lobos reach the .500 mark four games into the season, this marks the first time they've been at .500 or better in four games since 2017.
In case you missed it, quarterback
T.J. DeShields was recognized for the second straight week as an ASC player of the week.
This week he was tabbed as the co-offensive player of the week after throwing two touchdowns and tallying 342 passing yards in a 28-14 win over Texas Lutheran.
This marks the first time since 2017 when the Lobos were honored in back-to-back weeks by the ASC.
DeShields' 12 passing touchdowns are currently tied for 10th-best in NCAA Division III. His 1,168 passing yards rank 11th in the nation.
Wide receiver
Vicente Luevano is tied for the lead in NCAA Division III with his eight touchdown receptions alongside Aurora's Trey Madsen.
Linebacker
Ronin Williams was mentioned in the ASC's top performances list after he tallied 10 tackles, seven solo, three assists and 2.5 tackles for loss last week.
>> CONFERENCE OUTLOOK:
>> ASC STANDINGS:
- Mary Hardin-Baylor 3-1 (2-0)
- Howard Payne 3-1 (2-0)
- Sul Ross 2-2 (2-0)
- Southwestern 2-2 (1-1)
- East Texas Baptist 1-2 (1-1)
- Hardin-Simmons 2-1 (0-1)
- Austin College 0-3 (0-1)
- Texas Lutheran 0-3 (0-2)
- McMurry 0-4 (0-2)
>> WEEK 4 SCORES:
- Mary Hardin-Baylor 50, Hardin-Simmons 20
- Howard Payne 33, East Texas Baptist 21
- Sul Ross 28, Texas Lutheran 14
- Southwestern 38, McMurry 33
GAME DAY INFO
WHO: Howard Payne at Sul Ross
WHERE: Jackson Field
WHEN: 1 p.m. CST, Saturday, Oct. 1
LIVESTATS LINK: https://srlobos.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
LIVESTREAM LINK: https://srlobos.com/sports/2021/10/15/srsn-football.aspx
