July 31, 2006

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' football team goes into every season with the attitude it has a team that can compete on the national stage and this year it may be more than an attitude, it is an expectation.

The Cowboys return a solid nucleus on both sides of the ball and have star power on both sides of the field. A year ago the Cowboys went 8-2 and came up a game short of reaching the NCAA playoffs, despite losing its starting quarterback in the first series of the second game and its second-string signal-caller in the eighth game of the year.

Quarterback Jordan Neal is back for his sixth season in the Cowboy program after sustaining a broken collarbone. He is nearing all of the school passing records. He has 23 career starts under his belt and is an unquestioned leader of the offense.

The high-octane offense the Cowboys are used to having was down almost 60 yards and 15 points per game from 2004 when Neal played the whole year. The Cowboys averaged 47.5 points and 508 yards per game in 2004 and were down to 447 yards and 33 points last season. In the game and one series he played last season the Cowboys averaged over 10 yards per play, after his injury that total went down to 6.3 per play.

Jordy Bernhard, who tore his ACL against McMurry after going 6-1 as a starter last year, sophomore JV quarterback Andrew Holloway and Justin Feaster a transfer from North Texas will battle for the backup role.

"When you run the offense that we do you have to be good at quarterback," said 17th-year head coach Jimmie Keeling. "I think we have three or maybe even fours guys that can go out and give us a chance to be very good. Obviously Jordan is a very good player, but we proved last year you need more than one guy."

Starting running back Quinton Jones, a senior out of Greenville. Veterans Justin Greene, and Josh Sepeda give the Cowboys depth at the position. Jones ran for 656 yards and nine touchdowns, despite missing nearly four weeks with a bad ankle. He averaged seven yards per carry and every game he had nine or more carries he had over 100 yards rushing. He had four 100-yard rushing efforts.

"We have to be able to run the ball effectively in our offense," said Keeling. "We like to throw it around, but we also have to be able to run the ball when we want to."

The Cowboys will have to replace all three starting receivers, but the backups have solid credentials. Mychal Carrillo was third on the team in catches with 28 last year and he will get plenty of time as the slotback.

Will Galusha, Matt Fields and Jamal Shurme are veterans that will likely play on the outside. Galusha has been a two-time All-American at cornerback but will be more of a primary offensive player this season at either slot or on the outside. He played limited snaps at receiver last season, but averaged 15.5 yards on his two catches. He is dangerous with the ball in his hands.

Shurme is a speedster on the outside and Fields was second-team last season and caught seven balls for an 18.3 yards average. Mike Morgan, Teddy Morgan and Adam Stafford are all guys that could play a major role. Stafford was a standout sprinter at UT-Arlington the past four years.

Patrick Shelby has been a solid player for the Cowboys in the past, but broke his leg in the opener and received a medical redshirt. He will play some with his hands on the ground at tight end and will also be used in the Cowboys' five-wide sets. Pete Lopez is back as the starter at tight end and can be a factor in the passing game.

"We have a lot of talented guys at receiver, they just have to step up and be the next guy," said Keeling. "We lost three guys that caught a lot of balls for us over the last few years and now it is time for someone else to take over the role. The talent is there.

The Cowboy offense will be predicated on its offensive line. A relatively new group that included four true freshmen struggled at times last season, giving up 26 sacks, the most at HSU since the 1997 season. The good thing is the majority of the top two lines return from a year ago and they are bigger and stronger.

Senior Josh Knox anchors the line at center. He is a preseason All-American and was a first-team All-ASC selection last year. The tackles will be Jordan Daniel, a huge 318-pound junior, and James Arnold, a senior who has made the move to the outside from center. Twin sophomores Brennon and Brian Fitzgerald give the Cowboys two more players that near the 300-pound mark at tackle.

Jordan Maxwell and Brent Friday will likely start at guard, after splitting starts last season. Jeff Ilegbodu and Glenn Revell saw good snaps on the varsity as true freshmen last season.

"Our guys up front have really worked hard this offseason," said Keeling. "We have to keep the quarterback clean and also be able to run when and where we want to run. The talent is there and it is a year more mature than last season. We had four new starters last season and four true freshmen played a lot of snaps. I expect the offensive line to be a strength of our team this year."

All championship teams are built around defense and this could be the best defense since the 2000 team that went to the NCAA semifinals. The Cowboys dominance will start up front. It will be the most experienced two-deep along the defensive front in a long time.

All-American senior Reggie Robinson is back after shoulder surgery kept him off the field last season. He has 12 sacks in 2004 and the Cowboys return a talented set of ends that played well last season. Junior Derek Lewis had 3.5 sacks, junior Randy Snyder added three sacks, Juston Brown was a force as a true freshman and Tony Espinoza had four tackles for loss in just eight games. That group will give the Cowboys the luxury of rotating solid fresh players the entire game.

The middle will also be anchored by a veteran group. Senior Chris Jones was second-team All-ASC last season and controlled the middle. Terrence Penns sit out a year ago to get his academics in order, but is back and hungry for his senior campaign. Senior Jermaine Walker made the move inside last year and had three sacks and did a solid job against the run and senior John Larson gives the Cowboys experienced depth.

The linebacking corps is big and fast. Junior Eric Daniels is the starter in the middle after recording 54 tackles despite splitting time with Jason Rupert last season. Senior Rob Galusha was a second-team all-ASC performer after leading the team with 71 tackles. The other slot will likely be either Chris Robinson (11 tackles as a reserve last season) or David Joseph. Establishing depth will be a priority in fall camp.

"We have some talented players at linebacker and Eric and Rob could be as good as we have had here," said Keeling. "They are special players, but we have to build some depth around them and whoever it is will not be battle-tested."

The secondary is loaded with experience and the coaches are confident in the KeKe corners they moved Will Galusha to offense. KeKe Sims and Keke Balanciere played a lot of snaps last season. Those two will fight with James Revada for starting jobs. Sims had 13 tackles and an interception and Balanciere had eight tackles. Revada had 10 tackles. All three are athletic and good cover corners.

Cody Deaver is the lone returning starter in the secondary at strong safety. He was sixth on the team with 44 tackles last season and have seven pass break-ups and picked off two passes. Ryan Baker has started in the past and had 19 tackles a year ago.

"We have some young guys and some new guys that will help us in the secondary. We are excited this could be an outstanding group that will no doubt be athletic. With so many teams in our conference throwing it around now you have to be deep and athletic in the secondary."

Will Galusha is an All-American kick returner and will handle punt and kickoff return duties. Matt Fields is back at punter and Scott Bryant returns as the placekicker. He handled mainly long field goals last year, but will take over full-time kicking duties.

The Cowboys will be tested with the best non-conference schedule in years and the conference schedule is harder than ever. They will host Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the opener on Sept. 2. Losing Austin College from the schedule means the Cowboys replace a team they have beaten 16 straight teams by an average of 38.7 points with 2004 national champion Linfield.

The Cowboys also have to play on the road against the two teams picked right above and below them in the ASC preseason poll - Mary Hardin-Baylor and Howard Payne. HSU does have the luxury of six home games.

Preseason Notes Hardin-Simmons has had an All-American offensive lineman in each of the last seven years and have a returning one in Josh Knox. Knox and the rest of the line will be coached by former Cowboy player and first-year offensive line coach Jesse Burleson.

Will Galusha is looking to become the fourth three-time All-American in Cowboy history. He was a first-team All-American as a defensive back each of the last two years, but will be a primary offensive player and kick returner this year.

Jimmie Keeling goes into his 17th season as the Cowboys head coach. He has posted a 135-39 record with HSU. Alan Wartes also embarks on his 17th year as the offensive coordinator and Jim Abbate begins year seven as the defensive coordinator.

HSU has scored a touchdown in 130 straight games, dating back to a 10-0 loss to Westminster in 1993.