Sept. 17, 2003

ABILENE, Texas -

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

About The Cowboys HSU comes into the game following a 31-21 loss to UW-Stout last season...The Cowboys are 4-0 following regular-season losses in the last five years...HSU has never lost to Texas Lutheran and has won the five games by an average score of 52.2-12 and have won the last two games 101-14...HSU started 15 players in the season opener that started the season opener last season...HSU has not lost a conference opener since 1992, when it lost 39-23 at Howard Payne...Jordan Neal is the fifth starter in six years at quarterback for the Cowboys...Neal, Kevin Beam and Travis Jones are the only players to start at quarterback as sophomores.

About Texas Lutheran Texas Lutheran is in its second season under head coach Tom Mueller...The Bulldogs lost their season opener to Trinity, 40-0...In its game with Trinity, four quarterbacks took snaps...TLU only has two seniors on its roster...The Bulldogs play three straight nationally-ranked opponents to start the season in Trinity, HSU and UMHB.

Last Time Out The Cowboys fell to UW-Stout, 31-21 in Menomonie, Wis., after jumping out to a 14-0 lead. The nationally-ranked Blue Devils scored 31 unanswered points. Texas Lutheran lost its opener 40-0 at nationally-ranked Trinity.

Up Next The Cowboys will host Louisiana College in its home opener at 2 p.m. at Shelton Stadium...The Cowboys have won 23 straight regular-season games at home...Texas Lutheran gets to travel to nationally-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor.

ON The Air Hardin-Simmons' games can be heard on KAGT 90.5 in the Big Country, with John Wilson and Al Pickett on the call. Wilson is in his first season as the Cowboys' play-by-play announcer, after two seasons in the color chair. Al Pickett, a longtime Abilene journalist, is the new color commentator. The games can be heard on the Internet by going to www.hsuathletics.com and clicking on the radio broadcast link on the football web page.

ON The Road The Cowboys will travel to Seguin by charter bus on Friday morning and will practice Friday afternoon. The team will return immediately following the game. If the media needs assistance, they can call SID Chad Grubbs on his cell at (325) 672-7552.

In the Polls The Cowboys come into the season ranked No. 20 in the D3Football.com poll and are ranked No. 22 in the Don Hansen poll. HSU checks in at No. 25 in the first AFCA poll of the season. Mount Union is the No. 1 ranked team in all three polls.

Last Week Sophomore Jordan Neal completed 21-of-26 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown in his first game as the Cowboys' starting quarterback...Anthony Renfro had a career-high 12 tackles from his safety position...Triandos Sherrard had a 46-yard touchdown reception, which was the longest of his career and was his fifth career TD, he led the team with 151 all-purpose yards...Lance Moore's 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter gave the Cowboys' their first touchdown of the year and gave him his seventh career touchdown...Jason Rupert had a career best nine tackles, including two on special teams and also recorded his first career sack...Eric Shults also set a career-high with nine tackles.

The Offense in wisconsin The Cowboys started the game with a three and out and then an interception, but responded with two straight touchdown drives to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter...For the day, the Cowboys managed 335 yards on just 54 plays for a 6.2 yard per play average...Joe Lemberg and Triandos Sherrard each had five catches...All-American Matt Moskosky missed the game with a high ankle sprain...Lance Moore led the team with 47 yards on the ground...The offensive line did a solid job against the mammoth front of the Blue Devils, allowing just two sacks with two newcomers in the starting lineup.

About The Defense The Cowboys defense had its way with Wisconsin in the first stages of the game, but were unable to keep the Blue Devils off the field for much of the rest of the game. UWS had the ball for 20:57 of the second half and in a four-drive stretch that saw the Blue Devils have the ball for 45 plays for 290 yards and score 24 points. In that time, the Blue Devils took 18:37 off the game clock, while the Cowboys had the ball for 3:17. Defensively, several players had good games, with Anthony Renfro (12) Jason Rupert and Eric Shults (9), Brent Gailey (8) , Toby Nash (7) Rocky McAdams (6) Levi Steele and Adam Parker (5) each having five or more tackles.

Special Teams The Cowboy kicking game was near perfect in the loss...Mason Grimes was perfect on his PAT tries...Dustin Black did a solid job snapping and Travis Jones had three flawless holds...Grimes also hit four of his five punts inside the 20 yard-line with two inside the 10...Joe Lemberg had four punt returns for 31 yards...The kickoff and punt return coverage units allowed only 59 yards in six opportunities...Jeff Hilliard, Triandos Sherrard and Shay Ratliff all had kickoff returns of 20 yards or more.

Newcomers make an Impact Several newcomers made an immediate impact for the Cowboys in their first career game. Senior Jeff Hilliard, a transfer from Memphis was an up-man on the opening kickoff and took the short kick 28 yards...Shay Ratliff, a transfer from ACU, led the team with eight catches for 81 yards...Patrick Shelby had a 13-yard reception...Matt Epperson had three catches for 37 yards...Chris Jones and Jermaine Walker each played significant time on the defensive line and had one tackle each...Shane Hudnall led a much improved kickoff unit as the kickoff specialist.

In The ASC Stats Lance Moore ranks eighth in rushing...Jordan Neal leads the league in passing, total offense and leads all regular quarterbacks in passing efficiency...Shay Ratliff is second in receptions...Joe Lemberg and T. Sherrard are tied for fourth...Sherrard and Ratliff rank third and fourth in receiving yards and Lemberg is ninth...Sherrard is second in all-purpose yards and kick return average...Mason Grimes is third in punting...Anthony Renfro is tied with ETBU's Greg Washington for the league lead with 12 tackles...Brent Gailey is ninth in tackles for loss...The Cowboys lead the league in pass offense, net punting, pass efficiency and first downs.

HSU In The NCAA Stats Category Player Rank # Leader Passing Eff. Jordan Neal 20 162 Matt Hintz, Loras 234.7 Total Offense Jordan Neal 22 277 Tyler Matthews, Linfield 424 Receptions Shay Ratliff 18 8 Matt Friesner, Capital 11 Punting Mason Grimes 26 39.4 Nick Schlieman, Augsburg 51.7 Solo Tackles Anthony Renfro 22 8 Jeff Stiffler, Heidelberg 13 Pass Offense Team 25 273 Linfield 479

Preseason Accolades Junior cornerback Alex Hansen earned three first-team All-American nods in preseason publications, including D3Football.com, Lindy's and Don Hansen Weekly Gazette. He was also named the preseason ASC Defensive Player of the Year. Senior tight end Matt Moskosky was named first-team All-American by Street and Smith's and nabbed second-team honors by D3Football.com and Lindy's. Moskosky was also named a player to watch by USA Today. Offensive guard Adam Hernandez earned second-team honors by Lindy's and third-team honors by Don Hansen.

Scoring Streak The Cowboys have scored at least one offensive touchdown in 100 straight games, only once in that span have they been held under 10 points. During the streak, the Cowboys have averaged 38.7 points per game.