The UTPB football team is coming off its first conference loss in two years.
The good news for the Falcons is that there’s still plenty of season left.
Even better news for UTPB is that the Lone Star Conference title is not out of reach.
The bad news? There’s not much room for error if UTPB wants to return to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Falcons will get a chance to right the ship this weekend when they take the road to face Midwestern State (2-1 overall, 1-0 in conference) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.
UTPB (2-2, 1-1) is coming off a 20-14 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville (2-1, 1-0) last week at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.
It was the Falcons’ first loss in conference play since the team’s 49-14 loss to Central Washington on Nov. 12, 2022.
It was the first Lone Star Conference loss for UTPB head coach Kris McCullough since taking over the program.
However, he knows his players don’t have time to worry about their loss as the team will have three tough challenges coming up in the next three weeks.
After Midwestern State, UTPB must face Angelo State (2-2, 2-0) and Central Washington (2-1, 1-0).
“We’re not out of it,” McCullough said in this week’s press conference at the D. Kirk Edwards Human Performance Center. “We’re still a playoff team. We’re still a Lone Star Conference championship team. We just have to go 1-0 every single day. Nobody’s used to losing around here, at least since I’ve been here … We need to make sure our playmakers get the ball and do what they need to do.”
Last year, UTPB survived a 21-13 encounter against Midwestern State on the road.
But unlike last year, the Mustangs now have a new coach for the first time in over 22 years.
Longtime former head coach Bill Maskill stepped down after last season, leaving with a 160-71 overall record at the program.
Replacing him is a coach who’s no stranger to the program as Rich Renner was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach during this past offseason.
The Mustangs, who had a rare losing season last year, going 4-6, are looking like their former selves.
Midwestern State began the year with an 18-11 win against Missouri Southern before coming up short against No. 15-ranked Western Colorado in a 38-33 contest.
Midwestern State looked better in last week’s 36-15 win against Eastern New Mexico.
“Last year’s head coach was there for a long time,” McCullough said of Maskill. “He was an all-time legend. Their new coach has been there for a while. He was the defensive coordinator. Their culture hasn’t changed. That’s the message they want to carry. They have the same offense and defense. What they have going on right now is they have a huge belief. They’ve lost some close games but they’re a good team. They’re well-coached. They’re well-disciplined.”
Midwestern State managed to turn four turnovers into 20 points against Eastern New Mexico last week which included a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown by this week’s conference Defensive Player of the Week Ryan Melton.
Running back Devin Cross leads a strong ground game for the Mustangs after rushing for a career-high 154 yards on 21 carries last week while Jalen March had 132 yards on 15 carries.
In UTPB’s loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville, the Falcons fell behind early, trailing 17-0 early in the second quarter.
The Falcons managed to hold the Javelinas to only a field goal the rest of the way but UTPB’s offense didn’t have enough gas left in the tank to overcome its deficit and ended up losing by six.
“If you hold an opponent to a low score, you should win,” McCullough said. “It’s those moments where you have to lock in. We have to play well in all three phases of the game.”
However, McCullough knows the Falcons managed to win a low-scoring, close game against the Mustangs last year.
“We were able to do it last year when we played against Midwestern State,” McCullough said. “We scored 14 points to start the game and then didn’t score again until later. We found a way to win. There will be games where we have to win in a low-scoring contest. There were some games where I thought they would be high-scoring and they weren’t. That’s what football is. … There’s going to be low-scoring games and high-scoring games. We have to be playing well in all three phases. We have to stay locked in.”
