Hal Mumme has a track record of refurbishing football programs. It was one of the many reasons he was hired to take over a McMurry football program that's been treading water for the past decade and toss it a life preserver.

Though there is much more work to be done, Mumme's McMurry team has ignited energy into the local community with its exciting offensive style and aggressive defensive schemes. Saturday, the team's 37-13 win over Howard Payne in Brownwood gave the program its first road win since 2007 and its first two-game win streak since 2006.

Entering the fall training camp in preparation for the 2009 season, help for the McMurry turnaround came from an unexpected place: just 4.5 miles northeast of the campus. Wanting a better opportunity to display their talent, the wide receiver duo of Marcus Franklin and #R.J. Long# left NCAA Division II powerhouse Abilene Christian University and wanted a place to play.

When Mumme came in April, the coaching staff met with ACU's and built a relationship offering to help in any way they could. ACU's staff reciprocated the gesture and notified offensive coordinator Matt Mumme later in the summer when the pair was looking for a place to play.

“[Marcus and R.J.] were definitely interested in coming over and visiting, and the coaches over at ACU helped us as far as transcripts was concerned,” said Matt Mumme.

It had to be a quick process from ACU's standpoint, from the players' standpoint and from McMurry's standpoint. Franklin and Long had to make quick decisions and go through all the transfer procedures in order to get to McMurry before the end of training camp.

“When they did come over we only had a couple of weeks to get them in before everything was set. It turned out to be a blessing,” said Matt Mumme.

And a blessing it has been. The junior Franklin was one of the many stars in the season-opener Sept. 5 when McMurry narrowly missed upsetting No. 20-ranked Trinity University (31-26) in Abilene. He had six catches for 153 yards including a 63-yard touchdown reception. He followed with 105 yards receiving against Austin College Sept. 12, and through six games, Franklin leads the team with 501 receiving yards.

Long didn't start as fast, but has become more apart of the offense in the past two weeks, especially in Saturday's win over Howard Payne. The sophomore caught six passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets finishing just one touchdown catch shy of the school record. He crossed the endzone on scoring plays of 72, 22 and nine yards Saturday. Through six games he leads McMurry with four touchdown receptions and has 265 yards receiving.

“It's taken them a while to get them totally immersed in the offense, but they really made a lot of outstanding plays,” said Hal Mumme. “Marcus started out with the hot hand, and then R.J. the last couple of games has stepped up and done the same thing. We've got them on each side of the field, and they're both hard workers. We're glad their here, and I recommend most of the McMurry alums donate to the Abilene Christian recruiting effort.”

Franklin redshirted at the University of Wyoming, an NCAA Division I school, in 2006 and then played two seasons for the Wildcats at ACU from 2007-08. He served primarily as a kick returner for head coach Chris Thomsen's Wildcats who went to the NCAA Division II playoffs both years Franklin was a part of the team. In 2008, Franklin averaged 24.9 yards per kickoff return on the 12-1 Wildcats squad.

In high School, Franklin led North Garland High School to a 9-3 record with 39 catches for 804 yards and seven touchdowns while returning four punt returns for a touchdown.

Long took a redshirt in 2007 with ACU, and he was a part of the team in 2008 though he did not record a statistic. Long came from winning ways as a high school quarterback helping Corpus Christi Flower Bluff to a 22-4 record in two seasons.

Long reflected on his decision to come to leave ACU, which he said he made in collaboration with Franklin. The pair came from winning programs in high school and in college and wanted to help McMurry transform into a winner.

“No matter what division you're in Division I, II or III, 100 yards is 100 yards and you got to come out and play every practice and every game,” said Long. “And [Marcus] and I wanted to come and turn this program before we leave, and that's what we're going to do.”

Matt Mumme, who has been tabbed with the responsibility of implementing his father's Air Raid Offense at McMurry, said that the program is glad to have the transfers not only because of their skills, but also because of their winning pasts.

“The theory in it for them was not to come over here and be a part of something where they're not going to win; they want to win,” Matt Mumme said. “And what we found was, here's an opportunity to put two kids who know what winning is like and know the things it takes to be a winning team, and we wanted to get them integrated in the program to help our other young receivers and young players learn from that.”

Long and Franklin are friends, but the McMurry coaches say they're of different personalities and playing styles. Hal Mumme said that Long is the extroverted personality while Franklin is more introverted, letting his play act as his leadership.

Matt Mumme said that Franklin is a speedy, big-play receiver while Long is the possession receiver.

“[Marcus] has the smooth quickness we like to have at wideout. He's able to stretch the field vertically very quickly especially on some of the corners we see at this level and that gives him a distinct advantage,” said Matt Mumme. “[R.J.] does have some speed, but the one thing that he does great is he has a knack for getting open and does a great job of catching the ball in any situation.”

Both Mumme's and both transfer receivers will look to continue McMurry's turnaround Saturday at Wilford Moore Stadium against Sul Ross State in front of a Homecoming crowd at 2 p.m. A win over Sul Ross would give McMurry three-straight wins for the first time since the 2000 season.