Box Score

ABILENE, Texas – McMurry set the American Southwest Conference record for team touchdown passes and set a school record for largest margin of victory in a 64-0 blowout of Texas College Saturday night at Wilford Moore Stadium.

Jake Mullin passed for 411 yards, tied the American Southwest Conference and school record of seven touchdown passes, and didn't thrown an interception in three quarters of work. McMurry's Braxton Shaver threw seven touchdown passes in 1999 against Texas Lutheran and Hardin-Simmons' Brad Boyd threw for seven scores in 1999 against McMurry.

Backup quarterback Stephen Warren threw for a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and McMurry passed five previous teams that had thrown for seven including McMurry who had seven touchdown passes in two games in the 1998 season.

McMurry jumped out to a 44-0 halftime lead that included Jesse Garcia's career long with a 44-yard field goal. Mullin finding R.J. Long twice, Marcus Franklin twice, and Chantz Purvis for five touchdown passes in the first half. In the third quarter, he found Franklin for his third touchdown catch of the game and Eric Shaffer scored his first touchdown in a McMurry uniform on a 63-yard touchdown reception. Mullin also ran for a touchdown in the second quarter.

“It feels good, but it wasn't about me, my receivers made plays, the line blocked for me,” said Mullin of the record-setting performance. “I threw a ball today to Marcus that I shouldn't have thrown, but he made an outstanding play on it. And that's what our guys can do, even when I make a mistake, our guys can pick me up.”

In the fourth, Warren found Joshua Chatman for his first touchdown since the 2008 season on a 15-yard pass to the endzone for the record breaker with 6:42 left.

McMurry gained 539 yards of offense, which is the highest total since head coach Hal Mumme took over in 2009. Both teams agreed to play with a running clock in the second half. Texas College dropped to 0-3 and has been outscored 192-3 in its three contests this season.

“I think we got better as a team, we told them all week that this was about us and not about the other team,” said head coach Hal Mumme.

The 2-0 start is the first for McMurry since the 2005 season, and it was the first shutout pitched by the defense since 2006 when McMurry won 23-0 Sept. 9, 2006.

The Steers managed just 54 yards of total offense in the ball game and the deepest they went into McMurry territory came late in the second quarter when Kieran Johnson completed a pass to Willie Johnson to move Texas College to the McMurry 36-yardline. However, that was as far as the McMurry defense would allow them to go.

“Coach [Joe Lee] Dunn and his whole staff have done a terrific job. We've got a bunch of scrappy kids over there running around and getting after the ball carrier,” Mumme said of his defense. “They're not always pretty getting it done, but so far this season they've done a terrific job.”

Corey Hall and Kerry Gamble were among the players to have big defensive games for McMurry. Hall had six tackles including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. Gamble had three tackles, two tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the home opener.

“We knew if we stepped up and played to their intensity we could do a lot of great things,” said Gamble. “Everybody just swarmed to the ball actually and we work a lot on stripping the ball and everybody hustling to the ball and it just bounced our way and into our hands.”

Mullin's final line was 23 of 24 for 411 yards and seven touchdown passes. Warren completed two of four passes for 38 yards and a team-passing total of 449 yards and eight touchdowns.

Franklin caught six passes for 87 yards and three scores and Long had four catches for 74 yards and two scores. Shaffer led the team in receiving yardage with three receptions and 100 yards to accompany his touchdown.

Delfonte Diamond was kept out of the endzone, but caught three passes for 90 yards including a great juggling catch for 56 yards that set up Mullin's three-yard touchdown run with 10:13 left in the second quarter. Chantz Purvis caught two passes for six yards and a score while leading McMurry with 41 rushing yards on six carries.

D.J. Baiza recorded an interception and Austin Cleere and Gamble each came up with fumble recoveries for the defense.

McMurry's previous record for largest margin of victory came in 1958 when McMurry defeated Texas Lutheran 63-0.

No. 6-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor comes to town Saturday with a 1-0 record, and McMurry will be tested for the first time. McMurry beat the Crusaders in both 1998 and 1999 before UMHB has posted a nine-game win streak over McMurry.

“We're very confident, but we know next week we're going to have to work hard in practice like we did these past weeks because they're going to come out with a different intensity,” Gamble said of UMHB.

The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Wilford Moore Stadium.

Game Notes:

• McMurry sets ASC School record for team touchdown passes with eight – Mullin (7) Warren (1) – Previous ASC record was seven: McMurry vs. UMHB 10/3/1998; McMurry vs. TLU 10/10/1998; Texas Lutheran vs. Sul Ross State 10/23/1999; Hardin-Simmons vs. McMurry 11/13/1999; Hardin-Simmons vs. Texas Lutheran 09/21/2002
• Jake Mullin tied school and ASC record with seven touchdown passes – Braxton Shaver , McM(10-10-98); Brad Boyd HSU, 1998, 11/13/1999
• School record for largest margin of victory (64); previous record 63-0 vs. Texas Lutheran 1958
• Mullin jumped from eighth to fourth on school's all-time passing list: 3,590 yards; Passed Brett Lang (3239), Richard Puckett (3385) and Clyde McKenzie (3515)
• Mullin tied Jordan Neuman for second on McMurry's career touchdown pass list since the school joined the NCAA in 1996 with 37; he'll have 56 more to go to catch Braxton Shaver at 93.
• Marcus Franklin caught three touchdown passes to give him 13 for his career; that's fifth among McMurry players since joining the NCAA in 1996
• Mullin's fourth highest passing yardage total in two-year career; fourth 400-yard game
• Highest point total since 1999 when McMurry beat Texas Lutheran 68-21
• Tied school record for touchdowns in a game with nine; vs. Austin College 1999; vs. Texas Lutheran 1999; vs. Texas Lutheran 1958