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ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University will open a stretch of four-consecutive home games on Saturday when it plays host to Langston University (Okla.) in its Homecoming Game. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Wilford Moore Stadium.

The match-up is a collision of two teams that have both been playing their best football in recent weeks. LU had a bye last week, but has won its last three games.  McMurry has won four of its last five outings.

The Lions (4-3) and War Hawks (4-3) not only enter the contest with identical records, but also have several common opponents and similar outcomes. Each was soundly handled by NCAA Division I FCS foe Lamar  University (LU lost 31-0; McM fell by a 52-21 count). Both teams scored a three-point victory over Southern Nazarene University (McM won 22-19 and LU 17-14). Each also pounded Wayland Baptist (LU won 40-0 and McM by a 76-13 score).

Langston also has wins over Texas College and Bacone (McMurry's next two opponents on the schedule), while the War Hawks topped Oklahoma Panhandle State (which Langston plays to close out the regular season).

The Lions are coming off a 14-7 win at home over Texas College back on Oct. 13. LU scored early on a 25-yard return of a blocked punt for a TD by Chace Green. Then, in the second quarter, a 69-yard Jac'Quon Miles-to-Lennord Cook touchdown pass eventually led to a 14-0 advantage. A late stand by the Langston defense helped preserve the win as TC drove deep into Lion territory for a potential tying score as time expired.

McM completed its “San Antonio Sweep” last Saturday, thanks to a 28-20 win at the University of the Incarnate Word. Last year, the War Hawks (4-3) defeated both of the city's other two football playing schools (UT-San Antonio and Trinity University), prior to adding the final piece of the trifecta with the win over the Lone Star Conference member Cardinals. Jake Mullin led the assault by passing for 322 yards, completing 45-of-61 passes for two touchdowns.

Those two TDs gave Mullin 100 career touchdown passes, making him just the 60th player in NCAA history - at all levels - to throw for both 10,000 yards and 100 TDs in their career. Mullin joins such names as Case Keenum, Colt McCoy, Ty Detmer, Chad Pennington, Danny Wuerffel, Steve McNair and Matt Barkley, to name a few, who have accomplished the feat (Barkley, a Heisman Trophy hopeful from USC, also reached that plateau last Saturday, just hours ahead of Mullin).

McMurry found itself down 10-0 after the first quarter. After that juncture, McM would reel off 28 unanswered points. Greg Livingston caught 13 passes for 134 yards as Mullin's most-utilized target of the night.  Jeret Smith had 11 catches for 62 yards. Defensively, Gregory Pinckney led the War Hawks with 11 tackles, eight solo.  Cory Pippen had 10 stops (eight solo). Corey Hall spent ample time harassing the Cardinals' QB Taylor Woods, producing three sacks for 22 yards in losses (six tackles).

The Lions have been stingy on defense, allowing an average of 13.3 points per game on the year, notching a pair of shutouts along the way. Conversely, McMurry answers with one of the most potent offenses in NCAA II, averaging 356.0 passing yards and nearly 400 yards of total offense per game.

The only other meeting between the Langston and McMurry teams was a 26-21 win by the Lions back in 1990.

The game can be heard on the stations of War Hawk Radio Network - or world-wide via the internet at hprnetwork.com - as well as on KZQQ 1560AM in the Abilene area. The game is also being streamed live – FREE of charge – through McMurry's channel on SkyboxLive.com (where it will also be archived for later viewing).