ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University football will face off versus a nationally-ranked NCAA III team for the second-consecutive week, welcoming #17-ranked East Texas Baptist University for its Homecoming Game at Wilford Moore Stadium.
 
(Last Saturday, the War Hawks (1-2, 0-1 ASC) lost to the nation's third-ranked team, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, in their American Southwest Conference opener on the road.)
 
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 ASC) lead the overall series against McMurry, 10-4. However, McM has taken the past two contests - and three of the last four meetings - among them last year's 49-22 win in Marshall over the ASC tri-champions. Between 2000-08, the Tigers won nine-consecutive meetings between the teams.
 
Thus far in 2016, the Tigers are putting up some impressive offensive numbers. ETBU is averaging 55.2 points and 607.5 yards of total offense per game. Jourdan McNeill leads the ground game with 424 rushing yards and an average of 6.0 yards per carry. Quarterback Dru Smith has completed 76-of-124 passes for 1,095 yards and 13 touchdowns already in 2016.
 
Freshman quarterback B.J. Ross paces the McMurry offense in both rushing and passing. Ross has gained 124 rushing yards, while passing for 329 yards (32-57). Sophomore receiver Stone Harris has been the top receiving target with 10 catches for 177 yards.  Junior Emmanuel Mulumba has a pair of receiving touchdowns to his credit.
 
The War Hawks' defense has proven a force in the early going, generating eight takeaways, four of which were returned for scores. As a matter-of-fact, linebacker Patrick Morrison is McM's second-leading scorer with 12 points (with both an interception return and fumble return for touchdowns). J.R. Arroyo also has a fumble return for a TD and Jamir Bowser a "pick-6" interception return on his ledger.
 
In the 2015 meeting between the War Hawks and ETBU, McMurry notched a 49-22 win in
Marshall last year over ETBU,  the ASC tri-champions. In the 2015 meeting between the War Hawks and ETBU, McM's Paxton Grayer ran for 157 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown, while also making six receptions for 100 yards and two TDs. That marked the first time in school history that a player had a "double-triple," breaking the century mark in both rushing and receiving in the same game.
 
This is the 86th Homecoming Game in McMurry history.  McM has an all-time Homecoming record of 44-39-2. However, the War Hawks have lost their past three Homecoming bouts, falling to Angelo State (2013), Eastern New Mexico (2014) and  Hardin-Simmons (2015).