Luke Poorman came up with seven touchdowns for Mount Union when the Purple Raiders called on him in a 2017 playoff game. OhioSI.com photo

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

Four months ago, Luke Poorman got an unexpected start for Mount Union in the Division III football national quarterfinals and threw six touchdown passes in just 16 attempts as the Purple Raiders defeated Frostburg State 70-37.

It was Poorman’s first start for Mount Union since Oct. 1, 2016.

His next college football start, if there is one, will be for another Purple Power: the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Poorman made the announcement today on In the Huddle, the Division III football East Region podcast. Looking for an opportunity to play, Poorman, who will be a junior in the fall, will head to the last program to defeat Mount Union.

• Watch In the Huddle, with full Luke Poorman interview

“Being a Christian, I just turned to God,” Poorman explained. “It was a lot of events, a lot of things going into this decision. I just prayed to Him constantly. ... He was telling me that He had plans for me elsewhere, and that was tough – as much as I wanted to deny it, because obviously you don’t pick a school to go there for two years and then leave – when He told me that, I had had a dream of playing college football since I was 4 years old and not having an opportunity at Mount, it kind of just all came together.”

Poorman split time with D’Angelo Fulford for the first five games of the 2016 season, his freshman year, where the Purple Raiders played three freshmen at quarterback and nonetheless reached the national semifinals. Now, both Poorman and Dom Davis, the third of those three, have transferred out.

“Playing in that first game against North Carolina Wesleyan as a freshman, that was literally my dream,” Poorman said. “I’ve always wanted to play college football since I was a kid – never thought about the NFL. Playing in that game and starting as a freshman was just huge. And then once I got hurt, that’s tough. You go from starting to now, I’m second string, third string, played JV, back up to second string. So it was definitely tough to deal with.”

Fulford, the one remaining quarterback of the three, who led Mount Union to the 2017 national title, continues to have legal troubles. A routine traffic stop in November led to the revelation that Fulford was not only driving on a suspended license, he was wanted on third-degree felony charges of battery stemming from an August 2015 incident involving a high school teammate in Florida. His Florida court proceedings have not yet been resolved, with the next hearing scheduled for April 20.

Davis recently transferred to Walsh, a Division II program in Ohio. He played sparingly on the varsity level for Mount Union after he started the final nine games of the season for the Purple Raiders in 2016, including three playoff victories.

At Mary Hardin-Baylor, Poorman will be joining a program which has played in the past two Stagg Bowls, the most recent a 12-0 loss to Mount Union. The Cru, who finished 14-1 last season, gave significant playing time to three quarterbacks as well, finishing the season with freshman Carl Robinson. Robinson completed 11 of 19 passes in the Stagg Bowl loss, throwing for just 106 yards with two interceptions. (Robinson is no longer with the program, sources tell D3sports.com.)

Mount Union’s 2016 season ended at the hands of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the national semifinals, with the Cru coming away with the 14-12 win, then defeating UW-Oshkosh 10-7 in the national championship game.

“Of course the goal is going to be to win the national championship (at UMHB),” Poorman said. “The culture that they have there and the team that they’ve had for the past few years and what they’ll continue to have, a run for the title is definitely a question to ask.”

The Cru open the 2018 season on Sept. 8, at Albright.