In most cases, change happens slowly, particularly in the world of sports. It takes time to implement new systems and get a program moving in the right direction. About a year ago, that change started manifesting with the Austin College football team, evidenced by the fact that looking back over the last calendar year, of the last nine times the Kangaroos have taken the field, they've emerged with seven victories. In the fifth year under head coach Loren Dawson, the upward momentum is undeniably gaining steam for the 'Roos.
After this year's senior class began its Austin College career with records of 0-10 and 2-8, the 'Roos are on the verge of putting together back-to-back strong seasons and continuing to put more W's in the win column with each passing year, and now find themselves aiming for one of the strongest seasons in recent program history.
In 2013 the 'Roos struggled a bit out of the gate with a tough early season schedule, but wound up winning their last four games to finish the year with a 5-5 overall record. The four game winning streak is the longest for Austin College football since 2008. This year, the 'Roos are on the precipice of not only matching that mark, but possibly even surpassing it as they enter the second half of the season. After a pair of losses to open the year, Austin College has won its last three to bring the team's record to 3-2 as they enjoy a bye week before finishing the month of October with road games at Southwestern Assemblies of God and Hendrix.
While the 2013 version of the 'Roos put up some big offensive numbers to lead the way to those four straight wins and the program's best record since that 2008 campaign, this year's team – while still boasting plenty of offensive talent – has been hanging its hat in large part on a stout defense as well as the emergence of an outstanding special teams unit.
Over the team's three game win streak, which includes victories over Occidental, Howard Payne, and Southwestern, Austin College has surrendered just 41 points for an average of 13.7 over that span. Two members of the 'Roo defense have been honored nationally as members of the D3Football.com Team of the Week. First up was senior defensive lineman Tre Stewart, who earned the honor after making nine tackles, including 2.5 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss in the season opener against Rhodes, and sophomore cornerback Delmas Hoye followed as a Team of the Week selection after making two interceptions and returning them for 96 total yards and played a huge role in handing Howard Payne its first loss of the year. Another member of the 'Roos, tight end Kyle Crawford, was also a D3Football.com Team of the Week honoree.
Hoye is also one of five 'Roos to have been named as a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week, having earned the conference's defensive award, while running back Madison Ross was named the Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 187 yards against Occidental. The 'Roos have earned the last three Special Teams Player of the Week awards, with Brett H. Vaughn, Shane Hodge, and Cooper Woodyard all bringing home the honor.
One of the big factors in the team's recent win streak has not only been the strong play of the defense and special teams, but also the timeliness of that outstanding play. In the victories over Occidental and Howard Payne, the 'Roos were able to come up with key field goal blocks, including a last second effort by HPU to seal a 19-16 victory, while the defense came up with three second half interceptions in each of those two games.
Along with the outstanding defensive efforts the team has been getting, which also includes middle linebacker Brooks Ward's SCAC-leading 10.4 tackles-per-game, the 'Roos are getting strong production from a number of areas on offense as well. Senior quarterback Noah Jesko is second in the conference in passing yards per game, Ross is second in rushing yards, and Crawford leads all receivers in both catches and yardage. The 'Roos have also featured the conference's most consistent kicking game, with sophomore Javi Reynoso's 80% rate on his field goal attempts leading the SCAC.
Following the bye this week, Austin College will head on the road to take on SAGU on October 18 and then travel to Hendrix on October 25 before returning home to host Southwestern for Homecoming on November 1 in the team's first conference game of the year. The 'Roos close out the home schedule with a high-powered Texas Lutheran squad on November 8 before heading to San Antonio to take on Trinity in the season finale on November 15.