HCU Huskies (6-4, 4-2 SLC) vs. #11/#20 UIW Cardinals (8-2, 5-1 SLC)
Saturday, Nov. 18 – 2 p.m.
Husky Stadium – Houston, Texas
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Game Notes
HOUSTON – The HCU football team closes out the 2023 season on Saturday vs. top-25 team UIW at Husky Stadium a week after securing the first winning season in program history. Fans can watch Saturday's game live on ESPN+ with Garrett Jones, providing play-by-play and Jackson Cochran providing analysis.
With last weekend's 35-24 win at McNeese, HCU (6-4, 4-2 SLC) ensured it would finish above .500 for the first time since starting the program and end the season higher in the Southland Conference standings than in any previous year. A win over UIW (7-2, 5-1 SLC), ranked 11
th in the AFCA Coaches Poll and 20
th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, would tie the two teams for second place in the league standing behind league champion Nicholls. Lamar could also tie for second in that scenario with a win over McNeese on Saturday.
HCU is riding a winning streak into the final game of the season, having picked up four consecutive victories. The streak began Oct. 14 with a 30-0 win over Prairie View A&M followed by a 17-13 Homecoming victory over Texas A&M-Commerce. The following weekend the Huskies were credited with a 2-0 forfeit victory over Northwestern State and then made it four vs. McNeese.
The Huskies' defense has been causing offenses trouble all season, ranking 10
th in the FCS and first in the Southland in fumble recoveries with 10 through nine games played. Seniors
Xavier McIntyre and
Jalyx Hunt each have two fumble recoveries. Additionally, the team's 2.56 sacks per game leads the league and is 19
th nationally.
Junior running back
Jesse Valenzuela is second in the SLC with 74.3 rushing yards per game after piling up 171 yards at McNeese last weekend, the fifth-highest single-game total in program history. He also has five rushing touchdowns, tied for the second-most in a season at HCU.
The UIW offense is led by the senior quarterback-receiver duo of Zach Calzada and Brandon Porter with Porter ranking second in the FCS at 109.9 receiving yards per game and Calzada ninth in the country with 273.9 passing yards per game. The Cardinals lead the SLC with 32.3 points per game while holding opponents to 19 ppg. Defensive lineman Steven Parker leads the conference in both tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (7).
HCU seeks its first win over UIW with the Cardinals holding an 8-0 advantage in the all-time series.
