Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes (0-0) at HCU Huskies (0-0)
Saturday, Sep. 2 – 6 p.m.
Husky Stadium – Houston
Watch: ESPN+ (Garrett Jones / Jonathan Fleming)
Live Stats
Tickets
Gameday Information
HOUSTON – The new era of HCU football makes its highly anticipated public debut this Saturday evening at Husky Stadium when head coach
Braxton Harris's team opens the 2023 season against Arkansas Baptist at 6:00 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+ with Garrett Jones handling play-by-play duties and former Husky letterwinner Ja'Halen Norris serving as analyst.
HCU heads into the season-opener with a roster featuring the top signing class in program history and an array of transfers mixed with nine offensive and seven defensive starters from last season returning. Defensively, the linebacker corps is led by all-American
Rodney Dansby and the Southland Conference's leader in tackles for loss last season,
Jalyx Hunt, along with FBS-transfers
Josh Ferguson and
Xavier McIntyre.
The Huskies' secondary is anchored by a number of returners in junior preseason all-conference cornerback
Devion Hargrove, senior cornerback
Jordan Oliver, junior safety
Isaiah Cash and sophomore safety
Caleb Flagg. Juniors
Zae Smith and
Lordswill Uwa-Ndukwe return on the interior of the defensive line with a quartet of transfers (
Tausagafou Ho Ching,
Joe Cadette,
Charles Gonzales and
Judas McKenzie) poised to make an impact at the defensive end positions.
The offensive line added depth to a talented group of returners, led by
Christian Hood, with a number of transfers, including
Mahdi Hazime,
Nonso Omezi and
Jaden Edmonson. At running back, transfers
Champ Dozier and
Jesse Valenzuela pair with returners
RJ Smith,
Fudge Woods and
Darryle Evans.
Senior quarterback
Colby Suits comes in with 16 games and eight starts under his belt at the FBS level for ULM and played in offensive coordinator
Jason Bachtel's system in high school at North Forney. The Huskies' receiving corps boasts returners
Ismael Fuller and
Karl Reynolds, who have totaled more than 950 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns across three full seasons combined.
This offseason, under Harris and his staff, the program signed a top-10 FCS recruiting class nationally and the number one FCS class in the state of the Texas. HCU's transfer class was ranked in the top-40 in the FCS.
NAIA member Arkansas Baptist played its first season of football in 2021 and posted a 1-7 record last year. The Buffaloes averaged 230 yards of offense last year with 116 of those coming on the ground. Sophomore Atavian Ray was the team's top running back last season and put up a 94-yard, one-touchdown performance in a loss at Louisiana Christian.
Following Saturday's game, the Huskies begin a three-game road stretch that begins in Bowling Green, Ky. against Western Kentucky at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 9.
