History Sept. 1897 Hardin-Simmons plays its first football game against the Abilene Town Kids and wins 12-0. The game was played at the local fair.
Fall 1992 HSU plays its first NAIA playoff game and beats Howard Payne 42-28 before losing 21-14 to Minot State in the national quarterfinals.
Jan. 1, 1936 Hardin-Simmons played in the school’s first bowl game as the Cowboys played New Mexico State in the Sun Bowl and finished in a 14-14 tie.
1993 HSU wins the first of four straight Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles. HSU rode the arm of Kevin Beam and legs of Hall of Famer Matt Carroll all the way to the NAIA semifinals, before losing in a -20 degree wind chill day at Westminster (Pa.). That was the last time the Cowboys have been shut out in a game.
Jan. 1, 1937 The Cowboys won their first bowl game as HSU beat Texas-El Paso, 34-6, in the Sun Bowl. 1939 Clyde “Bulldog” Turner was named the school’s first first-team all-American. Turner later on became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 1940 HSU completed its first unbeaten season with a record of 9-0 in the last season of head coach Frank Kimbrough’s tenure. 1946 HSU returned from a four-year break from varsity action because of World War II to go undefeated with an 11-0 record under Warren Woodson, led by NCAA rushing champion “Doc” Mobley. The Cowboys beat the University of Denver in the inaugural Alamo Bowl and finished the year ranked No. 23 in the AP poll. 1948 HSU played in the Harbour Bowl and beat San Diego State on Jan. 1 of 1948 and then at the end of the 1948 season they played in three bowl games to become the “Bowlingest Team” in the nation. HSU tied the College of the Pacific in the Grape Bowl on Dec. 4, in the Shrine on Dec. 18 HSU beat Ouachita 40-12 and beat Wichita State in the Camelia Bowl 49-12. Dec. 31, 1958 HSU under head coach Coach Sammy Baugh lost 14-6 to Wyoming in the 1958 Sun Bowl. It would be the last bowl game in HSU history. November 30, 1963 HSU lost 16-7 to Howard Payne in the final game of the Division I era. The administration dropped football after the 1963 campaign and it would not return to the campus until 1990. Dec. 14, 1989 Jimmie Keeling was hired to restart the HSU football program.
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September 8, 1990 HSU lost 39-19 to Austin College in the first game of the new era. Danny Esqueda took the Cowboys’ first kickoff back 86 yards for a touchdown.
1994 HSU went back to the playoffs in 1994 and after a first round win over Missouri Valley, lost 57-54 in a game against Lambuth, Tenn. Several HSU records still stand from that game, including Kevin Beam’s 45-of-64 performance for 541 yards. 1995 HSU returned to the quarterfinals and after a win over Howard Payne, lost to Central Washington, who was led by former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna. 1996 HSU lost in the first round of the 1996 NAIA playoffs after capturing its fourth straight conference title. Oct. 18, 1997 Jimmie Keeling sets the school record for wins, passing Warren Woodson’s record of 58 with a 34-25 win over McMurry. 1997 HSU joined Division III and the American Southwest Conference. 1999 HSU made its first ever NCAA Division III playoff appearance and advanced with wins over Washington and Washington and Jefferson. The Cowboys lost in the quarterfinals to Trinity in San Antonio. 2000 The Cowboys made their best run to date in the NCAA Division III playoffs in 2000. HSU received a first-round bye after an undefeated season and then beat Western Mary land 32-10 and Melvin Dudley knocked away a pass from future NFL player Jerheme Urban in the end zone as time expired to defeat Trinity 33-30. HSU lost to St. John’s in the NCAA Semfinals at Shelton Stadium. The win over Trinity remains the last NCAA playoff win for the Cowboys. 2001 With a potential matchup with Division III powerhouse Mount Union on the horizon, Hardin-Simmons rolled to a 35-21 lead over Wittenberg, but a couple of fourth-quarter scores tied the game for Wittenberg and the Cowboys did not score in overtime
in a 38-35 loss to Witteneberg. The game ended the stellar career of all-American Kirk Rogers, who to this day is still the all-time TD leader in the ASC with 50 receiving touchdowns. 2003 HSU was the ASC tri-champion with East Texas Baptist and Mary Hardin-Baylor, but ETBU won a tiebreaker between the three teams, basically because the rules of the game state you can’t kick an extra point in overtime if the score already determines the outcome of the game. 2004 HSU won its last ASC title and beat Mary Hardin-Baylor 4922 in Belton in the regular season, but the Cru got the better of the Cowboys 42-28 at Shelton Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs. 2005 The Associated Press named Hardin-Simmons the “Winningest Team in Texas” as HSU had the most wins and best winning percentage of any team in Texas since 1990. 2006 HSU once again got a shot at the Cru in the playoffs, but fell 33-21 in Belton. 2008 For the third straight trip to the NCAA playoffs, the Cowboys were forced to play ASC rival Mary Hardin-Baylor and the Cowboys again came up short, falling 38-35 when Alan Munoz hit a 33-yard field goal for UMHB with :05 to play, after HSU had just overcome a 14-point deficit to tie the game.
Jan. 1, 1937 Jan. 1, 1943 Jan. 4, 1947 Jan. 1, 1948 Dec. 4, 1948 Dec. 18, 1948 Dec. 30, 1948 Dec. 31, 1958 Nov. 21, 1992 Dec. 5., 1992 Nov. 20, 1993 Dec. 4, 1993 Dec. 11, 1993 Nov. 19, 1994 Dec. 3, 1994 Nov. 18, 1995 Dec. 2, 1995 Nov. 23, 1996 Nov. 20, 1999 Nov. 27, 1999 Dec. 4, 1999 Nov. 25, 2000 Dec. 2, 2000 Dec. 9, 2000 Nov. 20, 2004 Nov. 19, 2006 Nov. 22, 2008
HSU Postseason Games UTEP W, 34-6 Air Force L, 13-7 Denver W, 20-0 San Diego St. W, 53-0 Pacific T, 35-35 Ouachita W, 40-12 Wichita State W, 49-12 Wyoming L, 14-6 Howard Payne W, 42-28 Minot State L, 21-14 Evangel W, 49-21 Mary W, 30-20 Westminster L, 10-0 Missouri Valley W, 49-21 Lambuth L, 57-54 Howard Payne W, 17-6 C. Washington L, 40-20 Evangel L, 45-23 Washington W, 28-21 Wash. and Jeff. W, 51-3 Trinity L, 40-33 W. Maryland W, 32-10 Trinity W, 33-30 Saint John’s L, 38-14 UMHB L, 42-28 UMHB L, 33-21 UMHB L, 38-35
Sun Bowl Sun Bowl Alamo Bowl Harbour Bowl Grape Bowl Shrine Bowl Camelia Bowl Sun Bowl NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NAIA NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III NCAA III
Nov. 16, 2010 and Dec. 10, 2010 Jimmie Keeling resigns and Jesse Burleson is hired as the 19th coach in school history. 1979 Virgil M. Bradley Clyde “Bulldog” Turner Warren Woodson 1980 T. Burns McKinney Frank Kimbrough Wilton O. “Hook” Davis 1982 Carl Peay Murray Evans Bill Scott 1984 Les Cranfill John T. Ford 1985 H.C. Burris
Football Players In The HSU Athletic’s Hall of Fame
1986 Bob McChesney Truett Ratton
1991 John “Bullet” Camp Owen Goodnight
1987 John N. Cleveland Tom Adams
1992 Jack Ellison J.C.”Bullet” Cook Pete Hart
1988 Al Johnson 1989 Earl Rowan Al Milch 1990 Eddie Sprinkle Odis Crowell Carroll Benson D.C. Andrews
1993 Pete Tyler Ed Cherry L.B. “Scat” Russell 1994 Pat Bailey 1995 Frank “Dunny” Goode Joe Biggs Kenneth Ford
1996 Johnny Gregg Howard McChesney Wilford Moore Julius “Slats” Stagner 1997 Kirk McKinnon K.Y. Owens
1998 Bob Estes Hugh Higgins Clinton “Cush” Holder Rodney Williams Gordon Wood 1999 Connie Baird
2000 Sammy Baugh Riley Cross 2001 Bill Cagle Kenneth West
2002 Firman Scroggins Winston Tucker 2003 James Riddle 2004 Larry Dippel Paul Petty
2006 Kevin Beam Chester Lyssy Eugene McCollum 2007 Anthony Christian Jerald Jack Smith 2008 Scott Forbes 2009 Matt Carroll Morris Southall 2010 Pete Murray
2005 Harold Stephens
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