Tuesday, October 19, 1999
Second-longest winning streak belongs to
HSU
Al Pickett
Sports Editor
When Baltimore Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken finally sat
down for a game last year, ending his consecutive games played
streak at a record 2,632, not much attention was given to who
was second behind Ripken among active players.
It really didn’t matter because the next closest on the
list would have to play every game for nearly 12 years to catch
Ripken.
College football’s newest streak is much the same way.
Mount Union College, a NCAA Division III school from Ohio, won
its 48th straight game Saturday, breaking the record set by Bud
Wilkinson’s Oklahoma Sooners, who won 47 in a row from 1953-57.
So who is No. 2 on the list? Well, look no farther than the
north side of Abilene where the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys
reeled off their 15th consecutive victory Saturday with a 50-14
thrashing of Austin College.
HSU lost its 1998 season opener to Midwestern State, 34-23,
but followed that disappointment with nine straight wins, including
a 30-24 overtime thriller over cross-town rival McMurry University,
to win the American Southwest Conference championship.
Despite their impressive 9-1 record, the Cowboys did not receive
a bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, however, and ended the
’98 season with a nine-game winning streak.
Hardin-Simmons, ranked No. 8 in the nation in Division III,
hasn’t missed a beat this season, racking up six more victories
to run its winning streak to 15, ranking the Cowboys No. 2 in
the nation in all divisions of college football for consecutive
victories.
“We’re it, and nobody knows it,” HSU coach Jimmie
Keeling said. “Of course, no one cares who is No. 2. I’d
say they (Mount Union) are way ahead. It’s unbelievable.
I don’t know how you do it. It’s hard to win each week.
We’ll get everybody’s best shot.”
To put Mount Union’s winning streak in perspective, consider
this: If the Purple Raiders lose sometime this season, Hardin-Simmons
would still have to win every game for the next three years just
to catch the three-time defending NCAA Division III national champions.
Another Division III school — Williams College from Massachusetts
— is third on the list with 13 consecutive victories. There
is a tie for fourth with 11 straight wins by Wisconsin-Stevens
Point and Marshall, owner of the longest current Division I-A
winning streak.
Southern University has won 10 in a row, which is the longest
Division I-AA winning streak.
Carson-Newman (Tenn.) and Fort Valley State (Ga.) have each
won seven in a row, the longest current winning streak in NCAA
Division II.
“We haven’t thought about streaks,” Keeling
said. “To be honest, we hadn’t given it much consideration
until people started mentioning it the last two weeks. Winning
at Oklahoma or winning at Mount Union is obviously different,
but it is phenomenal at any division. There are too many great
teams and great coaches out there.”
Hardin-Simmons’ current winning streak, which is a school
record, will be tested Saturday when the Cowboys play rival Howard
Payne (4-2 overall and 3-0 in the ASC).
Another interesting streak will be on the line Saturday at
Howard Payne’s homecoming in Brownwood. This will mark the
fourth straight year that either HSU or Howard Payne has gone
into this game undefeated.
Oddly enough, the unbeaten team has lost each time. The Cowboys
beat unbeaten Howard Payne in 1996, the Yellow Jackets knocked
off unbeaten Hardin-Simmons in 1997 and HSU downed unbeaten Howard
Payne last year.
That’s one streak Keeling and the Cowboys hope is broken
Saturday. Of course, they’d like to keep the other streak
going — for the next three years or so.
Al Pickett can be reached at 676-6772 or picketta@abinews.com.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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