UTPB's Jeremiah Cooley lines up for a play against Sul Ross State Nov. 16 in Alpine. Courtesy Photo It may have been a bittersweet ending to the 2024 UTPB football season but considering all the Falcons had to deal with, head coach Kris McCullough and his players still have reasons to be positive from this year. The Falcons fell to No. 25 Central Missouri in Saturday’s Heritage Bowl in a double-overtime thriller, 39-37 in Corsicana. With the loss, UTPB finished the year 7-5 while Central Missouri finished 9-3. The Falcons are still searching for their first postseason victory in the program’s short history. Still, UTPB finished with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time as McCullough wraps up his second season in charge of the program. Things looked bleak for the team back on Oct. 5 after a season-ending leg injury to quarterback Dylan Graham in a 36-7 loss to eventual Lone Star Conference champions Angelo State. Instead, the team responded with a 14-13 upset at No. 9 Central Washington the following week and only lost one more regular season game after Graham’s injury. “Our guys kept fighting and played the best football since I’ve been here,” McCullough said at Monday’s press conference at the D. Kirk Edwards Human Performance Center. “Going into the bowl game, I thought we played well as a team. We played against a really good team. That’s a top 25 team that we faced. I felt like last year, if they beat Harding, they would’ve gone on to win the national championship.” >> LEAD DISAPPEARED: UTPB carried a 28-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Central Missouri’s offense, led by Harlon Hill finalist quarterback Zach Zebrowski, scored two unanswered touchdowns to tie the game up with 35 seconds remaining after a 13-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Rose and send the game into overtime. The Mules’ last scoring drive in regulation took 94 yards and 5:11 off the clock. >> ANGEL DIAZ: After Central Missouri took the lead in the first overtime by a field goal, UTPB’s offense couldn’t get anything going on their drive and needed a 43-yard field goal from Angel Diaz to keep them alive. Luckily for the Falcons, Diaz would come through to force a second overtime with the game being played in rainy conditions. “Game was on the line and (Diaz) was able to do it,” McCullough said. “We didn’t get a single yard in the first overtime to help him out so we had to do a 43-yarder in the rain. Anybody that was there knew that it was not fun. The weather was cold and wet. Just miserable conditions. But we found a way to pull through and gave us a chance.” >> UNSPORTSMANLIKE: UTPB’s touchdown in the second overtime ended up resulting in a very costly 15-yard penalty for the Falcons for excessive celebration, forcing them to try the two-point conversion from the Central Missouri 18. Quarterback Issac Mooring’s pass fell incomplete but McCullough had something to say about the penalty. “We had some guys leave the team area to celebrate the play on our sideline and the field of play and the rule book states that’s a penalty,” McCullough said. “But if you watch college football on any given Saturday, there’s excessive celebration on every single touchdown and nothing gets called at the FBS level but for whatever reason on Saturday, that flag was thrown and it took the game out of the hands of the players and put it in the hands of other people and that’s not how this thing works.” >> SECOND BOWL LOSS: It was the Falcons’ second trip to the Heritage Bowl. UTPB’s last trip to the Heritage Bowl was in 2021 which resulted in a 24-21 loss to Oklahoma Baptist. >> LOOKING UP: Despite the loss, UTPB has concluded the best-two year stretch in program history, going 17-7. Prior to 2023,the Falcons had not posted a winning record as the program has now turned a corner. “This team will always be near and dear to me because of the adversity but to be the first group to go back-to-back winning seasons at UTPB is huge,” McCullough said. He’s excited for what the Falcons will have coming back next year. “We’re going through and having our exit meetings and finding out who’s transferring and who’s not,” McCullough said. “I can say this; so far, there hasn’t been a single player that was a starter this season that wants to leave. That’s huge. We have all our starters that can return. All our nonconference guys that are juniors and below, they’re coming back. We can expect about 15 starters back.” Even in the age of the transfer portal that’s been shaping college sports. “The transfer portal that we live in is a crazy cycle every year,” McCullough said. “… It’s a new world but what I’m proud of is since becoming the head coach here, we have lost only one starter to the portal and everyone else has stayed and trusted the process and stay consistent and like our coaching staff. That’s what our program is about.” Related

UTPB’s Jeremiah Cooley lines up for a play against Sul Ross State Nov. 16 in Alpine. Courtesy Photo It may have been a bittersweet ending to the 2024 UTPB football season but considering all the Falcons had to deal with, head coach Kris McCullough and his players still have reasons to be positive from this […]

54148644757_1fc11677bb_o — UTPB’s Jeremiah Cooley lines up for a play against Sul Ross State Nov. 16 in Alpine. Courtesy Photo

It may have been a bittersweet ending to the 2024 UTPB football season but considering all the Falcons had to deal with, head coach Kris McCullough and his players still have reasons to be positive from this year.

The Falcons fell to No. 25 Central Missouri in Saturday’s Heritage Bowl in a double-overtime thriller, 39-37 in Corsicana.

With the loss, UTPB finished the year 7-5 while Central Missouri finished 9-3.

The Falcons are still searching for their first postseason victory in the program’s short history.

Still, UTPB finished with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time as McCullough wraps up his second season in charge of the program.

Things looked bleak for the team back on Oct. 5 after a season-ending leg injury to quarterback Dylan Graham in a 36-7 loss to eventual Lone Star Conference champions Angelo State.

Instead, the team responded with a 14-13 upset at No. 9 Central Washington the following week and only lost one more regular season game after Graham’s injury.

“Our guys kept fighting and played the best football since I’ve been here,” McCullough said at Monday’s press conference at the D. Kirk Edwards Human Performance Center. “Going into the bowl game, I thought we played well as a team. We played against a really good team. That’s a top 25 team that we faced. I felt like last year, if they beat Harding, they would’ve gone on to win the national championship.”

>> LEAD DISAPPEARED: UTPB carried a 28-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, Central Missouri’s offense, led by Harlon Hill finalist quarterback Zach Zebrowski, scored two unanswered touchdowns to tie the game up with 35 seconds remaining after a 13-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Rose and send the game into overtime.

The Mules’ last scoring drive in regulation took 94 yards and 5:11 off the clock.

>> ANGEL DIAZ: After Central Missouri took the lead in the first overtime by a field goal, UTPB’s offense couldn’t get anything going on their drive and needed a 43-yard field goal from Angel Diaz to keep them alive.

Luckily for the Falcons, Diaz would come through to force a second overtime with the game being played in rainy conditions.

“Game was on the line and (Diaz) was able to do it,” McCullough said. “We didn’t get a single yard in the first overtime to help him out so we had to do a 43-yarder in the rain. Anybody that was there knew that it was not fun. The weather was cold and wet. Just miserable conditions. But we found a way to pull through and gave us a chance.”

>> UNSPORTSMANLIKE: UTPB’s touchdown in the second overtime ended up resulting in a very costly 15-yard penalty for the Falcons for excessive celebration, forcing them to try the two-point conversion from the Central Missouri 18.

Quarterback Issac Mooring’s pass fell incomplete but McCullough had something to say about the penalty.

“We had some guys leave the team area to celebrate the play on our sideline and the field of play and the rule book states that’s a penalty,” McCullough said. “But if you watch college football on any given Saturday, there’s excessive celebration on every single touchdown and nothing gets called at the FBS level but for whatever reason on Saturday, that flag was thrown and it took the game out of the hands of the players and put it in the hands of other people and that’s not how this thing works.”

>> SECOND BOWL LOSS: It was the Falcons’ second trip to the Heritage Bowl.

UTPB’s last trip to the Heritage Bowl was in 2021 which resulted in a 24-21 loss to Oklahoma Baptist.

>> LOOKING UP: Despite the loss, UTPB has concluded the best-two year stretch in program history, going 17-7.

Prior to 2023,the Falcons had not posted a winning record as the program has now turned a corner.

“This team will always be near and dear to me because of the adversity but to be the first group to go back-to-back winning seasons at UTPB is huge,” McCullough said.

He’s excited for what the Falcons will have coming back next year.

“We’re going through and having our exit meetings and finding out who’s transferring and who’s not,” McCullough said. “I can say this; so far, there hasn’t been a single player that was a starter this season that wants to leave. That’s huge. We have all our starters that can return. All our nonconference guys that are juniors and below, they’re coming back. We can expect about 15 starters back.”

Even in the age of the transfer portal that’s been shaping college sports.

“The transfer portal that we live in is a crazy cycle every year,” McCullough said. “… It’s a new world but what I’m proud of is since becoming the head coach here, we have lost only one starter to the portal and everyone else has stayed and trusted the process and stay consistent and like our coaching staff. That’s what our program is about.”