The second season of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football era under the direction of head coach Kevin Bachtel begins with an American Southwest Conference battle in a completely revamped conference.

The Yellow Jackets host their long-time rival and defending ASC champion, the 16th-ranked Hardin-Simmons Cowboys, at 6 p.m. Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium in the first of two league contests this year.

Just four football teams remain in the ASC – HPU, HSU, Mary Hardin-Baylor and East Texas Baptist – and the teams will play each other twice, once at home and once on the road, to account for their six conference games.

“It’s going to be tough,” Bachtel said of the new conference scheduling. “Hardin-Simmons is No. 16, UMHB received votes to be in the Top 25, and then with the transfer portal you don’t know what everybody has. When we got our two-deep from Hardin-Simmons they have transfers everywhere, so we really don’t know anything about them. The transfer portal is changing the game, so what does everyone’s roster look like? Who did they get back, who did they lose, who’s new?”

As for starting the season against Hardin-Simmons, Bachtel said, “It’s a huge challenge, the defending American Southwest Conference champion coming to town. They’re really good every year, but one of our biggest unknowns is the fact that they’ve changed defensive coordinators, so we have no idea what they’re doing on defense. We’re planning multiple things because we just don’t know what they’re going to do. The DC is from Illinois College where he was very successful in his tenure there, but we don’t have film. At the same time, though, they don’t know what they’re going to get from us offensively.”

The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 6-4 season and a 3-3 record in ASC action, but Howard Payne dropped three of its last four contests. HPU did post a 5-1 record at Gordon Wood Stadium in 2023. This year’s Yellow Jacket squad, however, looks much different than last year’s team, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

“We’re installing a completely new offense after spring ball,” Bachtel said. “We hired Brandon Houston as our offensive coordinator. That’s been one of the biggest differences is we didn’t have a spring in this offense. We’re trying to cram to get everything done. We’re young up front offensively but I think throughout the year you’ll see the offense polish and be really good by the end. I think we’ll get better as the season goes. I see them getting better on a daily basis, it’s just about learning the ins and outs.”

Howard Payne’s strength, at least early on, will be on the defensive side of the ball where returnees include second-team all-ASC defensive back KD Bookman, third-team linebacker Peyton Lowe, third-team defensive back KC Cornelius and honorable mention defensive back Kadarius Carr.

The most experienced players on the offensive side of the ball are all-ASC receiver Gus Charles and all-conference center Dominik Reed. But the Yellow Jackets are breaking in their third offensive coordinator is as many seasons.

The reigning ASC champion Cowboys are coming off a 9-2 season and 6-0 conference mark as they prepare for their 14th season under head coach Jesse Burleson.

All-American returner Dameon Gomes is back after leading the nation with a 26.7 yard per punt return in 2023. Also returning are five first-team All-ASC players in center Hayden Philpot, running backs Noah Garcia and Colton Marshall, and offensive tackle Bryce Hernandez, who is moving to tight end. Other Cowboys who received all-ASC accolades that have returned include defensive end Braden Hargrove, tight end Brock Gibson, wide receiver Tailon Garrett, offensive guard Khalil Spivey and linebacker Cason Hanna.

Quarterback Kyle Brown, a transfer from West Texas A&M, will take over the offense.

“This week especially we’re going to have to play a physical game,” Bachtel said. “There’s a lot of hype on the quarterback for Hardin-Simmons, but I know Coach Burleson and he’s a physical-minded guy they’re going to run the football. They have two of the best backs in the conference. We have to match their physicality. We’re playing with different things and some different looks, and if we put it all together I think we’ll be good defensively.”

Howard Payne dropped last year’s outing, 40-33, in Abilene as the Yellow Jackets’ bid for a victory was dash with 2:07 left on a late interception.

“This game is not a deal breaker,” Bachtel said. “Obviously we want to win, but at the end of the day it’s not the end of the world. We just have to get better and I think we will.”