SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist opens the home portion of the 2016 football season Saturday when Arkansas Tech visits for a noon kickoff at Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Memorial Athletic Complex.
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The Wonder Boys inflicted OBU with its only lopsided setback last season, 50-7, in Arkansas and are coming off of a 46-0 win over Southern Nazarene. Ty Reasnor completed 22 of 26 passes for 231 yards in the rout. ATU racked up 491 yards total offense for the game and led 37-0 at the half.
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Arkansas Tech, picked sixth in the preseason GAC Coaches' Poll despite a nine-win 2015 campaign, received votes in this week's American Football Coaches Association poll.
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The Bison, despite an opening loss at Harding, are the top-ranked school in the NCCAA rankings.
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Against Harding, OBU got 123 yards on 18 of 34 passing from
Dezmond Stegall, who has thrown 79 consecutive passes without an interception over his last two games.
Isaiah Mallory led the rushing attack with 23 yards and a touchdown while
Josh Pettijohn led all receivers with seven catches for 66 yards.
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While the running game never really developed for the Bison last week, the offensive line did a strong job of pass protection, allowing zero sacks.
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Defensively,
Brynden Pitzer led the team with 11 tackles while
Tanner Robertson and
Levi Jennings each forced a fumble and recovered another.
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The Bison got solid punting from
Cooper Koons, who after misfiring on his first punt, averaged 36.8 yards and had a 55-yard effort.
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OBU looks to improve on its third and fourth down conversions over last week. The Bison were 3 of 15 on third down and 0 for 3 on fourth down.
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Tickets remain on sale for the opener and can be purchased online at
www.obubison.com/tickets and at the gate. Fans are encouraged to check out the football game day page at OBUBison.com for information regarding policy and an updated list of prohibited items.
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