OBU to Celebrate Homecoming Against UAM

SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist football team returns to Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex as they welcome in the Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello for their seventh Homecoming game. The game will be featured on obubison.com with the trio of Todd Miller, Scott Wanish, and John Brooks.

 

ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO (5-2, 5-2 GAC) AT OKLAHOMA BAPTIST (3-4, 3-4 GAC)

Saturday, Oct. 26  |  2 p.m.

Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex  |  Shawnee, Okla.

Tickets  |  Game Day Info  |  Game Notes  |  Live Stats  |  Bison Radio Network  |  Bison Sports Network

 OPENING KICKOFF

• OBU comes off a tough stretch against two straight nationally-ranked teams. After falling to now No. 18 Harding two weeks ago, OBU could not get anything going on the road as they dug a 28-0 halftime hole and could never climb out, falling to No. 5 Ouachita 42-14.

WELCOME TO HOMECOMING

• It is the seventh installment of Homecoming for Oklahoma Baptist Football since returning to the gridiron in 2013. The Bison are 3-3 all-time on Homecoming and have won their last two games. Last season, OBU defeated Northwestern 38-31 on November 3, 2018 while the previous year, OBU defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 28-24 on October 28, 2017.

CAN'T STOP CORNELL

• It was yet another big time performance from Josh Cornell as he caught seven passes for 143 yards and a score including a 78 yard bomb, his longest reception in his career. Cornell moves his receiving totals to 844 yards and he set a new school record for receiving yards in a single season, breaking Cagney Robinson's 2017 record of 719. Cornell is now 156 yards away from becoming the first receiver in OBU history to go for 1,000 yards in a single season.
• His touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against Ouachita also set a new mark for touchdown catches in a season with nine, breaking Derek Serowski record of eight in 2014.
• Cornell is now third in the country in receiving yards (844), fourth in receiving yards per game (120.6), fifth in receptions per game (8.1), and sixth in touchdown receptions (9).

HAIRE KEEPS CLIMBING

• Preston Haire has now thrown for 245 yards or more in all seven games this season and at least one touchdown, including three or more scores in five contests this season. Haire has thrown for 200 or more yards in 10 straight contests and has at least one touchdown pass in 14 straight contests.
• Haire is now approaching 7,500 yards passing in his career as currently sits at 7,327 to go with 66 total touchdowns passes to 39 interceptions. Haire also has a career completion percentage of 59.67% with 657 total completions in his career.
• Currently this season, Haire is fourth in the country in completions per game (24.00), fifth in total offense (337.7), sixth in points responsible per game (20.9), passing touchdowns (19), and passing yards (1,913) and passing yards per game (273.3).

MALLORY MILESTONE

• Isaiah Mallory has started to pick up his pace throughout the season as he is now up to 353 yards on the season. He is coming up on another milestone of 2,500 yards rushing in a career as he currently sits at 2,407. Mallory is also 213 all-purpose yards away from 3,000 yards in his career. He also has 24 total touchdowns in his career.

SLOW STARTS CONTINUES

• The Bison have been notorious slow starters as their opponent has scored first in every contest this season. The Bison are being outscored 63-14 in the first quarter, but outscore their opponent 92-67 in the fourth quarter, which they have trailed going into in six of their seven games this season. OBU trailed 21-0 to Henderson State (lost 35-28), 14-0 to Southern Arkansas (lost 30-28), 14-0 to Southeastern (won 34-31), 7-0 to East Central (won 50-41), 21-0 to Arkansas Tech (won 43-31) in the first half, 14-0 to Harding (lost 33-50), and 28-0 to Ouachita (lost 14-42).

DEFENSE WOES

• The OBU defense is going to have to have to step up against the Boll Weevil offense on Saturday afternoon and it has been a struggle for the Bison defense the last two weeks.
• In the last two weeks, the opposing team has not punted the football in 17 drives. Additionally, the opposing quarterback has not had an incomplete pass. Though both teams were primarily running teams, Preston Paden went 2 of 2 for 56 yards while Brayden Brazeal was 7 of 7 for 74 yards.

TOP TIER IN THE GAC

• OBU's offensive numbers continue to impress as they lead the GAC in total offense (437.2), passing offense (273.3), sacks against (0.43), and first downs (160). They are second in the conference in scoring offense (32.9), third down conversions at (50.5), and fumbles lost (2). They are third in penalties (38) and passes intercepted (4).

SENIOR DAY NEXT HOME GAME

• The final home game will be Senior Day for the Oklahoma Baptist Bison as they welcome in Southwestern Oklahoma State to Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

• It was another slow start for the Oklahoma Baptist football team and this time, the Bison could not recover, as they fell to the fifth-ranked Ouachita Baptist Tigers 42-14 on Saturday afternoon at Cliff Harris Stadium.
• Oklahoma Baptist found themselves in a 28-0 hole at halftime as they struggled to slow down the No. 5 team in the country. The Bison got into the redzone three times in their first four possessions including twice inside the 10 and could not put points on the board. The two teams were even at 14 a piece in the second half including an impressive 18 play drive by OBU, but it was not enough as Ouachita moved to 7-0 on the season with the 42-14 win over Oklahoma Baptist.
• Despite the scoring differential, the Bison finished with 373 total yards to Ouachita's 415. OBU went 258 yards through the air alone, but Ouachita gashed the OBU defense for 341 yards on the ground. The Bison was 9 of 13 on third down and 2 of 3 on fourth down while finishing with 23 first downs. However, Ouachita was an incredible 13 of 14 on third down with the only miss coming on a kneel down.
• Preston Haire finished 21 of 41 for 258 yards and a score on the day while Isaiah Mallory rushed 11 times for 46 yards. Tyler Stuever added nine carries for 41 yards while Haire also carried nine times for 24 yards. Josh Cornell was the top target again with seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown while Keilahn Harris and Shae Garner each caught three passes.
• Defensively, Josh Arnold led the Bison with 10 tackles while Myles Russell added nine tackles and a tackle for loss. Oshae Pruitt added eight tackles and two quarterback hurries while KeAndre Evans had seven tackles and three pass break ups.

SCOUTING THE BOLL WEEVILS

• Last week for the Weevils, UAM kept its win streak alive with an outstanding second half on its way to a 31-28 win over SNU. After falling behind 20-7 at the break, the Weevils scored 24 points in the second half before Southern Nazarene scored another touchdown. UAM rushed for 363 yards and four touchdowns on the day to earn the victory.
• Also following its win over SNU, the Weevils continue to make history improving to 5-2. The last time it was 5-2 through seven games was the year 2008. UAM finished that season with a 7-4 record overall and a 5-3 Gulf South Conference mark.
• Through its first two games of the season, Arkansas Tech and Harding held UAM under 100 yards on the ground. Since its trip to Searcy, the Weevils have been grounding and pounding. UAM's lowest rush total since Harding was at Southeastern when it still ran for 162 yards. The Weevils have had three games where they've run for over 300 yards on the ground and they now rank second in the conference in rush yards per game at 223.9.
• Running back Devontae Dean rushed for over 100 yards for the second time this season. However, it has not been his huge chunks of yardage that have made him one of the more threatening backs in the conference; it's his ability to find the endzone. In the last three weeks alone, Dean has totaled six rushing touchdowns.
• The Weevils and Bison had quite the shootout last season in Monticello on October 20. The teams combined for 905 passing yards and nine touchdowns through the air. Cole Sears and Preston Haire had a wild day with Sears going 21-for-38 with 412 yards and 4 TDs, while Haire was 43-for-64 for 493 yards 5 TD's and 3 INT's. It was UAM's pick-6 that turned out to be the difference in the game as the Weevils won, 45-37.