Bison Set to Battle Northwestern in Alva

SHAWNEE - Fresh off a Homecoming win, Oklahoma Baptist football team is back on the road this weekend as they travel to Alva to take on the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers at Ranger Field with a kick-off time of 2 p.m. The game will be featured on obubison.com with the trio of Todd Miller, Scott Wanish, and John Brooks.

 

OKLAHOMA BAPTIST (4-4, 4-4 GAC) AT NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE (2-6, 2-6 GAC)

Saturday, Nov. 2  |  2 p.m.

Ranger Stadium  |  Alva, Okla.

Tickets  |   Game Notes  |  Live Stats  |  Bison Radio Network

 OPENING KICKOFF

• OBU comes off an impressive 33-31 win over Arkansas-Monticello on Homecoming thanks in part to a 19-point second quarter and a four touchdown performance from Preston Haire to move the Bison back to .500 on the season.

HAPPY HOMECOMING

• It was the seventh installment of Homecoming for Oklahoma Baptist Football since returning to the gridiron in 2013 and they have now won three straight Homecoming games, all over a different opponent. OBU defeated Northwestern 38-31 on November 3, 2018 while the previous year, OBU defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 28-24 on October 28, 2017.

THREE'S COMPANY

• For the third time this season, Preston Haire was named Great American Conference Offensive Player of the Week after another brilliant performance in the win over the Boll Weevils. It is the first time in school history that a single player has won conference honors three times in one season and Haire still had three weeks to go.
• Haire lit up the nation's sixth ranked defense as he went 22 of 38 for a season-high 355 yards and two scores. He also continues to show great flashes with his feet, running for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win. Haire is now over 7,500 career passing yards.
• Haire is fourth in the country in total offense (347.6), fifth in points responsible yards (170), 10th in passing touchdowns (21), and 11th in passing yards (2,268) while only throwing four interceptions through eight games.

A STAR IS BORN

• The talent was evident in freshman Keilahn Harris and he put that talent on display in the over Arkansas-Monticello, setting new career-highs in the contest and dominating the second half. Harris finished with three catches for 131 yards and two scores. Harris hauled in a 40-yard score in the third quarter before coming through again in the fourth quarter with a career-long 78-yard catch and run for six. The freshman now has 14 catches for 272 yards and three scores this season, averaging nearly 20 yards per reception.

PROTECT THE ROCK

• The OBU offense did not turn the ball over on Saturday in the win over Arkansas-Monticello. It is the fourth time this season OBU has not had a turnover in a contest and they have yet to have a contest with more than two turnovers. The Bison are currently sixth in the country in turnovers lost with only six this season.
• The Bison did dip to seventh in the country in sacks allowed after allowing a pair of sacks to the Monticello defense. It is the first time the offensive line has allowed two sacks in a contest since September 22, 2018 on the road against Harding.

SLOW STARTS CONTINUE

• The Bison have been notorious slow starters as their opponent has scored first in every contest this season. The Bison are being outscored 70-14 in the first quarter, but outscore their opponent 99-81 in the fourth quarter, which they have trailed going into in six of their EIGHT 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), 28-0 to Ouachita (lost 14-42), and 7-0 to Arkansas-Monticello (won 33-31).

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The OBU defense had its struggles on Saturday afternoon as they slowed to stop the Northwestern offense; however, the defense did come up with two key fourth quarter takeaways thanks to Felipe Alvear, who had an interception on the goal line and a forced fumble on the cusp of the redzone to keep the Bison ahead. OBU only had four interceptions a year ago and has upped that total to five one year later with two coming from Alvear.

CORNELL APPROACHES 1K

• It was a "slow" week for Josh Cornell as he finished with a season-low five catches and 49 yards against the Boll Weevils. The focus on Cornell helped opened up teammates such as Harris, Noah McGraw, and Jacques Henderson, who had a season-high six catches.
• Cornell is still 107 yards away from becoming the first 1,000 yard receiver in one season at OBU. He has already reached over 1,000 yards for his young career. Cornell is still sixth nationally is receiving yards (893), seventh in receiving yards per game (111.6), seventh in receptions per game (7.8), and 14th in receiving touchdowns (9).

SENIOR DAY NEXT WEEK

• 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 

• The Oklahoma Baptist football team used a huge second quarter to build a two possession lead and held off a late Arkansas-Monticello rally to take a 33-31 win over the Boll Weevils on a cool, sunny Homecoming afternoon at Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex.
• Oklahoma Baptist trailed 7-0 after one quarter, but a safety sparked a 19-point second quarter to give the Bison a 19-7 lead at the break behind the running of Preston Haire. The passing game picked up in the second half to get the lead to 16 while the defense got a pair of huge fourth quarter turnovers to hold off a Monticello rally as OBU took home the 33-31 win to snap a two-game losing streak.
• The two teams were even throughout the day with OBU going for 461 total yards including 355 through the air. The Bison ran 69 plays and averaged 6.7 yards and were 6 of 14 on third downs as well as 1 of 1 on fourth down. Arkansas-Monticello finished with 459 yards of total offense doing most of their damage on the ground with 366 yards, but turned it over two times on the day.
• Preston Haire had a tremendous contest, going 22 of 38 for 355 yards and two scores while also running 10 times for 62 yards and two more touchdowns. Keilahn Harris added three carries for 131 yards and two scores while Jacques Henderson hauled in six passes for 76 yards. Tyler Stuever rushed seven times for 45 yards.
• Defensively, Felipe Alvear finished with five tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble while Trajan Lands had 12 tackles. Myles Russell added eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Nick Boone had eight tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.

SCOUTING THE RANGERS

• Last week for the Rangers, Northwestern Oklahoma State could not stop the No. 14 Harding option game Saturday afternoon as the Rangers fell in a Great American Conference match-up to Harding, 47-13.
• Northwestern's record fell to 2-6 with the loss and has lost four games in a row. Their last win came on September 29th when they defeated Arkansas-Monticello at home, 28-0.
• Maurice Wright Jr. led the Ranger defense with 25 tackles, while Nehemiah Lewis had 12 tackles, Marcus Brent and Juan Licea was credited with 10 takedowns each. Brian Holiday, Lewis and Brent each recorded a tackle for loss. On top of his 25 tackles Wright also forced two fumbles, with Alejandro Aaron recovering one, the lone turnover that the Bison had.
• The Northwestern defense is the top team in the GAC in takeaways with 17 on the season. They also have a strong redzone defense, which is currently second in the GAC. Their passing defense currently ranks 12th in the country and second in the GAC, allowing only 151.4 yards per game.
• The Ranger and Bison had a great battle in Shawnee last year with OBU taking a 38-31 Homecoming win. Oklahoma Baptist was rolling in the first half leading to the win. Preston Haire threw for 187 yards and four scores while Rueban Thompson had a career-day with 98 yards on 24 carries and a score. Noah McGraw and Jacques Henderson each caught a touchdown while Landon Rowlett had a pair of interceptions.
• Junior quarterback De Leon finished the game 21-of-31 for 263 yards, three touchdowns and three picks. It was the third time this season De Leon has passed for three touchdowns in a game. Jacob Peyton made a return to the field to lead the Rangers with 72 yards on the ground, while Baker had a career high 71 yards. The Rangers rushed for a total of 216 yards.