SHAWNEE – After a tough loss at home, the Oklahoma Baptist football team hits interstate 40 for a GAC matchup with Arkansas Tech on Saturday at 2 p.m. OBU travels to Russellville for their sixth meeting all-time with ATU, and fourth in Arkansas.
The game will be featured on youtube.com/ATUAthletics and called on the Bison Radio Network with the trio of Todd Miller, John Brooks, and Scott Wanish.
Game Notes
HANGING AT THE TOP
- The Oklahoma Baptist offense continues to take the league by storm as they lead the conference with 1,477 passing yards, ranking second in total yards of offense with 2,204 yards and third in points per game, averaging 34.0. Nationally, the Bison rank second with 144 passing completions and are 20th in both passing offense and passing touchdowns. The OBU offense has at least one passing touchdown in every game this season.
IN HAIRE WE TRUST
- Quarterback Preston Haire leads the GAC with 1,464 passing yards and 15 touchdowns through five games. Haire has recorded 141 completions, good for number two in the nation. He averages over 28.20 completions a game, which is third in the country, while completing over 66 percent of his passes. Haire has thrown for over 300 yards, and at least one touchdown pass in three of the five games this season. The gunslinger is approaching the 10,000 career passing yards mark as he sits at 9,919 yards for his time as a Bison. He should eclipse the mark with just 81 yards this week, and become the first OBU player to garner over 10,000 career passing yards. After compiling 264 offensive yards against Harding, the senior totals 11,042 career yards of offense, and is the current active leader in the GAC.
TOTING THE ROCK
- Despite being held to his smallest rushing total of the season last week, junior running back Tyler Stuever remains high in the statistical rankings of the conference. Stuever has compiled 544 yards and three scores this season, averaging 108.8 yards per game. Through the first four games, Stuever averaged 132.25 yards per game. Nationally, he ranks 14th in rushing yards and 16th for rushing yards per game. The junior is inching near the No. 2 mark on the all-time school career rushing list. He sits at 1,798 career yards, just 168 yards away from eclipsing Jordan Barnes (2013-15), who set the mark at 1,966 rushing yards.
MR. DEPENDABLE
- This season, sophomore receiver Keilahn Harris has been Preston Haire's favorite target as he totals a team-high 47 receptions for 565 yards and eight scores. Harris has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season. In three out of the five games this year, he's amassed 100 or more receiving yards. Harris ranks second in the country for total receptions, averaging 9.4 per game. His eight touchdown receptions rank fourth, while his receiving yards total puts the Texan at sixth nationally. That is not all. Harris has managed to impact special teams as he totals 225 kickoff return yards and one touchdown that he took back for 87 yards this season.
OFF THE CHARTS
- Linebacker Josh Arnold's season to date has been nothing short of outstanding. His 12.5 tackles-for-loss and 5.0 sacks are already the best for a Bison defender in the DII era, and there are still five games remaining. In fact, there's been only one other occurrence in recent memory that an OBU player notched double-digit TFLs. That was in 2017 when Daniel Moniz recorded 10.0 TFLs and 3.5 sacks. Nationally, Arnold ranks third in the country in total TFLs and is by far the best in the Great American Conference as well. The next highest-ranking player has 7.0 TFLs.
VAST IMPROVEMENT
- How far has the Oklahoma Baptist defense come in recent years? Just take a look at the 2019 season compared to now. Two seasons ago, the Bison ranked 11th out of 12 teams in total defense, allowing 433.3 yards per game. During that '19 campaign, OBU's run defense was the worst in the GAC, giving up nearly 244 yards per contest. Fast forward to this fall. The Bison have jumped near the middle of the league in both those categories. Defensive coordinator Brandon Morris' unit is seventh in total defense (379.8) and remarkably fourth in rush defense (150.4).
- The Bison played their best game to date against Harding last week, as they held the high-powered rushing attack to 245 yards. Harding came into the matchup averaging over 387 yards per game.
PRESSURING THE QB
- Another area that has aided OBU this fall has been the team's ability to get after the opposing quarterback. Through five games, the Bison have 11 sacks. The squad had that total in all of 2019. Led by Arnold's five quarterback takedowns, OBU has seen a total of six players record sacks. Malik Allen and Robert Lolofie have played a role in that effort as well, notching two each. With their help, Oklahoma Baptist ranks third in the Great American Conference.
LAST TIME OUT
- Oklahoma Baptist faced off with then-No. 22 ranked Harding last week in Shawnee. Despite a resilient effort from OBU, HU capitalized off the miscues of the Bison to prevail 31-7 on Saturday. The Bison defense may have held Harding to a season-low 245 rushing total, but the Bisons still managed to cross the endzone on three occasions. Offensively, OBU struggled to find their rhythm as the usually stacked rushing attack mustered out three total yards. Through the air, Oklahoma Baptist compiled 264 yards and one score.
- Quarterback Preston Haire threw for those 264 yards and completed 27 passes, but was picked off a couple of times. His lone touchdown pass went to Keilahn Harris, who scampered down the sideline, avoiding a few HU defenders, to put up the only OBU score of the game. In the first quarter, Oklahoma Baptist struck paydirt first, as they've done in four consecutive games, to gain an early 7-0 lead. Harding then put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive that marked the tally equal. Before halftime, HU managed to score two more times, once off a run and another from a blocked punt. After the break, the Bisons reached the endzone again, cementing their win over OBU.
- Trajan Lands led the Bison defense with nine tackles, while Matthew Norman and Josh Arnold tallied eight. Safeties Felipe Alvear and Will Kohman recorded seven tackles apiece, while Malik Allen added a TFL.
SCOUTING THE WONDERBOYS
- Arkansas Tech comes into the weekend with a 1-4 record, having secured their first win of the season last week. The Wonderboys have been at arm's length of winning each of the matchups they've fallen in, but have not been able to pull it out. In weeks two through four, ATU lost to their opponents by 14 points or less. Tech's offense ranks eleventh in the GAC, averaging 321.4 yards per game with 14 touchdowns on the year. The rushing attack has been their strong suit as the Wonderboys have scored eight times and racked up 834 yards on the ground. The ATU pass defense ranks fourth in the league, allowing 172 yards per game, and has recorded two interceptions this season. The Wonderboys are coming off a 51-41 victory over Southern Nazarene, where Tech compiled 421 offensive yards. ATU scored 37 points in the second quarter alone before holding off a Crimson Storm comeback.
- Senior quarterback Jack Lindsey leads the Wonderboys through five games with 754 passing yards and six touchdowns. Caleb Batie heads up the backfield with 262 yards and two scores, while Lindsey backs him up with 206 yards. Senior Ron Thompson totals 201 yards to complete the trio of Wonderboys with over 200 yards rushing this season. Defensive back Tyus Fort leads ATU's defense with 27 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Fort's fumble recovery total is tied for number two in the nation. The duo of linebackers Matthew Minnix and Christian Cole have recorded a matching 23 tackles while Minnix has added 2.5 TFLs. Defensive lineman Monte Toney and Carson Holloway have both notched 2.5 TFLs this season as well.
- In 2019, Oklahoma Baptist beat Tech 43-31 in a shootout involving a huge Bison comeback. After being down 21-0 midway through the first half, OBU scored a pair of touchdowns before the break and proceeded to put up 30 consecutive points. The win snapped an 18-game losing streak to Arkansas schools and was the first-ever win in the natural state in school history. Quarterback Preston Haire torched the Wonderboy defense for 416 total yards, scoring two touchdowns through the air and two on the ground.
