CORSICANA, Texas – History has been made. The 2021 Oklahoma Baptist football team is the Heritage Bowl champion. For the first time since the program's rebirth, the Bison reached the postseason and tallied the most wins in a single season.
OBU (8-4, 7-4 GAC) closed out its historic season in a 24-21 victory over the University of Texas-Permian Basin (5-5, 3-4 LSC) on Saturday afternoon in Corsicana.
Behind a huge offensive day, Preston Haire and Tyler Stuever etched their way further into the record books. Haire broke the all-time GAC single-season record for total touchdowns (44) and career completions (1,059). Stuever became the all-time leading rusher in Bison history after his 150 yard performance today. He surpasses Isaiah Mallory's all-time record (2,476) as he now has 2,502 career yards.
Oklahoma Baptist racked up 181 passing and 187 rushing yards en route to 368 yards of total offense. The Bison held the Falcons to 18 yards on the ground, their lowest amount of yards allowed this season.
There wasn't much action in the inaugural quarter, as OBU managed a field-goal while the Falcons scored once. The Bison finally reached paydirt when Haire found Josh Cornell on a 12-yard fade to tally the first Oklahoma Baptist score. Shortly afterward, Tyler Stuever found the endzone out of the wildcat formation to give his team a 17-7 lead. Stuever was unstoppable in the first half, going for over 100 yards before the break.
Late in the third, Haire galloped 17 yards to the endzone, putting OBU ahead 24-7. The Bison faithful may have thought the contest was put away, but UTPB had different plans.
Early in the fourth quarter, Texas-Permian Basin marched 51 yards down the field in 1:58 to cut their deficit to 10. After forcing OBU to punt, the Falcons scored on the ensuing drive to come within three of the Bison.
The teams traded three-and-outs until late in fourth when Stuever sealed the victory on a 26-yard rumble down the field.
Haire threw for 181 yards and rushed for another 43, including two total scores. He finished his Bison career as the all-time leader in every passing category and is within the top-three or less in most of the GAC individual offensive records. Cornell recorded 72 yards and a score, as he possesses all the receiving records in OBU history.
Tyler Stuever recorded his third-highest rushing total of the season and scored once to tally the 35th touchdown of his career. After breaking the OBU rushing record, Stuever owns all the rushing records at Oklahoma Baptist.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Josh Arnold led his squad for the last time, recording eight tackles. Arnold's day included 3.0 TFLs and a team-high 2.0 sacks for 15 yards. Arnold wraps up his career as the all-time leading tackler with 395 tackles, 33 TFLs, and 14.0 sacks.
This Oklahoma Baptist group of seniors changed the program's makeup, posting back-to-back seven-win regular seasons. They will go down in history as one of the best to put on the Bison uniform.
