Bison Open Season Thursday Against Reigning Champs

SHAWNEE – After 656 days of no football, Oklahoma Baptist returns to the gridiron for its eighth season of varsity football, all coming under Head Coach Chris Jensen, on Friday afternoon as they travel to Arkadelphia for a face-off with the No. 14-ranked Ouachita Baptist Tigers at 6 p.m. (CT) at Cliff Harris Stadium. The game will be featured on OBUBison.com and called on the Bison Radio Network with the trio of Todd Miller, John Brooks, and Scott Wanish.
 

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OPENING KICKOFF

• Oklahoma Baptist enters today's contest on a four-game winning steak after besting their remaining opponents from the 2019 season.

COVID-19 WOES

• The outbreak of COVID-19 brought the sports world to a halt, causing the cancellation of GAC football in 2020. The Bison elected not to participate in any football activities in the fall or last season's spring.

BEST IN THE WEST

• OBU has been the "Best in the West" as they've won 11 straight games over Oklahoma schools. Nov. 4, of the 2017 season was the last time the Bison fell to an in-state opponent. The Bison made history with their first win in the state of Arkansas last season, after a 43-31 triumph over Arkansas Tech.
• In 2019, Oklahoma Baptist put together its best record since joining the rank of NCAA Division II, finishing with a 7-4 record and a fifth mark in the Great American Conference, their best finish since joining the conference.

 
RETURN OF THE BISON

• The NCAA granted every student-athlete an extra year of eligibility after COVID-19, allowing many Bison athletes the opportunity to have a year to better their craft for the upcoming season. It'll will be a warm feeling for all the Bison faithful when the ball is kicked off, marking the start of a long-awaited football season. Throughout spring ball and summer, Coach Jensen and his team looked well equipped to handle the rigors of an eleven-game Great American Conference schedule.

 
HIGH FLYING OFFENSE

• Oklahoma Baptist boasted the best offense in the league as it led the Great American Conference in total offense (438.2 yds/g), scoring offense (34.9 pts/g), and passing offense (276.5 yds/g). Led by standout quarterback Preston Haire, the Bison were able to break two team school records for most yards and fewest interceptions in a season.

 
AIR HAIRE 

• Redshirt senior Preston Haire returns as the signal-caller for OBU after another outstanding year in 2019. Haire will continue to rewrite the school record books as he is the current all-time leader in career total offense (9,518), passing yards (8,455), passing average (256.2/g), and touchdown passes (73). Last season, he led the conference in almost every offensive category, ending with 3,583 yards of total offense and 26 passing touchdowns. Haire spread the wealth all season long, completing a pass to 11 different Bison while seven different Bison caught a touchdown pass from Haire.

 
THE THOUSAND-YARD-MAN 

• Redshirt junior Josh Cornell will begin his 2021 campaign as the single-season yards record holder after becoming the first Bison to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark last season. Cornell's 1,054 receiving yards and 74 receptions in 2019 were second and third most in the GAC, respectively. His average of 95.8 yards per game and 74 receptions are both single-season school records.

FEED STUEVER 

• OBU's leading rusher the past two seasons, Tyler Stuever, returns after collecting 706 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. His 2019 touchdown total ranked second in the GAC and set the single-season school record. Stuever's five scores against Southern Nazarene in 2019 ranked first in the GAC as the highest amount of scores in a single game.

 
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH 

• Aside from the core of the high-powered Bison offense, some new and returning faces are eager to make plays for OBU this season. Wideouts Shae Garner and Keilahn Harris are two notables who had valuable contributions in 2019. Garner racked up 405 receiving yards (2nd on team) and four touchdowns, while Harris finished with 376 yards and three touchdowns. A stampede of new tight ends were brought in over the offseason, adding more ammo to Haire's arsenal.

 
BISON PICKED FOURTH

• Despite a historic season in 2019, accompanied by the return of the majority of the team, OBU was selected to finish fourth in the 2021 Great American Conference preseason coaches poll. In 2018, OBU was picked to finish ninth in the preseason and overcame to come out at seven. Henderson State claimed the number three spot after finishing two spots above the Bison in 2019 with a 9-2 record. The last time the two met, the Reddies held off a dynamic OBU comeback to win 35-28 in Shawnee. The others at the top of the poll, Harding and Ouachita Baptist, have dates with Oklahoma Baptist Sept. 2 and Oct. 2, respectively. To build on last season's momentum, the Bison will have to make a name for themselves against Arkansas teams, where they went 2-4 in 2019. OBU will have a five-game home schedule this season, beginning with Arkansas-Monticello followed by Northwestern on Sept. 18, Harding on Oct. 2, Southeastern for Homecoming on Oct. 23, and Henderson State on Nov. 6 for Senior Day.

 
BATTLE WITH THE BEST

• For the third time since joining the GAC, the Bison will open their season against a ranked opponent. The first time came in their Division II debut as OBU battled with then ranked No. 21 Harding in 2015. The Bisons escaped the grips of Oklahoma Baptist in a 20-19 overtime thriller in Shawnee. Oklahoma Baptist would again face a ranked Harding team in the 2016 season opener but fell 38-7 in Searcy. OBU has won one out of its four last season openers as they hope to break the Tigers' 22-game GAC winning streak on Thursday afternoon.

 
DEFENSIVE STATEMENT TO MAKE

• The Oklahoma Baptist defense has a lot to prove this upcoming season after finishing near the bottom of the conference in total defense. However, there is much optimism as the Bison will return eight starters on the dark side of the ball with plans to silence the critics.
•  Amongst those is redshirt Senior Josh Arnold who led the way in 2019 with 104 tackles to go with six tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks. Arnold is on pace to break the all-time school record of 305 tackles this season as he sits at 288. His tackle total last season was the third-most in the GAC.
• Accompanying Arnold in leading this year's defense is redshirt junior and safety Felipe Alvear. Felipe ranked fourth on the team in total tackles, finishing with 59 and three tackles-for-loss. Alvear added a team-high three interceptions in his 2019 campaign as well.
•  Sophomore Tyler King plans to make noise out on the corners of the defense after bursting onto the scene with 32 tackles and three pass-break-ups his freshman season. King is thought to have a breakout season and lead the Bison against a league full of talented wideouts.
• The front four for OBU is young but ready. With two freshmen marked to start, Malik Allen and Nick Carpin, the Bison defensive line have their work cut out for them. However, with the help of junior Taurean Smith and Peter Popoola, the guys up front are bound to clog up any holes this upcoming season.

 
SPECIAL TEAMS ARE SPECIAL

• A young special teams corp will take over the specialists' duties after the Bison struggled in the kicking and punting game last season. Freshman Guillermo Garcia Rodgriguez earned the starting kicking job with the hope of improving on 2019's field-goal percentage.

 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS

• Much is to be said about the six-time GAC Champion, Ouachita Tigers. Ouachita Baptist has hoisted the GAC Championship trophy three out of the last four seasons. The Tigers lost the bulk of their offense in standouts Allie Freeman, Brocktown Brown, and Brayden Brazeal. In 2019, Ouachita ran the table, finishing a perfect 11-0 before falling to Lindenwood in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Tigers were selected to win the GAC this season and are ranked No. 14 nationally in the latest AFCA coaches polls. Head Coach Todd Knight enters his 22nd season with Ouachita and has a 126-96 overall record. Knight has been voted coach of year three out of the last four seasons as his team boasts a 22-game GAC winning streak.
• The tale has been the same for Ouachita, who was at the top of almost every statistical category in 2019. Ouachita was second to only Harding in total defense and landed at number four in total offense, behind the likes of Oklahoma Baptist. The Tigers' defense didn't allow an opponent to score over 21 points in the regular season a couple of years ago.
• In the teams' last meeting in Arkadelphia, Ouachita ran for 341 yards on the ground to rack up 415 total yards in a 42-14 win over the Bison. Three Tigers' running backs accounted for six touchdowns on the ground, while two rushed for 80 or more yards. Brockton Brown led all rushers with 86 yards, while TJ Cole and Shun-Cee Thomas added totals of 80 and 77, respectively.
• Preston Haire still managed to throw for 258 yards and a touchdown while the backfield accounted for 115 yards of offense, but the lead became insurmountable.
• Ouachita returns their second-leading rusher in TJ Cole, who chipped in 613 yards and four touchdowns to the Tigers' attack in 2019. The Tigers' backfield will look a little different as Brocktown Brown will no longer carry the pigskin after scoring 43 touchdowns in his career. Hayden Waller, the Tigers' second-leading receiver last season, will also return as OBU looks to replace the all-time GAC leader in Allie Freeman.
• Defensively, the Tigers return their leading tackler in linebacker Austin Guymon. Guymon racked up 88 tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks in his 2019 run. Ouachita will hope to replace Keandre Evans, who made a meaningful impact at the cornerback position for the Tigers. The 2019 team leader in interceptions, Hayden Lassiter, will look to fill that void.