SHAWNEE – Saturday brings the final week of Great American Conference football with the Bison playing host to Southern Nazarene inside Crain Family Stadium at 6 pm. Pregame festivities will feature the celebration of 21 seniors and their contributions to the Oklahoma Baptist program.
OBU brings in an all-time 4-2 record against SNU, with tomorrow being the first meeting in Shawnee since 2018. The Bison have not lost to the Crimson Storm since 2016.
Live video of the contest will be available on OBUBison.com and fans can listen to the broadcast on the Bison Radio Network with the trio of Todd Miller, Scott Wanish, and John Brooks.
Game Day information regarding tailgating policies, parking instructions, and the OBU clear bag policy can be found here.
Game Notes
OPENING KICKOFF
- OBU suffered a 51-24 defeat to the Reddies of Henderson State last weekend. HSU racked up 338 yards on the ground and passed for another 268 to topple the Bison in Arkadelphia.
LAST TIME VERSUS SOUTHERN NAZARENE
- Oklahoma Baptist fell one yard short of 600 yards in its 42-14 victory over Southern Nazarene a season ago. OBU tallied all its points through the air, finishing the evening with six passing touchdowns on 427 yards. The Bison added another 172 yards on the ground, averaging 4.3 yards per tote.
- The contest was never close as OBU hopped out to a 14-0 lead following the inaugural quarter. Its success carried into the second as the Bison tacked on 14 more to boast a 28-0 advantage going into the break. SNU mustered out 14 points in the third, but the actions were to no avail as Oklahoma added 14 to stamp the season-finale triumph.
- Preston Haire had the same amount of incompletions as he did touchdowns, pitching six to match his school record. Three touchdown completions went to Josh Cornell, who became the then-all-time program leader for receiving yards. Cornell finished with 215 yards, a single-game record that still stands, on 10 receptions. Keilahn Harris added 102 yards and two scores to join Cornell in eclipsing the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season.
- Robert Lolofie tallied a career-best 3.0 sacks to go along with a forced fumble, while Josh Arnold registered a team-leading 10 tackles.
MISSING IN ACTION
- Injuries have plagued the Bison all season, especially at the quarterback position. This week, OBU will start its fourth different quarterback under center. Sophomore Amari Jessie will take the reigns after taking a handful of snaps against Henderson State last Saturday. Jessie threw a 14-yard touchdown, the first of his career, and rushed for another seven yards in the final drive. Coming into tomorrow, Jessie has attempted four passes and rushed five times for 14 yards in his career.
- The signal callers ahead of Jessie, Dayton Wolfe, Aidan Thompson, and Seth Streeter have been sidelined due to injury. Wolfe recorded 1,419 yards and nine touchdowns in seven games of action, while Thompson threw for 321 yards and a score in two games. Streeter, who got his first career start in week nine versus Southern Arkansas, piled up 480 passing yards and 101 rushing yards in four games. Before exiting the contest against HSU, Streeter passed for 127 yards and rushed for another 15.
- The Biison have had five defensive and six offensive starters miss games this season. The defensive line has taken a significant beating with the losses of Nick Carpin and Malik Allen early in the year. Before the injury, Carpin led the trenchmen statistically, seeing action in seven games. Carpin's 2.0 sacks are still tied for a team-best while he hasn't played since October 15. The Frisco, Texas native adds 4.0 TFLs, which ranks fourth on the squad, with 36 tackles.
- Oklahoma Baptist will also play without two of its most skillful tacklers in Nick Boone and KJ Price Jr.. Boone, a commanding force at the linebacker position, suffered an injury early against HSU. He is tied for the team lead in tackles-for-loss (5.0) and sacks (2.0) while ranking second in total tackles (59). Price, who has not touched the field since week 8, compiled 53 stops, 3.0 TFLs, and a team-leading four PBUs.
THE HARRIS SHOW
- Despite OBU's woes, a bright spot has been the production of Keilahn Harris. The junior has a touchdown catch from three different quarterbacks and could become the second receiver in program history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Harris totals 975 yards on 77 catches to go along with seven scores. He also threw the first touchdown of his career in week two against Northwestern Oklahoma State.
- Harris is on the brink of breaking the Bison record for career receiving scores (28), set by Josh Cornell. He will have to reach the endzone three times on Saturday, something he has accomplished twice in a single game in his career. Though a tall feat, Harris will face the 10th-worst passing defense in the league so his chances are likely
ONE MORE FOR HISTORY
- Sophomore kicker Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez has been chasing history all season. He needs one field goal to tie the OBU single-season record for makes (9) and one to become the all-time leader. Garcia Rodriguez tied Luke Wendl's career record of 13 versus Henderson State on a 26-yarder. His eight makes this year rank seventh in the GAC.
ONE, TWO PUNCH
- Oklahoma Baptist is one of two teams with two players in the top 10 for tackling in the Great American Conference. Their names, Kaleb Peters and Elijah Tomlin. Peters paces the duo with 81 tackles, two interceptions, and a team lead in forced fumbles (2). Tomlin adds 77 tackles, a sack, and is tied for the team-best in TFLs (5.0). Neither has missed a game in 2022.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM
- Southern Nazarene enters the final week of the season in search of a program-best for single-season wins. SNU tied its record of four with a 49-44 victory over Southern Arkansas in Magnolia last week. The Crimson Storm racked up 405 yards and six touchdowns to collect its first victory over SAU in school history.
- Second-year head coach Dustin Hada has SNU raving, winning three of its last four games. Its one loss during the span, a 42-41 overtime defeat against Henderson State, was decided on a failed two-point conversion.
- Southern Nazarene boasts the fourth-best rushing offense in Division II, averaging 308.7 yards per game, that is led by quarterback Gage Porter. Porter leads the nation in scoring average (15.1/gm), rushing touchdowns (25), and ranks second in yards (1,579). Porter is one of two GAC players (TJ Cole, Ouachita) that rank in the country's top 3 in touchdowns and yards. Porter accounts for 66.2 percent of SNU's point total this season - 210 of 317. The Elk City, Okla., native came into the year with 1,474 career rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in 26 games.
- Porter has reached 100-plus rushing yards in all but one game and eclipsed the 100-yard mark in both passing and rushing yards four times. Additionally, he has six games with three or more scores on the ground. The signal caller adds 1,066 yards and nine touchdowns through the air with two interceptions.
- Safety Elijah Calhoun paces the Crimson Storm defense with 91 tackles, which is second in the GAC. Trenton Smith trails with 84 stops, while Marcus Sowell leads the team in TFLs (7.0) and sacks (2.5). Defensive back Josh Johnson is tied for second in the league in interceptions (4), accounting for 50 percent of the team total. Johnson is also tied for a team lead in pass breakups with field corner Cameron Wells.
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