SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist football team (1-3, 1-3 GAC) will make the the long trek to Arkansas for a matchup with nationally ranked #8/#16 Harding (3-1, 3-1 GAC) on Saturday evening. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. inside First Security Stadium in Searcy, Ark.
This will mark the seventh all-time meeting between the two clubs. Harding leads the series with a 6-0 record.
Live video of Saturday's contest will be available on
HardingSports.com and fans can listen to the broadcast on the
Bison Radio Network with the duo of Todd Miller and Scott Wanish.
Game Notes
OPENING KICKOFF
- OBU suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Southwestern Oklahoma State last Saturday, falling 38-31 in overtime at home. After Oklahoma Baptist charted 14 points in the fourth quarter, SWOSU scored 11 unaswered to force extra time. A Bulldog interception in the endzone sealed the game ended the Bison's 17-game winning streak over Oklahoma opponents.
STACKING UP AGAINST THE BISONS
- In last season's contest against Harding, a game lasting just two hours and 17 minutes, resulted in a 31-7 OBU defeat. Depsite what the scoreboard read, the Bison defense held their own. Oklahoma Baptist surrendered 248 yards on the ground, which ended up matching HU's lowest single-game rushing yards total for the 2021 season. It was the fewest amount of yards allowed from an OBU defense in their six-game series.
- The Bison offense amassed 267 yards versus HU, including 264 through the air, which was the second-most passing yards in a game the Harding defense gave up last season. Furthermore, Keilahn Harris' 57-yard reception was the third-longest reception the Bisons surrendered in 2021 and second-longest offensive play of either team in the all-time series.
OFFENSE PUT TO THE TEST
- OBU's offense will have their work cut out for them this week as HU enters at the top ranked scoring defense in the conference, allowing 15.75 points per game. The Bison offense is the eighth-best scoring threat in the league, scoring 27.8 points per contest, while Harding has the second-best pass defense. The passing attack comes in at No. 5 in the GAC, averaging 246.5 yards per game. However, after passing for 646 in the first two games, OBU saw their production drop to 340 yards the last two weeks. Oklahoma Baptist will need to regain their
POUNDING THE ROCK
- Oklahoma Baptist has reached paydirt seven times this season, two more than last season's total through the first four games. That team wound up finishing sixth in the GAC total rushing touchdowns (18). Buddy Bizzell leads the category for the Bison with three, while EJ Moore as reached the endzone twice.
- Moore's 224 yards rank 13th in the conference and the second most from a Bison freshman running back since Tyler Stuever compiled 234 in his debut season. Futhermore, Moore's and Bizzell's season-long runs of 56 and 44 yards rank in the top-10 in the conference.
SLINGIN' IT
- Signal-caller Dayton Wolfe leads the OBU passing attack with 827 yards and five touchdowns through the air. His total ranks fifth in the league, averaging 206.75 yards per game, while completing 56.92% of his passes. Additionally, Wolfe the has most passing yards through by a freshman through four games since Preston Haire amassed 586 in 2017. Haire went on the hold every passing record in the Oklahoma Baptist record books.
LIMITED MISTAKES
- One thing the Bison have done this season is be disciplined. OBU ranks as the least penalized team in the GAC, committing just 17 for average an of 4.25 per contest. Nationally, the figures rank 12th and 10th.
THE CLIMB
- With 824 all-purpose yards this season, wide receiver Keilahn Harris leads the conference and ranks fourth in Division II, while his average of 206 yards per game is tied for third nationally. Harris now has 3,138 career all-purpose yards after adding 222 against Southwestern Oklahoma State. Furthermore, he has 1,194 career kick return yards after racking up 127 yards last week, which is No. 1 in Oklahoma Baptist history. Harris has the opportunity to join the 2,000-yard career receiving club if he adds 109 to his total of 1,891. Only two other Bison, Josh Cornell (2018-21) and Cagney Roberson (2015-18), have accomplished the feat.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
- Sophomore safety KJ Price Jr. came through with a career-high 11 tackles last week against Southwestern Oklahoma State. It was the first time in his young career that the McKinney, Texas native had reached double-digit stops in a game. Included in that 11 were two tackles-for-loss, bringing his season total to 3.0 TFLs. That mark is one off the team lead.
AMONG THE BEST
- Second-year defensive lineman Nick Carpin continues to be a force not only along the Bison front, but in the Great American Conference. A week ago, against SWOSU, he tallied 14 tackles, the most by an OBU defender this season. There were 12 assisted tackles in that total which boosted Carpin's season count to 18. That tally is fifth-best in the GAC. The Frisco, Texas native also has 4.0 tackles-for-loss, a mark that ranks tenth in the league.
KNOW HIS NAME
- It was mentioned in the previous notes package about Chase Whitebear's interception against Northwestern – one of four freshmen in OBU's GAC history (2015-present) to snag one. After last week's game against SWOSU, Whitebear is ranked among the best corners in the conference. He went for a season-high nine tackles and added a pass breakup, his third straight game with a PBU. To date, there is only one other GAC newcomer – Ouachita's Mario Ganter Jr. (1.33) – that has a better rate of single-game INT/PBU average than Whitebear (1.00).
SCOUTING THE BISONS
- Harding appeared at No. 16 in the latest AFCA Division II football rankings and No. 8 in the D2Football.com Top 25 poll. HU dropped nine spots in the AFCA poll after their loss to then-ranked No. 9, Ouachita Baptist. The Tigers gave the Bisons their first loss of the season, besting HU 21-13 in Arkadelphia to drop Harding to 3-1.
- The yearly occurrence of Harding possessing one of the nation's best rushing attacks through its use of the triple option is continuing in 2022. In fact, going into Saturday's game, the Bisons rank first in NCAA Division II averaging 331.8 yards per game. Helping that average was HU's Sept. 17 performance against Southern Arkansas when it ran for a whopping 448 yards versus the Muleriders. Leading the ground game are a trio of players that have gone over 200 yards through four games: Jhalenn Spicer (312); Will Fitzhugh (209) and Cole Keylon (206). For Spicer, his current 12.9 yards-per-carry is the best mark in DII.
- Harding is no slouch on the defensive end either. Nationally, the Bisons are tied for 19th in scoring defense (15.75), rank 24th in passing yards allowed (152.8), are 31st in first downs allowed (59) and are slotted 38th in rushing yards allowed (102.0).
- Individually, HU has depth as shown by its defensive statistics. Twelve different players have reached at least 10.0 tackles while four have contributed at least 2.0 tackles-for-loss. Redshirt freshman linebacker Clark Griffin leads the Bisons defense with 22 tackles while junior defensive lineman Nathaniel Wallace has secured 3.5 TFLs and four quarterback hurries. In the secondary, Lionel Masivi, Cade Pugh and Oric Walker, Jr., have all come up with double-digit stops and multiple pass-breakups with Pugh logging the team's lone interception this season.
