SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's week-two contest against top-ranked Harding comes on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. inside Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex.
Among important info, if 400 OBU students attend the game, Chick-Fil-A will give out FREE milkshakes. Plus, all OBU employees and students get free entry into all athletics event with ID, and students that scan the I Attended QR code will earn points to redeem for prizes provided by BancFirst in Shawnee.
Saturday's action will be live-streamed on the Bison Sports Network with commentators Todd Miller, Scott Wanish and John Brooks on the call.
Rosenthal Rises Up
Last week at Arkansas Tech, sophomore quarterback
Kenny Rosenthal did a good job leading the Bison. He completed a career-high 62.9 percent (22-of-35) of his passes and also posted a personal-best two touchdown throws, both to junior
Charles Whitebear. His 218 passing yards were also the second-most of his young career. The Houston, Texas native also compiled 25 rushing yards. Heading into week two against No. 1 Harding, Rosenthal is second in the GAC in passing yards and sixth in total offense (243.0).
Speaking of Whitebear
The 6-foot-4 junior from Haslet, Texas had a career night in Russellville. His 75 receiving yards were a career-best. His two receiving touchdowns were as well. Plus, his 61-yard score in the first quarter was his longest career reception. After the opening week of competition, Whitebear was the only GAC player to have multiple receiving touchdowns. To boot, among players with three receptions, his 25.0 yards-per-catch average was tops in the league.
Lighting Up the Scoreboard
OBU registered 41 points last week at ATU. That was the most points scored by the Bison in the past 24 games. The last time the program reached at least 40 points was Nov. 16, 2021 at Southern Nazarene, a 42-14 win.
Baker, the Tackling Machine
One can almost pencil in
Scooter Baker collecting double-digit tackles game in and game out. Against the Wonder Boys, the Jacksonville, Texas native notched 12. That was the second-highest total by a GAC defender in week one. His total included eight solo stops, one tackle-for-loss and a fourth quarter forced fumble. Over his Bison career, Baker has attained at least 10 tackles in seven of 12 games played.
Defending the Skies
A season ago,
Tainique Taylor recorded 15 pass break-ups, the most by a Bison player in program history. As it stands right now, Taylor is on pace for 33 this season. Against the Wonder Boys, the 5-foot-11 corner knocked down three passes, all of which were near-interceptions. His three PBUs are No. 1 in the GAC and tied for fifth in the nation heading into week two.
A Rare Occurrence
Early in the third quarter at Arkansas Tech, junior
Brayden Johnson blocked a punt and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 31. That blocked punt return touchdown was just the second in program history. Previously during the 2015 campaign, sophomore corner Jesse Salisbury returned a blocked Arkansas-Monticello punt 20 yards for a score on Oct. 3.
Cause for Concern
Arkansas Tech averaged 4.8 yards-per-rush last week and compiled 287 rushing yards against the Bison defense. The opponent coming in, the triple-option based Harding football squad, cranked out a remarkable 554 yards at Southern Nazarene last week. HU averaged 8.94 yards-per-carry and scored seven times on the ground during the 59-0 victory. As one might expect, HU leads the nation in team rushing yards heading into week two.
Scouting HU
As mentioned above, Harding's triple-option attack generated 554 rushing yards last week. Five different players rushed for at least 54 yards at SNU, led by Andrew Miller's 129. Blake Delacruz and Cole Keylon each scored twice as well. Passing wise, HU threw just five times by Keylon with 53 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Harding tallied an impressive 15.0 tackles-for-loss and five sacks against the Crimson Storm. It also allowed a mere 58 yards of all-purpose yards to SNU, the fewest ever allowed to an opponent. Individually, junior defensive back Ty Dugger registered 2.0 TFLs and a sack while Cayden Pierce and Clark Griffin led with 6.0 tackles a piece.
Historically Speaking
Oklahoma Baptist has never defeated Harding in eight tries. HU, which usually has a top-20 NCAA defense, has surrendered just 120 points to the green and gold, a 15.0 average in those games. Plus, in terms of competition in Shawnee, Harding has scored at least 31 points in three of the four contests on Bison Hill.
Top-Five Matchup
After winning the NCAA Championship last season, Harding ended the year ranked No. 1. They continued to hold that ranking after last week's big win at Southern Nazarene. For the Bison, this marks the second time in the D2 era that they will have faced off with a top-five ranked team. During the 2019 season, the green and gold played Ouachita Baptist on Oct. 19 when the Tigers were ranked fifth.
