GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 1-4 (1-4 GAC)	OKLAHOMA BAPTIST BISON 3-2 (3-2 GAC)
Saturday, October 9 | 2 p.m. Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF) | OKB NOTES

KICKING OFF

The Arkansas Tech football team returns home this weekend riding high as they secured their first win of the season their last time out at Southern Nazarene. In that game, the Wonder Boys broke a 21-all tie with just over four minutes left in the second quarter and rattled off 30-straight points over remainder of the first half and through the first five minutes of the second half. That explosion of points gave the Wonder Boys enough of a cushion to stave off a late surge by SNU.

The Wonder Boys are now looking to build off that win, but will face a tough test at home against Oklahoma Baptist.

The Bison enter play 3-2 overall with their two losses coming to nationally-ranked teams. Oklahoma Baptist also presents a challenge that the Wonder Boys have yet to face on a high-level and that's the passing game.

Currently, the Bison have the top passing attack in the GAC and rank 20th in DII at 297.2 ypg. Their starting QB and 2019 GAC Offensive Player of the Year, Preston Haire is narrowly second in the league and ranks 16th in DII in passing yards/game with 294.8 ypg.
 

ABOUT OKLAHOMA BAPTIST

LAST GAME

The Oklahoma Baptist Bison come into Saturday's game having lost their most-recent game at home to No. 23-ranked Harding. In that game, Oklahoma Baptist jumped out early on Harding 7-0 with a late first quarter touchdown, but OKB was then out-scored 31-0 the remainder of the way out. All but seven of those points scored by Harding came in the second quarter as the Bisons put up 24 points. The loss was the second of the season for Oklahoma Baptist, with both defeats coming to the hands of nationally-ranked opponents.

THE COACH

The Bison are coached by Chris Jensen, who is in his ninth year as the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist after being tasked with revitalizing the previously-defunct program in 2013. The first two seasons under Jensen saw the Bison compete as members of the NAIA before transitioning to NCAA Division II and the Great American Conference in 2015. Overall, Jensen is 32-50 as head coach. His best season at the NCAA level came in 2019 as he led the Bison to a 7-4 record.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE

Offensively, the Bison feature a spread offensive attack. Through their first five games of year, OKB has the third-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 34.0 ppg and the second-ranked total offense with an average of 440.8 ypg. Through the air, the Bison are averaging 295.4 ypg to rank first in the GAC. On the ground, OKB is averaging 145.4 ypg to rank eighth in the GAC.

The leading rusher thus far has been Tyler Stuever with 544 yards gained. Stuever is averaging 108.8 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry. He also has three rushing scores.

In the passing game, the Bison have one of the top QBs in the league in 2019 GAC Offensive Player of the Year, Preston Haire. Thus far, Haire leads the conference in passing yards with 1,464 yards and is completing 66.8% of his pass attempts (141-of-211). His 292.8 yards per game rank second in the GAC while his 15 touchdowns lead the league.

The top-two receivers for Oklahoma Baptist are Keilahn Harris and Josh Cornell. The two have combined for 83 receptions and 923 yards. Harris is the leader in both receptions (47) and yards (565) while also pacing the team and leading the conference in TDs with eight.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE

Defensively, the Bison base out of the 4-2-5 scheme and currently rank seventh in scoring defense, allowing 31.6 ppg. Their total defense ranks seventh in the GAC allowing 379.8 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, OKB ranks ninth in the GAC with 229.4 ypg. On the ground, the Bison allow an average of 150.4 ypg and rank fourth in the GAC.

Individually, Oklahoma Baptist has two players with 40 or more stops and are led by Josh Arnold with 46. Arnold also has the most tackles for loss (12.5) and the most sacks on the team (5.0)

THE SERIES

This will be the ninth meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Oklahoma Baptist in a series that dates back to 1927, but the series did not begin in earnest until 2015 when Oklahoma Baptist restarted their football program and joined the Great American Conference. Overall, Tech holds a 4-3-1 advantage and are 3-2 since the two became conference foes. This will also be the fifth game in the series played in Russellville with each team having won twice.