KICKING OFF
Winners of two in a row, the Arkansas Tech football team is looking to match their longest winning streak under head coach
Kyle Shipp and push over the .500 mark on the season when they host Southern Arkansas for Homecoming on Saturday afternoon.
The Wonder Boys are coming off one of their best all-around performances of the season in their last game, a 34-13 win over Oklahoma Baptist. In that game, the Wonder Boys raced out to a 21-0 lead, weathered a second quarter lull and held the Bison scoreless in the second half.
The Wonder Boys also racked up over 500 yards of total offense with 320 yards coming on the ground and 197 through the air. It was the first time under Coach Shipp that the Wonder Boys have had 500 or more yards of total offense.
In addition to what's at stake this season for the Wonder Boys with a win against SAU, it will also snap a three-game losing streak against the Muleriders. Playing the game in Russellville may bode well for Tech as the Wonder Boys are 5-1 against SAU at home since 2009.
TECH TIDBITS
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Wonder Boys are averaging 29.8 points per game and 381.5 yards of total offense per game. Their ppg average ranks eighth in the GAC, while their total offense is currently 10th.
Junior transfer Taye Gatewood has been the starting quarterback in four of the six games and has thrown for 536 yards on 45-of-87 passing with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Redshirt senior Jack Grissom has made the last two starts and has appeared in four games total. He has thrown for 440 yards on 35-of-53 passing.
On the ground, the leading rusher so far has been Devontae Dean. Dean has 490 yards rushing on 69 carries and is averaging 7.1 yards per carry. As a team, the Wonder Boys have 16 rushing touchdowns. Deon Simmons leads the team in that category with four.
In terms of receiving, Tech is led by Joyrion Chase with 22 receptions for 300 yards and two touchdowns. Four other receivers have caught touchdown passes this season with Mason Ross, Matthew Rivera, Travis Tobey, Jordan Edington accounting for the other scores.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Wonder Boys have allowed and average of 439.7 yards of total offense per game by their opponents and 33.3 points per game. The total defense ranks eighth in the GAC, while the scoring defense is seventh.
In terms of takeaways, the Wonder Boys have forced nine turnovers with four interceptions and five fumble recoveries.
Individually, Matthew Minnix, Tyrus Fort and Christian Cole have over 30 tackles each. Fort has 45 stops to lead the team, while Minnix and Cole have 36 and 31, respectively. Victor Hill is the team-leader in tackles for lost yardage (8.0) and sacks (5.0). Jordan Furtch is responsible for two of the team's four INTs and for two of the team's eight forced fumbles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Senior kicker Jesus Zizumbo has 34 made field goals in his career and is five away from tying the record held by Piotr Styczen (1993-96). Earlier this year, Zizumbo tied a single-game record for longest field goal as he buried a 52-yard try against Southeastern Oklahoma.
ABOUT SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LAST GAME
The Southern Arkansas Muleriders come into Saturday's game with a 2-4 record overall and have dropped each of their last two games. In their most-recent game, the Muleriders put together a furious comeback attempt after trailing Southeastern Oklahoma 35-10 with 2:51 left in the game. Over the remaining time left, the Muleriders scored three touchdowns on the strength of three TD passes to bring the final score to its eventual final of 35-32.
THE COACH
The Muleriders are coached by Brad Smiley, who is in his first year as the head coach at Southern Arkansas. Prior to coming to SAU, Smiley was at Northwestern State where he was the team's offensive coordinator beginning in the 2018 season. Before that, Smiley spent time as the head coach at Trinity Valley Community College. Overall, Smiley has nearly 30 years of collegiate coaching experience.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Muleriders feature a multiple offensive attack. Through their first six games of year, SAU has the seventh-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 30.2 ppg and the fifth-ranked total offense with an average of 439.7 ypg. Through the air, the Muleriders are averaging 216.2 ypg to rank seventh in the GAC. On the ground, SAU is averaging 223.5 ypg to rank fifth in the GAC.
The leading rusher thus far has been Jariq Scales with 474 yards gained. Scales is averaging 79.0 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry. He also has six of the team's 11 rushing scores.
In the passing game, the Muleriders have played a pair of QBs in OB Jones and Judd Barton. Jones has had the most snaps at the position and has thrown for 978 yards on 75-of-121 passing attempts with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The leading receiver for SAU is Dekendrick Bender with 295 yards on 27 receptions. Bender is also tied for the team lead in touchdown receptions with three.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Muleriders base out of the 4-2-5 scheme and currently rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing 30.8 ppg. Their total defense ranks ninth in the GAC allowing 456.0 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, SAU ranks ninth in the GAC with 236.0 ypg. On the ground, the Muleriders allow an average of 220.0 ypg and rank eighth in the GAC.
Individually, Southern Arkansas has three players with 30 or more stops and are led by Jacob Berry with 56. Prince Udenze leads the team in TFLs with 5.5. Hunter Hewitt and Damon LeGrand are tied for the most sacks with 2.0. The lone interception for the team was hauled in by Gavin Roe.
THE SERIES
This will be the 85th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas in a series that dates back to 1916. Playing almost annually as conference opponents in the AIC and GSC, Tech and SAU also became charter members of the GAC in 2011. In that time span, SAU leads the series 7-3. Dating back to when both schools made the jump to NCAA DII in 1995, SAU holds a 13-11 lead.
