KICKING OFF
A hard-fought shootout win at home by the Arkansas Tech football team has the Wonder Boys gearing up to hit the road this week and look to build upon that momentum at Oklahoma Baptist. In their most-recent game, the Wonder Boys put together a solid and methodical offensive attack that saw them register a season-high 282 yards rushing and hold on to the ball for a season-best 34:09. Three of their scoring drives featured at least 10 plays and all five touchdown drives ended with rushing scores.
TECH TIDBITS
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Wonder Boys are averaging 29.0 points per game and 354.4 yards of total offense per game. Their ppg average ranks eighth in the GAC, while their total offense is currently 12th.
Junior transfer Taye Gatewood has been the starting quarterback in four of the five games and has thrown for 536 yards on 45-of-87 passing with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Redshirt senior Jack Grissom made the most-recent start and has appeared in three games total. He has thrown for 254 yards on 19-of-27 passing.
On the ground, the leading rusher so far has been Devontae Dean. Dean has 388 yards rushing on 57 carries and is averaging 6.8 yards per carry. As a team, the Wonder Boys have 13 rushing touchdowns. Deon Simmons leads the team in that category with four.
In terms of receiving, Tech is led by Joyrion Chase with 20 receptions for 265 yards. Five different receivers have caught touchdown passes this season. Mason Ross, Matthew Rivera, Travis Tobey, Jordan Edington and Chase have accounted for the scores.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Wonder Boys have allowed and average of 472.4 yards of total offense per game by their opponents and 37.4 points per game. The total defense ranks 10th in the GAC, while the scoring defense is ninth.
In terms of takeaways, the Wonder Boys have forced eight turnovers with three interceptions and five fumble recoveries.
Individually, Matthew Minnix and Tyrus Fort have over 30 tackles each to lead the team. Fort has 37 stops to lead the team, while Minnix has 31. Victor Hill is the team-leader in tackles for lost yardage (4.5) and sacks (3.0). Jordan Furtch is responsible for two of the team's three INTs and for two of the team's eight forced fumbles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Senior kicker Jesus Zizumbo has 32 made field goals in his career and is seven 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 OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
LAST GAME
The Oklahoma Baptist Bison come into Saturday's game having lost their most-recent game on the road to No. 16/8-ranked Harding. In that game, Oklahoma Baptist fell behind 17-3 in the second quarter and trailed 24-10 by halftime. A pair of late third quarter touchdowns by Harding gave them enough breathing room to cruise to a 38-23 victory.
THE COACH
The Bison are coached by Chris Jensen, who is in his 10th 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 38-56 as head coach. His best season at the NCAA level came in 2021 as he led the Bison to an 8-4 record and a postseason win in the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Bison feature a spread offensive attack. Through their first five games of year, OKB has the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 26.8 ppg and the 11th-ranked total offense with an average of 356.2 ypg. Through the air, the Bison are averaging 236.6 ypg to rank fourth in the GAC. On the ground, OKB is averaging 119.6 ypg to rank 11th in the GAC.
The leading rusher has been EJ Moore with 260 yards gained. Moore is averaging 52.0 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. He also has two rushing scores. Buddy Bizzell is the second-leading rusher with 244 yards and four touchdowns.
In the passing game, the Bison have used two quarterbacks in Dayton Wolfe and Aidan Thompson. Wolfe has seen the most action and has thrown for 827 yards on 74-of-130 passing. He has five touchdowns and five interceptions. Thompson has played in two games and started the most-recent game. He has thrown for 321 yards on 32-of-58 passing and has one touchdown and four interceptions.
The leading receiver is Keilahn Harris. He has 35 receptions and 565 yards and leads the team in touchdown receptions with four.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Bison base out of the 4-2-5 scheme and currently rank eighth in scoring defense, allowing 36.2 ppg. Their total defense ranks fifth in the GAC allowing 402.2 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, OKB ranks first in the GAC with 140.4 ypg. On the ground, the Bison allow an average of 261.8 ypg and rank 10th in the GAC.
Individually, Oklahoma Baptist has three players with 30 or more stops and are led by Kaleb Peters with 40. Five different players have at least 3.0 tackles for loss. Nick Carpin and Nick Boone are two of those players and each have 4.0 TFLs. They also both have 2.0 sacks to lead the team.
THE SERIES
This will be the 10th 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 5-3-1 advantage and are 4-2 since the two became conference foes.
