GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 1-3 (1-3 GAC)	SOUTHERN NAZARENE CRIMSON STORM 1-3 (1-3 GAC)
Saturday, October 1 | 2 p.m. Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF) | SNU NOTES

KICKING OFF
A couple of tough games in the last two weeks have the Wonder Boys football team looking to find their footing and get back on track as the calendar turns to October.

Their first opportunity to do just that comes this Saturday afternoon at home against a confident Southern Nazarene squad.

Both teams will enter the game 1-3 on the season. Tech's initial win came in their home-opener back on September 10, while SNU's win came just last week as they upset Southeastern Oklahoma on the road.

Traditionally, this series has been one-sided since the two became Great American Conference foes back in 2013. On the positive end of that has been Tech as the Wonder Boys are 7-1 all-time against SNU. The lone win for the Crimson Storm in the series came on their home field in 2019.

Saturday's game will be the first one this season for the Wonder Boys with an early afternoon kick-off time. That perhaps will bode well for the Wonder Boys as they have won five such games over the last two seasons played under head coach Kyle Shipp.

TECH TIDBITS
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE

Offensively, the Wonder Boys are averaging 24.3 points per game and 326.5 yards of total offense per game. Their ppg average ranks 10th in the GAC, while their total offense is currently 12th.

Junior transfer Taye Gatewood has been the starting quarterback thus far and has thrown for 536 yards on 45-of-87 passing with five touchdowns and five interceptions

On the ground, the leading rusher so far has been Devontae Dean. Dean has 223 yards rushing on 41 carries and is averaging 5.4 yards per carry. As a team, the Wonder Boys have eight rushing touchdowns. Deon Simmons leads the team in that category with three.

In terms of receiving, Tech is led by Joyrion Chase with 17 receptions for 203 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 478.8 yards of total offense per game by their opponents and 38.0 points per game. The total defense ranks 11th in the GAC, while the scoring defense is ninth.

In terms of takeaways, the Wonder Boys have forced five turnovers with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Individually, Matthew Minnix and Tyrus Fort lead the team in tackles with 28. 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 five forced fumbles.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Senior kicker Jesus Zizumbo has 30 made field goals in his career and is nine 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 NAZARENE
LAST GAME

The Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm are coming into their game against Arkansas Tech with a ton of momentum on their side as they upset Southeastern Oklahoma on the road, 45-34, this past weekend. In that game, SNU ripped off 451 yards rushing and totaled 500 yards of offense. On the defensive end, the Crimson Storm had four takeaways with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

THE COACH

The Crimson Storm are coached by Dustin Hada, who is in his third year as the head coach at SNU after taking over as head coach in 2020. Despite being in his third year, Hada and his Crimson Storm are only in their second season of action on the field as the 2020 season was not played due to COVID-19. Hada is no stranger to SNU, however, spending the previous four seasons as SNU's Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line coach.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE

Offensively, the Crimson Storm feature a spread offensive attack. Through their first four games of year, SNU has the 11th-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 23.0 ppg and the ninth-ranked total offense with an average of 373.5 ypg. Through the air, the Crimson Storm are averaging 138.5 ypg to rank 11th in the GAC. On the ground, SNU is averaging 235.0 ypg to rank fourth in the GAC.

The leading rusher thus far has been quarterback Gage Porter with 494 yards gained. He also has five of the team's seven rushing scores.

In the passing game, Porter has completed 58% of his passes (41-of- 71) and has thrown for 474 yards and four touchdowns. He has been intercepted once.

The leading receiver for SNU is Asa Robertson. He has 10 receptions for 173 yards and has one of the five receiving touchdowns.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE

Defensively, the Crimson Storm base out of the 3-4 scheme and currently rank 10th in scoring defense, allowing 40.8 ppg. Their total defense ranks 12th in the GAC allowing 511.8 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, SNU ranks 11th in the GAC with 277.8 ypg. On the ground, the Crimson Storm allow an average of 234.0 ypg and rank ninth in the GAC.

Collectively, the Crimson Storm have forced eight turnovers with seven interceptions and one fumble recovery.

Individually, SNU's have three players with 20 or more stops and are led by Elijah Calhoun and Trenton Smith with 31. Josh Johnson has the most interceptions with three.

THE SERIES

This will be the ninth meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene in a series that began in 2013 when SNU joined the Great American Conference. Overall, Tech holds a 7-1-0 advantage. The Wonder Boys started off winning the first six games in the series before the Crimson Storm won their first game of the series in 2019. In games played at Tech, the Wonder Boys lead the series 3-0.