GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 6-3 (6-3 GAC)	OKLAHOMA BAPTIST BISON 2-7 (2-7 GAC)
Saturday, November 8 | 2 p.m. Crain Family Stadium | Shawnee, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF)

KICKING OFF
Having achieved a goal several years in the making by securing a winning season, the Arkansas Tech football team is now setting its sights on improving upon that mark with two more games left in the regular season. If Tech can get to a seventh victory, it would be the most since 2017. The same will be true if the Wonder Boys can get to eight wins.
 
THE SERIES      
This will be the 13th 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 7-4-1 advantage and are 6-3 since the two became conference foes.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
LAST GAME
The Wonder Boys are coming off a 42-17 win at home against Southern Nazarene this past Saturday. The win was the sixth of the season for the Wonder Boys, assuring them their first winning record since the 2017 season. In the game, Tech had season-highs offensively in total offense (542 yards), rushing (270 yards) and passing (272 yards).
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Through nine games, the Wonder Boys are averaging 25.4 points per game and 342.0 yards of total offense. Their ppg average ranks seventh in the GAC, while their total offense is ninth. Through the air, Tech is averaging 177.8 yards per game to rank seventh in the GAC. On the ground, the Wonder Boys are rushing for 164.2 yards per game to rank seventh.
 
Jack Dawson, Carter Hensley and Dominic Feliciano have all taken snaps at QB for the Wonder Boys. When available, Dawson has been the starter and primary signal-caller. He is 74-for-136 with 1,043 yards and 12 touchdowns. He missed the SAU and Henderson State games with an injury, but returned in limited action against Southern Nazarene. Hensley has got the start in place of Dawson each of the last three games. He is now 41-for-71 for 557 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Feliciano has primarily run the ball when in at QB and has carried it 29 times and has four touchdowns.
 
On the ground, the Wonder Boys have had 15 different ball carriers. Freshman Bryson Roland currently leads the team in yards with 806. He has six of the team's 12 rushing touchdowns. Quarterbacks Dawson and Feliciano account for the remaining six rushing scores for Tech with Feliciano having four and Dawson, two.
 
In terms of receiving, Tech has had 15 players with at least one reception. Jared Long leads the team in receptions so far with 20 and is the leader in receiving yards with 330. Long also has the most touchdown receptions with four. Austin Marshall, Carldell Sirmons and Cam McFarlin are next on the team with two, while JD DeCausmaker, Tracy Daniels, Gavin Waits and Bryson Roland all have one receiving touchdown.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively the Wonder Boys are allowing 385.6 yards of total offense per game and 19.6 points against per game. Their total defense ranks eighth in the GAC, while their scoring defense is fourth.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have 21 players with double-digit tackles and seven with at least 30 stops. Linebacker Sam Jackson leads the team in overall tackles with 58.0. Israel Whitmore leads the team in tackles for loss at 8.0 and is tied with Vershaud Richardson in sacks with 2.5.
 
As a team, the Wonder Boys have come away with 13 takeaways with eight being interceptions and five being fumble recoveries. Julien Lopez, Diego Sanchez and Tyrique Jones are tied for the team-lead in interceptions with two each. Whitmore leads the team in fumble recoveries with two. Gregor Jones, Tyrique Jones and Caleb Arnold account for the remaining three.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
In the kicking game, Logan Tymeson has handled all the field goal and point-after-touchdown opportunities thus far. He is 29-of-29 in PATs and 4-of-7 in field goals.
 
Technically, punting has been done by three players, but two of those has been quarterbacks on pooch punts. Dawson has five pooch punts while Hensley has one. Regular punter Angus Greaves has had 37 punts and is averaging 38.7 yards per punt.
 
In the return game, the Wonder Boys have had a rotation of Carldell Sirmons, De'Rion Crooms and Tracy Daniels handle most of the opportunities on kickoffs and punts. Sirmons has had 13 kickoff returns and is averaging 25.4 yards per return while Daniels has had six and is averaging 16.2 yards per return. Crooms has had four kickoff returns and is averaging 23.0 yards per return. Sirmons has had seven punt returns and is averaging 11.4 yards per return.
 
COACH THOMPSON
Roy Thompson enters his first season as head football coach at Arkansas Tech after spending the previous nine at GAC-rival Ouachita Baptist as the Bison' defensive coordinator. On the coaching staff a total of 12 years at Ouachita, Thompson spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the co-Defensive Coordinator before taking over the reins fully starting with the 2018 season. 
 
Over that seven-year stretch (2020 was not played due to COVID-19), Ouachita has had three seasons in which its points allowed per game were under 20.0, ranking it in the top-10 nationally in DII. The other three seasons, the highest points allowed in a season was 20.7 points per game. Over that same stretch, Thompson's defensive unit allowed under 320.0 yards per game four times, ranking in the top-35 nationally.
 
Thompson's time at Ouachita also yielded a ton of championship hardware as well as NCAA postseason experience. Out of the eight seasons played with Thompson on staff, Ouachita won the GAC championship five times and reached the NCAA playoffs each of those seasons as well, with the most recent being in 2024. Of those five conference titles, three saw the Bison go unbeaten in the regular season.
 

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KNOW YO FOE
LAST GAME     
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a 69-0 loss on the road at No. 2-ranked Harding this past Saturday. The Bison were limited to just 224 yards of total offense with 131 of those coming through the air. On the other end, Harding was able to rack up 654 yards of total offense with just over 500 of that coming on the ground. Oklahoma Baptist was also hindered by four turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble).
 
THE COACH     
The Bison are coached by Chris Jensen, who is in his 13th 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 49-82 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 have the ninth-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 15.4 ppg and the eighth-ranked total offense with an average of 350.3 ypg. Through the air, the Bison are averaging 242.8 ypg to rank second in the GAC. On the ground, Oklahoma Baptist is averaging 107.6 ypg to rank 10th in the GAC.
 
The leading rusher thus far is former Wonder Boy Deuce Wise with 516 yards gained on 133 carries. Wise also has a team-leading five touchdowns on the ground. The second-leading rusher is Caden Peevey with 239 yards on 45 carries.
 
At quarterback, Oklahoma Baptist has used four different players. Three of those have appeared in multiple games and attempted over 50 passes. TJ McMahon has seen the most action and in eight games is 83-for-151 for 1,033 yards and three touchdowns. He also has seven interceptions. Chad Mascoe has appeared in five games and is 78-for-124 for 847 yards and five touchdowns. He has three interceptions.
 
Oklahoma Baptist has seven receivers up over 100 yards on the season and are led by Nick Harris with 598 yards on 36 receptions. Harris also leads the team in TD receptions with four.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE          
Defensively, the Bison rank 10th in scoring defense at 32.4 ppg. Their total defense ranks 12th in the GAC allowing 462.3 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, Oklahoma Baptist ranks eighth in the GAC at 192.1 average ypg allowed. On the ground, the Bison allow an average of 270.2 ypg and rank 12th in the GAC.
 
Individually, Oklahoma Baptist has had 17 players record double-digit tackles and five with at least 50 stops. They are led Colt Humphrey with 73.0. A total of 14 players have accounted for at least 0.5 tackles for lost yardage with Jahden Brown leading the team at 7.5. Brown leads the team in sacks with 4.5.
 
The Bison' defense has forced 14 turnovers through nine games with four of the takeaways being interceptions and 10 being fumble recoveries. Four different Bison are tied for the team-lead in interceptions with one while Chase Whitebear leads in fumble recoveries with three.