Setting the Scene: Murphy USA Classic
The Southern Arkansas football team is back in the Murphy USA Classic for the fifth time in the seven-year history of the game in El Dorado as they are set to take on defending Great American Conference Champion, Ouachita in a battle of two teams still vying for a possible championship in the wide open GAC. For the Muleriders, playing in the Murphy USA Classic (formerly known as the Boomtown Classic) has not been too kind as they are 0-4, but all four losses have been close as the average margin of victory for SAU's opponents have been 8.3 points per game. This will be the Muleriders' first time playing Ouachita in the Murphy USA Classic. Past opponents have been UAM, Harding, and Henderson State.
 

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About Ouachita
SCHEDULE
The Ouachita football team enters play this weekend with a 4-2 overall record and a 4-2 record in the Great American Conference. The Tigers, who ran the table in the GAC last year, are coming off of a 30-12 road loss to the hands of the now nationally-ranked Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. Ouachita's other defeat this season also came on the road as they dropped a 58-38 decision to Southwestern Oklahoma in week three.

THE COACH
The Tigers are coached by Todd Knight, who is in his 17th season at Ouachita and his 23rd overall as a collegiate head coach. In his time at Ouachita, Knight has amassed an 81-85 overall record and has led the Tigers to a winning season each of the past seven years, going 49-22 in that time. Prior to returning to his alma mater to coach, Knight was the head coach at Delta State for six years. In his time at Delta, Knight went 28-32-2 overall, but led the Statesmen to an 8-3 record and a trip to the NCAA DII playoffs his final season in 1998.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Tigers are averaging 34.0 points per game and 412.2 yards of total offense per game as well. 240.2 of those yards per game is coming on the ground while the reamaining 172.0 yards are being gained through the air. In the GAC, the Tigers rank 5th in points per game, 8th in passing offense, 3rd in rushing offense while also ranking 7th in the league in total offense.

The signal-caller for Tigers is Austin Warford and the redshirt sophomore has completed 79-of-147 passes for 1,032 yards and 6 TDs while throwing 5 INTs. In terms of rushing, the Tigers have relied on four ball carriers including Warford, who is their second-leading rusher behind Kris Oliver, who has 500 yards on 78 carries and 8 TDs.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Tigers are allowing 31.0 points per game and 433.7 yards of total offense per game with 252.0 of those yards coming through the air and 181.7 yards on the ground. Among the GAC rankings, the Tigers rank 7th in scoring defense, 8th in rushing defense while also ranking 9th in total defense and 10th passing defense. On the year, the Tigers have forced 7 turnovers with five being fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions. The leading tackler for the Tigers is Richardy Joseph with 37. Demetric Jennings leads the team in TFL with 4.0 and Jahlon Mitchell has the most sacks with 2.0

THE SERIES
This will be the 72nd meeting all-time between the Muleriders and the Tigers with Ouachita holding a slight lead in the series, 36-34-1. Since 1970, however, the two teams have met 42 times with SAU edging out Ouachita 22-20. This will also be the first time since before 1970 that these two teams will meet in a city other Arkadelphia or Magnolia.
 

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SAU News and Notes
"It's Our Time"
With the departure of several household names within the Great American Conference ranks including the starting quarterbacks at Harding, Henderson State, and Ouachita, it appears that landscape that has been the top of the GAC over the last three-to-four years may be in for a shakeup in 2015. While the Muleriders are among those that will feature a new starting quarterback, head coach Bill Keopple feels that his 2015 team may be the most talented team in his tenure and feels that this year is when the Muleriders make their move to assert themselves as the class of the GAC; rallying his team on a single mantra since spring ball; "It's Our Time."

.500 or Better Three Years Running
Last season, the Muleriders finished the year 5-5 over their 10-game schedule to give them a .500 winning percentage. That marked the third-straight season in which the Muleriders have finished with a .500 winning percentage or better. In those three years, the Muleriders are 19-12 overall for a .613 winning percentage, which marks the best three-year stretch ar SAU since 2002-04.

Fountain of Youth
After losing over 25 seniors a year ago, the Muleriders appear to have found the ever-elusive fountain of youth heading into the 2015 season as an overwhelming majority of the roster will be underclassmen. This season, the Muleriders will field only 20 upperclassmen with 12 of those being seniors. While the Muleriders will be young in terms of experience, they figure to be a talented bunch all the same. Listed among the preseason two-deep, the Muleriders have 28 underclassmen that are projected to either be a starter or backup in 2015.

Relying on Renner
Coming into the 2015 season, the Muleriders knew they were going to have to replace a record-setting and All-GAC quarterback for the second time in as many years and they also knew the new signal-caller was going to be a redshirt freshman as SAU had only two redshirt freshmen QBs returning the roster. What maybe they didn't know was the kind of production they were going to get from the position, especially early in the season. After six games and six starts from Barrett Renner, the Muleriders appear
that will not have any drop off at the QB position. So far this season, Renner has completed 134-of-226 passes for 1,750 yards and 17 TDs with six interceptions.
Renner currently leads the GAC in total offense while ranking third in passing yards per game (296.0) and passing TDs (17).

Muleriders and Tigers Possibly On The Loose 
If the recent history between the Southern Arkansas Muleriders and the Ouachita Tigers is any indication of what may come of Saturday's clash, one thing is for sure, points will be put on the board for both teams. Going back to 2010, the two teams have met five times with three wins going to Ouachita, but in those five meetings, both teams are averaging better than five scores a game as SAU has averaged 36.0 points per game and Ouachita 38.8 points per game.

Boo - A Reason To Be Scared
After limited carries over the first four games of his collegiate career, true freshman running back William "Boo" McKnight had a breakout performance against Southern Nazarene as he totaled 95 yards on just five carries with three of those runs concluding in the endzone. McKnight carried that performance over against Oklahoma Baptist as he scored two more rushing TDs, giving him five in the last two weeks to lead the team in that category.

Red Zone Threat
Sophomore Tanner Hudson has played several positions since coming to SAU. After coming in as a quarterback in the spring of 2014, Hudson was moved to wide receiver for the 2014 season and had eight catches for 68 yards including two TDs. This year, Hudson has moved to tight end and has become a big red zone target as three of his four TDs have come inside the 10-yardline.

Destruptive Davondrick
Redshirt freshman Davondrick Lison is playing some sensational football for the Muleriders along their defensive front. The lanky yet quick 6-3 native of Arkansas City, Ark. is tied for fifth on the team in tackles with 29 and is first in tackles for loss (8.5) and sacks (4.5). In the GAC ranks, Lison is fourth in sacks while leading the league in fumbles forced with four.

Reservations for Six
Through six games this season, Southern Arkansas has scored 33 touchdowns with 14 different players accounting for those scores. QB Barrett Renner has been responsible for the most touchdowns (18) with his 17 passing TDs and one rushing score. Running back William McKnight has the most rushing TDs with five, while tight end Tanner Hudson has the most receiving TDs with four.