About Henderson State
SCHEDULE
The Henderson State football team enters play this weekend with a 6-1 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Great American Conference. The Reddies, are also coming into this game as one of the hottest teams in the GAC as winners of their last five games. Since the inception of the GAC in 2011, the Reddies have had a stranglehold on the league going 36-4 to-date within the conference and once more find themselves in contention for a GAC Championship as they sit atop the standings.

THE COACH
The Reddies are coached by Scott Maxfield, who is in his 11th season at Henderson and his 15th overall as a collegiate head coach. In his time at Henderson, Maxfield has amassed an impressive 75-39 overall record with over half of those wins coming over the last five years. In that recent stretch, Maxfield has turned the Reddies in to a perennial national power going 42-9 with a pair of GAC Championships as well as consecutive trips to the NCAA Playoffs in 2012 and 2013. Overall, Maxfield has won over 100 games in his head coaching career, a feat he accomplished this season in a 25-17 win over Northwestern Oklahoma back in week three.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Reddies are averaging 27.0 points per game and 359.4 yards of total offense per game. Unlike in year's past, the Reddies have a fairly balanced offensive attack with 194.1 of their yards coming through the air and 165.3 yards coming on the ground. In the GAC rankings, the Reddies have the sixth-best rushing attack, the seventh-best passing offense, and the 10th-best total offense and scoring offense.

Under center for the Reddies this year is redshirt junior Dallas Hardison. On the year, Hardison has thrown for 1,298 yards on 127-of-208 passing with six TDs and 6 INTs, respectively. In terms rushing, the Reddies are paced by Jaquan Cole as he currently leads the GAC in rushing yards per game (115.7 ypg). Overall, Cole has rushed for 810 yards on 126 carries.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Reddies are allowing 13.6 points per game and 309.4 yards of total offense per game. Their points per game given up ranks first in the GAC while their total offense allowed ranks second. On the ground, the Reddies are allowing just 115.0 yards per game which ranks third in the GAC, while their 194.4 yards per game given up through the air ranks fourth. This season, the Reddies' defense has been great thanks in part to their ability to force turnovers. Coming into the game, the Reddies have forced 22 turnovers with 18 of those being interceptions to lead NCAA DII. A result of their high volume of defensive takeaways is the fact that the Reddies also have a +10
turnover margin which ranks second in the GAC and 11th in DII.

THE SERIES
This will be the 77th meeting all-time between the Muleriders and the Reddies with Henderson holding a 43-32-1 lead in the overall series record. Since 2000, HSU is 9-5 against SAU including eight consecutive wins dating back to 2006. Prior to that loss to Henderson in '06, the Muleriders were 9-1 against the Reddies from 1996-2005.
 

---

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 seven games and seven 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 157-of-253 passes for 2,133 yards and 22 TDs with six interceptions. Renner currently leads the GAC in total offense while ranking second in passing yards per game (308.4) and passing TDs (22).

A Game of Matchups
Football is a game of matchups with the winner generally coming out on top of most, if not all of the matchups, and this week's game between Southern Arkansas and Henderson State is no exception. Based solely on statistics, two matchups in particular figure to play key roles in the game. 1.) SAU passing vs. HSU pass defense and 2.) HSU rushing vs. SAU rushing defense.

SAU has the 3rd-best pass offense (317.1 ypg) while HSU has limited opponents to 194.4 ypg passing...HSU has the top running back in the GAC in Jaquan Cole (115.7 ypg) while SAU is 10th in rush defense at 226.1 ypg given up.

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 those two weeks, which now leads 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 four of his six TDs have come inside the 20-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 fourth on the team in tackles with 38 and is first in tackles for loss (10.5) and sacks (6.5). In the GAC ranks, Lison is second in sacks, third in TFL while leading the league in fumbles forced with five.

Reservations for Six
Through seven games this season, Southern Arkansas has scored 38 touchdowns with 14 different players accounting for those scores. QB Barrett Renner has been responsible for the most touchdowns (23) with his 22 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 six.