Setting the Scene - 100th SAU Homecoming / 2015 Hall of Fame
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Homecoming Football Game at Southern Arkansas as the very first homecoming gathering was in 1915. Additionally, today is Hall of Fame Day at SAU and nine new members will be publically inducted into the SAU Sports Hall of Fame during halftime. Since 2008, the Muleriders are unbeaten in their homecoming game with their last six triumphs coming under current head coach Bill Keopple. Among those homecoming victories, two have come against Arkansas Tech (2011 & 2008), Ouachita Baptist (2013 & 2009) and Southern Nazarene (2014 & 2012) each with the seventh coming against West Alabama in 2010. This year's homecoming game will be played against Great American Conference newcomer, Oklahoma Baptist University, and will serve as the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
 

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About Oklahoma Baptist
SCHEDULE
The Oklahoma Baptist Bison football team in five games into their first season as provisional members of the Great American Conference and the NCAA and come into Saturday's game 1-4 overall and 1-4 in the GAC. That win came in the Bison's last game as they upended Arkansas-Monticello 56-28 at home.

THE COACH
The Bison are coached by Chris Jensen, who is in his third season at Oklahoma Baptist after being charged with re-booting the football program in 2012. Jensen's first year on the sidelines for the Bison came in 2013. That year, Jensen guided the team to a 4-7 record. The following year, in 2014, Jensen led the Bison to an 8-3 record and a No. 26 ranking in NAIA. Those eight wins for Jensen's Bison in 2014 tied a school record.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Bison are averaging 25.8 points per game and 320.8 yards of total offense per game as well. 191.4 of those yards per game is coming on the ground while the reamaining 129.4 yards are being gained through the air. In the GAC, the Bison rank 8th in points per game, 10th in passing offense, and 11th in total offense while also ranking fifth in the league in rushing.

Leading the charge for the Bison is sophomore QB Dezmond Stegall as he currenly leads the team in passing and net rushing. In the passing game, Stegall has completed 43-of-85 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions as well. As a rusher, Stegall has carried the ball 44 times for 306 net rushing yards while also finding the endzone three times; tied for the team lead. Five other ball carries have received 15 or more rushing attempts with Jordan Barnes netting the second-most yardage with 252 and Isaiah Mallory matching Stegall in touchdowns with three. The leading pass-catcher in terms of number of receptions is Demitri Turner with 19 catched on
the year while Derek Serowski is one reception back of Turner and leads the team in receiving yards (216) and touchdowns (3).

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Bison are allowing 35.8 points per game and 473.8 yards of total offense per game with 274.2 of those yards coming through the air and 199.6 yards on the ground. Among the GAC rankings, the Bison rank 9th in scoring defense and rushing defense while also ranking 10th in total defense and passing defense.

On the year, the Bison have forced 10 turnovers with seven being interceptions and three being fumble recoveries. The three fumble recoveries have come from three different players while four players have accounted for the seven picks with D'Ante Meeking hauling in a team-best three INTs. A total of 12 players have registered double-digit tackles on the season with with 10 of those players having totaled 20 or more stops on the year. The leading tackler for the Bison is Zach Bishop as he enters the game with 47 tackles (22 solo, 25 assisted). Bishop's tackle total ranks him in a tie for fifth in the GAC with two other players.

THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting all-time between the Muleriders and Bison as Oklahoma Baptist is in their first year of being a provisional member of the Great American Conference and NCAA after competing the last two years as members of the NAIA.
 

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SAU News and Notes
"It's Our Time"
With the departure of several househould 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.

Showing Up and Showing Out on Homecoming 
Over the last seven years dating back to 2008, the Southern Arkansas football program has enjoyed a great run of success on its annual Homecoming Game, which is what Saturday's clash with Oklahoma Baptist will be. In that recent time, the Muleriders are 7-0 in homecoming games with wins over Arkansas Tech (2x), Ouachita Baptist (2x), Southern Nazarene (2x) and West Alabama. Additionally, in those game, the Muleriders have put on a show for its fans and alumni as they are averaging 39.9 points per game while out-scoring their opponents 279-137 (+142).

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. That performance from the young running back may prove to be what's in store for McKnight and what GAC defenses may have nightmares of over the next four years.

Getting Moore from Elgin
Sophomore defensive back Elgin Moore has been a bright spot for the Mulerider defense in terms of tackling production as he currently leads the team and ranks eighth in the GAC in total tackles with 45. Twice this season, Moore has recorded 15 or more tackles in a game with a season-high 17 tackle effort coming against Arkansas Tech.

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 fifth on the team in tackles with 24 and is first in tackles for loss (7.5) and sacks (3.5). In the GAC ranks, Lison is third in sacks while leading the league in fumbles forced with four.

Reservations for Six
Through five games this season, Southern Arkansas has scored 28 touchdowns with 11 different players accounting for those scores. QB Barrett Renner has been responsible for the most touchdowns (16) with his 15 passing TDs and one rushing score. Running backs Deandre Jenkins, Michael Nunnery, and William McKnight have all scored three rushing TDs to lead the team while tight end Tanner Hudson has the most receiving TDs with three.

After five games and five 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 113-of-191 passes for 1,542 yards and 15 TDs with three interceptions. Renner currenly leads the GAC in total offense and passing yards per game while also ranking second in passing TDs.