ALVA, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas defensive unit shined brightly under the lights of the newly-christened Ranger Field in Alva, Okla. on Saturday night as SAU limited Northwestern Oklahoma State to just 210 yards of total offense as SAU went on to rout Northwestern by a score of 49-14.
 
The win moves the Muleriders (2-0, 2-0 GAC) to 2-0 on the young season and marks the first time since 2012 that SAU has opened the year with consecutive wins.
 
The strong defensive effort by the Muleriders against the Rangers (1-1, 1-1 GAC) came a week after Northwestern appeared to possess a potent offense as they totaled over 450 yards in a road win against Arkansas-Monticello.
 
For the Muleriders on Saturday, however, their defensive prowess was perhaps seen most prominently in the running game as SAU held the Rangers to -22 net yards gained on 24 attempts. The -22 net yards allowed by the SAU defense is the lowest rushing total in a game since 2005 when SAU held East Texas Baptist University to -8 rushing yards on 30 carries.
 
Spearheading the Muleriders' ability to limit the run was the dominance in the trenches by their front seven. For the game, SAU would rack up 13.0 tackles for lost yardage with 5.0 of those coming as sacks. All told, 10 Mulerider defenders would register at least an assisted tackle for lost yardage with half of those player notching sacks.
 
While the Mulerider defense certainly did its job, the SAU offense more than held their own as well against the Rangers as the Muleriders fell just five yards shy of reaching 600 total yards of offense. 331 of those yards came through the air as redshirt freshmen quarterback Barrett Renner threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions on 18-of-30 passing. It is the second-straight game in which Renner has eclipsed the 300-yard mark through the air.
 
Renner would also add 49 yards on the ground as he helped the Muleriders total 264 yards. Nearly half of those yards were gained by senior running back Deandre Jenkins, who rushed for 108 yards and a score on 15 carries.
 
On the receiving end of seven of Renner's 18 completions was sophomore wideout Jonathan Weisheit as he once again went over the century-mark in receiving yards, ending the game with 163 yards. Through two games, Weisheit has 14 receptions for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
 
The Muleriders will now return home and prepare for a matchup with unbeaten and nationally-ranked No. 19 Harding University on Saturday, September 19 in Magnolia. That game, which has a schedule kickoff of 6 p.m., will be Family Day on SAU's campus and will also feature a special pre-game ceremony in which the playing field at Wilkins Stadium will be formally named Rip Powell Field in honor of the late and legendary Coach Raymond "Rip" Powell.