SETTING THE SCENE | Muleriders Face Road Test at Northwestern Oklahoma
After consecutive winning weeks at the friendly confines of Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field, the Southern Arkansas football team will take to the road this week as they embark on their longest road trip of the regular season by traveling to Alva, Okla. to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State. It will be SAU's second road game of the year with their first trip outside of Magnolia ending in a disappointing 28-21 loss at Arkansas Tech to begin the year.

Providing the next road test for the Muleriders are the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State. Saturday night's game figures to be a good one with a ton of energy and excitement as the Rangers are coming off of a thrilling road victory over Henderson State. In the fourth quarter alone, the lead changed hands four time and NWOSU scored the decisive touchdown with 1:32 left in the game.

SAU's most-recent game was not as tense down the stretch as the Muleriders scored 24 second-quarter points to establish a commanding 31-7 lead at the break. The Mulerider defense played a huge role in that lead and eventual victory with 10.0 tackles for loss (7.0 sacks) and two forced turnovers.
 

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About Northwestern Oklahoma
SCHEDULE
The Northwestern Oklahoma Ranger football team enters play this weekend with a 1-2 record overall and a 1-2 mark in the Great American Conference. The Rangers are returning home after a big road win at Henderson State, 36-30. It was the Rangers first win against Henderson since the two became conference opponents in 2013. The first two weeks of NWOSU's schedule were defeats, but the outcomes could easily have gone in favor of the Rangers as the combined margin of defeat was a mere five points, losing by three on the road to Ouachita and by a pair of points at home to Arkansas-Monticello.

THE COACH
The Rangers are coached by Matt Walter, who is the midst of his third year as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma. A NWOSU graduate and All-America football player, Walter helped the Rangers to a NAIA National Championship in 1999. In his first two seasons as head coach, Walter is 7-15 and has the Rangers off to a 1-2 start to the 2017 season. Prior to his appointment at Northwestern, Walter served the previous six years as the strength and conditioning coach as well as offensive coordinator at Emporia State in the MIAA.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, Northwestern features a spread attack that has the potential to put points on the board quickly. In each of their three games to this point of the season, the Rangers have scored at least 28 points and are averaging 33.0 points per game to rank fifth in the GAC.

Unlike in years past, the Rangers spread offense is fairly balanced with a near 50/50 split in terms of yards gained between the air and the ground. Through the air, the Rangers are averaging 221.3 yards per game, while they are gaining 207.7 yards per game on the ground. Overall, the Rangers offense is averaging 429.0 yards per game. NWOSU's Total Offense ranks fourth in the league while their rushing and passing ranks stand at fourth and sixth, respectively.

The lead signal-caller has been junior transfer Isiah Weed. In three games Weed has completed 63.4% of his passes and has thrown for 609 yards with six touchdowns. A dual-threat QB, Weed has gained the most yards from scrimmage on the ground, but his net yardage places him third on the team with 164 net yards. Weed has found the end zone a team-best four times on the ground and has accounted for 10 of NWOSU's 14 TDs.

The other two top rushers on the team are Jacob Peyton and Anthony Cota. Both have rushed for just over 190 yards and have scored a pair of rushing touchdowns each.

Two Rangers have been the primary pass-catchers as Da'Shawn Gordon and Horatio Smith have hauled in at least 10 passes. Gordon has a pair of reception TDs and leads the team in receptions (16) and yards (286). Gavin Garner lead the Rangers in receiving scores with three.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Rangers are allowing 32.7 points per game and 450.7 yards of total offense per game. A majority of those yards are coming on the ground with an average of 250.7 yards per game, while the remaining 200.0 yards per game are coming through the air. Among the GAC rankings, the Rangers rank 9th in Scoring Defense, 9th in Total Defense, 10th in Rushing Defense, and 6th in Passing Defense.

On the year, the Rangers have forced four turnovers with two being fumble recoveries and two being interceptions. The leading tackler for the Rangers is Devin Peyton with 39.
 

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THE SERIES
This will be just the eighth meeting all-time between SAU and NWOSU and will be the fifth-straight season in which the two will face off as members of the GAC. Prior to being GAC foes, SAU and NWOSU played in 1977 and 1978 as well as in 1997.
This weekend's game will be the fourth meeting all-time in Alva with SAU winning the first three match-ups. Overall, the Muleriders have a 6-1 lead in the all-time series and have won five straight.
 

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Record Watch
Records Within Reach - Career (Individual)
» Pass Attempts - (Record: 1,166 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barrett Renner (940 | -226)

» Pass Completitions - (Record: 658 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barrett Renner (603 | -55)

» Passing Yards - (Record: 9,010 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barrett Renner (7,445 | -1,565)

» Passing TDs - (Record: 82 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barret Renner (70 | -12)

» Reception Yards - (Record: 2,852 - Nik Lewis, 2000-03)
Current: Jonathan Weisheit (1,750 | -1,102)
Current: Tanner Hudson (1,679 | -1,173)

» Receptions - (Record: 162 - Nik Lewis, 2000-03)
Current: Jonathan Weisheit (154 | -8)
Current: Tanner Hudson (116 | -46)

» TD Receptions - (Record: 36 - Nik Lewis, 2000-03)
Current: Tanner Hudson (23 | -13)

» Total Offense - (Record: 8,847 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barrett Renner (7,989 | -858)

» TDs Responsible For - (Record: 83 - Tyler Sykora, 2009-13)
Current: Barrett Renner (72 | -11)

» All-Purpose Yards - (Record: 4,184, Mark Johnson, 2008-13)
Current: Jonathan Weisheit (2,700 | 1,484)

» Total Points Scored - (Record: 264 - Mark Johnson, 2008-13)
Current: Bradford Grems (206 | -58)

» Punt Return Yards - (Record: 629 - Nik Lewis, 2000-03)
Current: Jonathan Weisheit (511 | -118)

(-# indicates number from TYING record)