MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field will be empty on Saturday afternoon as (RV) Southern Arkansas (7-1, 7-1 GAC) makes the familiar 38-mile trip east into Union County for a titanic matchup with No. 5/4 Ouachita (8-0, 8-0 GAC) from El Dorado's Memorial Stadium in the 11^th Annual Murphy USA Classic. It is the ninth appearance all-time for the Muleriders in the neutral site affair and the sixth-consecutive year that SAU will play in the game. For the Tigers, they make their fourth appearance in the game and for the third time they matchup with Southern Arkansas.
 
It will be the third meeting between the two teams in El Dorado since 2015 and the previous two matchups have been nothing less than memorable. In the 2015 game, Southern Arkansas scored the final 12 points of the game to win 32-28 which included a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mulerider quarterback Barrett Renner to Tanner Hudson with 37 seconds left in the contest.
 
Two years later, the Tigers got the last laugh as five fourth quarter lead changes, including four in the final 3:34 of the game, ended with Ouachita taking advantage of two Mulerider penalties on their final drive before Lucas Reed connected with Allie Freeman for the go-head score with 33 seconds to play as the Tigers won 45-42.
 
In three of the previous four meetings which date back to that SAU win in El Dorado in 2015, the game has been decided in the final 40 seconds and in the 2016 matchup, it came down to the final play as Ouachita edge the Muleriders in Arkadelphia on a 36-yard field goal from Cole Antley to give the Tigers a 40-37 win in the fourth overtime.
 
In their most previous meeting, the two teams clashed in Clark County last fall in the NCAA DII Football National Game of the Week. The Tigers came away with a decisive 35-10 win in a matchup that featured a pair of nationally ranked opponents and two teams that appeared in the top six of the initial DII Super Region 3 Rankings.
 
Overall, Saturday's tilt will be the 76^th time the two programs meet on the gridiron. Ouachita holds a 39-35-1 series advantage and has won the last three matchups.
 
The Muleriders enter Week 9 in a similar position that they found themselves in last fall. At 7-1 and in the thick of a four-horse race in the Great American Conference, Southern Arkansas controls their own postseason destiny beginning Saturday in Union County's boomtown. Despite not appearing in the top ten of this fall's initial Super Region 3 Rankings, the final three weeks of the regular season will determine the postseason fate of the aforementioned top four in the Great American Conference.
 
Offensively, Southern Arkansas is averaging 31.8 points per game; the fourth-highest mark in the GAC. Leading to that high-scoring production is a unit that ranks third in the league in total offense (407.8 ypg) behind a rushing attack that generates just over 211 yards on the ground per outing and ranks fourth in the GAC. Through the air, the Muleriders are passing for just under 197 yards per game. Despite not passing as much as in recent years due to a more balanced attack, when the Muleriders have put it in the air this season, they been efficient in doing so as they rank third in the conference in passing efficiency at 161.5 to go along with the nation's 13^th-best completion percentage at 64%.
 
SAU currently ranks in the Top 20 nationally in multiple offensive categories including sacks allowed (3^rd | 0.50), tackles for loss allowed (6^th | 3.63), red zone offense (8^th | 93.5%), completion percentage (13^th | 64%) and third-down conversion percentage (16^th | 48.5%).
 
In August, junior quarterback Hayden Mallory took over the keys to one of the league's most explosive offenses and currently he ranks in the top 15 nationally in four passing categories: yards per attempt (5^th | 9.83), yards per completion (12^th | 15.48), passing efficiency (14^th | 166.1), and completion percentage (15^th | 63.5%).
 
His top target this season has been redshirt senior Jared Lancaster who has hauled in 23 passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns. SAU has also seen the emergence of redshirt sophomore Micah Small who has caught 17 passes for 370 and two scores. Small currently ranks 15^th in Division II in yards per reception at 21.76.
 
On the ground, redshirt freshman Kor"Davion Washington has solidified himself as one of the top young running backs in the GAC. The Shreveport, Louisiana native has carried 121 times for 764 yards and six touchdowns and has totaled 103 receiving yards on seven catches and a score. In all, Washington has tallied an all-purpose yards per game average of 108.4. Nationally, he holds the 25^th best mark in yards per carry at 6.18 and his total in rushing yards ranks 26^th. In eight games, he is averaging 92.8 yards per game which is a top 30 mark in Division II.
 
Highlighting Southern Arkansas' efforts through the team's first eight weeks has been the play on the defensive side of the football. In the GAC, the Muleriders rank fourth in scoring defense as opponents manage just 18 points per game, while the opposition's 294.1 yards per game against SAU is the second-fewest allowed. On the ground, Southern Arkansas has been solid as opposing rushing attacks are producing just 121.0 yards; the second-fewest in the GAC. The secondary has been solid as well as the Muleriders allow just 173.1 yards per game through the air in addition to having picked off eight passes as a unit.
 
Three Mulerider defenders have accumulated 40-plus tackles this season. Redshirt senior Malik Preston leads the team with 44 stops which ranks 25^th in the GAC, while sophomore Brock Floyd (42) and redshirt junior DeMarcus Pegue (40) follow. Redshirt junior Antonio Washington ranks second in the league in tackles for loss with 9.0 totaling a league-best 38 yards among ranked players.
 
Sophomore Austin Wilkerson has played a key role in the Muleriders' successes this season as he has a league-best field goal percentage of 90.9% (10-for-11); which ranks fifth nationally, and a perfect extra-point rate (32-for-32). The Dallas, Texas, native ranks third in the GAC in scoring at 7.8 points per game which leads all GAC kickers. Of his ten makes, two have been especially vital in the Muleriders' 7-1 start. Wilkerson nailed a career-long 48-yard attempt as time expired to beat Oklahoma Baptist and he connected on an eventual game-winning field goal from 35 yards out with under 5:30 to play in a 24-23 win at East Central.
 
In his 11^th season on the sideline, Bill Keopple leads his Muleriders into El Dorado as the program's all-time winningest coach as he notched his 64^th career win last Saturday in Ada pushing him out front of legendary gridiron leader Auburn Smith. Across the sidelines on Saturday will be a familiar face in Ouachita's Todd Knight who is in the midst of his 21^st season leading the Tigers and 26^th season overall as a collegiate head coach.
 
Ouachita heads to El Dorado having won 24-consecutive conference gamesThe Tigers are the nation's leader in third-down conversion at 62.5%. Additionally, Ouachita holds top 10 marks nationally in completion percentage (1^st | 78%), turnovers lost (1^st | 4), tackles for loss allowed (4^th | 3.50), passing efficiency (6^th | 171.88), scoring defense (7^th | 12.9 ppg), and red zone defense (8^th | 60%). The Tigers are one of 14 unbeaten teams in DII Football and are one of two teams to have not thrown an interception this season.