MAGNOLIA, Ark. - A second-straight weekend at home for the Southern Arkansas Football comes with an early season clash as the Muleriders play host to their first in-state opponent of the '21 campaign: (RV)/24 Harding which is the only team to beat Southern Arkansas at home since 2015. Kickoff from inside Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field is scheduled for 6 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

>>> There's no place like home. Southern Arkansas enters the third week of the season unbeaten, but its biggest test of the young campaign awaits on Saturday inside Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field as (RV)/24 Harding comes to town for the 57th meeting all-time.

>>> The Muleriders have now won nine straight home openers and it marked SAU's 23rd consecutive home victory over an Oklahoma opponent. Head Coach Mike McCarty became the sixth head coach to start 2-0 in his first season in Magnolia joining G.W. Bacot (1919), Auburn Smith (1954), Jimmy "Red" Parker (1981), Steve Arnett (1982), and Don Tumey (1990). Bacot, Parker and Tumey all won in Week 3.

>>> Southern Arkansas owns a 35-7 record at home and has enjoyed four unbeaten seasons at Wilkins Stadium since joining the Great American Conference as a charter member in 2011. Since 2015, the Muleriders have won 22 of their 24 home games with the two losses coming at the hands of Harding.

>>> Harding comes to town at 1-1 overall after suffering a 32-31 loss on the road at Southeastern Oklahoma State last Saturday. The Bisons topped East Central at home 28-0 in the season opener. HU brings the nation's second-best rushing attack through two weeks to Magnolia averaging 349.0 yards per game on the ground.

>>> Freshman Jariq Scales leads the Great American Conference in rushing yards and rushing yards per game. Scales' 268 total rushing yards ranks eighth in the country, while his per game average of 134 ranks tenth.

>>> Senior quarterback Hayden Mallory ranks in the top 20 nationally in five major statistical categories including touchdown passes (4), points responsible for (5th), completion percentage (9th), passing efficiency (10th) and completions per game (19th). Redshirt junior Micah Small leads the nation in touchdown catches with five and ranks fifth in total points scored.

>>> The Mulerider defense, a unit that boasts five players with eight or more tackles this season, is led by redshirt freshman Gavin Roe's 15 stops; 11 of which are unassisted and rank second in the GAC. Redshirt junior Prince Udenze leads the team in tackles for loss with four totaling 13 yards. SAU has accounted for 17 TFL from nine different players. SAU ranks fifth nationally in sacks per game with six.

>>> Cole Chancey, the GAC's all-time leading rusher and NCAA DII's career active rushing leader (3,870) headlines the Bisons' rushing attack. He has scored four touchdowns this season to lead the team. Three other players have recorded over 120 rushing yards out of the Bisons' vaunted flexbone.

>>> Twenty-nine of the team's 31 first downs have come on the ground and HU averages over six yards per carry. Harding has attempted eight passes all season.

>>> The Harding defense is allowing just 16 points per game and opponents are converting on just 19% of their third-down opportunities.

SOUTHERN ARKANSAS BY THE NUMBERS
47 - The number of rushing yards per game that the Mulerider defense is surrendering through two weeks of the season. SAU is allowing a mere 1.9 yards per carry. The Southern Arkansas defense defended against a combined 49 rush attempts from NWOSU and SWOSU, but will have to absorb a Harding offense that is averaging 56 attempts on the ground per game through eight quarters.
11 - The number of Muleriders with a catch through two games this season. Seven of the 11 players are in their first season of action as a Mulerider and three of the recipients of a Mallory pass this season caught one from the quarterback in 2019. The team's 521 yards passing, all from the right arm of Mallory, ranks 25th in Division II and sixth in the GAC.
2 - Harding will undoubtedly be the most formidable rushing attack the Mulerider defense will face this season. Since 2011, Harding has been held under 200 rushing yards on only six occasions with two of those coming in the postseason and both at the hand of perennial power Northwest Missouri. Two of the four times it has happened in the regular season has been against the Muleriders. SAU held the potent HU ground game to 184 yards in Searcy in 2018 and to just 127 yards in 2012; a GAC-era low for the Bisons.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS VS. HU
>>> The last time these two teams met it was one-sided as the Bisons added 21 points to 10-0 halftime lead to end SAU's Division II-best 17-game home winning streak that dated back to the 2015 season. The Muleriders' historic streak started following a loss to the Bisons that season.
>>> Multiple lightning delays on Saturday pushed what was scheduled to be an ESPN3 broadcast of the NCAA's DII Football Showcase in 2018 to Sunday. The next day, the Muleriders overcame a slow start, used an impressive third quarter and turned a forced fumble into six points as Southern Arkansas beat the Bisons in Searcy for the first time since 2003. It also marked the highest ranked opponent defeated by SAU in the program's NCAA Era (1995-96).
>>> The only neutral site matchup in the series which dates back to 1925 took place in the 2012 Murphy USA Classic which ended up being a thriller as the Bisons won 23-20 on a field goal as time expired.