MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Week 2 of the Great American Conference slate sends Southern Arkansas Football across state lines and into the Sooner State for a 6 p.m. kickoff in Weatherford, Oklahoma against Southwestern Oklahoma State. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
The Muleriders, under first-year head coach Brad Smiley, moved into the win column with a big 62-31 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State in Week 1. The points scored are a program record for a season opener and the victory is the 17^th in season openers as an NCAA member. Southwestern Oklahoma State dropped its opener on the road in Arkadelphia 30-13 to Henderson State. Special teams accounted for all 13 of the Bulldogs' points in the loss.
 
Southern Arkansas crosses into Oklahoma and carries a 9-1 series record against SWOSU into Saturday night's 11^th meeting all-time. All of the previous ten matchups have come in GAC action and the only defeat of the Muleriders was a 27-24 decision in Weatherford in 2014. SAU makes its first trip to SWOSU since the 2018 season when it won 36-12, but the three meetings prior to that one saw each game decided by an average of five points. The Muleriders hold a 7-3 record in GAC road openers since 2011.
 
In its season opening victory, Southern Arkansas totaled 625 yards of offense at an impressive 8.2 yards per play. Nearly 400 yards came on the ground as five players rushed for over 40 yards with four finding the endzone. Redshirt sophomore Jariq Scales scored twice as he led with 89 rushing yards. Sophomores Jonathan Lewis and Kadyn Roach combined for 150 yards on the ground and each found the endzone.
 
Junior quarterback OB Jones completed ten of his 16 passes for 216 yards and four touchdowns as he connected with seven different receivers in the win. Sophomore Cole Williams caught four passes for 49 yards and a score, while grad Micah Small's 96 yards came on three catches with two going for six. Junior Dekendrick Bender hauled in two passes for 46 yards and a touchdown.
 
Seven of SAU's nine scoring drives took less than 2:40 and five found six in under two minutes. The SAU defense forced six punts, three three-and-outs, and a pair of turnover on downs, while holding the Rangers to a 4-for-13 success rate on third down.
 
Nine defenders recorded at least four stops in the win. Sophomore linebackers Gavin Roe and Rayvon Ingram each delivered with seven. Southern Arkansas applied pressure throughout and ended with eight tackles for loss with four registered as sacks. Henderson State managed six sacks and a dozen tackles for loss against the Bulldogs last week.
 
SWOSU used two field goals (25, 35) from Jaren Van Winkle and a punt return TD by Jalen Lampley to account for its scoring in the opener. The Bulldog offense totaled 288 yards of offense in 85 plays and managed just 66 yards on the ground in 46 attempts. SWOSU did not turn the football over and were 7-of-23 on third-down conversions.
 
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY FOR RIP POWELL'S TITLE-WINNING 'RIDERS
When you talk about the most dominant teams in program history, the 1972 Muleriders are at the top of the conversation. Legendary head coach Raymond "Rip" Powell led that year's squad to an 8-2 record overall and a share of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Title.
 
25 YEARS LATER, SAU'S GSC TITLE TEAM STILL PROGRAM'S NCAA STANDARD
Twenty-five years ago, the 1997 Muleriders laid claim to the program's first and since only league championship as an NCAA program. Southern Arkansas went 9-2 overall, the most wins for the program in a single season since 1971 and earned a share of the Gulf South Conference title; the program's first since winning the AIC crown in '72.
 
100 YEARS OF THE MULERIDERS
In 1922, the Third District Agricultural School, now SAU, officially adopted "Muleriders" as the official mascot a decade after the moniker was first mentioned by G.R. Turrentine, the program's first head coach, following his team's Thanksgiving Day game in 1912. Throughout the 2022-23 athletic year, Mulerider Athletics will celebrate its rich history which has come under one of the most unique mascots in all of sports.