MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Southern Arkansas Football welcomes in Oklahoma Baptist for a Week 6 tilt as SAU celebrates the University's 108th Homecoming. Both squads find themselves thick in the Great American Conference standings with the Muleriders aiming to build off of a Week 5 win, while Oklahoma Baptist looks to bounce back and earn win No. 4. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. from Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

LAST WEEK
Behind an incredible dual threat effort from senior quarterback OB Jones and a second half defense that limited the nation's second-best rushing attack to just 122 total yards of offense and no points over the final two quarters, Southern Arkansas earned a 28-21 Great American Conference road win over Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon from SNU Football Stadium in Bethany, Oklahoma. The Muleriders (4-1, 4-1 GAC) received a program first in the GAC Era from Jones who became the third player (Josh SanFilippo, Damian Melancon) in SAU's NCAA Era (review pending on all-time program list) to throw four touchdown passes and rush for 100 yards in a single game. At first glance, he is just the second in league history to post that stat line, joining Saturday's opposing signal caller Gage Porter who did it in 2022. Jones connected with grad transfer DJ Wagoner (Q1; 25 yards), junior Matthew Whitten (Q2; 17 yards), junior Seth Johnson (Q3; 20 yards) and sophomore D'evin McDonald (4Q; 3 yards), while carrying 21 times for a career-high 137 yards. It marked Jones' second four-touchdown passing day as a Mulerider and his third career game to cross over the century mark in rushing. Southern Nazarene (3-2, 3-2 GAC) entered the Week 5 matchup averaging 295.0 yards rushing as the nation's 11th-highest total offense. After surrendering 21 first half points behind 216 total yards and 13 first downs, the Muleriders held SNU to just four first downs, 26 yards rushing and 96 yards through the air in the third and fourth quarters combined. Southern Arkansas limited seventh-year sensation Gage Porter to season lows in rushing (59 yards) and carries (10), while forcing a season-high in passing attempts (26). His three touchdown passes all came in the first half, while his lone interception found SAU's Zay Woods on the potential game-tying drive to seal the win for the Muleriders. Woods led the SAU defense with eight tackles of which six were solo stops to go along with a tackle for loss. DK Henderson and Hosea Singleton followed Woods in tackling with six stops each.

WEEK 6 MATCHUP
>>> The 108th Homecoming celebration is on tap for Southern Arkansas in Week 6 as the Muleriders welcome in Oklahoma Baptist in the eighth meeting all-time between the two programs. 
>>> Southern Arkansas eyes its fifth win through six games for the first time since 2019. 
>>> SAU saw a 12-game homecoming game win streak snapped in 2021 and lost its second straight such game last season as ECU slipped by the Muleriders.
>>> The Muleriders lead the series 6-1 and are 3-1 against the Bison in Magnolia with OBU's lone win in the series coming in a Week 9 shootout that went the way of the Bison 44-40. The last two meetings in Magnolia have been decided by a combined six points. 
>>> SAU is 38-13 inside Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field since 2011. Against league opposition from the Sooner State, SAU is 25-5 at home against such foes in that same span. The Muleriders won 23 consecutive games against Oklahoma opponents from 2012 to 2021. Including a Homecoming loss to SOSU in 2021, the Muleriders are 2-4 against Oklahoma opposition at home. 
>>> Oklahoma Baptist enters as the top team in Oklahoma owning in-state victories over Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central. 
>>> The two losses suffered by the Bison have come at the hands of nationally-ranked opposition: a 39-point defeat at #12/13 Harding in Week 2 and a 27-14 loss at home to #24 Henderson State in Week 5.

NOTABLES: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
>>> The Muleriders enter October with a top 20 offense in Division II. SAU ranks 18th nationally in total offense at 445.0 yards per game behind the seventh-best rushing attack in the country which pounds out just north of 250 ypg. 
>>> SAU' 123 first downs this season are the eighth-most nationally. Of the more than ten dozen chain-moving plays, 69 have come on the ground.
>>> The rushing offense is spearheaded by senior quarterback OB Jones who leads with 487 yards on 86 carries, while junior running back Jariq Scales follows with 74 attempts totaling 465 yards at 6.3 yards per carry. Both players rank inside the top 21 in Division II in rushing yards per game and inside the top 17 nationally in total rushing yards. SAU is one of two DII schools (Tiffin) to have two players with 400 or more rushing yards and the only school with both players inside the top 20.
>>> On the other side of the football, the turnaround from a season ago has been the most notable as the Muleriders carry a top 50 defensive unit into the middle portion of a campaign highlighted by a stingy run defense (103.2 ypg) which ranks inside Division II's top 40. 
>>> The Muleriders have had no issue getting to the quarterback as they rank second in the GAC in sacks (15) and 19th in the country in sacks per game (3.0). Junior Dawson Scott leads the unit with 4.5 (34), while fellow trench associates Hunter Hewitt and Elvin Calhoun follow with 2.0 each.
>>> SAU has totaled 36.0 tackles for loss with a lost yardage total of 162. Scott has recorded 7.0, Hewitt follows with 4.5 and Melvin Smith Jr. adds 4.0. Fourteen other defenders have recorded at least a half tackle for loss. 

NOTABLES: OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
>>> The Bison enter as one of the more disciplined teams in the country ranking inside the nation's top 25 in fewest penalties (26) and fewest penalties per game (5.2).
>>> Oklahoma Baptist is averaging just over 21 points per game and has crossed over the 23-point mark just once this season. Defensively, OBU is holding opponents to just 23.0 points per game; the fifth-best mark in the GAC.
>>> OBU's third-down conversion rate sits at 29.1% with SAU converting at a clip of 44.6% on third downs. 
>>> EJ Moore leads the ground game with 391 yards on 83 carries. Michael Marshall is the top pass catcher with 364 yards on 26 grabs and he is one of four Bison receivers with two touchdown catches. 
>>> Four Bison have attempted a pass this season. OBU looks to be without Aidan Thompson (93-162-3; 980, 9) on Saturday, but will turn to a rotation of Camden McCrary and Kenny Rosenthal (ten attempts combined).
>>> OBU will carry a top three passing defense in the GAC to Magnolia which allows 162 yards through the air. That total ranks inside the top 35 in DII. 
>>> The Bison have held four of their opponents under 175 yards passing and are coming off of a performance that held Henderson State under 300 total yards of offense.
>>> Like the Muleriders, the Bison have recorded 15 sacks this season to rank inside the nation's top 20 in the category. Brett Karhu leads with 5.0, while two others follow with 2.0 each. Karhu is also tops in QBH with four. 
>>> Scooter Baker ranks third in the GAC with a top 20 mark nationally in tackles per game at 8.8. Three Bison have recorded 30 or more stops this season paced by Baker's 43.0. 

SAU BY THE NUMBERS
133- The number of all-purpose yards needed by standout junior Jariq Scales to become just the ninth player in program history to reach 3,500 all-purpose yards. The Osceola native is even closer to another career milestone as he enters Week 6 of the season needing just 17 yards to become the third Mulerider running back to reach 3,000 in a career. Fifty-two (52) yards on Saturday and Scales moves into second place on the all-time rushing list passing hall of fame back Mark Mason who totaled 3,034 rushing yards from 1985-88.
10- The national ranking of junior cornerback Melvin Smith Jr.'s 1.6 passes defended per game. He leads the GAC in the statistic with eight. Fellow back end defender Zay Woods, the GAC's reigning defensive player of the week, follows with five passes defended which includes a team-leading two interceptions. On Saturday, Oklahoma Baptist will employ Tainique Taylor who has recorded seven breakups and an interception this season to tie Smith Jr. in the national statistic. 
3- The number of Mulerider quarterbacks since 2000 to record four passing touchdowns and rush for 100 yards in a single game. Senior quarterback OB Jones became the program's first in the GAC Era and only the second league quarterback to do it following his effort against SNU. Jones is the first since Josh SanFilippo threw for four scores and ran for 115 yards on 11 carries in a 52-21 win at Arkansas-Monticello on October 1, 2005. Three years earlier, Damian Melancon connected on four passing touchdowns and added 109 yards on 23 carries as SAU beat Ouachita 50-47 (4 OT) in Arkadelphia on October 26, 2002.

MOST RECENT MATCHUP | 10-29-22
Junior quarterback OB Jones scored a trio of rushing touchdowns, was an efficient 17-of-19 passing for 247 yards and a touchdown and Southern Arkansas took care of business against Oklahoma Baptist on Bison Hill as the Week 9 Great American Conference matchup went the way of the Muleriders in a 52-20 decision. Jones accounted for 259 of the Muleriders' 551 yards of total offense as he again used a near perfect marriage of an accurate left arm and timely scrambling ability to send Southern Arkansas to its fourth win of the season following its second 50+ point outburst of the fall. It was a windy, dreary day but the elements were not an issue for the Muleriders. Southern Arkansas tossed for 246 yards as just two of the team's 20 attempts fell incomplete. Jones completed passes of 38 and 19 yards into the wind on SAU's second drive of the game. Kadyn Roach hauled in the first pass and D'evin McDonald was on the receiving end of the near 20 yard grab. Those two completions led to a 20-yard field goal by Austin Wilkerson to put SAU on the board in the first quarter. The make tied the game at 3 after the Mulerider defense forced a FGA from an OBU drive start on the SAU20. The Bison were held to just a yard on three plays in the gifted red zone opportunity. Southern Arkansas held Oklahoma Baptist under 100 yards rushing in the first half and under 125 for the game. OBU's all-purpose standout Keilahn Harris caught ten passes, five in each half, for 76 yards and score, which came late with the game out of hand. Harris was defended extremely well by the Mulerider secondary which included the blanketing efforts of Melvin Smith Jr. who had four pass breakups on the afternoon. Giovanni Zaso snagged an INT after a tremendous pass rush forced a frantic throw from OBU's Seth Streeter and Prince Udenze secured an INT after Jeremiah Postell laid a heavy hit on an intended receiver to pop the football loose and into the arms of Udenze.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN THE SERIES
BISON RALLY LATE For the first time in six meetings, Oklahoma Baptist got the better of the Muleriders. Southern Arkansas led 24-21 at halftime of the 2021 meeting and carried a 34-24 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Bison scored 20 of the game's final 26 points as an interception and a turnover on downs thwarted the Muleriders on their final two drives of the afternoon. WILKERSON DELIVERS In the 2019 matchup, Southern Arkansas traveled 56 yards in a mere 28 seconds to set the stage for a career-long attempt from sophomore place kicker Austin Wilkerson who rewarded the Mulerider faithful by sneaking in a career long 48-yard field goal attempt into a slight south wind as time expired to give the Muleriders a thrilling 30-28 victory over the Bison. The win pushed SAU's Division II-best home winning streak to 17 games and it was also the 200th win all time inside Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field. HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE In the 2018 game, dubbed the "Shootout in Shawnee," Southern Arkansas outlasted Oklahoma Baptist 55-45 in a game that saw a combined 1,165 yards of total offense and two different Muleriders find the endzone three times.