MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Southern Arkansas Football returns to action on Saturday for Family Day 2023 as the Muleriders are set to host Arkansas Tech in Week 4 action from Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

LAST WEEK
For the first time since the 2005 season, Southern Arkansas and Ouachita kicked off in primetime in Clark County and for the first quarter and a half, the longtime foes went blow-for-blow before the #5/9 Tigers carried a two-touchdown lead into the intermission and used a 17-point fourth quarter to move past the Muleriders on Saturday night inside a lively Cliff Harris Stadium. The loss is the first for SAU this season and the victory gives Ouachita its 15th consecutive Great American Conference triumph. In the 83rd meeting between the programs, the earliest date the two had ever squared up on the gridiron, it was the Muleriders (2-1, 2-1 GAC) that engineered an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took just over four minutes before junior Jariq Scales hit paydirt for the game's first and his first touchdown. Late in the second quarter, the Mulerider defense forced three straight incompletions to stop a seven-play drive with around 1:38 to play before the half, but a muffed punt at the SAU12 set the Tigers up to build its advantage back to two scores entering the break. Ouachita did just that as Kendel Givens rushed from 12 yards out on 3rd and eight with less than 50 seconds remaining. Ouachita would run 16 third-quarter plays across two and a half drives that resulted in a pair of punts and a field goal in the fourth quarter on a drive that crossed quarter breaks, but the Muleriders would manage only a 26-yard make from Nitz to draw within 11 entering the final 15 minutes. Givens would find the endzone twice in the final eight minutes as the Tigers pulled away with scoring drives obtained by the an interception and a turnover on downs.

WEEK 4 MATCHUP
>>> Week 4 in Magnolia features a pair of Natural State foes looking to enter the win column after suffering losses last Saturday. The Muleriders (2-1, 2-1 GAC) look to bounce back after being handed its first loss of the season against #5/9 Ouachita, while Arkansas Tech (0-3, 0-3 GAC) is hunting its first win of the season after nearly upsetting nationally-ranked Henderson State last weekend in Russellville. 
>>> Saturday serves as the University's Family Day. Since 2011, the Muleriders are 7-4 in such games and are 14-7 against Arkansas opposition at home. 
>>> The Wonder Boys make their first trip to Magnolia since the 2018 season. The two sides faced off in Russellville in 2019 and 2022 and met in El Dorado for the Murphy USA Classic in 2021. 
>>> Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech, longtime rivals even prior to their collective Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference days, meet on the gridiron for the 86th time and have met every year that a football season was contested since 2004. 
>>> The Wonder Boys lead the all-time series 46-35-4, but SAU has won the previous four matchups averaging 39.0 ppg in the process. Since both programs joined the GAC as charter members in 2011, SAU is 8-3 against the Wonder Boys and is unbeaten in Magnolia. 
>>> SAU's 2019 victory in Russellville marked the first win for a road team in the series since 2006. Since their first meeting as Division II opponents in 1995, the home team is 20-5 in 25 meetings which includes the Muleriders winning a neutral site matchup as the home team in 2021. 
>>> Since the first meeting of the series in 1916, SAU is 21-18-3 against the Wonder Boys in Magnolia. 
>>> The Muleriders enter the contest holding statistical rankings inside the nation's top 30 in total offense, rushing offense, first downs offense and fourth down conversion defense.
>>> Arkansas Tech is one of the most disciplined teams in the country ranking sixth nationally in fewest penalties (11) and fewest penalties per game (3.67) and ranking eighth in fewest penalty yards per game (35.3). 

NOTABLES: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
>>> Through three weeks, no team in the GAC has moved the chains more than Southern Arkansas' 76 first downs. That total ranks ninth nationally and helps aid a top 35 mark in third-down conversion percentage of 455. 
>>> The Muleriders' ground game has churched out 615 yards on the ground with an average of 205 ypg which ranks 22nd nationally. 
>>> SAU's 437.7 yards per game rank fourth in the GAC and 27th nationally.
>>> Senior quarterback OB Jones leads the league in completions per game with 22.3 which ranks 17th in Division II. Jones' total offense average of 321.3 ranks second in the GAC and is 13th nationally.
>>> The dual threat Texan has led SAU's rushing attack ranking 25th nationally with 266 yards, while junior Jariq Scales follows with 203. Jones has scored on the ground five times which ranks seventh in the country. 
>>> No defender in the GAC is averaging more pass breakups through three games than junior defense back Melvin Smith Jr.'s 1.7 which ranks 18th in DII.
>>> Junior rush end Dawson Scott ranks second in tackles for loss in the GAC at 1.8 per game. He's tied for the team-lead in tackles (18.0) with junior Gavin Roe.
>>> Twelve players have recorded at least a half tackle for loss, eight have produced at least a half sack and seven have registered a QB hurry.

NOTABLES: ARKANSAS TECH
>>> The Wonder Boys enter Week 4 winless, but only by an average of four points per game. ATU is averaging 25.3 ppg and is allowing just under 30 ppg.
>>> Tech ranks third nationally in kickoff returns behind a conference-leading and top 15 returner in Ryan Wilkerson who averages 31.2 yards per return. 
>>> ATU's Vershaud Richardson has established himself as one of the league's top pass rushers through three weeks as he ranks ninth nationally and leads the GAC in sacks per game with 1.33. He ranks 16th in the country and first in the GAC in tackles for loss per game at 2.0.
>>> Quarterback Taye Gatewood ranks 25th nationally at yards per attempt at 9.07, 32nd in yards per completion at 14.69 and holds top 50 marks nationally in passing efficiency, passing TDs and completion percentage. 
>>> Matthew Rivera and Caleb Tanis have each caught a pair of touchdown passes for ATU this fall. 
>>> Deuce Wise is the leading rusher averaging 42.6 yards per game. Tech has scored four times on the ground, but is averaging just 70 yards rushing per game.
>>> Tech is surrendering 452.3 yards of offense and 23 first downs per week.

MOST RECENT MATCHUP | 10-15-22
Grad placekicker Austin Wilkerson became the program's all-time leading scorer with his seventh extra point of the afternoon, redshirt sophomore Jariq Scales became just the 11th Mulerider to record 2,000 career rushing yards and Southern Arkansas rushed past Arkansas Tech and several patches of unruly weather to top the Wonder Boys 49-33 in the 85th meeting between the two programs on Saturday from Thone Stadium at Beurkle Field. Due to the inability to observe a safe window of opportunity to finish the game, the Great American Conference affair was called with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Muleriders leading by 16. The contest officially lasted six hours and five minutes.  The Muleriders totaled 580 yards of total offense at 7.5 yards per play. SAU was 9-of-15 on third down conversions, moved the chains on both fourth down tries and scored all six times it entered the redzone. Southern Arkansas tallied 335 yards on the ground on 44 carries with six touchdowns and added another 245 through the air on 23-of-33 passing and a score. SAU totaled 28 first downs.

SAU BY THE NUMBERS
279 -The number of rushing yards needed by junior all-purpose threat Jariq Scales in order for the Osceola, Arkansas native to become just the third rusher in program history to reach 3,000 career rushing yards. His 2,721 yards on the ground are currently the fourth-most in a Mulerider career and just 95 yards from taking over the No. 3 spot. Scales has scored 22 career rushing touchdowns and is just eight from becoming only the third back with 30 or more.
12 -The number of players that have caught a pass this season. Three players have ten or more receptions with junior Cole Williams leading with 14. DJ Wagoner follows with 11 grabs and Matthew Whitten reached ten catches last Saturday with a six-catch performance. Whitten's 168 receiving yards lead the team and he is one of three players with a touchdown catch. Six players are averaging at least ten yards per reception with Whitten and Kendall Williams each averaging 16.5 per grab.
5.59 -The combined average yards per rush of senior quarterback OB Jones and junior running back Jariq Scales. Scales averages 5.92 yards per rush, while Jones averages 5.0 yards per rush. The duo has combined for 41 career touchdowns and just under 4,000 yards rushing on the ground. This season, the play-making pair is averaging 68% of the team's carries and is responsible for 76% of the team's rushing yards.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN THE SERIES
2017 featured two teams receiving attention in the AFCA national poll. The Muleriders entered the season opener as preseason favorites in the GAC and ranked No. 22 nationally, while the Wonder Boys were receiving votes to start the season. After a scoreless first quarter, the teams were knotted at 14 at the intermission, but Tech scored the final 14 points including an 11-play, 73-yard drive that was capped with 2:54 to play. RARE ROAD WIN The 2019 game marked the first win in the series by the road team since the 2007 season, a span of 11 meetings, when the Muleriders topped ATU in a shootout 56-49. That 2007 game saw a combined 1,114 yards of total offense, 58 first downs in 176 plays and an average yards per play of 6.3. Neither team led by more than seven points throughout the contest which concluded with Tony McDonald scoring from eight yards out to cap an 8-play, 70-yard drive with 1:14 remaining and the Muleriders stopping the Wonder Boys at the SAU3 with no time left. '99 LEAGUE TITLE ON THE LINE In 1999, Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech played in one of the more high-stakes affairs the series has ever seen. Both teams entered that November 13 tilt 7-1 in Gulf South Conference play with the conference crown on the line. With just under 11 minutes to play, SAU led 17-7, but at the 3:43 mark the Wonder Boys scored to tie the game and eventually went on to win 20-17 in overtime.