MAGNOLIA, Ark. – 11 years, 129 months, 562 weeks, 3,975 days. Ouachita Baptist for the first in over a decade is returning to Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field as the #16/17 team in the nation. Families of hundreds, no, thousands of Southern Arkansas University students are to be in attendance for a Family Day clash like this one. A clash that the last time these two programs went at it in front a Wilkins Stadium crowd, the current SAU undergrads may have been starting middle school or in the middle of their elementary days.
 
WEEK 3 MATCHUP
>>> The Muleriders and the Tigers of Ouachita Baptist match up for the game that has all of the Great American Conference watching as Southern Arkansas comes off one of the program's most-historic runs in a single season as SAU claimed the final Live United Bowl Championship title after defeating the
well-respected MIAA affiliate, Missouri Western State 43-27.
>>> Last season for the Tigers was just the seventh time since becoming charter members for the Great American Conference that the troupe had not qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
>>> Both teams enter this week three matchup much like last season's week three matchup. The Mulerider come off a pair of hard-fought wins while the Tigers dominated both Southwestern and Northwestern Oklahoma State. Nonetheless, the contest is still in high-regard as the competition to watch this weekend in the GAC.
>>> At the end of the 2023 regular season, the league had quite the unusual predicament as there was a three-way tie for second in the GAC between, Southern Arkansas, Henderson State, and Ouachita Baptist where only one of the three could qualify for the NCAA DII Playoffs. That one ended up being Henderson State due to the upset victory in the 96th Battle of the Ravine where the Reddies defeated their arch-rival 31-27 at Cliff Harris Stadium.
>>> SAU and OUA come into this battle with a chip on their shoulders as they both seek to show what they have for the remainder of the conference schedule and potentially the postseason.
 
LAST WEEK | W, 28-20 vs ECU
>>> Last week, the Muleriders faced the other Tigers of the Great American Conference from East Central.
>>> Southern Arkansas played one of the best first halves defensively and offensively on the ground as nearing halftime, SAU was up 28-2 at one point before surrendering a late field goal and touchdown to end the half.
>>> East Central claimed all momentum from that point, especially on the defensive side of the ball as the Tigers prevented Southern Arkansas from moving down the field hardly at all for the entire second half.
>>> The Mulerider defense held strong nearly the entirety of the matchup since they did allow another score until seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter with a touchdown and successful two-point conversion by the Tigers (28-20).
>>> Southern Arkansas' defense was able to hold out the remainder of the contest as well as the Mulerider offense being able to get enough first downs to close out the ballgame for a Mulerider victory.
>>> Six athletes on the defense recorded six or more tackles. Melvin Smith Jr. and Dawson Scott had quite the contest as each accounted for 6+ tackles along with Smith Jr. picking off ECU's Sergio Kennedy for 29 yards to the house and Scott recording a 13-yard sack and a pass break up.
 
NOTABLES: Southern Arkansas
>>> Mulerider Country has waited a long time for this one as it may not be the first time in over a decade that Southern Arkansas has hosted Ouachita Baptist, but it is however the first time since 2013 that the Tigers have made their way to Magnolia, Arkansas to play on Rip Powell Field in front of a packed Family Day crowd on a Saturday night.
>>> The last time Ouachita Baptist met the Muleriders at Wilkins Stadium, the majority of players on both groups either were in their final years of elementary school (1st-4th) or were in their early years of middle school (5th-8th).
>>> The Muleriders four turnovers forced this season rank 43rd among the league, but three of those come from the contest versus East Central last weekend as the SAU secondary picked off the Tigers three times.
>>> Those three interceptions are tied for the most in the Great American Conference so far as well as the 21st most in the country as Emory & Henry and Emporia State are tied with seven apiece.
>>> The Muleriders still have the second-best rushing offense behind the reigning national champions, the Harding Bisons, with Southern Arkansas averaging 229.5 rushing yards per game (T11th nationally | UAM) and has accounted for 82 rushes compared to the Bisons 135 rushes.
>>> Jariq Scales is the leading scorer for SAU as the senior out of Osceola, Arkansas is ranked 11th nationally for 11th nationally for rushing touchdowns with four (2nd GAC). The senior is also ninth nationally for scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game and ranks at the top of the Great American Conference.
 
NOTABLES: Ouachita Baptist
>>> It has been 11 years since the Tigers have stepped foot onto the Southern Arkansas University campus on a Saturday in the fall. The last time Ouachita Baptist stepped foot onto Rip Powell Field in front of an electric Wilkins Stadium, Mulerider Football came out on top 31-23.
>>> Since 2013, the Muleriders and the Tigers have only ever met in either Arkadelphia or at Memorial Stadium in El Dorado for the Murphy USA Classic.
>>> OUA is coming off their second-consecutive week where they did not allow an offensive score.
>>> Week one, the Tigers faced SWOSU in which the Bulldogs managed to record a made field goal, but that would be all they recorded as Ouachita defeated them 42-3.
>>> Week two, Ouachita Baptist nearly traveled to the Sooner State panhandle where they took on NWOSU in Alva, Oklahoma. The Rangers' lone score came on a safety. OUA ended that game 56-2.
>>>The Tigers have proven to be a very disciplined squad as they are ranked third nationally for least penalties with just seven (1st GAC).
>>> Special teams have been very successful for them as they are first in the nation in kickoff return yards per return (49.0).
>>> Ouachita Baptist's total offense and defense is among the top three of the conference as the Tigers rank second in total defense (190.5 | 4th nationally) and third in total offense (434.5 | 22nd nationally).
 
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS: BY THE NUMBERS
3,975 - the number of days since Ouachita Baptist football has stepped foot onto Rip Powell Field. Saying 11 years is already a feat of its own to see how long it has been since the Muleriders and Tigers out of Arkadelphia have thrown in Magnolia, but to see those four digits really puts into perspective of just how long this in-state rivalry has been vacant from Wilkins Stadium.
685 - the number of days since Mulerider Football has taken a loss inside Wilkins Stadium at RIP Powell Field. It has been since Head Coach Brad Smiley's inaugural season in Magnolia that Southern Arkansas has fallen in a home contest. November 5, 2022 marks the most recent Mulerider defeat as SAU dropped to Southern Nazarene 44-49 in a barn-burner of a competition. Since that day... Mulerider Football has gone 13-2 and won its first NCAA-era postseason contest.
342 - the number of days since the Muleriders have defeated a team ranked within either the American Football Coaches Association or the
D2Football.com poll. Southern Arkansas went into Arkadelphia and handed the 18th-ranked Henderson State Reddies their second loss of the season by final score of 35-34. This marked the second-consecutive season that SAU defeated HSU and the first time since 2004 that Southern Arkansas had overcome the Reddies in Arkadelphia.
6 - the number of games that Mulerider Football has won consecutively... in other words, a winning streak. This winning is currently the second-longest active winning streak in the Great American Conference. The last time that Southern Arkansas won six-consecutive ballgames was 2018 when the Muleriders beat Arkansas Tech, #7 Harding, SWOSU, NWOSU, Oklahoma Baptist, and Southern Nazarene to begin the season 6-0.