MAGNOLIA, Ark. – On the road again sings Mulerider Football as Southern Arkansas is set to travel to Russellville, Arkansas for its feud with the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, and its final night game in the Natural State. Both groups are coming off losses to the both teams out of the Ravine as the Muleriders were overcome by the #16/17 Ouachita Baptist Tigers and the Wonder Boys fell to the #20/17 Henderson State Reddies.
 
WEEK 4 MATCHUP
>>> Road test number two is on tap for Southern Arkansas after falling to #16/17 Ouachita Baptist in Magnolia in week three.
>>> The Muleriders are set for their 87th meeting with the Wonder Boys of
Arkansas Tech and the sixth meeting in Russellville, Arkansas since the two became charter members of the Great American Conference.
>>> Both squads enter the week four matchup after defeating a pair of Oklahoma schools and dropping to one of the two programs out of Arkadelphia.
>>> The week four matchup features two top half teams in the Great American Conference from the 2024 Preseason Coaches Poll and it includes Southern Arkansas' third opponent this season to have been ranked inside the top six of said poll. Arkansas Tech will be facing their second top-half opponent, which are both inside the top-four of the conference.
>>> Both the Muleriders and the Wonder Boys are coming off of their first loss of the season in which they each fell to one of the three teams in the league that are ranked in #16/17 Ouachita Baptist and #20/17 Henderson State.
>>> The last time these two programs clashed in Russellville, the league affair was cut short of playing a full 60 minutes as there seemed to be no safe window of opportunity to finish the game due to unruly weather. Southern Arkansas did however claim victory in the match as the team was leading by 16 6:16 to go in the fourth.
 
LAST WEEK | L, 20-25 VS OUA
>>> Last week, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers met the Muleriders at their own doorstep inside Wilkins Stadium for the first time since 2013 when Southern Arkansas defeated the Tigers 31-23 on Rip Powell Field.
>>> This time around however it was Ouachita Baptist on top in their trip to Magnolia as the Tigers escaped the extraordinary Family Day crowd with a 25-20 victory to move to 3-0.
>>> Southern Arkansas' defense made the contest manageable for a possible victory as OUA's defense kept the Muleriders offense at bay, especially on the ground. The offensive leader for SAU was junior QB Judd Barton as the Alexandria, Louisiana native accounted for 205 yards passing on his 18 completions out of his 32 attempts. The junior threw for a long of 29 and recorded one touchdown and an interception. Barton also tied for lead on the ground as he produced 32 yards rushing with 13 carries, a touchdown, and a long of 13.
>>> The Tigers, offensively, were carried by their quarterback Eli Livingston. Livingston did so on the ground with his 120 yards on 21 rushing attempts and a ground TD. The general also produced through the air with nine completions out of 18 attempts and 133 yards. He also threw for one touchdown and one interception.
>>> Barton was sacked just twice by a highly-regarded Ouachita Baptist defensive line while Livingston was taken down on four occasions in the backfield with two of those coming against senior defensive end, Dawson Scott.
 
NOTABLES: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
>>> The Muleriders enter their fifth straight poll where the American Football Coaches Association awarded Southern Arkansas votes towards being ranked.
>>> Despite the loss received versus Ouachita Baptist, the Muleriders continue to receive votes in the AFCA poll.
>>> In last week's endeavor, Southern Arkansas tied the reigning national champion Bisons of Harding's two defensive touchdowns to now be tied for league's most as well as having the fourth-most in the nation ever since DK Henderson Jr.'s fumble return for a touchdown.
>>> Southern Arkansas and its arch-rival Arkansas-Monticello still remain the only two programs in the GAC to have not lost a fumble thus far.
>>> From the offensive line, the Muleriders have allowed just 0.67 sacks per game which ranks eleventh in the country and second in the conference, behind the run-heavy Bisons from Searcy. SAU's offensive line has allowed just two sacks in the last three games.
>>> On the other side of the ball, the Muleriders are tied for the third-best team in terms of sacks forced per game for the Great American Conference. Southern Arkansas averages 2.33 forced sacks per game and has accounted for seven so far.
>>> The Muleriders look to get the ground game working again, but that will be no easy task this weekend as the Wonder Boys are 33rd nationally for rushing defense, only allowing 90.0 rushing yards per game.
>>> Jariq Scales enters week four as Mulerider Football's all-time leading rusher with 3,899 yards currently. Scales is just 101 rushing yards away from being the only Mulerider with 4,000+ rushing yards.
 
NOTABLES: ARKANSAS TECH
>>> While this is just the Muleriders second road test of 2024, Arkansas Tech is making just its second appearance at home for week four of the campaign.
>>> The Wonder Boys have not been back at Thone Stadium since defeating the Oklahoma Baptist Bison in an overtime thriller in which the kicker Christopher Baldazo nailed the walk-off field goal in OT for the 44-41 win in Russellville.
>>> Since then, ATU has been some road warriors as they traveled to Bethany, Oklahoma and dominated the Crimson Storm in a 26-6 triumph. The Wonder Boys followed that up with a trip to Arkadelphia, in which they contested the #20/17 Henderson State Reddies and led HSU 9-7 going into the halftime break.
>>> Arkansas Tech was outlasted by the Reddies however as the Wonder Boys just added on another field goal for the remainder of the game while the Henderson State ground game outran the ATU defense.  Final 27-12.
>>> Now back home the Wonder Boys are looking to defeat the Muleriders for the first time since 2017, which also came in Russellville (28-21).
>>> Arkansas Tech is second in league for its tackles for loss as a team with ten, only behind Ouachita Baptist's 12.0.
>>> The Wonder Boys' defense has ranked amongst the top of the conference as the third-best defense in terms of yards allowed per game with just 234.3 (11th nationally).
 
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS: BY THE NUMBERS
345 - the number of yards recorded on the ground the last time the Muleriders met the Wonder Boys at Thone Stadium. Jariq Scales led the effort with his 152 yards on 20 carries that also produced three touchdowns and a long of 37. Quarterback OB Jones joined the cause as well with his 110 yards on 10 carries and a solo touchdown. Kadyn Roach's first trip to R'ville saw him account for 44 yards on eight carries, also with a trip to the endzone.
4:29 - the time of the first lightning strike to occur the last time the Muleriders traveled to Russellville, Arkansas. Play resumed two hours and seven minutes following the first strike, but would be concluded at 6:55 after the second lightning strike ended the game. The Muleriders' 49-33 lead ended up being the final score in the contest, making the win Southern Arkansas' third-consecutive W versus the Wonder Boys.
81 - the number of rushing yards needed by Jariq Scales to become Mulerider Football's all-time leader in all-purpose yards. The record has been held for nearly 52 years since Cornell Williams set the landmark at 4,757 all-purpose yards. Currently, the Osceola, Arkansas descendant is sitting at 4,676 all-purpose yards and is seeking to build his already legendary resume of having the single-season and all-time rushing record.
7.0 - the number of sacks recorded by the Mulerider defense thus far. While the number ranks Southern Arkansas tied for third in the GAC, senior defensive end Dawson Scott is second in the league for total sacks with his three. Those three also are the fifteenth-most in all of NCAA DII by a single person. Scott is just one shy of OUA's Mikey Gonzalez with four sacks recorded this season (2nd nationally).