December 11th, 2024 8:00am
The 2024 season is in the books, culminating with the Harding Bisons falling at Ferris State on Saturday, 41-7. It was another exciting year of football across the GAC landscape, as the Bisons made at least the third round of the playoffs for the second year in a row and Ouachita Baptist put up a strong performance in their playoff matchup against Central Oklahoma.
Just a reminder, here is how things were stacked up in the preseason, as well as how things turned out at the end of the year.
GAC Preseason Coaches Poll | D2Football.com Preseason Poll | Final Standings |
1. Harding | 1. Harding | 1. Ouachita Baptist |
2. Ouachita Baptist | 2. Ouachita Baptist | 1. Harding |
3. Southern Arkansas | 3. Henderson State | 3. Southern Arkansas |
4. Henderson State | 4. Southern Arkansas | 4. Henderson State |
5. Southeastern OSU | 5. Oklahoma Baptist | 5. Arkansas Tech |
6. Arkansas Tech | 6. Southeastern OSU | 6. East Central |
7. Oklahoma Baptist | 7. Southern Nazarene | 7. Southeastern OSU |
8. Arkansas-Monticello | 8. Arkansas Tech | 8. Arkansas-Monticello |
9. East Central | 9. East Central | 9. Southern Nazarene |
10. Southern Nazarene | 10. Arkansas-Monticello | 10. Southwestern OSU |
11. Southwestern OSU | 11. Northwestern OSU | 11. Northwestern OSU |
12. Northwestern OSU | 12. Southwestern OSU | 12. Oklahoma Baptist |
Let’s take a look at each team. Grades have been assigned relative to the team’s performance vs. expectations and not based on other teams in the league.
Harding- 12-2 overall, lost in Super Region Three final
Midseason grade: A+
Final grade: A
The Bisons were obviously disappointed they weren’t able to repeat as national champions, but in no way was this season a failure. I think based on how Saturday went against Ferris State, it might not have mattered if Harding was playing in Michigan or Searcy. So the loss to Ouachita in the regular season doesn’t ding the Bisons’ final grade that much. Going undefeated would have given Harding home field advantage throughout the postseason, but again, not sure if that would’ve been a 34-point swing against the Bulldogs. Regardless, the Bisons have established themselves as a national power. With much of the offense coming back once again next year, I’d expect the machine to roll on. The defense will need to replace some key pieces, but over the years, Harding has ranged from very good to dominant on defense, so I wouldn’t expect much of a step back at all. Count on the Bisons atop the GAC poll next August.
Ouachita Baptist- 10-2, lost in first round of playoffs
Midseason grade: A-
Final grade: B+
The Tigers had a great year, beating Harding and claiming a share of the conference title. The loss to Southern Nazarene was inexplicable and cost the Tigers home field in the playoffs. While the final record was pretty, the road to get there wasn't the prettiest, particularly because of issues at the quarterback position. Those will have to get corrected in 2025 for the Tigers to reach their full potential. They’ll also have to replace a lot of standouts on defense, so next year will be an interesting one for Ouachita. 2024 was a really good year, but was quite close to being one to remember. And that’s gonna sting a bit.
Southern Arkansas- 9-2
Midseason grade: B+
Final grade: A
The Muleriders were really good this year, but came up short in their two biggest games of the season. Ultimately, the silo scheduling of the GAC did SAU in. Without its only other win of note against Henderson State, there wasn’t enough there to vault the Muleriders into the playoffs. It’s really disappointing we didn’t get to see either of these past two SAU teams make some noise nationally, but such is the reality in the regionalization model we all hate. Even without the satisfaction of playoffs, the Muleriders should be really proud of all they accomplished this year. It appears Brad Smiley has the program rolling and I’d expect the Muleriders to be contenders again next year as well.
Henderson State- 8-3
Midseason grade: B+
Final grade: B
The Reddies were solid this year, but lost to the other teams in the GAC with winning records, so it’s hard to gauge just how good. Andrew Edwards was awesome this year, but not enough guys raised their play to his level to make the Reddies a true threat in the GAC. Give credit to coach Greg Holsworth, who inherited the program in the middle of the offseason and produced a great first year. It will be interesting to see what changes are implemented in his first offseason in control of the ship in Arkadelphia.
Southeastern OSU- 5-6
Midseason grade: B-
Final grade: C
The Savage Storm had a great first half of the year, but stumbled down the stretch, dropping their final three games. In that stretch, the offense averaged just nine points per game, which underscored the biggest problem for SEOSU this year. The quarterback position was never particularly settled between Luke Hohenberger and Cergio Perez, which stifled any growth the unit could experience over the course of the year. The defense was solid all season and showed a lot of progress. But the offense held Southeastern back this year.
East Central- 5-6
Midseason grade: D+
Final grade: B-
The Tigers were dreadful in the first half of the year. Then quarterback Sergio Kennedy quit turning the ball over and things got better very quickly. ECU finished the year winning four of their last five games and in the one loss, held Harding to their lowest point total in a win this year. Kennedy is going to be a really good player for the Tigers and their are younger pieces all around him that can grow up with him. The defense will lose some important players that will need to be replaced, but there are certainly some encouraging signs in Ada.
Arkansas Tech- 5-6
Midseason grade: B
Final grade: C-
Man, everything was looking so good for the Wonder Boys at the midway point of the season. A season after winning five of their last seven, Tech ended 2024 losing four of their last five. The program’s first winning season since 2017 will have to be orchestrated by another head coach, as Kyle Shipp tendered his resignation last week. The biggest hindrance for the Wonder Boys this year was a poor offensive line that prevented a consistent run game from developing. Rotating quarterbacks didn’t help, but Tech still had a top passing offense in the league, so that wasn’t the biggest issue. It’s a bummer because the Tech defense was really good this year, and you hate to see that sort of performance wasted to the point a coach loses their job. New coach Roy Thompson, hired from his defensive coordinator role at Ouachita Baptist, will have his work cut out for him.
Arkansas-Monticello- 4-7
Midseason grade: D
Final grade: C-
Credit to the Weevils. UAM dropped four in a row after going 2-0 to start the year. It appeared the long slide had started. But the Weevils bounced back and won two games in the back half of the year. Was it a great year? Not by a long shot, but it didn’t devolve into disaster like it has the past two seasons. However, the main issue still exists: the Weevils are stuck in the middle-to-lower third of the conference with no clear path to move up. If UAM is satisfied with that, fine. But I can’t imagine any competitor worth a darn that’s OK with mediocrity.
Southern Nazarene- 3-8
Midseason grade: F
Final grade: C
Things finally clicked for the Crimson Storm in the seventh game of the season against East Central. SNU lost that game on a walk off 54-yard field goal, but the Crimson Storm had finally found their offense. They then went on the road to Ouachita Baptist and shocked the nation with an 18-17 win. Three wins in a row to finish the year is a great momentum burst for the Storm going into the offseason. The defense should be good again next year, but the offense will have to replace most of the offensive line and skill position guys. If SNU can start the year faster next year, they’ve got a good shot to end the year in the upper half of the league.
Southwestern OSU- 3-8
Midseason grade: B-
Final Grade: C
Overall, it was a positive first season for coach Andrew Rice and the Bulldogs. Now, the key will be building on the successes of this year, of which there were surprisingly many given how low the program was after a winless 2023 season. Now is when we’ll see Rice tap into his ties to Oklahoma high schools and get some wins on the recruiting trail. There’s no reason Southwestern shouldn’t have a solid football program, given it’s popularity as an affordable public school and the increasing talent coming out of Oklahoma high school programs. We’ll see if Rice is the guy to bring the Bulldogs back up to respectability.
Northwestern OSU- 2-9
Midseason grade: D+
Final grade: D-
I mean, at least the Rangers won two games this year instead of just one? But it wasn’t particularly pretty and I’m not sure NWOSU gave any signs of forward progress across the board. After all, they did finish a game with -2 passing yards this year…Maybe Ronnie Jones can pick things up, but there’s still a long way to go in Alva.
Oklahoma Baptist- 2-9
Midseason grade: D
Final grade: F
Not really sure what to think of the OBU program right now. One thing’s for sure: the Bison caught lightning in a bottle with the offenses of 2019 and 2021. Their current status couldn’t be farther from the successes of those teams. And the worrisome part is there are problems everywhere. For one reason or another, OBU played four quarterbacks and couldn’t run the ball a lick. The defense was a sieve after graduating nearly the entire defensive line from a year ago. The past three years have gone 1-10, 6-5, 2-9 without the stars that graduated after the 2021 season. It’s clear the 1-10 2022 season wasn’t just a blip. It will be a very interesting offseason in Shawnee.