November 14th, 2024 7:00am
It’s Rivalry Week in the Great American Conference, a week that always produces some spiciness across the footprint of the league. This year is no different, as we have the potential for spoilage in Arkadelphia and Searcy and the opportunity to finish strong in other matchups.
First up, the players of the week from week 10 in the GAC.
Offensive Player of the Week- Judd Barton, QB, Southern Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Week- Clark Griffin, LB, Harding
Special Teams Player of the Week- Axel Robertson, K/P, Henderson State
Game of the Week: No. 12 Ouachita Baptist (9-1) at Henderson State (8-2)
The Battle of the Ravine, edition No. 97, should be another great one. Henderson State hasn’t won one at Carpenter Haygood Stadium since 2012, so that’s a streak the Reddies would love to end on Saturday. They’d also love nothing more than to defeat their rival and sit them down at home for the playoffs. The Reddies don’t really have a shot at making the playoffs themselves this year, but playing spoiler and ending the year 9-2 would be quite the consolation prize.
I think this one comes down to who can run the ball more effectively. The Tigers have had a few good weeks in a row on the ground offensively and have done a great job on defense against the run, holding opponents to just 92 yards per game and 2.5 yards per carry. Henderson State has been middle of the road in both all year, but certainly boast the personnel on both sides of the ball to match the Tigers’ prowess in this area. I’d lean toward Ouachita in this particular area, though.
The passing game is going to be interesting. Both defenses are excellent against the pass, ranking top-five in the GAC in pass defense, and both have picked off at least 10 passes this season. The question is, how good is the Ouachita passing game actually going to be? Injuries have plagued the Tigers at the quarterback position all year, and it’s anyone’s guess outside of the Tiger’s coaching office who will be the starter on Saturday. It truly could be any of Eli Livingston, Riley Harms or Nate Tenbarge. All three pose different challenges and different flaws. If Livingston is healthy, he’s obviously the best candidate and gives the Tigers the best chance to win. But we just don’t know where he’s at right now. The Reddies have been really good against the pass, so the uncertainty here makes me favor the Reddies.
This has been just a tremendous game the last three years, and I’d expect this year’s edition to be just as good and tight. The thing that nags me the most on this one is the Ouachita quarterback situation. I think they could win with any of them, but if it’s Tenbarge or Harms, the pressure on the defense and running game mounts considerably. The unknown scares me, so give me the Reddies at home.
Henderson State 28, Ouachita Baptist 24
Arkansas Tech (5-5) at No. 5 Harding (9-1)
The Wonder Boys put on a terrific defensive display last week, shutting out Southeastern OSU on the road. They’ll need more of that and then some if they hope to spring an upset against the Bisons. The Tech defense has been a really good unit all season long, but facing the Bisons offense is always a bit more than your standard assignment. The Bisons have played well the last few weeks after the loss at Ouachita, so I’d expect them to be able to solve the Tech defense over the course of 60 minutes.
The other side is where things always break down. The Harding defense has been its usual dominant self all season, and Tech has been wildly inconsistent on offense this year. The Wonder Boys are still just one of three teams in the league averaging over 200 yards in the air, but the ground game has the potential to break for 200 yards or 20. You just don’t really know. The prowess of the Harding defense makes it much more likely the production will be closer to 20 yards than 200. And that’s going to be an issue if the Wonder Boys have to throw more. Harding has picked off a league-high 13 passes this season.
Things were certainly questioned after the Bisons lost at Ouachita last month, but the regular season will still end with Harding on top of the GAC.
Harding 49, Arkansas 14
Southern Arkansas (8-2) at Arkansas-Monticello (4-6)
The Muleriders tried their hardest to put up style points against Northwestern last week in an effort to catch the eye of the committee. Instead, their record-setting performance wasn’t enough to even keep them in the top 10 of this week’s regional rankings. Unfortunate for the Muleriders, who are going to see another tremendous see come up short of the playoffs. One thing is certain though: if they aim for style points against the Weevils, there’s gonna be a brawl. That stuff won’t stand in a spicy rivalry game.
SAU is playing really well right now, and truly has all season. They’re moving the ball well and playing tremendous defense. I’d expect them to be able to have no issues on offense against a UAM defense that is last in rushing defense in the league. The Weevils aren’t terrible against the pass, but the Muleriders average over 250 yards per game through the air, so I don’t think there will be much resistance there, either.
UAM offensively is a bit of an enigma. Demilon Brown is certainly dynamic, and nearly brought the Weevils back to a win last week against Southern Nazarene, but the decision-making is where he can get in trouble. Add in a fierce SAU defense that has been good all year and you’ve got the recipe for a disaster if there are turnovers and bad decisions.
It’s unfortunate we won’t get to see this bunch of Muleriders prove themselves in the playoffs. They’d have a great chance to make some noise in Super Region Three. As it is, it’ll be the Weevils who bear the brunt of the SAU frustrations.
Southern Arkansas 55, Arkansas-Monticello 21
Southern Nazarene (2-8) at Oklahoma Baptist (2-8)
The Crimson Storm are finally rolling and have won back-to-back games. If not for a 54-yard game-winning field goal from East Central, it’d be three in a row. But either way, SNU is playing well and closing the year strong. This matchup has been lopsided the past four years, with the last two in favor of the Crimson Storm. With how the two teams are currently playing, there’s the possibility of a third straight win for SNU. The Bison give up over 200 yards per game on the ground and nearly 39 points per game. SNU has rushed for over 270 yards in two of the last three weeks, so that’s a number that should have the Storm salivating. The Bison have been moderately better against the pass, but I’m not sure how much SNU will actually throw if they get the ground game rolling.
Offensively, OBU has struggled to find a consistent option at quarterback this year, playing four different guys. Last week, Camden McCrary got the start, but Jason Thomason finished the game. No idea who is going to be the guy on Saturday, but none have been particularly effective, as the Bison average just 5.3 yards per attempt. SNU has been the most porous pass defense in the league, allowing 9.3 yards per attempt and a 66 percent completion percentage, so maybe there’s a chance the Bison could find success. However, OBU simply can’t run the ball, so SNU will be keyed in on limiting the opportunities through the air.
Could be a fairly even matchup, but if SNU can get the ground game going, it has the potential to snowball on the Bison.
Southern Nazarene 31, Oklahoma Baptist 17
Southeastern OSU (5-5) at East Central (4-6)
In all honestly, this might be the spiciest rivalry in the conference on the gridiron. These two schools do not like each other one bit, so this one should be interesting. The Savage Storm have dropped two in a row coming in after the shutout loss at home to Tech last week. Once again, quarterback play has been hard to come by for Southeastern. The Savage Storm are still fourth in the league in passing offense, but have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and have completed a putrid 45 percent of their passes this year. The ECU pass defense has been solid, but not spectacular this year, so there’s opportunity there. Southeastern has really done a nice job of late establishing the run game, so we’ll see if that can continue against an ECU defense giving up 210 yards on the ground per game.
The Tigers have had a positive second half of the season in large part because of the play of Sergio Kennedy, who has cut back significantly on the turnover issues he was plagued with in the first half of the season. He’s going to be a great player for several years in this league. Saturday, he’ll be facing a really good defense in Southeastern, so taking care of the ball will be key once again. You can’t help but be encouraged by him not turning the ball over last week against Harding, though. ECU has rushed for under 100 yards in three of the last five games, so it’s going to be difficult to move the ball on the Savage Storm without that at their disposal.
I’ve liked the Savage Storm’s defense all year and I think that with the run game will carry the day for Southeastern.
Southeastern OSU 27, East Central 20
Northwestern OSU (2-8) at Southwestern OSU (2-8)
Another rivalry game with schools that really can’t stand each other. At least this year both teams have wins coming into this game, unlike last year. However, Northwestern is coming in off a truly unbelievable performance last week where they managed to throw for -2 yards for the game against Southern Arkansas. And this isn’t the NFL where sack yards count against the passing numbers. I’d expect both teams to find some success on offense, as neither defense is very good at this point in the year. Quarterback Tate Robards of Southwestern has played well the last few weeks, and there were a lot of positives for the Bulldogs as a whole last week at Henderson State. Another thing to remember is Northwestern won this game, 41-0, last year. You know that will be in the minds of the SWOSU players who would love to exact some revenge on their home field. Here’s betting they will.
Southwestern OSU 28, Northwestern OSU 17