November 18th, 2024 7:00am
The 2024 season is all wrapped up in the Great American Conference. We’re off to the playoffs first, but we’ll have a full season wrap up in the weeks ahead.
First up, congratulations to Ouachita Baptist and Harding for punching their ticket to the postseason. It’s the second straight year the GAC has put two teams in the playoffs, which is a great thing for the league. Hopefully both schools will be able to make some noise this year.
The Tigers go on the road to face No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma while the Bisons will be in Pittsburg to take on No. 3 seed Pitt State. Both should be great matchups and we’ll preview those later this week.
Now, on to the recaps from rivalry week.
Ouachita Baptist 27, Henderson State 20
OUA- Give credit to the Tigers. Lots of uncertainty has swirled around them since the loss to SNU, but they went across the street and got the job done on Saturday. The Tigers never trailed, ran the ball effectively and held the Henderson ground game in check all day. Ouachita intercepted Andrew Edwards on the goal line on the first drive of the third quarter and while the ensuing drive ended in a goal line stand for the Reddies, preventing Henderson State from taking a lead proved to be huge in the grand scheme of the game. Eventually, the offense broke through, scoring on their last three drives to clinch a share of the GAC crown and grab a playoff spot. Massive win for Ouachita is so many different ways.
HSU- The Reddies never got both sides of the ball to be in sync. The defense was great in the first half, not so much the second half and vice versa for the offense. The Reddies never let the Tigers out of their sights, but just couldn’t do enough. The main issue was an inability to run the ball. That forced Andrew Edwards to throw 40 passes to generate offensive production. The Reddies moved the ball well in the second half, but couldn’t past the Ouachita 37-yard line on the final drive as Edwards tossed four straight incompletions to end the game.
Southern Nazarene 49, Oklahoma Baptist 21
SNU- What a finish to the year for SNU. The Crimson Storm won their last three and were a 54-yard field goal by East Central away from winning their last four. Saturday was the third straight blowout of their rival, the second straight that wasn’t quite expected. This one was tied at 14 with eight minutes to go in the second quarter. SNU then scored touchdowns on five of their next seven possessions while the Bison offense floundered. SNU rolled up nearly 500 yards on 7.5 yards per play, and had three touchdowns through the air. Such a strong finish to the year for the Crimson Storm, who goes into the offseason with a lot of momentum. If you look back, SNU wasn’t very far off from being 6-5 again, this time without Gage Porter.
OBU- Another rough year on Bison Hill. OBU was able to move the ball pretty well against SNU on Saturday, particularly in the first half, but just couldn’t punch it in the end zone enough. OBU gained just 108 yards in the second half before a season-closing 99-yard march for the final score of the season. Jason Thomason played pretty well, but threw two fourth quarter interceptions. Overall, quarterback play was a big reason for the Bison’s struggles this year. Rotating in four quarterbacks over the course of the season isn’t a path to success. Nor is a defense giving up over 200 yards per game on the ground. We’ll see how OBU bounces back next year.
East Central 20, Southeastern OSU 13
ECU- Really nice win to close out the year for East Central. A 17-point third quarter proved to be the difference in a game that was light on the offense and heavy on the defense. The Tigers held Southeastern to just 180 yards and 2.5 yards per play. Three sacks were also big to keep the Savage Storm at bay. The pass rush/defense was particularly good, as the Tigers racked up three sacks, picked off two passes and held the Savage Storm to just 64 yards and just under 40 percent completion percentage.
SEOSU- The Savage Storm end the year on a three-game losing streak, a disappointing finish to an otherwise solid season. The defense definitely played well enough to win in Ada, but the offense just couldn’t do enough to put points on the board. The Savage Storm punted 11 times in the ball game, with six of those possessions going three-and-out. The key stretch was four straight punts followed by an interception in the third quarter while the Tigers were busy putting up 17 points. There’s lots of reason to be excited for the future, but the quarterback position must be solidified in 2025.
Southern Arkansas 54, Arkansas-Monticello 22
SAU- Let’s get it out of the way and reiterate how much of a shame it is the Muleriders won’t be playing in the postseason. SAU has been a great team all year, fell in the two most important games of the season, and now has to stay at home or go to another bowl game. Let’s not lose sight of the fact the Muleriders had a terrific year and are a great team. Brad Smiley has it rolling in Magnolia right now. Saturday, SAU jumped out to a big lead, weathered a mini-comeback from the Weevils and then put the game away early in the fourth quarter. SAU put up 501 yards, 342 on the ground, and forced three turnovers and had four sacks. It was another well-rounded performance for one of the GAC’s best. A total bummer the regionalization model cost them a shot at the postseason.
UAM- The final game of Demilon Brown’s storied career. Brown rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing for 76 yards. A bummer injuries robbed us of seeing him more these past two years, but it’s good he was able to finish his last season healthy. Ultimately, the Weevils couldn’t get stops, neither on Saturday or across the season in general. With quite a few key guys graduating this year, it will be interesting to see where UAM is going to be in 2025. Right now, they’re stuck in the middle with no clear way to move up.
Harding 57, Arkansas Tech 27
HU- The Bisons made quick work of the Wonder Boys, jumping to a 43-0 lead before halftime and resting the starters for the second half. The Bisons averaged 7.7 yards per carry en route to a 498-yard performance against a solid Tech defense. Now the real fun begins for the defending national champions. Since the loss to Ouachita, Harding has looked the part once again, but when the game is on the line, will they be able to rise to the occasion as they did a year ago? We’re going to find out.
Tech- 34 yards rushing for the Wonder Boys in this one. Once again, Tech’s inability to run the ball spelled doom. Ethan Everson was solid, tossing three touchdown passing, but all of them came after Tech was already down 43-0. The Wonder Boys never threatened in this one, as the offense accounted for three punts, an interception and a safety in the first five possessions of the game. Halfway through the year, Tech was sitting at 4-2, and the school’s first winning season since 2017 seemed imminent. Instead, it’ll have to wait til 2025.
Southwestern OSU 50, Northwestern OSU 0
SWOSU- I said in the preview column I bet SWOSU remembers the 41-0 loss at the end of the year last year to Northwestern. I’d say that assumption was correct. The Bulldogs jumped on the Rangers early, leading 14-0 after the first quarter. They then rolled up 36 points in the second half, including a rub-your-face-in-it touchdown pass with 48 seconds left. Tate Robards was magnificent, throwing three touchdowns and rushing for two more. SWOSU picked off Brodey Johnson three times and sacked him twice. They also held the Rangers to 1-of-13 on third down. A very positive end to an overall positive first year for coach Andrew Rice. Let’s see how the Bulldogs continue to build.
NWOSU- At least the Rangers won two games this year instead of one. And let’s be real, based on how the seasons turned out, we all know they wouldn’t have beaten SNU if that game was played week eight instead of week three. That said, I’m not sure how many positive forward steps the program took this year. The defense might’ve been a bit better, but the offense certainly wasn’t. Anytime you THROW for negative yardage in a game, you don’t get to claim improvement. Saturday, the Rangers were shut out and turned the ball over four times while surrendering over 400 yards of offense. They also committed 14 penalties, which is never going to help you win. Another tough year for the Rangers and we’ll see what they’re able to do in the offseason.
This week: 4-2
Overall this season: 50-16