October 17th, 2024 10:00am
It’s the biggest week of the year in the Great American Conference. Two matchups with all four teams at minimum receiving votes in top-25 polls this week. It should be a great day and the best part is, you’ll be able to watch both Southern Arkansas vs. Henderson State and Harding at Ouachita Baptist without issues as they’re not taking place at the same time.
We’ll break those two games down thoroughly, along with the other four games on the schedule, but before we do that, let’s look at this week’s players of the week.
Offensive Player of the Week- Judd Barton, QB, Southern Arkansas, Jr., Alexandria, Louisiana
Barton accounted for five touchdowns in SAU’s 65-10 road win against Oklahoma Baptist. He completed 19-of-25 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns. He added 75 rushing yards and three scores. The 65 points represent the most in a game for the Muleriders since 2014.
Defensive Player of the Week- Ty Dugger, DB, Harding, Jr., Searcy, Arkansas
For the second time this year, Dugger returned an interception for a touchdown as he ran back a first-quarter pass 83 yards for a score in a 62-0 win against Northwestern Oklahoma State. He became the fourth player in school history with multiple INT returns for touchdowns in one season. He added 1.5 tackles-for-loss as Harding earned its third shutout of the season.
Special Teams Player of the Week- Dax Jaggers, K, Ouachita Baptist, Jr., Bethany, Oklahoma
Jaggers converted a pair of field goals in the Tigers’ 40-0 home victory against East Central. Early in the second quarter, he made a 49-yard try. In the waning seconds of the first half, he drilled a 60-yard effort with a school-record kick. It ranks as the second-longest field goal in league history. He accounted for 10 of Ouachita’s 40 points in the win.
Game of the Week No. 1- Southern Arkansas (5-1) vs. No. 25 Henderson State (5-1) Game taking place in El Dorado, AR
You might be thinking, isn’t the bigger game in Arkadelphia? Well, about that. I don’t think so. But we’ll get to that in a minute. In my humble opinion, the better, more exciting game is going to be in El Dorado between the Muleriders and the Reddies. First, I think these teams are more evenly matched and second, this is a playoff elimination game. Both already have a loss, but both also still face one of the Harding/Ouachita duo, so a win here keeps the winner’s playoff hopes alive. So for those reasons, I think this is a bigger, better game this week.
I think the most delicious matchup in this one is the SAU secondary against HSU quarterback Andrew Edwards. The Muleriders are deep and talented in the defensive backfield and have a legitimate NFL prospect in Melvin Smith. Also, SAU has racked up 10 interceptions, returning three of those for touchdowns. Andrew Edwards has thrown 15 touchdowns this season and over 1,300 yards through six games while not having a real standout at wide receiver. It’s a great matchup that will also be determined by how the Henderson offensive line protects Edwards. The Muleriders have picked up 14 sacks this year and defensive end Dawson Scott is making a case for Defensive Player of the Year with 6.5 of those. So keep an eye on the HSU passing game, because this is as good a game within the game as we’ve got in the GAC. Should be fantastic to watch.
On the other side, the Henderson State defense has been really good this year. Now, there’s obviously that glaring red flag in the form of the 66-0 curb-stomping they suffered at Harding. However, in the other five games this year, the Reddies have done a really good job shutting opponents down. In fact, in those five games, only one team has crossed 260 total yards. The SAU offense has been a bit uneven this year, but is coming off a great performance against Oklahoma Baptist where they put up 65 points and rolled up nearly 600 yards of offense. I think the biggest thing in this one is how comfortable will SAU quarterback Judd Barton be? We know running the ball will be tough against the Reddies, but Barton can open things up if he stays poised in the pocket and takes what is there. Barton has been solid this year, completing 64 percent of his passes this year, so he’s proven capable. He needs to be the difference on Saturday for Southern Arkansas.
Massive game for both teams, as previously noted. The Muleriders won a tremendous game in Arkadelphia last year, but still watched the Reddies go to the playoffs ahead of them. Don’t think for a second they forget that. I’d bet on SAU looking to make a statement in this one. Having said that, I think the Reddies are the better team this year, ever so slightly. I think Edwards will out-perform Barton and that will be the difference in the ball game.
Henderson State 31, Southern Arkansas 28
Game of the Week No. 2- No. 1 Harding (6-0) at No. 11 Ouachita Baptist (6-0)
All things tell us this should be a barn burner. Two top-15 teams. The defending national champion on the road against their biggest challenger in the conference. Two great defenses and two offenses looking to control the game on the ground. But I think it’s all for naught.
It’s impossible to overstate how good the Bisons have been this season. They’ve scored 51 touchdowns and allowed ONE. They’re out-gaining opponents by 440 yards per game. The scoring averages work out to a 61-2 margin. That’s insane, even against lesser competition. But there’s the kicker. In the biggest game of the year for the Bisons so far—at home against Henderson State—the Bisons did the exact same thing and then some, dominating the Reddies, 66-0. So not only has Harding done what they should do against inferior competition, but they completely humiliated the one opponent that could be considered anything close to an equal. The offense is not only efficient, but it’s explosive as well. The defense is arguably better than last year. Harding has been a machine that looks unstoppable right now.
The Tigers have a really good defense. There is no doubt about that. They have playmakers at every level and are very experienced and deep. They absolutely will slow the Harding offense down. Now, what does that mean? Based on how things have gone for the Bisons this year, that may mean more four- and five-yard gains as opposed to 20-yard gains. Sure, that’s an accomplishment, but if the drive still ends in a touchdown, were you really successful? Now, slowing Harding down could mean forcing four or five punts in the game, which would be a really good thing. However, it might not matter what the Ouachita defense does because it’s the offense that could be the biggest problem. Right now, the status of quarterback Eli Livingston is uncertain. He missed last week with a concussion, and the timeline on those are always unpredictable. If he can play, that’s another dangerous running option for the Bisons to account for and it gives the Tigers the best chance to get Connor Flannigan and Carter McElhaney in space. If Livingston can’t play, this one could get ugly. Starting freshman quarterback Nate TenBarge against this Harding defense does not seem to be the recipe for success. Running the ball will be extremely difficult. If there’s no respect given to the Tigers’ passing attack, it will get even harder. Livingston needs to play for Ouachita to have a chance in this one.
I’ve tried to convince myself this could be a close game, but there’s nothing I’ve seen that can sway me. Maybe the Ouachita defense surprises us and really limits the Harding offense. But again, I don’t think it’ll matter too much because I think it’s going to be really hard for Ouachita to score enough to win. Bisons roll.
Harding 52, Ouachita Baptist 10
Southern Nazarene (0-6) at Southeastern OSU (3-3)
It’s been a rough year for Southern Nazarene, and it doesn’t get easier this week going on the road to take on a good Savage Storm team. The Crimson Storm offense has struggled mightily to find a rhythm this year, but will need to start well against a solid Southeastern defense. The Savage Storm have been a bit vulnerable against the pass this year, ranking 11th in yards allowed per game, but a lot of that comes from Henderson State quarterback Andrew Edwards throwing over 400 yards against them in week two. Overall, it’s been a strong year for the Savage Storm defensively, and I think they’ll be able to keep SNU from getting things going offensively.
The other side is a bit of a different story. Southeastern hasn't been great on offense this year and SNU has at least proven to be able to stop the run this year. So it could force Luke Hohenberger to beat the Crimson Storm with his arm. He showed a lot of talent in the season opener against Southern Arkansas, but was just 6-of-15 for 71 yards through the air against UAM last week. Not sure which one is more accurate. I think SEOSU will be able to throw the ball a bit, but to what degree remains to be seen.
I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of offense in this one, as both defenses should be the standouts for their respective teams. However, you do have to score to win and SEOSU has shown this year they can do that better than SNU.
Southeastern OSU 24, Southern Nazarene 17
Northwestern OSU (1-5) at East Central (1-5)
This one should be a fairly even contest, and not in a good way. Both teams come in struggling on offense with ok-ish defenses. The Tigers were shut out last week at Ouachita and managed less than 90 yards of offense. Not great! Quarterback Sergio Kennedy had a great game against UAM, but threw his 13th interception of the year against Ouachita. The Rangers have picked off six passes this season and have some personnel to make Kennedy uncomfortable in the pocket. We’ll see how the Tigers use their playmakers to help their quarterback out.
On the other side, the NW offense hasn’t done much of anything all year. The East Central defense hasn’t done much, either, but they keep opponents under 28 points per game on average. So statistically, it would appear the ECU defense has the edge here. The Rangers are averaging just 182 total yards per game this year and just over 50 yards per game on the ground. Don’t expect that number to suddenly explode on Saturday.
This one won’t be pretty, and I don’t mean because it’ll be a blowout.
East Central 21, Northwestern OSU 10
Arkansas Tech (4-2) at Arkansas-Monticello (2-4)
The Weevils are sliding quickly, having lost four straight after starting the year 2-0. They’ll host a Wonder Boys team that has looked solid on both sides of the ball all year long. One big thing in this one will be the Tech passing offense—third in the GAC—against the UAM pass defense—also third in the GAC. Opponents have to be factored in to both of those numbers, but that application definitely favors the Wonder Boys. Tech has also done a nice job running the ball the past few weeks, so I’d expect them to be able to put up some points this week.
If the Weevils are going to have a chance, they have to get the run game going again. Early in the year, UAM was solid in this area, but have fallen off considerably since the 2-0 start. Quarterback Demilon Brown has thrown for a decent number of yards this year, but he’s also tossed 11 interceptions, second-most in the league. Tech has picked off seven passes and picked up 12 sacks this year, so this could be a long afternoon for the UAM offense.
I don’t think UAM is going to pick themselves off the mat. I’d expect the slide to continue this week, as the Wonder Boys move one game from clinching their first winning season since 2017.
Arkansas Tech 37, Arkansas-Monticello 13
Southwestern OSU (2-4) at Oklahoma Baptist (1-5)
The Bulldogs had a great chance to move to .500 last week, but literally fumbled away a win at Arkansas Tech. The Bison, well, are just not very good. This doesn’t look like a good matchup for OBU. SWOSU has run the ball well this year and OBU hasn’t stopped a nosebleed on the ground. Could be a big day for the Bulldogs offensively. At worst, they’ll be able to control the clock and shorten the game considerably. SWOSU doesn’t throw much, with the second-fewest attempts in the conference, but when they do, they should have success against a bad OBU defense.
SWOSU hasn’t been good defending the run, giving up 230 yards per game. However, the Bison simply can’t run, averaging less than 80 yards per game. There’s no evidence OBU can take advantage of the shortcomings of the Bulldogs’ run defense. Can they do it through the air? Not sure. The quarterback position has been unsettled, they’ve really missed Nick Harris at wide receiver, and the offensive line has given up 12 sacks. Also, Southwestern has picked off 10 passes this year. So, not sure there’s a path for the Bison to have a lot of success given what we’ve seen so far this year.
The Bison are quickly careening to a 2022-like season. Not good times on Bison Hill.
Southwestern OSU 28, Oklahoma Baptist 17