November 1st, 2024 9:00am
Less than 12 hours after his previously winless Southern Nazarene squad shocked the Division II football world with an 18-17 win over No. 5 Ouachita Baptist, Crimson Storm coach Dustin Hada was back at his desk.
“We pulled in at 5 a.m., I pulled out the futon in the office, slept from about 6 a.m to 8 a.m. and then got back to it,” Hada said with a laugh.
No rest for the weary, even if the weary are victorious.
The Crimson Storm’s (1-8) win sent shockwaves across the country, particularly in the stacked Super Region 3. The Tigers came in at 8-0, having already defeated defending national champion Harding a few weeks ago. It appeared the path to the No. 1 seed was clear, but SNU had other plans.
"We knew it was possible if we just played well,” Hada said. “We knew how daunting of a task it would be, but we just stayed in the fight and kept playing.”
Southern Nazarene began the transition from NAIA to Division II in 2012, becoming a full member of the Great American Conference in 2013. The results, to put it lightly, were not good. SNU lost its first 37 games against GAC opponents before winning the 2015 season finale against Oklahoma Baptist, itself a new-to-D2 program.
Thursday night, the Crimson Storm went three-and-out on their first possession, but on the first offensive play of the game for the Tigers, David Omosigho sacked Tiger quarterback Eli Livingston and forced a fumble SNU recovered at the Ouachita 24-yard line.
“Typically, we’ll feel opponents out and we won’t feel confident until we make a play,” Hada said. “Well when that happened on the first play of the game, that confidence is already built in. That definitely did a lot to set the the momentum of the entire game.”
Neither team was able to really move down the field on the other, but from the SNU perspective, the Crimson Storm were as schematically sound as they have been all season. Two-yard runs became four-yard runs; quarterback Bryson Evans was comfortable and made throws Hada and the coaching staff have known Evans can make. The defense was locked in and held the Tigers to 4.6 yards per play and forced three turnovers. Kicker Kameron Van Prooyen went 4-for-4 on field goals, three of those from 40+ yards.
It was the culmination of what the coaching staff has been telling this team from day one.
“It builds confidence in what we’ve been telling them,” Hada said. “We’ve been telling them they’re enough, that they’re playing physical enough to compete with anyone and now this gives them a little belief in that. And they have the belief in each other as well. They see these guys go out making plays and now they have more confidence in everybody.”
The Crimson Storm aren’t strangers to upsets, having defeated all of the Big Three in the GAC—Harding, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State—on the road at one point or another. The wins over Harding and Henderson State came in 2017 when SNU went 4-7, the best year in the program’s D2 history before these last two seasons. This win ranks right up there with them.
Ouachita Baptist was the last team in the GAC the Crimson Storm had not defeated. With that box checked, it’s impossible to overstate the progress SNU has made over the past decade.
“It does show overall progress as a program from the shambles it was in (in 2015) to where we are now,” Hada said. “Just from a competitive standpoint, that’s changed a lot. 0-8 didn't seem like it, but there were only a few teams that were still physically out-matching us. We’ve evened that out a little bit, but we’re still not there yet.”
On the flip side, the Tigers are now in a bit of trouble. You can give SNU all the flowers you want to try to make it feel better, but what the selection committee will see is the Tigers lost to an 0-8 team on their home field and looked miserable doing it. What once looked like a great position for Ouachita now becomes quite tenuous.
If the Tigers win out, they’ll still probably make the playoffs, but in the toughest region in Division II football, it’s impossible to say that’s a guarantee at this point. The Battle of the Ravine across the street at Henderson State in two weeks looms much larger now than it did 24 hours ago.
While the upset also looms large in Bethany on this first day of November, a healthy dose of perspective is also in the air for coach Hada at his desk.
“48 hours ago, you were the worst team in Division II,” Hada said he told his players after the game. “Now you’re getting all this love and I’m hearing from people I haven’t heard from in two years. The only thing that matters are the people in the room. That’s been our mantra all year and that’s gotten through a lot of hard times this year.”
Halloween 2024 will always be a night to remember for Southern Nazarene and one to forget for Ouachita Baptist. Perhaps this becomes just a bump in the road for the Tigers, a late-season wake up call before the ferocity of the playoffs hits.
For the Crimson Storm, though, the hope is the building continues and nights like these become less shocking and more expected.
Even if it takes a few more sleeps at the office.