Southern Arkansas ready to take on No. 7 Harding
Southern Arkansas and No. 7 Harding meet for the 55th time on Saturday night in Searcy with the stakes arguably higher than they have ever been.
Both teams enter with momentum after each handled their season-opening opponent last Thursday night.
The Muleriders shut out Arkansas Tech 38-0 in Magnolia with the defense posting its first shutout since 2012.
Harding topped Henderson State 41-17 on the road in Arkadelphia.
The winner will be in a position to take over the driver's seat of the Great American Conference.
The Bisons have won 12 of their past 13 games dating back to last season's run to the national semifinals, while Southern Arkansas enters the weekend clash hoping to snap a five-game road losing streak in
Searcy.
The Muleriders are confident that better fortune awaits on Saturday as the program is just 4-10 on the road against in-state opponents dating back to 2012, while owning a 8-3 record at home against in-state opponents in that same time, including a 35-24 Week 2 win over Harding last season.
A week ago, the Bisons rushed for 307 yards and scored 21 points off of turnovers in their season-opening victory, which also stood as the sixth straight meeting between the teams that was won by the visitors.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Bisons run the throwback Flexbone style that prominently features the running game and the deceptive triple option.
Under that system, the Bisons have established one of the nation's most-prolific rushing attacks, ranking among the top five in Division II at season's end each year since 2010.
Last year, the Bisons were second in Division II in rushing, as they averaged 341.9 yards per game.
Cole Chancey and Tristan Tucker each rushed for 103 yards in the opener with the latter scoring a touchdown.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Bisons held top 30 marks nationally last season in total defense (306.8 ypg) and scoring defense (20.3 ppg).
In the first game, Harding allowed 324 yards of total offense and just 17 points with touchdowns coming in the second and fourth quarters as well as a third-quarter field goal.
The leading tackler for the Bisons was Dra Smith, as he registered seven stops, while 10 players recorded at least 2 1/2 tackles. As a defense, Harding has forced and recovered three fumbles.
They also totaled six tackles for lost yardage last week, including four sacks for 30 yards. THE SERIES
This will be the 55th meeting all time between Southern Arkansas and Harding with the series slightly in favor of Harding at 27-26-1.
In recent history, however, the series has been dominated by Harding, as they have won 11 of the past 12 meetings dating back to 2006.
The last time Southern Arkansas beat Harding in Searcy was in 2003, but since then, the Bisons have won five straight at home against Southern Arkansas.