Ex-Auburn QB finds comfort zone at OBU

ARKADELPHIA — Kiehl Frazier is quick to acknowledge the difference between his life now and a year ago.

There aren’t too many silent counts needed on Saturday afternoons in the Great American Conference, and at times the senior quarterback can cross the campus at Ouachita Baptist largely unnoticed.

Some things don’t change, though, whether there are 90,000 people watching in a Southeastern Conference game or 2,000 at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia.

“Football is football,” said Frazier, who has helped guide OBU to the school’s best regular-season record after spending three largely unfulfilled seasons at Auburn.

Frazier will lead OBU (10-0) into a second-round NCAA Division II playoff game at home against Minnesota-Duluth (12-0) at noon Saturday. It will be OBU’s first Division II playoff appearance, and its first postseason appearance of any kind since 1968.

At first glance, Frazier’s impact seems obvious. He was a high school All-American at Shiloh Christian High School in Springdale with more than 30 scholarship offers when he chose Auburn in 2011. Then, after three position changes, he left for OBU and a shot at playing quarterback one more time.

Frazier said he understands the significance of OBU’s 10-0 season, but he brushes aside talk of his role as savior for a program that had six consecutive winning seasons before this year. He is also quick to note that the Tigers had 10 returning offensive starters from last year’s 7-3 team that lost those three games by a combined 19 points.

“They probably would have been good regardless,” Frazier said.

OBU has helped Frazier perhaps more than he has helped OBU.

Frazier joined Auburn months after its run to a BCS national championship following the 2010 season and was hailed by some as the heir apparent to Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner who now plays in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers.

Frazier spent the 2011 season as a backup before starting five games in 2012, when a 3-9 finish led to Gene Chizik’s firing. Then, when Gus Malzahn returned as head coach in 2013, Frazier was moved to safety and then to receiver.

Frazier traveled with Auburn for last year’s BCS title game, a 34-31 loss to Florida State, but he already had decided that it would be his last game at Auburn. Frazier didn’t play in the game, and a few days later he was headed for Arkadelphia to play with his brother, offensive lineman Jed Beach, and to compete for the starting quarterback job.

“Once you get used to having the ball in your hands on every play, and getting to take over the game … when that’s taken away, you’re really not used to it,” Frazier said. “It’s something you want to get back to.”

Coach Todd Knight didn’t exactly need a quarterback. He had a two-year starter returning, but he’s never been one to turn down talent and accepted Frazier with a clear message.

“Expectations for him were first to come in and learn the offense and compete for a starting job,” said Knight, who has been at OBU since 1999. “That’s what he was told.”

Frazier said that he had to work out some kinks when he arrived, considering it had been almost two full years since he was a full-time quarterback. But he performed well enough to beat out Benson Jordan for the starting job coming out of spring practice.

Frazier stayed in Arkadelphia over the summer, working at a gas station and spending any free time he had throwing with his receivers and learning the playbook. He would meet with offensive coordinator Jay Derby in the early mornings or late at night to learn the new terminology while getting acclimated to his new home.

“Not one time have I heard about Auburn,” Knight said. “He wears his Ouachita sweats, and he knew being attached to these guys, and to be a leader, he had to be a Ouachita Tiger.”

Frazier led OBU to a 5-0 start even with some rust. The turning point came Oct. 18, when OBU played at Harding. Both teams were unbeaten and nationally ranked, and OBU trailed 28-20 with 2:37 left.

Frazier, battling an ankle injury, drove OBU 80 yards in the final two minutes, throwing a touchdown pass to Brandon Marks and then running for a two-point conversion that forced overtime, where the Tigers won 31-28. He rushed for 122 yards and passed for 215 against the best defense in the GAC.

“He said, ‘I’m here. I’m ready to get this done,’ ” Knight said. “Everything he had to overcome, he pretty much did it in that game.”

OBU won four more games, beat rival Henderson State for the first time since 2009 and went into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Super Region 3.

Frazier ended the season as a second-team All-GAC pick after accumulating 2,357 yards of total offense, sixthbest in the GAC, and 21 total touchdowns.

By any statistical measure

— individual or team — it’s the type of season he sought after leaving Shiloh Christian four years ago as a Parade All-American. It just didn’t happen until he left a place he never thought he’d have to leave.

“I loved it there, but it was probably the best decision,” Frazier said of leaving Auburn. “I think whenever you’re comfortable with where you’re at, you’re going to play better on the field. That’s what’s helping me.”