Southern Arkansas probably won't win the Great American Conference title, but the Muleriders will have a say in who does.
SAU's final three regular-season games include Saturday's road trip to league-leader Ouachita Baptist (7-0, 7-0 GAC), and the Murphy USA Classic on Nov. 8 in El Dorado against Henderson State (7-1, 6-1), tied for second in the conference race.
SAU (4-3, 4-3) would be playing for a share of the GAC lead Saturday if it hadn't stumbled in early season losses at East Central Oklahoma (47-40) and at Southwestern Oklahoma (27-24).
SAU couldn't hold a 20-0 second-quarter lead against East Central Oklahoma and a 24-13 fourth-quarter lead against Southwestern Oklahoma.
"We basically served two up on the road and gave them away," Muleriders Coach Bill Keopple said. "We definitely believe we should be here sitting 6-1, but we're not. That's all part of it. That's the hard thing about it -- having to stomach it."
SAU completed its first unbeaten season at home since 1999 with a 62-7 victory over Southern (Okla.) Nazarene on Oct. 18.
SAU was open last week after beating Arkansas Tech 21-14 on Oct. 11.
Keopple said the open week came at a good time because his team "was a little banged up."
The Muleriders lead the GAC, and rank No. 10 in NCAA Division II, in total offense (507.1 yards per game).
Senior quarterback Si Blackshire has completed 134 of 227 passes for 1,869 yards and 20 touchdowns this fall.
Tailback Deandre Jenkins, a senior from Mountain Pine, has rushed 109 times for 525 yards and 4 touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 142 yards and 1 touchdown.
Keopple said defense has kept the Muleriders from reaching the GAC's upper echelon this fall.
SAU is allowing 342.3 total yards per game. Harding rushed for 500 yards in a 56-13 victory over SAU on Oct. 4.
"We've got to get better on defense," Keopple said. "That's probably the one side of the football we're disappointed in. Defensively, we've got to get to the point where we can shut down people better. We can do it against the average teams. We're not doing it against the good ones yet."
SAU won last year's meeting against Ouachita, 31-23, in Magnolia.
HARDING
Back in business
Harding jumped six spots to No. 17 in NCAA Division II in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll following Saturday's 28-24 victory over Henderson State.
The Reddies, who were ranked No. 4 by the AFCA, had won 30 consecutive regular-season games and 27 consecutive GAC games. Henderson fell to 14th.
It marked Harding's first road victory over a top-five national opponent, and kept its playoff and conference championship hopes alive.
"Redemption," Bisons Coach Ronnie Huckeba said. "It was redemption for last week."
Harding (6-1, 6-1 GAC) was coming off a 31-28 overtime loss to Ouachita Baptist. The Tigers forced overtime with a 15-yard touchdown pass on the final play of regulation, and a two-point conversion.
Harding is also No. 9 in the first NCAA Super Region 3 rankings this fall.
Super Region 3 is comprised of schools from the GAC, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and Great Northwest Conference.
The six highest ranked teams from Super Region 3 will advance to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Ouachita (7-0, 7-0 GAC) is ranked No. 4 in Super Region 3. Henderson (7-1, 6-1) is No. 10.
Since Henderson and Ouachita meet in the regular-season finale, a three-way tie for the GAC title remains in play -- a scenario that could be tricky for postseason consideration.
"We'll worry about that later," Huckeba said.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
Streak ends
Arkansas-Monticello ended a 22-game road losing streak in Saturday's 44-37 victory over Southern (Okla.) Nazarene.
UAM (2-5, 2-5 GAC) hadn't won a road game since Sept. 18, 2010, when it beat Ouachita Baptist 37-31.
The Boll Weevils did win at a neutral site (El Dorado's Memorial Stadium) in 2010.
Saturday's victory also marked UAM's first GAC road victory. The conference began playing in 2011.
Sports on 10/31/2014