Patient Dingle ready for his turn at Harding

The new starting quarterback at Harding University plays with a starting quarterback who’s been the starter far too long.

Terrence Dingle presses his thumb against the joystick and rolls Clemson’s Tajh Boyd out of the pocket, searching the video screen for a digital receiver or some room to run on the animated grass. Boyd has been a senior in the game for four years now — or maybe he’s technically Player No. 10, since EA Sports discontinued the game because the company was in a dispute with former players for using their likeness.

Some young No. 4 will never get his shot at the starting job — not while Dingle uses No. 10 to try and beat his teammate, preseason Division II All-America offensive lineman Gavin De Los Santos. But Dingle will get his shot in his junior season at Harding. The team’s 2016 leading rusher and quarterback of the university’s only undefeated regular season, Park Parish, graduated, which left the future of Harding’s flexbone offense up to Dingle.

“He’s waited a long time for his time,” said first-year Harding coach Paul Simmons, who has been a defensive assistant since 2006. “And his time is here. I look forward to seeing him get his chance.”

The 13-1 season in 2016 ended in a 35-0 quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Northwest Missouri State, and Dingles’ only start came in a Week 8, 35-7 win over East Central University, which finished the season 1-10.

The quarterback transition — paired with the loss of four out of Harding’s five leading tacklers last season — set the returning Great American Conference champions at No. 2 in the GAC’s preseason coaching poll, behind Southern Arkansas University.

“It just motivates you,” said Dingle, who will be joined in the backfield with returning running backs Zach Shelley (688 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Romar Reades (486 yards, 7 touchdowns). “A lot of people focused on what we lost instead of what we still have. A lot of guys who are going to have big roles this year had big roles last year. I don’t think Harding has lost to Southern Arkansas since I’ve been here, and I don’t plan on that happening now.”

Harding will play at Southern Arkansas on Sept. 9, which will be the earliest the teams have played each other since they also played each other in Week 2 in 2011. Harding will open this season at Henderson State, which is picked No. 3 in the coaches poll, on Aug. 31.

“The schedule-maker didn’t do us any favors, that’s for sure” Simmons said. “But I like the urgency it’s created in practice all summer long.”

Southern Arkansas coach Bill Keopple is just getting used to his team being picked at the top.

“From what I know, it’s not something that’s happened here in the history of the school,” said Keopple, who in 2009 inherited a team that had gone 18-35 in the years since its 2003 playoff appearance. “I’ve never known us to be picked to win the league ever. That means we’ve turned the corner.”

Keopple has a 42-42 record in eight seasons at Southern Arkansas — a career that started 7-23 in his first three seasons.

“It couldn’t really have been a whole lot worse as a program at the time,” said Keopple, a Parkview High graduate who served as an assistant under Houston Nutt in 1998 and 1999 at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. “It’s just about the kind of guys you get… and we have the best team we’ve probably had here.”

The Muleriders return 9 starters on defense and 8 starters on offense — which includes junior running back Michael Nunnery (1,110 yards, 12 touchdowns) and junior quarterback Barrett Renner, who led the GAC in passing (3,371 yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions) last season. Senior defensive back and leading tackler Elgin Moore (80) returns along with senior linebacker and tackle-for-loss leader Corey Jenkins (10.5)

“There’s depth everywhere,” Keopple said.

Six GAC players to watch

LB Seth Culp, Arkansas Tech

COMMENT Second leader in tackles (95) on the GAC’s third-ranked scoring defense

WR Jalen Tolliver, Arkansas-Monticello

COMMENT Don Hansen Honorable Mention All-American after leading the GAC with 1,090 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns

RB Zach Shelley, Harding

COMMENT First-team All-GAC pich after rushing for 688 yards and 6 touchdowns on the GAC’s leading rush offense

DE Sam Johnson, Henderson State COMMENT First-team All-GAC pick and was second in the GAC with six sacks

K Cole Antley, Ouachita Baptist

COMMENT AFCA All-America pick after making 19 of 24 field goals including a 53-yarder

RB Michael Nunnery, Southern Arkansas

COMMENT Second-team All-GAC pick after rushing for 1,258 yards and 14 touchdowns

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