Southern Arkansas University's Bill Keopple is the exception to the rule in his profession, someone willing to eschew coach speak when talking about his team and the conference race during the middle of the season.
Ask Ouachita Baptist's Todd Knight or Henderson State's Scott Maxfield about the possibility of having four Arkansas teams battling it out for the Great American Conference championship in the final three weeks, and you'll hear about this week's opponent, along with the I-don't-even-know-who-we play-next spiel.
Normal stuff, for sure.
Keopple, by comparison, sounds more like Washington State's outspoken Mike Leach.
Maybe Keopple won't launch into a debate about the pros and cons of munching candy corn as a Halloween treat like Leach did at this time last year, but Keopple is willing to step back and talk about the big picture.
Even when heading into Week 7 of the GAC schedule, with SAU, Henderson State and Harding all sitting at 5-1, one game behind 6-0 OBU.
"We're hoping to get ourselves in position to play for the conference championship," Keopple said, peeking ahead to the final three weeks when SAU plays Henderson State, OBU and arch-rival Arkansas-Monticello, which is also in the mix at 4-2. "Someone needs to knock off Ouachita. ... We'd be more than happy to do that."
One fear Keopple has, even if the Muleriders do run the table, is the possibility of a three-way tie between SAU, Harding and OBU.
"The problem we all have right now is someone else needs to beat Harding," Keopple said of the Bisons, who do not have a .500 team left on the schedule. "They are really sitting in a good place. I don't see anybody left on their schedule that can even give them a battle. They're looking at 10-1."
Keopple said a three-way tie between SAU, Harding and OBU does not bode well for the Muleriders.
"We'd be the odd one out," Keopple said. "That would be awful."
That can be debated, since an SAU victory over OBU, currently No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25, could leap the Muleriders over the Tigers in the Division II Region 1 ranking.
There are many other possibilities out there, but nobody but Keopple really wants to talk about them, even though Maxfield said after a Week 4 loss to Harding he'd sign up for 10-1 right then.
Keopple, meanwhile, said he knows there is much work to be done before the Arkansas teams square off with each other in two weeks, and it starts with Saturday's 2:30 p.m. matchup with Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-5) in Magnolia.
A Week 8 date against East Central (Okla.) (1-5) in Ada, Okla., also awaits before the Arkansas teams engage in their season-ending three-week round robin.
Keopple said last year's 21-0 loss at Southeastern Oklahoma sent SAU, then 6-0 and 15th-ranked in the American Football Coaches Association poll, on a downward spiral.
"We definitely owe them one," Keopple said. "We were on our high horse a little bit. I thought we were good."
All Arkansas
Ouachita Baptist, Harding, Henderson State and Southern Arkansas are a combined 21-3 heading into the final five weeks of the Great American Conference schedule, and their dominance shows up on the field and the stat sheet.
Henderson (5-1) leads the GAC in average margin of victory (18.0 ppg), followed by Harding (16.5), Ouachita (16.1) and Southern Arkansas (11.2).
Arkansas-Monticello (4-2) is the other GAC team with a winning record, but it is averaging fewer points (21.3) than it is yielding (22.8).
Arkansas teams went 5-1 last week when all six played in Oklahoma, and are 17-3 against Oklahoma teams for the season.
"Our league has kinda been like that since it was put together," Southern Arkansas Coach Bill Keopple said. "We've had that little bit of an edge."
Defense! Defense!
Henderson State has been known for its offense under Scott Maxfield, especially during the record-setting days of Kevin Rodgers, the state's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.
The Reddies have a productive quarterback in Richard Stammetti, who ranks second in the GAC in passing yards, but the Reddies' defense has moved up the GAC ladder after yielding 28 points to Oklahoma Baptist in a season-opening victory.
The Reddies (13.8 ppg) rank third in the GAC in scoring defense behind Harding (10.8) and Ouachita 12.7), and have moved up to ninth in Division II in that category.
Maxfield said the Reddies have never been defenseless, and pointed to 2015 when Henderson State led the nation with 36 interceptions.
"We have some guys you knew were younger," Maxfield said. "Now they've got game experience, and have settled in a little bit."
Kudos to Keopple
Southern Arkansas Coach Bill Keopple moved into a tie for second on the Muleriders' all-time victory list (62) and needs two victories to become the school's all-time winningest coach.
Keopple is tied with Rip Powell, for whom the Muleriders' playing surface at Wilkins Stadium is named.
"How about that?" said Keopple, who is in his 11th season in Magnolia.
Keopple laughed when it was suggested that his name could be attached to a Muleriders' football facility when his days are done.
"No," he said jokingly. "I'll get an atta boy, then a see-ya later."
Keopple (62-51 in 11 seasons at SAU) is the third-winningest active Division II coach in the state, behind Henderson's Scott Maxfield (104-55) and Ouachita's Todd Knight (118-95).
Stats and facts
Harding (10.8), Ouachita Baptist (12.7) and Henderson State (13.8) rank third, seventh and ninth in Division II in scoring defense. ... Oklahoma Baptist (36.0 ppg) leads the GAC in scoring but is 12th in scoring defense (36.3 ppg). ... Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire (347 ypg) leads Henderson State quarterback Richard Stammetti (247.3 ypg) in total offense by nearly 100 yards per game. Haire has a 1,655-1,488 lead in passing yards, and Haire has outrushed Stammetti 427 to minus-4. Haire ranks fifth in Division II in total offense. ... SAU's Kor'davion Washington (583) and SirCharles Perkins (428) rank third and fourth in rushing yards. East Central's Ontario Douglas (791, 11 TDs) leads the GAC, with Harding fullback Cole Chancey (685, 4 TDs) No. 2. UAM freshman Demilon Brown (377) is No. 4 in rushing yards per game (75.4) but has played one fewer game than the others. ... Redshirt sophomore Brayden Brazeal (95-122, 9 TDs) leads the GAC and the nation in completion percentage (78.7 percent). He has not thrown an interception.
Sports on 10/18/2019