#19 Harding Bisons (2-1, 2-1) vs. Oklahoma Baptist Bison (2-1, 2-1)
Sept. 22, 2018 • 6 p.m. • Searcy, Ark. • First Security Stadium

Game Story
Harding will put the Great American Conference's top-ranked defense on display Saturday against an Oklahoma Baptist team averaging almost 200 rushing yards per game. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at First Security Stadium. The game will be part of Harding's Family Weekend celebration.

Harding is ranked No. 19 in the AFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Oklahoma Baptist is not ranked. Harding is ranked No. 10 by MasseyRatings.com with Oklahoma Baptist at No. 69. 

Harding is coming off a 42-0 victory over Southern Nazarene Saturday in Bethany, Oklahoma, its seventh straight regular season road win. Harding had six rushing TD and rushed for 356 yards. Defensively, Harding limited Southern Nazarene to only five first downs and 51 total yards.

Oklahoma Baptist suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, falling 31-7 at home to Arkansas Tech. Oklahoma Baptist passed for 243 yards but committed four turnovers. QB Preston Haire completed 31 passes to nine different receivers. Oklahoma Baptist allowed 271 rushing yards to Tech, who entered the game averaging 135.5 yards on the ground.

Up Next
Harding is back on the road to take on Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 1 p.m. Harding holds a 29-24 series lead and has won the last seven meetings.

The Coaches
Paul Simmons is in his second season as head coach at Harding. He has a 13-5 overall record and led Harding to the national semifinals in 2017. He is in his 13th season at Harding and had been Harding's defensive coordinator for the previous seven seasons before becoming head coach in 2017. Simmons was a three-time All-American defensive end and linebacker at Harding from 1992-94.

Chris Jensen is in his sixth season at Oklahoma Baptist and has a 20-38 record. He is a 1992 graduate of Oklahoma.

Series History
Harding leads the series 3-0, including a 38-7 win over Oklahoma Baptist in 2016, the only other meeting in Searcy.
 
Home/Road Records
Harding is 0-1 at home this season but is 25-7 at home since 2012. Oklahoma Baptist is 1-0 on the road this season with a 27-26 victory at East Central. Oklahoma Baptist is 4-14 on the road since joining the GAC in 2015.

Last Meeting
Harding scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, two of them following fumbles forced by the defense, and the Bisons defeated Oklahoma Baptist 45-14 last season at Crain Stadium. The win was the first for Harding head coach Paul Simmons.

In all, Harding's defense forced four turnovers and scored 28 points off those miscues. Harding's only turnover came on a long pass just before halftime.

Harding rushed for 309 yards, its second straight game with more than 300 rushing yards. Harding held Oklahoma Baptist to 76 rushing yards and only 226 total yards.

Cole Chancey led Harding with 94 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Streaks, Trends and Records
Harding has outscored its opponents 31-0 in the first quarter of its first three games.

Harding enters the game ranked seventh in Division II in rushing offense (282.3) and sixth in rushing defense (65.3). The Bisons are one of only two teams in Division II ranked in the top 10 in both rushing offense and rushing defense. The other is Minnesota State.

Harding has scored 11 rushing TD (tied for 6th in D2) and allowed no rushing TD. The Bisons are one of only four Division II teams who have played three games and allowed no rushing TD. 

Harding has scored 10 defensive touchdowns in the last three seasons (4, 2016; 5, 2017; 1, 2018), the most by a GAC team. Ouachita Baptist has seven and Arkansas Tech has six.

Sophomore fullback Cole Chancey has 15 career rushing TD and needs only two more to move into Harding's career top 10. Chancey needs 358 rushing yards to move into Harding's career top 10.

Harding has scored 281 rushing touchdowns in the last six seasons and has allowed 56. The Bisons have rushed for 23,136 yards and allowed 5,623 yards in the last six seasons.

Harding junior punter Cameron Scott leads the GAC and ranks 13th in D2 with 44.4 yards per punt. Six of his 13 punts have traveled more than 50 yards. He has also made 3-of-3 field goals and all 13 extra points.

A Quick Look at Oklahoma Baptist
Oklahoma Baptist has allowed only one sack, the fewest of any team in the GAC, but has thrown seven interceptions, the most in the GAC ... Oklahoma Baptist is also last in the GAC in yards per completion (8.82), rushing offense (91.7) and turnover margin (-2.00) ... QB Preston Haire leads the GAC and ranks third in D2 with 32.33 completions per game ... Haire also ranks second in the GAC with 301.0 total offense per game.

Team Leaders
HARDING
Rushing - Tristan Tucker: 28 rushes, 272 yards (3rd GAC), 3 TD (5th GAC); Cole Chancey: 38 rushes, 182 yards (9th GAC), 0 TD; Preston Paden: 36 rushes, 67 yards, 4 TD (4th GAC)
Passing - Preston Paden: 9-15, 188 yards (11th GAC), 2 TD
Receiving - Bobby Green: 3 receptions, 31 yards, 0 TD
Tackles - Sam Blankenship: 18 tackles; Dra Smith: 16 tackles, 4 PBU (2nd GAC); T.J. Winslow: 3.0 sacks (1st GAC)
Punting - Cameron Scott: 13 punts, 44.4 avg. (1st GAC/13th D2)
Kicking - Cameron Scott: 3 for 3 FG, 13 for 13 PAT

OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
Rushing - Tyler Stuever: 38 rushes, 138 yards, 2 TD
Passing - Preston Haire: 97-149, 856 yards (4th GAC), 6 TD (4th GAC)
Receiving - Cagney Roberson: 25 receptions (1st GAC), 287 yards (2nd GAC), 1 TD
Tackles - Felipe Alvear: 30 tackles (4th GAC); Robert Lolofie: 2.0 sacks (2nd GAC)
Punting - Hayden Ashley: 16 punts, 40.8 avg. (6th GAC)
Kicking - Luke Wendl: 4 for 6 FG, 8 for 8 PAT