No. 4 Harding vs. Southeastern Okla. -- GAME NOTES

#4 Harding Bisons (8-0, 8-0) vs. Southeastern Okla. Savage Storm (4-4, 4-4)
Oct. 28, 2023 • 2 p.m. • Durant, Okla. • Paul Laird Field

Starting 11 for Harding vs. Southeasatern Okla.
Below are 11 Facts and Stats about this week's game. You can read the full game notes by clicking on the link.

Harding's No. 1-ranked rushing offense will take on the second-best rush defense in the Great American Conference when the Bisons take on Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday in Durant, Oklahoma. Harding averages 418.0 rushing yards per game, while Southeastern holds its opponents to 139.1 rush yards per game.
KEY STAT: Harding leads the GAC (5th in D2) with 14 intercepted passes, while Southeastern Oklahoma is 10th of 12 teams in the conference with 10 interceptions thrown.
This will be the 34th meeting between HU and SAU with the Bisons leading 25-8 ... Harding has won 10 of the last 11 meetings overall and 5 of the last 6 in Durant ... Harding has scored 30+ points in 9 of the last 10 meetings.
No punts. No turnovers. That was the recipe for No. 8 Harding in its 38-13 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma last season in Great American Conference action at First Security Stadium ... Harding, playing its home opener, rushed for 389 yards and had 442 yards of total offense, scoring on all but one possession, a missed field goal.
Harding is ranked No. 4 in the AFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, its highest rank ever in the poll ... Harding has appeared in 60 consecutive AFCA polls ... HU is No. 5 in the D2Football.com poll and No. 3 at MasseyRatings.com.
Harding's current 12-game winning streak is the second-longest in program history and trails only the longest winning streak in program history of 13 games from Sept. 3-Dec. 3, 2016 ... HU is 8-0 for the second time in program history, also in 2016.
In the last five games, Harding has scored on 17 of its 18 2nd Half drives with 15 TD, 2 FG and 1 punt ... HU has scored on 15 straight 2nd Half drives ... HU opponents have scored on only 3 of their last 23 2nd half drives.
Slot back Jhalen Spicer rushed for 101 yards on seven carries with two TD last season vs. Southeastern Okla. ... rushed for a season-high 90 yards last week vs. Southern Arkansas and surpassed 1,500 career rush yards.
Quarterback Cole Keylon will make his 20th career start Saturday, and Harding has a 17-2 record in his first 19 starts ... he needs 23 rush yards for 1,000 in his career.
The tandem of fullback Blake Delacruz and slot back Braden Jay became the first Harding players to rush for more than 200 yards in the same game last week at Southern Arkansas ... it was only the sixth time it had ever happened in Division II and for the first time since 1998 ... Delacruz is fourth in the GAC with 691 rush yards and has at least one TD in each of the last six games ... Jay is sixth in the GAC with 617 rush yards.
OPPONENT WATCH: Southeastern DL Kevin Simes is 2nd in the GAC and 7th in D2 with 8.0 sacks ... he has 14 career sacks ... senior WR Marquis Gray ranks 2nd in the GAC with 5 receiving TD ... he is 3rd in the GAC with 63.7 receiving yards per game and 9th with 4.0 receptions per game.

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Players Mentioned

#26 Blake Delacruz: RB; 5' 8"; Junior

#7 Braden Jay: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#15 Cole Keylon: QB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#10 Jhalen Spicer: RB; 5' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#26 Blake Delacruz
: 5' 8"; Junior
: RB

#7 Braden Jay
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB

#15 Cole Keylon
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: QB

#10 Jhalen Spicer
: 5' 8"; Junior
: RB