SAU Sports Information
Southern Arkansas will be looking to build off of their first win of the season.
The Muleriders (1-1, 1-1 GAC) convincingly beat reigning GAC champion, Harding 35-24 last week. The win came before an over-flow crowd of 6,735.
The Muleriders improved to 20-3 on their home crowd and will host the Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs (1-1, 1-1 GAC) at 6 p.m. Saturday night.
The Bulldogs will be looking to bounce back from a 38-10 loss to OBU.
This will be only the seventh meeting all-time between SAU and Southwestern Oklahoma. They began playing each other in 2011 as conference opponents in the newly-formed GAC.
The Muleriders hold a 5-1 advantage and are 3-0 in Magnolia.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are averaging 15.0 points per game and 389.5 yards of total offense per game. Fairly balanced early on in their attack, 217.0 of those yards per game is coming through the air while the remaining 172.5 yards are being gained on the ground. In the GAC, the Bulldogs rank 7th in total offense, 8th in passing offense, 9th in rushing offense, and 12th in scoring offense.
Quarterback Casey Freeman has completed 35-of-64 passes for 401 yards and 1 TD while throwing a pair of interceptions.
In terms of rushing, the Bulldogs are led by Karltrell Henderson, who has 183 yards on 34 carries. Sheldon Wilson and Cedric Cooper have been the two backs to find the end zone as each have one apiece.
Among the receivers, Dillon Bauer has the most yards with 85, but Dylan Power and Jared Rayburn have the most catches with seven each. Zach Hill and Jordan Jackson account for the two receiving touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the Bulldogs are allowing 28.5 points per game and 373.0 yards of total offense per game. A majority of those yards are coming on the ground with an average of 199.0 yards per game, while the remaining 174.0 yards per game are coming through the air. Among the GAC rankings, the Bulldogs rank 4th passing defense, 6th in total defense, 7th in scoring defense, and 8th in rushing defense.
On the year, the Bulldogs have forced five turnovers with all being fumble recoveries. Additionally, the recoveries have come by five different players. The leading tackler for the Bulldogs is Antoine Albert with 14. TJ Harris and Bailey McKay lead the team in sacks with one each.