The Southern Arkansas Muleriders are taking things one game at a time.
"We've got room for improvements and I still feel good about this football team," said SAU head coach Bill Keopple.
The coach said prior to last week's game against Southwestern Oklahoma that the Muleriders' goal was to be 2-1 at the end of the night.
"We reached that goal and now must take a nine-hour bus trip to Alva, Okla., Saturday," he said.
SAU will battle the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers in a GAC game that will kick off at 6 p.m.
It will be SAU's second road trip of the season, after losing its opener to Arkansas Tech in Russellville.
"We will head up to Alva with a goal of making it 3-1," said Keopple.
The coach said the Muleriders' offensive line is coming together and gaining more experience with each game.
"I loved the way they were able to step up and take over the game in the second half last week," said the coach.
The Muleriders' running game got on track for the first time this season against the Bulldogs, with Michael Nunnery rushing for more than 100 yards. He averaged 9.3 yards per carry.
"Everybody has come to expect him to be a dominant running back and he was that for the most part in that game," said Keopple.
He mentioned that other running backs such as Keiandre Purifoy and SirCharles Perkins did some good things in the game.
"Again, we have a lot of work to do. We have some opponents who are better than we anticipated," said Keopple. "The key for us is go to work and try to take care of business week by week."
Offensively, Keopple said two of quarterback Barrett Renner's interceptions were unfortunate. The ball hit receivers and bounced off into defender's hands.
The picks came on SAU's first two possessions of the game, with first occurring on the first play.
"You don't normally see that around here, but those things do happen and you have bounce back from them," said the coach.
SAU's defense was dominant last week, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for two quarters during the 38-14 victory.
Northwestern Oklahoma will be fired up for the Muleriders. They are coming off a huge 36-30 win over Henderson State and it will be Family Day on the campus.
Their two losses were 31-28 to OBU and 37-35 to UAM.
SAU has won the last five meetings between the two schools and currently holds a 6-1 advantage in the series.
Last season, the Muleriders won 33-14 and prevailed 49-14 the previous season.
This year, the Rangers are averaging 33.0 points per game and giving up an average of 32.7 per contest.
Their quarterback is junior transfer Isiah Weed. In three games, he has completed 63.4 percent of his passes and thrown for 609 yards with six touchdowns. A dual-threat, Weed has gained the most yards from scrimmage on the ground, and has accounted for 10 of NWOSU's 14 TDs.
The Muleridiers are averaging 31.3 on offense and allowing 22.0 on defense.
GAC standings
ATU.......................................................................3-0
SE Okla.................................................................3-0
UAM.......................................................................2-1
OBU........................................................................2-1
SAU.........................................................................2-1
Southern Nazarene.............................................2-1
East Central..........................................................1-2
Henderson State..................................................1-2
NW Okla...............................................................1-2
SW Okla.................................................................1-2
Harding.................................................................0-3
Okla. Baptist.........................................................0-3
Saturday's games
Harding at Oklahoma Baptist, noon
Arkansas Tech at Southern Nazarene, 1 p.m.
Arkansas-Monticello at SE Oklahoma, 2 p.m.
Southern Arkansas at NW Oklahoma, 6 p.m.
Ouachita at East Central Oklahoma, 6 p.m.
Henderson at SW Oklahoma State, 6 p.m.