Week 2 Thoughts

[Mulerider]

I am going to start the thread off this week that OBUGrad did for week 1. SAU had a hughe comeback in the 4th quarter with a win in OT vs ECU. Got to give credit to the ECU defense for holding SAU back for so long. They played a solid 3 quarters and are a good football team.

Have to pick a bone with the university though. ECU, get your sports info guy and his team some money/resources. The broadcast is about 10 years behind what it should be. Sound volumes were inconsistant during the broadcast, 720p video quality, and stat bar on screen was something a high school would use. Time to get up with the times guys. I remember watching a game back in 12 or 13 where it looked like someone was using a video camera from the 90's.

[ReddieMade]

I am going to start the thread off this week that OBUGrad did for week 1. SAU had a hughe comeback in the 4th quarter with a win in OT vs ECU. Got to give credit to the ECU defense for holding SAU back for so long. They played a solid 3 quarters and are a good football team.

Have to pick a bone with the university though. ECU, get your sports info guy and his team some money/resources. The broadcast is about 10 years behind what it should be. Sound volumes were inconsistant during the broadcast, 720p video quality, and stat bar on screen was something a high school would use. Time to get up with the times guys. I remember watching a game back in 12 or 13 where it looked like someone was using a video camera from the 90's.

I watched SAU's video stream last week against SE and also watched ECU's last night. There is no discernible difference between the two. Both are totally fine and more than watchable for this level. Don't understand the hate for ECU's when yours is almost identical quality -- and again, both were totally fine from my perspective. The only streams in the GAC noticeably better than others are OBU and Harding, and each of those schools have entire media departments on campus overseeing the productions.

As far as the game itself goes... epic choke by ECU. If you have possession of the ball with 3:00 left and a 17-3 lead, you probably win that game 99.9% of the time. Credit to SAU for sneaking out of there with a win, but they were very fortunate to win that game.

I told people last week I thought ECU would be a decent team and I still feel that way. Last night made me feel pretty good about the way HSU handled ECU last week.

[OldBison]

Great match up between the Muleriders and the Reddies coming Oct. 14. Both teams averaging 450 - 500 yards of total offense per game. Will come down to whether to the Reddie defense can stop the Mulerider running attack and the Mulerider defense can stop the Reddies passing game.

[Tech Boys]

Porter has been the SNU QB since 2018 and we still haven't learned how to stop him. He has seven historical roster pics.

No reason for Tech to have been this bad for so long. It's time for someone to step in to bring us back to the glorious history that's spoken of so much. The conference's largest school losing to the conference's smallest school is just sad.

[ReddieMade]

Great game in Durant tonight. Another slow start for HSU, but the Reddies rose up and answered the bell in the 4th quarter to get a big road win. SE looked solid. The QB played well. The HSU QB Edwards is a big time player.

[OldBison]

Hard to watch the Wonder Boys these days. When I was playing for Harding during the NAIA day Ark Tech was the class of the AIC. What do you think it’s going to take. Can’t be money or facilities. Tech has more of that than anybody in the GAC

[LeftSider]

Last night felt like I was back in highschool with Harding’s mentality- ‘oh you want stop the run? Cool, we’re going to throw it over your head and win my 40.’ Great win by the bisons. I think this team is gaining some momentum, it’ll be cool to see how the the ball carriers evolve as they get more snaps under their belt. The defense looks like they are at a 2018 level of dominance in the secondary. The offense is pushing their weight around and our passing efficiency/accuracy was outstanding.

[OBUGrad]

Ouachita looks REALLY good.

or NW Ok is really bad.

or some of both.

561 yards to 74. Don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.

[OldBison]

I wouldn’t read a whole lot into Harding or Ouachita’s first four wins. They were all against the four teams that will fighting to stay out of the cellar in the GAC starting with NWOSU at the bottom.

[MilSF]

I wouldn’t read a whole lot into Harding or Ouachita’s first four wins. They were all against the four teams that will fighting to stay out of the cellar in the GAC starting with NWOSU at the bottom.

True. It was more interesting to see the redshirts and true freshmen get some touches. Givens is the main guy, but we have youngsters coming up the depth chart. Also it looks like the sports media team already has a graphic ready for Boogie Carr. 😂

[OldBison]

Is Carr the All-State running back from Conway? Malik Young, the freshman QB from the Memphis area has played in our last two games. He threw a TD pass against OK Baptist on Saturday. It is good to see the younger players get so many snaps. At some point, however, we’re going to face the best teams. I hope our starters will be up for the challenge.

[MilSF]

Is Carr the All-State running back from Conway?

Yep. Looks like quite the recruiting coup, though I don’t know any specifics.

[OldBison]

Luke, thanks for continuing to post a weekly GAC update on D2.com. Wish you would have mentioned the Harding defense held OK Baptist offense to just 9 yards rushing.

[Mulerider]

Hard to watch the Wonder Boys these days. When I was playing for Harding during the NAIA day Ark Tech was the class of the AIC. What do you think it’s going to take. Can’t be money or facilities. Tech has more of that than anybody in the GAC

Tech is for sure in a wierd place. Don't know much about the city of Russeville, but it's probably seen better days like many. If your good enough to play at U of A, you will play there. If your close and good enough to play at UCA, you will play there. I think they probably struggle to recruit in state guys, SAU always pulls out of Texas and Lousiana. Tech is probably struggling to recurit against HSU and OBU as well. Tech has to continue to recruit better and better somehow though.. Their Golf, Baseball, Softball and Girls Basketball seems to do pretty well. It's probably just a matter of time.

[LukeMcConnell1]

Luke, thanks for continuing to post a weekly GAC update on D2.com. Wish you would have mentioned the Harding defense held OK Baptist offense to just 9 yards rushing.

Appreciate the feedback! The recap column is fluid in its format. Trying to figure out a way to include all the games without actually going super deep with all the games.

To be frank, that wasn't a number that jumped out to me personally just because A. only 15 carries and B. I don't think OBU has a particular good line/backs. They had just 130 on 39 carries against Tech last week. Not too surprised Harding was able to limit them to that degree.