The #18/17 Ouachita Baptist Tigers will hit the road for this week’s matchup with Northeastern Oklahoma State. The 454-mile, nearly 8-hour bus ride will be the longest of the Tigers 2024 slate of road games. The game, played this Thursday, with a 6 p.m. kickoff will take place from Roger Field in Alva, Oklahoma.
To start, we will delve into who the NWOSU is as a program and how they fared in week one. Next, we recap some series history, followed by a look at how OBU fared in week one and give our keys to success for the Tigers to close.
Who Are The Rangers?
NWOSU enters the 2024 season under second-year head coach Ronnie Jones. Jones, a wide receiver for the Rangers in the late 70’s, was inducted into the NWOSU Hall of Fame in 2001 and understands the culture of the program. Moreover, Jones has the credentials with his assistant coaching stops at both the D1 and NFL levels in addition to being head coach for Ottawa, for one season, and, three seasons, with West Texas A&M.
We would see these connections come to fruition this offseason as Jones would hire veteran coach Jerry Glanville to his staff as defensive coordinator. Glanville brings a wealth of knowledge from a vast coaching career. Glanville, the former NASCAR driver and sportscaster, was head coach for the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Oilers at the NFL level.
Jones would reconnect with an old face as he added Jason Medrano as his offensive coordinator. Medrano served in the same position under Jones on the West Texas staff. The second-year coordinator brings 22 years of coaching experience and will focus on the offensive line while utilizing unique approaches and styles.
How Did They Compete In Week One?
In week one of 2024, the Rangers traveled to Monticello to battle the Boll Weevils. With this, NWOSU dropped the season opener, 34-7, while being outgained 381-162 on the night. On the lone score of the game, the Rangers were gifted with a Weevil pass interference call on a 50-yard pass. After this score, NWOSU would not cross the Weevil 31-yard line for the remainder of the contest.
Rangers quarterback Beck Moss passed for 90 yards, one touchdown, and an interception, on 11-for-17 in passing. On the ground, the Rangers were anchored by Darrien Gill who amassed 46 yards on 5 rushes.
OBU In Week One
As we previewed, the Tigers would open the 2024 season with a contest against SWOSU in the ‘Paul Sharp Cup’. Ouachita would score six touchdowns after multiple turnovers from the Bulldogs in a 42-3 win. In what was a close first quarter OBU opened the game with a 73-yard strike for points from quarterback Eli Livingston to Chris Henley Jr. The game would never be in doubt as three scores in the second quarter and two in the 3rd would with a 42-0 lead. SWOSU would break the shutout with a field goal in the 4th to score their only points.
Offensively, the Tigers were led by quarterback Livingston who passed for 195 yards while rushing for 91 in the opener. This led both teams and Livingston also had 4 total touchdowns accounting for three through the air and one on the ground. In addition to Livingston, the Tigers saw Nate Ten Barge get into the game and compete at a high level. The tandem combined to average 22.89 yards per completion which ranked second in the GAC and fourth in the nation.
On the defensive side, Ouachita was anchored by safety Josiah Johnson and linebacker Jax Miller, and stellar performances from each. Both Tigers would have 11 tackles against the Bulldogs. This combined with the 17 tackles for loss for negative 51 yards and this defense is ranking quite highly. To further this point, the Tigers rank 2nd in the GAC and 5th in D2 in scoring defense while only succumbing to 3 total points in game one.
On the season, OBU has allowed 17 first downs{8 pass and run} along with 97 yards rushing and 150 passing. The 247 total yards equates to an average of 3.1 yards per play which is quite impressive.
In terms of special teams, the Tigers were jumpstarted with a 50-yard punt return from wide receiver Connor Flannigan. The star wide receiver amassed 63 total punt return yards with an average of 31.5 yards per return.
Series History
The series has been slanted towards the Tigers. To further this point, Ouachita Baptist leads the all-time series, 12-3, since their first meeting in 1993. In the first three meetings, from 1993-6, the Rangers would control winning three of four contests. The two programs would take a 16-year hiatus before the Great American Conference would bring them back together.
Starting in 2012 these two programs have met eleven consecutive years{no meeting in the 2020 season} with OBU winning all contests. The average score since being in the GAC is Ouachita 46 to NWOSU 16 entering this Thursday’s game. The largest margin of victory for the Rangers is a 34-3 win, in Alva, in the 1996 contest. Ouachita Baptist’s largest win came in last season’s 66-0 win over the Rangers.
In that game, the Tigers scored their most points in a conference game in program history besting their 2021 win over the Rangers by 64 points. The Tigers scorched the Rangers for 35 points in the opening quarter in what was a game that was never in doubt. On defense, the Tigers saw 13 different players who caused negative plays in the blowout.
Keys To Success For OBU
Feed Givens
We close by analyzing three keys to success for Ouachita. This starts with the catalyst at running back Kendal Givens. With this, the Tigers will need to continue to feed Givens opportunities. This was validated with his name being added to the Harlon Hill Trophy Watchlist. This award is the D2 equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.
Givens is coming off a 1,277-yard, 25 total touchdown 2023 season that continues to ascend him up the OBU record charts. With the 25 in 2023, Givens now has 62 scores in three seasons with the Tigers. While there is talent all around Givens keeping him inundated in the offense will be key weekly.
In the week one win Givens rushed 12 times for 32 yards and two touchdowns with an average of 2.7 yards per rush and a long of 7. These numbers will need to continue to climb to continue success offensively.
Continue Defensive Dominance
We spoke of the defensive performance earlier in the piece. With this, this is, again, a key that goes without saying. Defensive end, Mikey Gonzalez, who was selected as the GAC DPOTW in week one, had a stellar game. Gonzalez totaled 8 tackles, including 3.5 for a combined loss of 11 yards. Two of these tackles were for sacks while another resulted in a forced fumble in the opening drive of the game. The Tampa, Florida native led the Tigers in TFL last season, with 8, and had 3 sacks. Gonzalez is on pace to lap these numbers based on week one.
Use History To Advantage
As the Tigers and Rangers battle in the only GAC game on Thursday all eyes will be in Alva, Oklahoma. In the 2024 matchup, the Tigers need to use recent history to their advantage. Coming into this season, OBU has dominated in recent history against Oklahoma teams. In fact, in week one of GAC play the programs from Arkansas were 6-0 against Oklahoma teams.
Can OBU continue this streak in week two on Thursday? We will find out on Thursday night when these two storied foes battle in Oklahoma.
