MONTICELLO — In an effort to stay ahead of the bad weather, Ouachita Baptist University felt the sun shining.
True freshman Tre Nichols took the starting nod and stormed the University of Arkansas at Monticello with big plays, including touchdown runs of 66 and 57 yards, in leading Ouachita to a 45-10 victory Saturday. Kickoff was moved up 90 minutes to 12:30 p.m. due to the threat of heavy rain across southeast Arkansas.
Nichols ran eight times for 142 yards and completed 5 of 10 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown in his first collegiate start.
“I didn’t come here to prove anything for myself,” said Nichols, of Grand Prairie, Texas. “We came here to show that we’re a competitive team and we’re still a top-25 team in the nation. That’s what we proved today, that we can ball.”
The Tigers (4-3 overall and Great American), who shared the Great American Conference championship with Harding, started the season ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II but lost 3 of 4 to start the season. They’ve won three in a row since.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Nichols took over for sophomore Nate TenBarge, who sustained a collarbone injury last Saturday against Southern Nazarene and is out for the season, Ouachita Coach Todd Knight confirmed.
“We’ve got three freshman quarterbacks. They’re all really talented and they’re all really good football players,” said Knight, who grew up in Star City. “I’m really proud of Tre today.”
The Tigers rushed for 298 yards, 3 more than the Boll Weevils (2-5) totaled. UAM’s Tavion Faulk completed 21 of 37 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown but threw 2 interceptions and was sacked 5 times.
Defensive end Kendall Walker strip-sacked Faulk and recovered at the UAM 35 with 1:54 left, giving the Weevils three turnovers on the day. They have committed 18 turnovers this season.
“We knew breaks weren’t going to be laid in our lap,” said UAM Coach Hud Jackson. “We have to create our own breaks. That’s a goal we talked about all week. The turnover situation is just not good. We had three more tonight and they had zero. That’s a difference maker. We can’t keep doing that. You can’t expect to be productive offensively if you’ve got all these real-high peaks and these really low valleys. You just can’t do it. We knew OBU may have started off slowly, but with that guy playing quarterback, I think it gives them a chance to run the back end of their schedule.”
UAM has lost two in a row after winning two in a row.
Nichols’ 57-yard carry on the Tigers’ second possession set the tone for a 24-7 halftime lead. He also completed a 38-yard pass to Lyric Tredwell for 38 yards to the UAM 22 on a second-half drive capped by Chris Henley Jr.’s 5-yard rush with 11:33 left before halftime.
UAM got on the board with an ensuing 9-play, 75-yard drive. Stran Smith (3 catches, 53 yards) took a pass from Faulk in the flat and weaved toward the goal post for a 32-yard score with 7:25 left.
Following trading three-and-outs, UAM shanked a punt to its own 40, setting up a single-play drive — a 40-yard pass from Nichols to Bo Baker (3 catches, 104 yards) with 3:58 remaining. That gave the Tigers a 21-7 lead.
Things only snowballed against the Weevils from there. Faulk threw an interception to White Hall graduate Steven Weston, and the Tigers took over at the Weevils’ 46 with 2:24 left. Weston led the Tigers’ defense with 9 tackles (8 unassisted).
Dax Jaggers kicked a 35-yard field goal, but the Tigers opted for an automatic first down after the Weevils were called for running into the kicker.
Jaggers eventually made a 37-yard field goal as time expired.
Ouachita elected to take back a 26-yard Jaggers field goal late in the third following an offsides call against UAM and try to convert fourth-and-1 at the Weevils 6. This time, Henley was stuffed for no gain. The Tigers were ahead 31-10 though, thanks to Nichols’ 66-yard run through the middle unscathed. UAM freshman Ford Stinson converted a 35-yard field goal in the period, after recent Pine Bluff High School graduate Danny Johnson sacked Faulk for a 4-yard loss to the Ouachita 17.
The Tigers scored twice in the fourth quarter. Henley (16 carries, 84 yards) earned his second touchdown on a 13-yard run with 6:26 left. Backup Jordan Walker, a recent Bryant standout, made his only pass attempt count — a 16-yard touchdown throw to Rae’G Dailey with 3:50 left.
“You work all week, you go good-on-good and we show the opponents’ offense and defense and know what we’ve got coverage-wise and being where we need to be,” Jackson said. “I can go through that tape, and I guarantee you I can find 15 times where if we had just made the play at the onset of it, we wouldn’t be where we’re at.”
Chasden Collins caught 5 passes for 80 yards, and Dajon Doss finished with 10 tackles (8 solo) for UAM, which will visit second-ranked Harding at 2 p.m. next Saturday in Searcy. Ouachita will host Southern Arkansas at 1 p.m. next Saturday in Arkadelphia.
