The season may not have gone right for the University of Arkansas at Monticello football team, but that doesn’t mean visiting the second-ranked team in NCAA Division II is an automatic nightmare waiting to happen.
Taking on Harding University is a challenge Boll Weevils Coach Hud Jackson welcomes.
“I’m ingrained in this place. I want this place to be great,” Jackson said Thursday. “Playing Harding and going there and competing so hard that we have a chance to win, those are the things that will allow our program to make the next step. We’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities. That’s all there is to it, man. That’s the mindset we’re going to have.”
Harding (7-0 overall and Great American) is the hottest team in the conference and a defending co-champion along with Ouachita Baptist University, which blew out UAM 45-10 last Saturday. The Bisons are 34-2 since the start of the 2023 national championship season and have two players who are reigning Great American Players of the Week — fullback Andrew Miller for offense and linebacker Clark Griffin for defense.
The Bisons will host the Weevils (2-5), who need to win the rest of their games for a winning season, at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Security Stadium in Searcy. KHBM-FM 93.7 will carry the game live.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Harding has won the last 13 games against UAM, which last beat the Bisons 44-17 on Oct. 24, 2009. The Weevils are trying to shake off a two-game skid after winning two in a row. They gave up two big running plays for touchdowns to Ouachita freshman quarterback Tre Nichols, one for 57 yards and another for 66.
While Ouachita totaled 498 yards against UAM, Harding’s offense may be less forgiving. The Bisons have rushed for 400 or more yards on five occasions, with a high of 484 against Northwestern Oklahoma State in the opener, and their run game accounts for 93.7% of their offense.
“We respect that, but we’re not afraid of that,” Jackson said. “We’re going to compete and do everything in our power to be on the positive side of the scoreboard when all is said and done. If you’re a coach and you’re saying, ‘Let’s just get in there and play hard,’ that’s not what we do here.”
Harding has rushed for more yards (2,892) than UAM has totaled (2,407) this season. The Weevils, who run by committee, only have 720 on the ground this season, but quarterback Tavion Faulk is the second-ranked total offensive player in the Great American with 1,735 yards (1,593 passing) and has 10 passing touchdowns.
Miller, a junior from Searcy, set Harding and Great American records with 298 rushing yards in last week’s 35-10 win over Henderson State. Miller ran for 4 touchdowns, including runs of 90 and 75 yards. Griffin, a senior from Mountain Brook, Ala., totaled 18 tackles, the most in a GAC game since 2023. He also forced two fumbles. He is a back-to-back defensive Player of the Week, following UAM’s Ghee Evans.
For the Weevils, who have been hindered by 18 turnovers this season, it’s a matter of making plays when the plays are there, according to Jackson. “It’s a struggle for me as a head coach just because you always question, ‘What is it differently that we can do?'” he said.
“Our kids are playing hard. They’re doing what we ask, and things we can’t control are what get us, whether it be a key injury, (or) depth issues in regards to other injuries that we don’t talk about but part of the dynamic for us. Guys that you give an opportunity to make plays in games, and we don’t make them consistently enough, and that’s the frustrating part in all of this. But playing the No. 2 team in the country should be way-enough, plenty-enough motivation to get people excited. And our guys are looking forward to the opportunity.”
GAC cross-country championships at UAM
The Great American Conference men’s and women’s cross-country championships will take off Saturday morning at UAM. The 5K course for women and 8K course for men will be on the Monticello Band Field. The women will start at 8:30 a.m., and the men will take off at 9:30 a.m. Admission is free. Award presentations will include team championship and runner-up trophies, individual medalists, the All-Great American teams, runners of the year, freshmen of the year and coaches of the year.
Great American Conference
Football standings
(NOTE: Each game counts toward standings. Numbers in parentheses indicate rankings in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll.)
Team;Record
(2) Harding;7-0
(25) Southern Arkansas;6-1
Henderson State;5-2
East Central;5-2
Ouachita Baptist;4-3
Arkansas Tech;4-3
Southwestern Okla. State;3-4
Southeastern Okla. State;3-4
Oklahoma Baptist;2-5
UA-Monticello;2-5
Southern Nazarene;1-6
Northwestern Okla. State;0-7
Oct. 18 scores
Southwestern Okla. State 31, Southern Nazarene 6
Ouachita Baptist 45, UAM 10
Harding 35, Henderson State 10
Southern Arkansas 42, Arkansas Tech 7
Southeastern Okla. State 56, Northwestern Okla. State 14
East Central 37, Oklahoma Baptist 31, OT
Saturday’s games
(25) Southern Arkansas at Ouachita Baptist, 1 p.m.
UAM at Harding, 2 p.m.
East Central at Southwestern Okla. State, 2 p.m.
Southern Nazarene at Northwestern Okla. State, 3 p.m.
Henderson State at Arkansas Tech, 4 p.m.
Southeastern Okla. State at Oklahoma Baptist, 6 p.m.