30 Aug 2023 Harding opens season tonight

Posted at 4:13 PMh in Sports by

The No. 14 ranked Harding Bisons open the season Thursday playing host to Southern Nazarene.

Great American Conference game played at First Security Field, Searcy, Ark. Photo by TOM MORRIS. All rights reserved (Grreat American Conference game played at First Security Field, Searcy, Ark. Photo by TOM MORRIS. All rights reserved, ASCII, 119

#14 Harding Bisons (0-0, 0-0) vs. Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm (0-0, 0-0)
Aug. 31, 2023, 6 p.m. Bethany, Okla., SNU Football Stadium

Starting 11 for Harding vs. Southern Nazarene
Below are 11 Facts and Stats about this week’s game.

  1. Harding opens its 72nd season of intercollegiate competition Thursday at 6 p.m. against Southern Nazarene at SNU Football Stadium in Bethany, Oklahoma … it is the first time Harding and Southern Nazarene have ever opened the season against each other.
  2. KEY STAT: The game is a matchup of two of the top three rushing teams in Division II last season — Harding ranked first at 335.4 yards per game with Southern Nazarene third at 312.5 yards.
  3. This will be the 11th meeting between HU and SNU with the Bisons holding a 9-1 series lead … HU has won the last four straight and all five previous meetings in Bethany, scoring an average of 52.2 points in those games.
  4. Harding scored six rushing TD, Cole Keylon threw a TD pass and Kendale Allen had an 89-yard kickoff return TD in the Bisons’ 56-28 victory last season in Bethany.
  5. Harding is ranked No. 14 in the AFCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll … it is the seventh time HU has been ranked in the preseason poll … Harding has appeared in 52 consecutive AFCA polls, dating to the final poll of the 2017 season … Harding is 15th on the D2Football.com poll and 11th at MassingRatings.com.
  6. Harding carries over a four-game winning streak from last season and has won three straight road games … the Bisons have won five straight road games in Oklahoma.
  7. Harding is 45-23-3 (.655) in its previous 71 season openers … the Bisons have won 16 of their last 20 and 11 of their last 13 openers … Harding defeated East Central 29-12 in Ada in last season’s opener.
  8. Sophomore Cole Keylon, who led Harding last season with 679 rushing yards and 702 passing yards, will make his 12th career start at quarterback.
  9. Harding has several players making their first start in the Southern Nazarene game, but junior cornerback Travis Greenawalt is the only player who will get the start in his Harding debut … Greenawalt is a transfer from Houston Christian University, where he had 14 pass breakups in 21 games over two seasons.
  10. Harding’s six captains for the 2023 season are Cooper Carroll, Wesley Coleman, Levi Pate, Oric Walker, Jr., Nathaniel Wallace and Roland Wallace.

OPPONENT WATCH: Southern Nazarene ranked third in Division II with 312.5 rushing yards per game in 2022 … of 163 Division II teams in 2022, SNU ranked 161st in 3rd Down Conversion Defense (54.6), 158th in total defense (482.9) and 158th in rushing defense (251.4) … Southern Nazarene QB Gage Porter ranked second in D2 with 27 rushing TD and third with 1,747 rushing yards.