OUAZ FOOTBALL GAME 8 NOTES
• On Saturday, October 26, the 15th-ranked OUAZ football team will made the 12-mile trip across town to face crosstown rival Arizona Christian as the road team for the first time in the series.

• The game will be played at Cactus High School in Glendale, Arizona, with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

• OUAZ enters the game at 7-0 overall this season and the Spirit have gone 3-0 in road games. Arizona Christian has a 3-3 overall record while going 2-1 at home.

• The Spirit currently lead the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 5-0 record in league games. With their 3-1 SAC record, the Firestorm are tied for second in the conference.

• OUAZ leads the all-time series against ACU 1-0 after a 75-23 win last season at Spirit Field. Saturday is the first-ever meeting between the two programs with ACU as the home team.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• Live video of the game will be available on the OUAZ Digital Network – being produced by ACU – and through the NAIA Network OTT app that is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices. The OUAZ Digital Network is available on game day at OUAZSpirit.com/watch.

• James Poovey (play-by-play) and Vince D'Aliesio (analyst) will have an audio only broadcast that is also available on the OUAZ Digital Network. That direct link is OUAZSpirit.com/listen. 

• Live stats will also be available during the game at OUAZSpirit.com/stats.

SOONER ACTION
• With four weeks left in the regular season, OUAZ is the only unbeaten team remaining in the SAC with their 5-0 record. They need two wins in the final three games to clinch at least a share of the regular season title.

• The Spirit are 10-3 all-time in SAC games and they have won nine straight conference games dating back to last season.

GAME 8 HISTORY
• OUAZ is 1-0 all-time in the team's eighth game of the season after earning a win via forfeit over Bacone last season.

• The current 7-0 record is the first time the team has been unbeaten heading into the eighth game of the year after sitting at 4-3 at this point last season.

• Saturday will mark the first time the Spirit have played the eighth game of the season on the road and its the first time they will play ACU in the season's eighth game.

LOOKING BACK
• OUAZ defeated then-No. 15 Langston, 27-7, in the NAIA Game of the Week to snap the visitors 24-game conference winning streak.

• The Spirit held Langston to their lowest point total in a regular season game since the 2014 season.

• Despite recording their fewest points in a game in program history, OUAZ finished with 451 yards of offense with 23 first downs.

NATIONAL POLL
• With the win over a ranked opponent, OUAZ moved up two positions to No. 15 in this week's AFCA/NAIA Coaches' Poll.

• They received 195 points from the voters to move up in the rankings for the sixth consecutive poll after starting the season outside the top 25.

• Of the teams in this week's poll, only Keiser (Fla.) has gained more positions (22) in the poll since the preseason release than the Spirit (16).

CHECKING the COMPUTERS
• The current edition of the Massey Ratings have the Spirit at No. 23. That is three spots higher than their position from last week.

• OUAZ made a 12-spot climb to No. 9 in this week's CompughterRatings.com ratings. This is the first time this season the Spirit have been in the top 10.

• In the second release of the Peter Wolfe rating that came out on Monday, the Spirit moved up one spot to No. 3. 

• OUAZ also maintained their No. 2 rating in this week's NCCAA ratings. The NCCAA uses the Massey Ratings system to determine in ratings.

KEEP THE AWARDS COMING
• Austin McCullough was named this week's SAC Offensive Player of the Week following the team's win over Langston.

• He was also named the NCCAA Offensive Player of the Week.

• McCullough has now received the SAC award three times this season and its his second NCCAA honor.

• In the win, McCullough threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns as OUAZ defeated Langston, 27-7.

• OUAZ has now received at least one of the Sooner player of the week awards following six of their seven games played. In total, OUAZ has earned 10 of the 24 total awards given this season.

OFFENSIVE POWER
• OUAZ currently ranks third in the NAIA in scoring average at 51.1 points per game and with 358 total points scored.

• The Spirit have scored at least 40 points in five of their seven games this season and their 27 points scored on Saturday are the fewest in the program's 17-game history.

• They join Morningside (61.0) and Kansas Wesleyan (52.1) as the only three teams in the NAIA to currently average more than 50 points per game.

• OUAZ also ranks third in the country by averaging 502.7 yards per game. The Spirit have gained 500-plus yards in a game four times this season and at least 420 yards in every game they have played.

• The Spirit place third in the nation this week by passing for 330.0 yards per game. Their 2,310 total passing yards is second-most in the NAIA.

• The team's 26 passing touchdowns trail on the 27 of Kansas Wesleyan for the most in the NAIA this season.

• OUAZ currently sits fourth in the NAIA by averaging 26.0 first downs per game and they rank second by converting 50.5 percent on third down.

• With a plus-12 turnover margin, the Spirit are tied for the fourth-best ratio in the NAIA and they are sixth with a plus-1.70 turnover margin per game.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE DEFENSE
• OUAZ opponents are scoring just 18.9 points per game this season having allowed more than 21 points just twice while limiting three opponents to only seven points.

• The Spirit currently leads the SAC in scoring defense and they are 22nd in the NAIA.

• The opposition is throwing for 180.3 yards per game with four teams being held under 200 passing yards.

• The Spirit are 33rd nationally in passing defense and fifth in the NAIA with a 91.4 opponent passer rating.

• OUAZ ranks seventh in the NAIA with 24 total sacks and 11th in getting 3.4 sacks per game. 

• For the season, OUAZ has 26 takeaways to lead the NAIA. They also lead the country with 14 fumble takeaways while sitting ninth with 12 interceptions.

ABOUT ARIZONA CHRISTIAN
• Arizona Christian will host the Spirit for the first time with a 3-3 overall record after winning three of their past four games.

• The Firestorm are tied for second in the SAC with their 3-1 conference record

• ACU has gone 2-1 in home games this season and Saturday will be the second straight week they will play at home.

• Jeff Bowen is in his fourth season as head coach at ACU with a 25-12 overall record.

• ACU is 29th in the NAIA by throwing for 225.5 yards per game and they are 45th by converting 45.5 percent on fourth-down.

• Tyler Duncan averages 191.0 passing yards per game and Jon Cole is 10th in the NAIA at 98.2 receiving yards per contest.