OUAZ FOOTBALL GAME 11 NOTES
• Postseason football begins on Saturday, November 23, when the 16th-ranked OUAZ football teams face No. 5 College of Idaho in the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series.

• Simplot Stadium in Caldwell, Idaho will serve as host for the game that will begin at noon.

• OUAZ makes its first NAIA FCS appearance – and second postseason game – after completing a 9-1 regular season. In just the program's second season of competition, the Spirit were champions of the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 7-1 record in conference games.

• College of Idaho enters their first-ever FCS game with a 10-0 record both overall and in the Frontier Conference. The Yotes have won 16 straight games dating back to last season.

• The game will be the first time the two teams have faced each other. They represent two of the newer programs in the NAIA with OUAZ starting in 2018 and C of I in 2014.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• College of Idaho will broadcast the game live on the Stretch Internet portal and through the NAIA Network OTT app that is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices. A direct link is available at OUAZSpirit.com/watch.

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

SOONER CHAMPIONS
• OUAZ won the program's first-ever conference title by going 7-1 in SAC play this season. They shared the title with Langston, but earned the postseason spot by virtue of their 27-7 win over the Lions on October 19.

• Through their first two seasons of competition, the Spirit hold a 12-4 conference record and they have won 11 of the past 12 SAC games played.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
• This is the second time that OUAZ will play a postseason game after the Spirit hosted Olivet Nazarene in the 2018 NCCAA Victory Bowl.

• ONU earned a 38-35 win in that game by holding off a late Spirit rally.

• This will be the first appearance in the NAIA postseason tournament for OUAZ and it comes in the first year they were eligible to make the 16-team field.

LOOKING BACK
• OUAZ overcame a slow start to defeat SAGU 33-14 last Saturday in Waxahachie, Texas. The win secured the conference championship.

• The Spirit scored 33 of the game's final 40 points and they held the Lions to 246 yards while forcing four turnovers.

• Kristopher Ewens rushed for 120 yards and two scores while Devin Benjamin scored a touchdown on both of his catches.

NATIONAL POLL
• The final AFCA/NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll of the regular season saw the Spirit hold at No. 16 for a second consecutive week.

• They received 174 points from the voters to remain in the top 20 of the poll for a seventh consecutive release.

• Of the teams in this week's poll, only Keiser (Fla.) has gained more positions (27) in the poll since the preseason release than the Spirit (15).

CHECKING THE COMPUTERS
• The current release of the Massey Ratings have the Spirit with a No. 30 rating and up two places from last week.

• The Spirit remained at No. 21 in this week's CompughterRatings.com release. It's the second straight week in that position and 25 spots higher than their preseason rank of No. 46.

• OUAZ fell one spot to No. 11 in this week's ratings published by Peter Wolfe. That is one spot lower than last week and its the third straight week they have slipped.

• OUAZ has remained at No. 2 in the NCCAA ratings in every rating since the regular season started. The NCCAA uses the Massey Ratings system to determine in ratings.

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
• The end of the regular season saw the Spirit pick up another two SAC Player of the Week awards.

• Marcos Garcia earned the defensive award with his 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, and one forced fumble against SAGU.

• Garcia's first weekly award was the third by a defensive player at OUAZ this season. He was also named the Defensive Player of the Week by the NCCAA.

• The Sooner also named John Williams the Special Teams Player of the Week after his two field goals and nine points versus the Lions.

• The fourth award of the season for Williams is the most of any player in the conference.

• With two awards on Monday, OUAZ ends the season having won 13 of the 36 total weekly awards given by the SAC this season. In comparison, no other team had more than five.

• Garcia's defensive award this week gives the Spirit eight weekly awards from the NCCAA this season.

• McCullough (offense) and Christian Woo (defense) each received two weekly honors from the NCCAA.

OFFENSIVE POWER
• OUAZ ended the regular season third in the NAIA by scoring 45.2 points per game and fourth with 452 total points.

• The Spirit have scored at least 40 points in game six times and they have reached 70-plus points twice.

• They trail only Morningside (56.6) and Kansas Wesleyan (50.9) in scoring average entering the postseason.

• OUAZ has scored 170 points in the second quarter of games this season. In comparison, they have only allowed the opposition to score 171 total points.

• OUAZ also ranks fourth in the country by averaging 479.7 yards per game. The Spirit have gained 500-plus yards in a game five times this season and they have totaled 420-plus yards eight times.

• At 307.8 passing yards per game, the Spirit rank fifth in the NAIA this week. They have six games with 300-plus passing yards on the season.

• The team's 33 passing touchdowns are tied for third-most in the NAIA this season with only Kansas Wesleyan (44) and Morningside (37) throwing more.

• OUAZ is fourth in the NAIA by averaging 24.9 first downs per game and they are fourth by converting 46.8 percent on third down.

• The Spirit tie for second in the nation with a plus-14 turnover margin and at plus-1.4 per game.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE DEFENSE
• OUAZ opponents are scoring just 17.1 points per game this season having allowed more than 21 points just twice. 

• The Spirit have held four opponents to seven points and six to 18 or less, including five of the last six.

• That run has seen OUAZ move to 14th in the NAIA entering the postseason in scoring defense.

• The opposition is throwing for 169.4 yards per game with seven teams being held under 200 passing yards.

• The Spirit are 17th nationally in passing defense and fourth in the NAIA with a 94.9 opponent passer rating.

• OUAZ ranks 15th in the NAIA with 31 total sacks and 14th in getting 3.1 sacks per game. 

• For the season, OUAZ has 30 takeaways to rank fifth in the country. They have recovered 16 fumbles while getting 14 interceptions.

ABOUT COLLEGE OF IDAHO
• No. 5 College of Idaho makes their first postseason appearance in 66 yards after a perfect 10-0 regular season and winners of 16 straight dating back to last season.

• The Yotes finished 5-0 at Simplot Stadium and they closed the season with two straight games at home.

• They rank fifth in the NAIA by rushing for 258.0 yards per game and at 472.2 total yards per outing.

• C of I is the NAIA leader by getting 3.9 sacks per game with 39 total sacks. They are 13th in scoring defense (13.0) and 17th in total defense (298.2).

• Darius-James Peterson is 16th in averaging 261.2 yards of total offense per game while passing for 209.4 yards per game.

NAIA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• The 2019 NAIA Football Championship Series features eight games in the first round on Saturday.

• Quarterfinal action is scheduled on campus sites for Saturday, November 30 with the eight first round winners learning their quarterfinal matchup after all games are complete this week.

• The semifinals of the FCS will be played on campus sites on Saturday, December 7, with the championship game on December 21 at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium in Ruston, La.

• Defending national champion Morningside enters the 16-team field of the 2019 FCS as the No. 1 overall seed.