OUAZ FOOTBALL GAME 4 NOTES
• The 21st-ranked OUAZ football team will close out a three-game homestand on Saturday, September 28, when they host Wayland Baptist in a Sooner Athletic Conference game.

• Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Spirit Field on the OUAZ campus in Surprise, Arizona. The game is Education Appreciation Night where anyone that works in education receives a free general admission ticket with their work ID.

• Saturday's game is the second meeting all-time between the Spirit and Pioneers, with both meetings taking place at Spirit Field. OUAZ won the game last year, 75-14.

• The Spirit are 1-0 in SAC play this season and 6-3 in conference games all-time. Includes a 5-1 record in home conference games.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• OUAZ will broadcast Saturday's game live online on the OUAZ Digital Network 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 call the game for the Spirit.

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

SOONER ACTION
• OUAZ looks for a sixth straight win in SAC play on Saturday when they host Wayland Baptist. The Spirit are currently tied atop the conference standings with a 1-0 record in SAC games.

• The Spirit are 6-3 all-time in SAC games and they are 5-1 in home conference games.

GAME 4 HISTORY
• OUAZ is 1-0 in the fourth game of a season after claiming a 51-11 win at home over Lyon in 2018.

• The Spirit enter the season's fourth game at 3-0 for the first time after sitting at 1-2 at this point last season.

• Saturday is the second straight year the team will play its fourth game of the season at home.

LOOKING BACK
• OUAZ survived a rally attempt from Texas Wesleyan to open SAC play with a 42-38 win at Spirit Field last Saturday.

• The Spirit stopped the Rams at the 1-yardlline as time expired to earn the victory. They overcame a school-record 10-point deficit in the win.

• OUAZ totaled 527 yards of offense and they ran for a school record 353 yards. Shamar Moreland (172) and Joshua Vizcaya (168) became the first Spirit duo to rush for 100-plus yards in the same game.

NATION TAKING NOTICE
• The win helped OUAZ move up two positions to No. 21 in this week's AFCA/NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll that was released on Monday.

• The Spirit received 85 points in the poll to find themselves inside the top 25 for the second straight week after making their debut in the poll last week.

POLLING
• Along with their NAIA ranking, the Spirit are No. 2 in the latest NCCAA ratings that are based on the Massey Ratings.

• OUAZ came in at No. 31 in the NAIA in the latest Massey Ratings.

• The Spirit are also No. 23 in this week's CompughterRatings.

NCCAA AWARDS VIZCAYA
• Joshua Vizcaya was named this week's NCCAA Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against Texas Wesleyan.

• Vizcaya ran for 168 yards and a school record three touchdowns in the win. His rushing total is the second-most in program history behind the 172 Moreland had in the same game.

• The award is the first NCCAA award for Vizcaya to go with his SAC honor from Week 2.

• He joins Christian Woo (Week 2 Defense) as Spirit players to win a weekly award from the NCCAA this season.

OFFENSE IS ROLLING
• With four weeks complete in the season, OUAZ currently leads the SAC in every offensive category.

• The Spirit rank fifth in the NAIA by averaging 504.7 total yards per game and they are third in posting 26.0 first downs per contest.

• In throwing for 309.7 yards per game, OUAZ ranks eighth in the NAIA and they are 33rd with a 129.1 passing efficiency.

• OUAZ is 23rd in the nation by rushing for 195.0 yards per game and the Spirit are 14th by converting 44.7 percent on third down.

• Their 42.7 points per game is currently good for seventh in the NAIA.

DEFENSE PLAYING THEIR PART
• Defensively, the Spirit are allowing 390.0 yards per game and they are 14th in the NAIA by holding opponents to 27.1 percent on third down.

• The opposition averages 175.3 rushing yards per game while throwing for 214.7 yards per contest.

• OUAZ is 40th in the NAIA in scoring defense at 25.3 points allowed per game.

LIVING UP TO THE HYPE?
• After being named the SAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, OUAZ junior quarterback Austin McCullough had consecutive 300-yard passing games to start the season.

• He currently ranks seventh in the NAIA by passing for 304.0 yards per game while sitting 37th with a 129.5 passer rating.

• His 10 passing touchdowns rank seventh in the NAIA.

• McCullough also ranks 11th in the nation by averaging 295.3 yards of total offense per game.

WORKHOUSE IN THE MAKING
• Joshua Vizcaya earned NCCAA Offensive Player of the Week honors in week four after gaining a career-high 168 yards against Texas Wesleyan.

• It was the second straight 100-yard performance for Vizcaya, marking just the second time in program history a player had reach the 100-yard mark in consecutive games.

• Vizcaya also set a school record with his three rushing touchdowns in the games.

• Vizcaya is currently 16th in the NAIA by rushing for 107.0 yards per game and he is 12th nationally by scoring 10.0 points per game.

WHAT MORELAND CAN HE DO
• Shamar Moreland is once again contributing to the Spirit success in a variety of ways with 457 all-purpose yards to start the season.

• He enters the week 11th in the NAIA by gaining 152.3 all-purpose yards per game.

• Moreland set a school record with 172 rushing yards in the win over Texas Wesleyan. He now has 247 yards rushing this season and is 35th in the NAIA by rushing for 82.3 yards per game.

• His 33.8 yards per kickoff return in fourth in the NAIA and he set a school record with a 94-yard kick return touchdown at Doane in the season opener.

FOUR-HEADED ATTACK
• The OUAZ backfield is also getting solid production from Marcelous Chester-Riley and Kristopher Ewens.

• Chester-Riley has carried the ball 10 times for 45 yards with five catches for 57 yards and one touchdown.

• Ewens has caught the ball seven times for 109 yards and a pair of scores, including an 81-yard touchdown against Western New Mexico.

IMPACT FRESHMAN
• Richard Montello has quickly established himself as a quarterback favorite in the first three games of his career.

• Montello leads the Spirit with 12 catches and 272 receiving yards while finding the endzone four times.

• Montello is 25th in the NAIA at 90.7 receiving yards per game.

• He is 32nd in the NAIA with 24 points scored and 34th by scoring 8.0 points per game.

SPRINGER ANOTHER OPTION
• Ray Springer has made 11 catches for 129 yards in the first two games of the season.

• He starts the week having made at least one catch in four straight games dating back to last season.

DEPTH AT RECEIVER
• Through the first two games of the season, OUAZ quarterbacks have completed passes to 14 different receivers.

• Antonio Day has pulled in 10 balls for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

• Jeremiah Greylock has eight catches for 128 yards while Kavon Gardner has 40 yards on five grabs.

STARTS UP FRONT
• The Spirit have had 10 players take snaps on the offensive line in helping the team average 504.7 yards of offense this season.

• The unit of Austin Lloyd, Joseph Love, Tristan Shehorn, Samuel Laga, and Elijah Boyd-Volakis have started all three games.

• OUAZ has allowed just four sacks in 134 dropbacks and they have been flagged for four holding and six false start penalties.

NOSE FOR THE BALL
• Amare Burks leads the Spirit with 31 total tackles, including 16 solo stops. He made a game-high 15 tackles (eight solo) against WNMU.

• Burks is currently 16th in the NAIA by averaging 10.3 tackles per game.

• He also has recorded one interception and two pass breakups with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

LEADING LINEBACKER
• Marcos Garcia is tied for second on the club with 21 total tackles that features 10 solo tackles.

• Garcia has 1.5 tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups.

AFTER THE QUARTERBACK
• Christian Viville has a team-leading 2.0 sacks for 17 yards of loss while making 5.5 tackles-for-loss for 35 yards.

• He ranks 24th in the NAIA in total TFLs and 25th at 1.8 TFLs per game. His 2.0 scks are good for 48th in the country.

• Viville has 16 total tackles (six solo) and one pass breakup.

DEFENSIVELY ACTIVE
• Christian Woo has been active all over the field defensively for the Spirit this season with 21 tackles (eight solo).

• His numbers also include one interception, two pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

•Woo led the team with 11 tackles (six solo) against Texas Wesleyan.

• He was named the NCCAA Defensive Player of the Week following the WNMU game after making eight tackles with two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in the win.

SCORING MONSTER
• John Williams has scored 26 points this season. He is sixth in the NAIA in total kicking points and fourth by scoring 8.7 kicking points per game.

• He has gone 3 of 4 on field goals this season – including a school-record 43-yard make at Doane – and he is 16th in the nation by making 1.0 field goals per game.

• His streak of 11 straight made field goals dating back to last season came to an end with a miss during the WNMU game.

• Williams has also converted all 17 of his PATs attempts this season where he is tied for the NAIA lead in PAT percentage. His 17 makes without a miss are tied for second-most in the NAIA this season.

• Williams was the SAC Special Teams Player of the Week in week one after scoring 12 points with two field goals and eight PATs. It was the second time in his career he had received the award.

FLIPPING THE FIELD
• Austin Bohn starts the week with 11 punts for 482 yards for an average of 43.8 yards per punt. That currently ranks sixth in the NAIA in punting average.

• Bohn has three punts of 50-plus yards and has four that have been downed inside the 20-yardline while forcing one fair catch.

• The 2018 AFCA-NAIA All-American was named the SAC Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 50.8 yards per punt with two punts of 60-plus yards against WNMU. It was his second career player of the week award from the SAC.

NO RETURN
• Landon Reeves has changed the game for the Spirit with his kickoffs this season where he has 12 touchbacks on 23 kickoffs.

• His kicks have the opponent starting drives on average at their own 24-yardline with the opposition averaging 19.7 yards per their 10 kick returns.

ABOUT WAYLAND BAPTIST
• Wayland Baptist makes their second all-time trip to Spirit Field at 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the SAC.

• The Pioneers are 0-1 on the road this season after losing at UT Permian Basin, 60-7, on September 7.

• Butch Henderson is in his eighth season as head coach at WBU with a 23-50 all-time record.

• WBU is 13th in the NAIA by throwing for 278.3 yards per game. They are averaging 23.0 points per game and allowing 37.7 points and 394.3 yards per contest.

• Mitchell Parsley throws for 271.7 yards per game to rank 14th in the NAIA.

• Manny Arguijo leads the team with 24 tackles and Justin Wheeler has a team-best 2.5 sacks.

RACKING UP THE MILES
• This season the Spirit will rack up the miles while traveling to their five road games. The trips will see the team play games in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

• The five road trips will account for 8,696 round trip driving miles from Spirit Field, and that includes a 24-mile round trip to Cactus High School to face ACU.
 

OPPONENT MILES FROM SPIRIT FIELD
Doane	1,261
Panhandle State	797
Texas College	1,184
Arizona Christian	12
SAGU	1,094
Five trips (Round Trip)	8,696

BUILDING A PROGRAM
• With the Spirit in their second season of competition, it is actually the third year of the program. To build a new program, OUAZ has brought players in from across the country.

• The opening week roster included players that list 16 different states and American Samoa as their hometown.

• While 34 student-athletes are from Arizona, the team also features 28 from California. There are four players from Louisiana and three from Michigan, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

POSTSEASON ELIGIBLE
• OUAZ will be eligible for the NAIA Football Championship Series in 2019 after not being eligible last season. The Football Series is the 16-team single elimination playoffs held by the NAIA to determine its national champion.

• Played on the campus site of the higher seeded team through the semifinals, the 64th NAIA Football National Championship Game will be played on December 21, 2019 at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium on the Grambling State University campus in Ruston, Louisiana.

• Morningside (Iowa) won the 2018 title by defeating Benedictine (Kan.), 35-28. They made the title game by defeating two-time defending champion St. Francis (Ind.) in overtime of the semifinals.

NCCAA MEMBER
• OUAZ will again hold a dual affiliation with the NCCAA in 2019 after the Spirit were the hosts of the 2018 NCCAA Victory Bowl.

• That affiliation will give the Spirit a chance to again play in the Victory Bowl should the team not qualify for the NAIA Football Championship Series and be selected to the game of the NCCAA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL 150
• College football will celebrate its 150th season in 2019. The first game was played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869.

• CFB150.org states that 897 colleges and universities across the country will field a football in 2019 at all levels (FBS, FCS, Division II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, CCCAA).

LOOKING AHEAD
• OUAZ will begin a span of two straight games on the road with a trip to play at Oklahoma Panhandle State on October 5.

• The Spirit will visit Goodwell, Oklahoma for the first time with a kickoff of 11 a.m.