Football 10/7/2021 3:51:00 PM

Football Game Notes -- Week 6

THE GAME
Now halfway through the 2021 season, No. 11 OUAZ (5-0, 5-0 SAC) is set to embark on another trip to Texas this week, where the Spirit will play at Texas College (0-5, 0-3 SAC) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Central) / 5:30 p.m. (Arizona) in Tyler, Texas.

OUAZ heads into the game as the only team in the Sooner Athletic Conference with five conference wins and one of two teams still undefeated. Texas College is still searching for its first win this season, and the Steers have dropped eight straight dating back to the 2019 campaign.

The Spirit is 2-0 all-time against the Steers, and they have outscored them 139-35. The last meeting was a 76-21 win by the Spirit in Tyler. That is the only previous meeting where OUAZ was the road team.

OUAZ holds a 2-0 record all-time in the sixth game of the season, and they will be playing on October 9 for the first time. The Spirit is 1-0 in the program's history when they enter a game with a 5-0 record.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION
Live video will not be available for Saturday's game. There is a potential for live stats, but they have not been reliable from games at Texas College this season. Updates will be provided on the @OUAZSpirit Twitter account as they are made available.

OUAZ ON THE ROAD
OUAZ will bring an 11-3 record in road games into Saturday's contest. The Spirit have won four straight games on the road and 11 of the past 12. OUAZ is 2-0 in road games this season and has outscored the opposition 91-47 in those outings.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• With a win, OUAZ will extend its current winning streak to ten straight victories. The current nine-game winning streak is the longest in program history.
• An OUAZ win would improve the Spirit to 3-0 all-time against Texas College. It would also move them to 2-0 in road games in the series.
• A win on Saturday would improve OUAZ to 8-0 all-time in games played during October.
• During its current winning streak, OUAZ has outscored its opponents 398-196 overall. In the four road games during the winning streak, the Spirit has a 154-99 scoring edge.
• OUAZ has scored at least 30 points in a game 27 times in the program's first 32 games. With the 76 points scored in the opener against Lyon, the Spirit has now scored 50-plus points in a game nine times.
• Points have been aplenty for the Spirit in the first half of games this season. OUAZ has outscored the opposition 166-34 during the first 30 minutes in the season's first five games. Those 166 points would rank 30th in the NAIA in total points this season.

SPIRIT NOTES
OUAZ enters Saturday as the No. 3 scoring team in the NAIA at 52.8 points per game. The team's 264 total points scored are also third-most in the nation.
• The Spirit has scored 40-plus points in every game this season. It's the longest such streak to begin a season in program history.
• This is also the first time in program history the team has scored at least 40 points in five straight games during any part of the season.
• OUAZ has scored at least 28 points in each of the team's last ten games dating back to the start of the 2020 season. That is the longest stretch of 28-plus points in a game since reaching the mark in each of the team's first 15 games in program history.

The Spirit is the No. 2 team in the NAIA in total offense by averaging 539.6 yards per game this season.
• The team set the program record with 652 yards of offense in the opener against Lyon. It was just the third time in program history they gained 600-plus yards of offense in a game and the first time since the 2018 season.
• OUAZ has gained at least 500 yards in four of the five games this season while surpassing 400 yards in every game.
• The team is 16-2 all-time when gaining 500 or more yards, and they have won 14 straight.

The passing game is where OUAZ has done the majority of its damage this season. The team currently averages 337.8passing yards per game to rank fourth in the NAIA.
• The team has accounted for at least 250 passing yards in each of the first five games while three times throwing for over 300 yards.
• The Spirit helped establish this year's total passing yards by throwing for a program-record 486 passing yards from three different quarterbacks in the season-opening win over Lyon College.

While the passing game gets a lot of the notoriety, the Spirit averages 201.8 rushing yards per game, ranking 18th in the NAIA.
• OUAZ ran for a season-high 270 yards in Saturday's win over Arizona Christian. It was the second straight week they gained at least 250 yards rushing and only the sixth time in program history.
• The Spirit ranks fifth in the NAIA by averaging 5.7 yards per rush while sitting 11th with 14 rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, OUAZ has given up 122 points through five games, and the team ranks 41st in the NAIA in scoring defense at 24.4 points allowed per game.
• The Spirit has held two opponents under 20 points this season, and they are 13-1 all-time when that happens.

The Spirit is allowing 401.2 yards of total offense per game this season. That has them ranked 63rd in the nation in total defense.
• OUAZ started the season by holding Lyon to 225 yards of offense. That was the fewest yards allowed in a game since holding Doane to 186 in the 2019 season opener and the third-fewest ever allowed at Spirit Field.
• Each of the last four opponents has gained over 400 yards of offense. This is the first time the Spirit defense has allowed over 400 yards in four consecutive games.

The opposition is currently averaging 171.4 rushing yards per game against the Spirit defense. That ranks OUAZ 67th in the NAIA in rushing defense.
• All five opponents have rushed for over 100 yards, and it's 15 straight games going back to the 2019 season.
• The Spirit has allowed over 200 yards rushing in two games this season, including 204 at Louisiana College.
• The 249 rushing yards gained by SAGU were the most allowed by the Spirit since the 2020 season opener.

OUAZ enters Saturday ranked 57th in the country by allowing 229.8 passing yards per game this season.
• The Spirit began the season by holding Lyon and SAGU to a combined 287 passing yards.
• Last week's 369 passing yards by ACU are the third-most ever allowed in a game by the OUAZ defense.
• Before allowing 291 passing yards to Texas Wesleyan, OUAZ had held four straight opponents – and five of the previous six – under 200 yards passing dating back to last season.
• The opposition is averaging just 6.2 yards per pass attempt and completing 55.9 percent of its pass attempts.
• The Spirit opposing quarterbacks have a quarterback rating of 109.5.

OUAZ is currently plus-6 in turnover margin with 13 total takeaways.
• Saturday was the second time this season the Spirit didn't commit a turnover.
• Those takeaways have accounted for 52 OUAZ points while they have allowed 20 points from their seven giveaways.

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