This Saturday, the Valdosta State Blazers will make their final regular season trip to the state of Arkansas. Saturday’s game will also mark the final time the Blazers will face off against the Ouachita Baptist Tigers, who have joined the Great American Conference.

The Tigers hold a 3-1record, with their lone loss coming last weekend in 45-14 fashion to No. 3 Delta State.

The Tigers have appeared in the NCAA Divison II AFCA Top 25 once this season, before falling out of the top 25 this week.

Ouachita Baptist head coach Todd Knight was unavailable for a teleconfernce on Tuesday; however, here is a scouting report on the Ouachita Baptist Tigers.

The Tigers started the season with three victories, two of which were GAC games. OBU’s first win came week one, when the Tigers downed East Central Oklahoma, 31-18. The Tigers followed up their week one performance by defeating Arkansas-Monticello, 38-20. The Tigers then defeated Texas A&M-Commerce, 39-33.

Last week, the Tigers traveled to Cleveland, Miss. where they fell to the third-ranked Delta State Statesmen. After playing to a tie in the opening quarter, the Statesmen outscored the Tigers 38-7 over the next three quarters.

The Statesmen had their day with the Tigers defense, racking up 566 yards of total offense, while the DSU defense was solid. The Tigers were held to less than 200 yards of offense, gaining just 188 yards.

On the season, the Tigers average 397.8 yards per game, while allowing 424.2 yards to opposing offenses.

Much like Arkansas-Monticello, the Tigers lost their starting quarterback from last year in Eli Cranor. In 2011, OBU has turned the ball over to Casey Cooper, a 6’1 junior from Arkansas. Cooper has completed 56 percent of his passes (57-101) on the year, while throwing for five touchdowns compared to just three interceptions.

The Tigers have two marque receivers, as Brett Reece and Travis Anderson both have over 17 catches on the year. Reece leads the team with 18 catches for 317 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively for Ouachita Baptist, the Tigers have a balanced team, as 10 players on the roster are in double digit tackles. Junior Dijon Benton leads the team with 24 tackles while Terrence Garret is second on team with 23.

The Tigers struggle on third down efficiency, converting just 34 percent (21 of 62) attempts this season. While their offense struggles on third downs, the OBU defense is shinning, holding opponents to 36 percent this season.

Saturday’s game will be just the second home game of the year for the Tigers, as they faced Arkansas-Monticello in a neutral stadium. In their only home game of the season, which was Sept. 10 against East Central, the attendance was just 1,342.

Saturday will mark homecoming for Ouachita Baptist and a largr crowd is expected to be in attendance.