The football team had a bye week this past weekend, and it panned out well. The team got back one of their starting linebackers junior Daylan Skidmore for this week’s game.
Skidmore started week one against Southwestern Oklahoma State University before injuring his knee in the same game and has been out the last two weeks. Skidmore returned to practice Tuesday in full participation and will give the linebacker group depth on the field.
“It feels amazing, I’ve been waiting for it for a while now, and I’m just glad to be back out there with my teammates,” Skidmore said. “I feel about 90 percent right now, and by Saturday I think I will be ready to go.”
The defense has given up just 13 points in the first two games and allowed only 49 total rushing yards. Southern Nazarene University (SNU) will likely get the same results on the ground with Harding’s commitment to stop the run.
“I think we are going to dominate them on the run, which they will try to establish early,” Skidmore said. “After we stop the run, we need to defeat the deep pass and shut them down.”
Skidmore said the objective is to totally dominate in all phases; whether that is the run, the pass, getting sacks or taking the ball away, he said zero points is always the Bisons goal.
Harding is ranked as the No. 1 defense in the Great American Conference so far this season and is the only team in conference that in two games has allowed less than 100 total rushing yards.
Harding’s offense scored 45 points in their week two win over Northwestern Oklahoma State University. They had a slow start, scoring just seven of those points in the first quarter.
“The bye week is always good to get some rest and help with injuries like Skidmore,” senior offensive tackle Cole Lockwood said. “But to be honest, I don’t really like the bye week, I would rather just get out there and play.”
The Bisons offensive line has five seniors that have four or more years of experience in the triple option system. The offense moves only as far as the offensive line takes them.
“We set the pace, it starts up front with us,” Lockwood said. “If we dominate and win the hitting game, we set the tempo for the offense and give our backs room to do their thing.”
The team has had two weeks to prepare for SNU, giving both sides of the ball an extra week of practice and game planning.
“We really don’t ever know what we will see defensively week to week with our offense,” wide receivers coach Luke Cullins said. “Our plan doesn’t really change; we work different defensive fronts every week, not dependent on the opponent.”
Cullins said SNU takes a lot of chances defensively with their pressure and aggressive blitzing. He said the Bisons have to take advantage of those type of pressure plays and capitalize on them.
In the 2013 season, Harding rushed for 505 yards and seven touchdowns in their meeting against SNU, beating them 63-21 at home.
This weekend the Bisons will travel to Bethany, Okla. to take on Southern Nazarene University Saturday at 6 p.m.
Going into this week’s game, the Bisons moved up in the American Football Coaches Association from No. 20 to No. 16. According to Harding Sports, it is Harding’s highest ranking since 2012 when they were at No. 12.
