For the second time in three years, the Harding Bisons are going to the NCAA football playoffs.
After concluding a 9-1 season with a 42-7 dismantling of rival Arkansas Tech on Senior Day, the No. 16 ranked Bisons learned Sunday evening that they were named the sixth seed in Super Region 3 and will take on perennial DII power Pittsburg State at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg, Kansas this Saturday for a shot at the first playoff win in school history.
“We were still a little nervous (before the game Saturday),” head coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “Sitting in that sixth spot, we knew other teams in the conference had won as well, so once we got the news that we were in on Sunday night, it was huge.”
The Bisons took down Texas A&M-Commerce last year 44-3 in the Live United Bowl. Before the 2012-2013 season, the Harding football program had never played in a bowl game or the NCAA DII playoffs. Huckeba said that he really likes where the program is headed right now.
“We like where we are,” Huckeba said. “This is a great group of seniors that have contributed to our success here and we also have a lot of good younger players who we think are going to help us continue that success. But we don’t want to be complacent where we are right now, we always want to strive for more.”
The road towards taking that next step could come this Saturday, but the Bisons know that a win won’t come easily. Pittsburg State (10-1), ranked 6th nationally and coming off of a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference title, is the winningest program in the history of DII football, with four national titles to prove it, the most recent coming just three seasons ago in 2011. This will be the first meeting between the Gorillas and the Bisons.
Huckeba said the different styles of play will be an interesting subplot between the two schools, with the Gorillas running a high-powered spread offense going against Harding’s ground-and-pound option attack. The Gorillas are led by their quarterback, MIAA Offensive Player of the Year Anthony Abenoja, who has thrown for 3,344 yards and 26 touchdowns on the season. The Bisons defense, ranked atop the Great American Conference all year long, will be tested, but Huckeba says they will be ready for the challenge.
“When you go into a game like this against a good team, you know it’s going to hinge on a few plays,” Huckeba said. “You have to win the turnover battle and do your job and you’ll have a chance. They’re a really good, deep and well-coached team, but that’s what you expect at this point. There (are) 24 teams in this thing so you’re always going to be playing somebody good.”
The Bisons and Gorillas kick off Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner to face the two-seed in Super Region 3, Minnesota State-Mankato, in Mankato on Nov.
