It’s time for these Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys to demonstrate how they respond to adversity.
Arkansas Tech University (3-1) will try to bounce back from its first loss of the 2025 football season when it hosts Southeastern Oklahoma State University (2-2) for a 6 p.m. Great American Conference contest at Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Game tickets are available at www.arkansastechsports.com/tickets. Party at the Plaza tailgating will begin outside the stadium on Centennial Plaza at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Perhaps the Wonder Boys’ biggest problem in a 31-24 loss to the University of Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday was a lack of opportunities to possess the football. The Boll Weevils went 4-for-4 on fourth down conversions, which helped them maintain possession for almost 38 minutes and finish with a 78-47 advantage in offensive snaps.
“We’ve had a really good week of practice,” said Roy Thompson, ATU head football coach. “You can wallow in a win, which I think we did last week, and you can wallow in a loss. We haven’t wallowed this week. We know we let a great opportunity slip through our hands last week. This week, we’ve approached it that we understand how important each and every day is. That’s how you win on Saturdays. All of those first three wins, that’s what we did. We worked hard in practice, and we won on game day because of the work we put in.”
The bad news for this week is maintaining possession of the football is perhaps Southeastern Oklahoma State’s greatest strength. The Savage Storm leads NCAA Division II in time of possession with an average of 36 minutes, 26 seconds per game.
“Bo (Atterberry, SOSU head coach) is a phenomenal defensive coach, and I think that’s where it starts with Southeastern,” said Thompson. “They’re one of the best defensive units in the league each and every year. They are a lot like us. They want to play a physical brand of football.”
The contest might very well hinge on which team can better establish its running game. Both teams are top five in the GAC in rushing offense and rushing defense.
“It goes back to our philosophy,” said Thompson. “We need to have 600 pounds moving 300 pounds. That’s really what this game is about. Hopefully our team is going to line up and play a physical brand of football. We’re going to have to move them. That’s what it comes down to.”
Live coverage of the ATU-SOSU game will be provided by KCJC 102.3 FM, the EAB Media Group app and www.arkansastechsports.com.
Talk to you on the radio.
Tech Tidbits is a column written by Sam Strasner, ATU director of university relations and radio play-by-play voice for ATU football and basketball.
