With a 4-2 record so far and five games remaining in the 2025 football season, the opportunity before the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys is this: continue to improve on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis and position themselves to record the program’s first winning season in eight years.
Arkansas Tech University will try to take another step in that direction when it faces Southern Arkansas University (5-1) in the Murphy USA Classic at Memorial Stadium in El Dorado on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff has been moved up one hour to 1 p.m. due to forecasts of possibly severe thunderstorms later in the day on Saturday.
Live coverage of the ATU-SAU game will be provided by KCJC 102.3 FM, the EAB Media Group app and www.arkansastechsports.com.
“I think those teams continue to get better and learn from the experiences they’ve had,” said Roy Thompson, Arkansas Tech head football coach, when asked what teams that finish the season strong have in common. “At this point in the season, you’ve seen every formation, every blitz, every motion, right? So, we’ve got to do a really good job of applying our learning. This week in practice we talked about still having that energy and excitement you had on day one. That’s really important. Anything can get monotonous if you do it every day, but you have to come out there with a fresh set of eyes and looking to be the best version of yourself every day.”
The Wonder Boys dropped a 37-21 decision at East Central University last Saturday. ECU passed for 290 yards in the first half and Arkansas Tech only completed six passes for the game, although three of those completions did go for touchdowns. In the end, the disparity in passing production was too great to overcome.
“We needed to start fast, and that didn’t happen,” said Thompson. “We have to find a way to start faster on both sides of the ball. With the team we have, I believe every game we should be in it the whole time and have an opportunity to win it in the end. We have to keep the chains moving (on offense) and get stops on the defensive side of the ball.”
Perhaps the greatest strength for the Wonder Boys’ week seven opponent, SAU, is the Muleriders’ ability to pressure the passer. Southern Arkansas leads the Great American Conference with 17 sacks this season.
Another Muleriders’ strength is their ability to keep their offense on the field. SAU’s 45.9 percent conversion rate on third down ranks third in the GAC.
“Our ability to create negative plays on early downs is going to be critical,” said Thompson. “If you don’t, then you have to come up with some stuff to try to get stops and get those guys off the field on third-and-medium or third-and-short. Southern Arkansas wants to pound the football. It’s going to be a challenge for us defensively. I’m looking forward to going out there, trying to create some negative plays, get them behind the chains and make some stops.”
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.
