October 6, 2004

It will be nationally-ranked and undefeated No. 15 Arkansas Tech going up against and hosting No. 20 Delta State in the Gulf South Conference spotlight game Saturday afternoon in what should pull an overflow audience into Buerkle Field.

Game time between the Wonder Boys (5-0) and Statesmen (3-2) has been set for 3 p.m., with the stadium ticket office and gates to open at 1 o'clock.

The game is not only of conference importance ---- Tech is tied with Valdosta State for first place at 4-0 and Delta State is a step behind at 3-1 ---- but also of NCAA Southeast Region ranking significance ---- Tech is fifth and Delta
is 11th ---- where only the top six earn advancement tickets into the national football playoffs.

Tech's homecoming crowd will see first-hand one of the premiere quarterbacks in the country in Delta State sophomore Scott Eyster, who has already thrown for 4,928 yards and 38 touchdowns in his young one and one-half year collegiate career.

Eyster was the Gulf South Conference freshman-of-the-year after throwing for 3,485 yards and 29 scores last fall while completing 62 percent of his attempts.
Thus far this season, the Hammond, La.-native has passed for 1,443 yards and
9 touchdowns, competing 58 percent of his tosses.

Last year, Eyster threw for 446 yards and four touchdowns in leading the Statesmen to a 38-28 win over Tech in Cleveland. The 20-year-old is 12-4 as quarterback for Delta State.

But quickly making a name for himself is Tech quarterback Jason Campbell, a transfer junior out of West Valley Junior College in California. He's unbeaten as the Wonder Boys' field general, helping to lead his team to only its third 5-0 start
in some 33 years.

Campbell has thrown for 1,158 yards and 13 touchdowns this fall, completing a healthy 61 percent of his attempts.

If there was ever any doubt of Delta State's offensive prowess, that was certainly erased last week in the Statesmen's wild 51-48 loss to Valdosta State. With Eyster passing for 483 yards and four scores, the Statesmen piled up 674 yards of total offense.

Delta State will come into this game as the Gulf South's top scoring team (42.0) and top total offensive leader, averaging 464.8 yards per game.

Arkansas Tech is second in scoring (39.4), second in scoring defense (21.0) and fifth in total offense (399.2).

But this will be a major test for Tech's defensive secondary. The Wonder Boys lead the Gulf South in pass defense, surrendering only 130 aerial yards
per game. And Delta State ranks second in that same category, giving up only
151 yards per outing.

The Wonder Boys reached this stage of the season unbeaten with a 28-14 road win over West Georgia last week. Tech broke away from a 14-14 tie for a
pair of fourth period scores as Campbell passed 22 yards to Craig Gobroski and
17 yards to Chris Johnson.

Delta State was held inches from the goal line not once, but twice in the closing seconds of the game in its loss at Valdosta. Trailing 51-48, a 50-yard pass put the Statesmen at the 1-yard line, but two attempted dives into the end zone
were stopped inches short as time expired.

Tech hasn't gone 6-0 since 1971, when that Wonder Boy team strung together 12 consecutive wins and reached the NAIA national championship game.

This will be the 12th meeting between Tech and Delta State, with the Statesmen holding a narrow 6-5 edge in a series that started back in 1956. The Wonder Boys have won three of the last four get-togethers and the two clubs are tied at 3-3 in games played at Buerkle Field.

Back to News