The Ouachita Baptist Tigers football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team for

Ouachita Baptist University Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita (pronounced WAH-shi-tah) River, which forms the eastern campus boundary. It is affiliated with the Arka ...

located in the U.S. state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. The team competes in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

and are members of the

Great American Conference The Great American Conference (GAC) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, with headquarters located in Russellvill ...

. Ouachita Baptist's first football team was fielded in 1896. The team plays its home games at

Cliff Harris Clifford Allen Harris (born November 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. A Pro Football Hall of Famer, he appeared in five Sup ...

Stadium / Benson-Williams Field in

Arkadelphia, Arkansas Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,714. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Henderson ...

. The Tigers are coached by Todd Knight.

History

The Tiger football team is notable for participating in the first ever Intercollegiate game in

history, a 24-0 win over the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

in the fall of 1897. The Ouachita Baptist Tigers compete in the

Battle of the Ravine The Battle of the Ravine is a college rivalry Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each oth ...

every year. This tradition started in 1895 when Ouachita Baptist played Arkadelphia Methodist College (currently known as

Henderson State University Henderson State University (HSU) is a public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College, it is Arkansas's only member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Henderson has an undergraduate enrol ...

), and won 8-0. This historical event was not played from 1951 to 1963 because of the excessive rivalry between the two schools. It resumed after 1963 and is still being played to this day.

Conference Affiliations

* Independent (1897, 1906 - 1926, 1928 - 1930) * No Team (1898 - 1905, 1943 - 1944) * Arkansas Association (1927) *

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1927 or 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges ...

(1931 - 1942, 1945 - 1994) * NAIA Independent (1995 - 1996) *

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

(1997 - 1999) *

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mid ...

(2000 - 2010) *

(2011 - present)

Notable former players

Formerly in the NFL

* Carl Allen, RB/DB,

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

, DB,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Gregory Junior Gregory Junior (born June 21, 1999) is an American football cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ouachita Baptist. College career Junior played college football at Ouachi ...

, DB,

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

* Bill LaFitte, E, Brooklyn Tigers * Ed Neal, OL,

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Julius Pruitt Julius Pruitt (born December 30, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Ouachita Baptist University. Professional career Miami Dol ...

, WR,

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

* Chuck Taylor, LB, Brooklyn Tigers * Chris Rycraw, RB,

* Augustine Ume-Ezeoke, DB,

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Phillip Supernaw Phillip Steven Supernaw (born January 30, 1990) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Ouachita Baptist University. He was signed by the Houston Texans after going unselected in the 2012 NFL Draft. He also play ...

, TE,

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Year-by-year results

Championships

Conference championships

*Indicates co-championship

Rivalries

Henderson State

References

External links

* {{Great American Conference football navbox American football teams established in 1896 1896 establishments in Arkansas