Southern Nazarene pulled one of the biggest college football upsets of all-time with its win over Ouachita Baptist on Thursday night. Although you may not be familiar with either program, this is the Division II equivalent of a program like UMass, Kent State or UTEP beating the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens.
The Crimson Storm needed a perfect storm to take down the Tigers in Arkadelphia!
Southern Nazarene, a private university located in Bethany, Oklahoma, was founded in 1899. It enrolls ~1,600 undergraduates. The university only established a football team in 2000.
On the other sideline, Ouachita Baptist is a powerhouse. Founded in 1886, it established a football season 10 years after opening in 1896.
The history of the two programs are on two very different. As are their records.
Ouachita went 12-1 in 2018, 11-1 in 2019, 9-2 in 2020, 11-1 in 2021, and 9-2 last season. Southern Nazarene went 17-37 during that same stretch. The Tigers began the year at 8-0. The Crimson Storm entered Thursday’s matchup at 0-8 by a combined score of 291-116.
On paper, there was no way the visitors would take down the home team. It was a mismatch of pretty epic proportions with a talent gap similar to an early-season game between an FCS school and a College Football Playoff contender. Ouachita went up 17-3 right out of halftime.
College football chaos ensued!
Southern Nazarene’s defense shut it down with two interceptions, two fourth down stops, and two forced punts. Meanwhile, kicker Kevin Van Prooyen chipped away at the lead. He cut it to just five with 11 minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
SCRATCH THAT! MAKE IT 4-4! https://t.co/BL4QiED6pF pic.twitter.com/TkmO3edBt0
— Oklahoma Local Sports Network (@OklahomaLocalSN) November 1, 2024
The Crimson Storm offense eventually took over at their own 28-yard-line with 2:32 left in regulation. They finished the scoring drive with an 11-yard screen pass to take the lead with 24 seconds on the clock.
FINAL SCORE | FB | @NCAADII
— Oklahoma Local Sports Network (@OklahomaLocalSN) November 1, 2024
🚨 MAJOR UPSET ALERT 🚨
Southern Nazarene 18@SNUFootball (1-8)
#3 Ouachita Baptist 17@OuachitaFB (8-1)
This day will live on forever within the Southern Nazarene program! The Crimson Storm pick up their 1st win of the season and 100th win in… pic.twitter.com/Y02TCWrAoR
The Tigers could not answer and lost their first game of the season to one of the worst teams on the Division II level. History was made in Arkansas on Thursday night.
“It’s been a rough road and they really got with it today.”@SNUFootball HC @CoachHada shares his thoughts after a stunning win over Top 5 Ouachita Baptist. #D2FB pic.twitter.com/hvt4rvULPr
— Jack Allen KATV (@JackAllenTV) November 1, 2024
Although most people will soon forget about Southern Nazarene’s win over a top-five Ouachita Baptist program, if they even know about the monumental result in the first place, diehard (sicko) college football fans will remember this one for a very long time. This was the biggest upset of the year and one of the biggest upsets of all-time!