There is ample evidence that Arkansas Tech University is positioned for a breakthrough football season in 2024.
Talent, experience, continuity, preparation…it seems as though everything is in place. That includes confidence, which is fueled by the fact the Wonder Boys won five of their final seven games to end the 2023 season.
“I think our guys have a different belief than in the past,” said Kyle Shipp, ATU head football coach. “They know if they practice certain ways, prepare certain ways and play certain ways, we have a chance to win every game that we’re in. They took that mindset going into the off-season and fall camp. Our players and coaches have a good belief in what we’re doing.”
The Wonder Boys will begin the 2024 season by hosting Oklahoma Baptist University in Great American Conference action on Thursday, Sept. 5. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium in Russellville.
Tickets are available at www.arkansastechsports.com/tickets.
Arkansas Tech is aiming for its first winning football season since 2017. If one wishes to consider even loftier goals, it’s been a quarter-century since the Wonder Boys celebrated the most recent of their 18 conference championships.
The foundation of the optimism surrounding the 2024 Wonder Boys is no doubt continuity. Eighteen starters from the final game last season are back.
“We have a lot of older guys who have played,” said Shipp. “Pretty much the entire offense…and the same thing on defense, as well…most of those guys have been here two, three or four years. When you play the game that much and get that many reps, you begin to play the game with a higher level of confidence. That continuity allows you to trust each other. If we can get this thing started fast, I know the belief will be there and it can continue to snowball.”
That snowball effect could be accelerated by an infusion of talent, particularly at the offensive skill positions.
Freshman running back Luke Gall was the Missouri Class 5 offensive player of the year in 2022 and is a transfer from the Air Force Academy. Sophomore running back Myles West averaged 4.4 yards per carry and rushed for 767 yards at NCAA Division II member Minot State University (N.D.) in 2023.
Gall, West and returnee Deuce Wise, a junior from Fort Smith, figure to be the Wonder Boys’ top options to carry the ball. Arkansas Tech will try to improve upon its 2.7 yards per carry average from a year ago.
Junior wide receiver Jared Long, who had more than 1,000 receiving yards as a high school senior at Heritage Academy (Miss.), is a transfer from the purple and gray institution in Conway. Freshman Isiah Kendall ranked among the top 100 wide receiver prospects in the nation during his senior year at Newport High School. Kendall is a transfer from Jackson State University.
Transfer quarterbacks Ethan Everson, a senior who came to ATU from fellow GAC member Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and Ethan Forrester, a junior who spent four years at NCAA Division II member Fort Hays State University, have been competing for the starting quarterback role throughout fall camp.
“They’re ready for it,” said Shipp when asked to assess the Wonder Boys’ frame of mind. “They’ve been talking about this game all summer. Our guys have been really focused on this game. We know (Oklahoma Baptist) is good enough to beat us because they have. Hopefully, we’ll do our job and get after it. Like any first game, it will come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes and who takes care of the football.”
Live coverage of the ATU-Oklahoma Baptist game will be available on KWKK 100.9 FM, the EAB Media Group app and www.arkansastechsports.com.
All subsequent ATU football games during the 2024 season are scheduled to be broadcast on KCJC 102.3 FM.
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.
