Ottawa opened the 2025 season with a 27-10 loss to (RV) Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina last Saturday. OU finished the game with 166 yards of offense, 161 yards through the air and five yards on the ground. Kansas Wesleyan had 362 yards of offense, 140 yards passing and 222 yards rushing.
Luke Edwards led the OU offense with 161 passing yards and a touchdown, while
Key Long and
Jayden Johnson each hauled in six receptions. Defensively,
Ethan Yinger paced the Braves with 10 tackles, and
Elijah Hann recorded an interception.
The Braves are averaging 166 yards of offense per game, 161 yards passing and five yards rushing. The offense is scoring 10 points per game. OU's defense is allowing 362 yards of offense, 222 yards rushing and 140 yards passing. Opponents are scoring 27 points per game.
Ottawa has lost four straight home openers. Its last win in a home opener was on Sept. 12, 2020 against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The Braves won the game 27-21.
Luke Edwards leads OU in passing. He is 19-for-32 through the air for 141 yards and one touchdown. Edwards is completing 59.4 percent of his passes.
Malakai Hudson is the team's leader in rushing. He is averaging 18 rushing yards per game on six attempts.
Key Long and
Jayden Johnson lead the Braves with six receptions apiece. Long has 46 receiving yards and Johnson has 41.
Rowdy Keith leads OU in touchdown receptions with one.
Ethan Yinger leads the Braves in tackles per game (10).
Brandon Doles is OU's leader in sacks (1.5) and
Elijah Hann leads OU with one interception.
Saturday will be the 26th game between Ottawa University and the University of Saint Mary. OU leads the series, 20-5 and is 8-2 in its last 10 games against USM. The Braves have won two straight games against the Spires and are 10-2 against USM at home. In the last five games, Ottawa is outscoring Saint Mary 31-22. The first game between Ottawa and Saint Mary happened on Oct. 14, 2000 in Ottawa. The Braves won the game 61-6.
Ottawa is ranked 49th in the NAIA in scoring (10), 49th in points per game (10), 43rd in passing yards (161), 43rd in passing yards per game (161), 31st in passing first downs (9), 14th in penalty first downs (2), 36th in third down conversion percentage (.380), 32nd in fourth down conversion percentage (.333), 11th in punts (no.-yards) (7-266), 28th in average per punt (38.0), 41st in red zone touchdown percentage (.500), 39th in tackles (61), 24th in sacks (2), 13th in penalties (5), and 20th in penalty yards (40).
The Spires enter Saturday's game coming off a 62-14 loss to Evangel University in Leavenworth last Saturday night.
USM's offense is averaging 366 yards per game, 221 rushing and 145 yards passing. Saint May is scoring 14 points per game.
Saint May's defense is allowing 631 yards of offense per game, 300 yards rushing and 331 yards passing. Opponents are scoring 62 points per game.
Erick Covington leads the team in passing. He is 9-for-27 through the air for 124 yards and one touchdown. Covington threw two interceptions in the loss to Evangel last Saturday.
Kameron Smith is USM's leader in rushing. He has rushed for 151 yards on 11 attempts, an average of 13.7 yards per carry. Michael Gazaana is the Spires' leader in receptions with four. He had 72 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Deante Nobles leads USM in scoring, averaging 11 tackles per game. Davon Slaughter and Matthias Lopez are averaging eight tackles per game.
Saint Mary is ranked 46th in the NAIA in scoring (14), 46th in points per game (14), 29th in total offense (366), 29th in yards per game (366), 45th in passing yards (145), 45th in passing yards per game (145), 8th in rushing yards (221), 40th in rushing attempts (31), 8th in rushing yards per game (221), sixth in yards per rush (7.1), 36th in first downs (17), 24th in rushing first downs (8), 46th in third down con versions (4-13), 44th in third down conversion percentage (.310), 13th in penalties (5), and 23rd in penalty yards (42).
