When Arkansas Tech head football coach Steve Mullins awoke on Sunday, September 12, 1999, he faced a critical decision.

The Wonder Boys were 1-2. Their starting quarterback, George Harp, had suffered a season-ending injury the night before in a loss at Delta State.

Quarterback Josh Price, who had engineered a game-winning drive against UCA the year before, had yet to play in a game in 1999 and was scheduled to redshirt. So, as the Wonder Boys looked ahead to the final eight games of the regular season, the question was simple: did the team have enough potential to make it worthwhile to remove Price’s redshirt?

When the Wonder Boys stepped off the bus in Livingston, Alabama, the following Saturday, Josh Price was their starting quarterback.

Over the course of the next five weeks, Arkansas Tech defeated West Alabama, Valdosta State and Henderson State; throttled UCA 54-27; and disposed of Arkansas-Monticello 46-27 to improve to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in league play. For the first time ever, the Wonder Boys were in contention for a Gulf South Conference title.

The day before Halloween brought the University of North Alabama to Buerkle Field. With three national championships earlier in the decade to their credit, the Lions were the standard by which all over GSC programs were measured.

On that Saturday, the Wonder Boys were greater than the Lions. A blocked field goal by Earrick Stigall in the closing moments helped Arkansas Tech preserve a 24-21 victory.

Entering the penultimate week of the 1999 regular season, the Wonder Boys were tied with West Georgia and Southern Arkansas for first place in the Gulf South Conference standings. Those three teams were scheduled to settle things head-to-head.

First was a matchup between Arkansas Tech and West Georgia at Grisham Stadium in Carrollton, Georgia, on Saturday, November 6.

The Wonder Boys were in control from the beginning. They raced out to a 28-7 halftime lead and sailed to victory behind 115 rushing yards from Ed Duncan, three touchdown passes by Josh Price and 127 receiving yards by Greg Washington.

Meanwhile, Southern Arkansas spent the first Saturday of November dismantling Henderson State 31-3. The de facto GSC championship game was set, and the winner would be the first Arkansas team to win the Gulf South Conference football title outright.

The Wonder Boys and the Muleriders met at Buerkle Field on Saturday, November 13.

Southern Arkansas opened a 17-7 lead, but a fourth-quarter 3-yard touchdown run by Arkansas Tech’s Justin Powell and a subsequent 22-yard field goal by All-American Paul Peletz sent the game to overtime with the score tied 17-17.

The Wonder Boys got the ball first and Peletz was true again, connecting from 40 yards to give Arkansas Tech the lead. The first play of Southern Arkansas’ subsequent possession resulted in a fumble, which Charlie Lairamore recovered to secure the win, the GSC title and a place in history for the 1999 Wonder Boys.

They were champions of the Gulf South Conference.

Arkansas Tech concluded its 1999 season with a 40-28 loss at Carson-Newman College in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Much of the core of that team would return in 2000 and again in 2001. Over the course of those three years, the Wonder Boys amassed a 24-8 overall record. The seniors from 2001 were part of the most successful graduating class for Arkansas Tech football since the glory days of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Perhaps sweetest of all for that group is the fact that it ended with a fourth consecutive win over arch rival UCA. Travis Horn rushed for a school-record 288 yards and the Wonder Boys beat the Bears 33-28 on November 10, 2001.