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Southwestern Oklahoma State (5-5, 5-4 GAC) at Northwestern Oklahoma State (2-8, 2-7 GAC)
Saturday, November 16, 1 pm
Alva, Okla. (Ranger Field)
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Game Notes (pdf)
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Setting the Scene
     The quest for the program's fifth winning season as a member of NCAA Division II -- and first since 2007 -- comes down to the final game of the season. SWOSU will make the trip north to visit longtime rival, and recent Great American Conference addition, Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday for a 1 pm kickoff in Alva.
     SWOSU is looking for their sixth victory of the season against a Northwestern team that is 2-8 on the year, but both of their wins have come in the last three games. The Bulldogs have alternated wins and losses the last four weeks and if that trend continues, SWOSU is due for a win after dropping a 49-32 contest to Tarleton State last Saturday.
     Northwestern started the season 0-7 with several lopsided defeats before earning their first victory over Southeastern on October 26. Last weekend, the Rangers picked up a 62-17 win at Southern Nazarene to improve to 2-8 (2-7 GAC) on the year.
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The Series
     The in-state rivalry between SWOSU and Northwestern Oklahoma State dates back to 1907 and is the fifth-most played rivalry in SWOSU football history. Saturday's game will be the 80th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Rangers, with SWOSU holding a 48-27-4 advantage in the series.
     While the series is longstanding, SWOSU and Northwestern have met just three times since the Bulldogs reclassified to NCAA Division II prior to the 1997 season. Northwestern stayed in the NAIA until last season, when they began their ascension to Division II and the Great American Conference which means the rivalry will now be renewed on an annual basis.
     SWOSU has won the last five meetings in the series and eight of the last nine games between the two schools, dating back to 1992. The last two games have been played in Alva, with SWOSU winning by scores of 29-15 and 31-28 in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, respectively.
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The Coaches
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Dan Cocannouer is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team in 2013. He returned home to lead his alma mater in 2009 and helped the team better its won-loss record in each of his first three seasons. After finishing 1-10 in his inaugural season, SWOSU improved to 5-6 in 2011, the first season of the Great American Conference. In 2012, the Bulldogs slipped slightly in the win column, finishing 3-7 (2-6 GAC) with three losses of 10 points or less. Overall, Cocannouer is 17-36 overall at SWOSU and 1-0 against Northwestern Oklahoma State.
     Alan Hall is finishing his second season with the Rangers, where he has a current record of 6-14. Under Hall's guidance, Northwestern has been strong late in the season, finishing the 2012 season on a four-game winning streak and winning two of their last three games this season. A veteran collegiate coach with experience from junior college to Division I, Hall came to Northwestern after serving for a year as athletic director and head football coach at Bible Baptist School in Savannah, Ga.
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The Last Meeting
     Southwestern Oklahoma State University put a bold exclamation point on the start of its 2011 season dispatching longtime rival Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 31-28, in Alva. The win was the fifth straight for SWOSU in a series that counts its beginnings more than 100 years.
     Quarterback
Dustin Stenta had over 300 yards of total offense and accounted for three scores for as the Bulldogs won their first opener since the 2008 season. SWOSU coach
Dan Cocannouer was pleased with his team's overall performance especially for their willingness to fight back from some initial adversity.
     The game's big momentum changer was a 45-yard interception return by SWOSU's Clarence Laster that put the Bulldogs comfortably in front 21-7 early in the third quarter. Laster's electrifying run was the highlight for a SWOSU defense that limited the Rangers to just 16 completions on 31 attempts.
     Stenta, who completed 27-of-38 passes for 294 yards and a score put SWOSU ahead to stay early in the third. His 10-yard keeper put the Bulldogs in front 14-7 with 12:14 to play in the third.
     SWOSU's defense forced a punt deep from NWOSU territory that gave the Bulldogs the ball at their own 47-yard line. A 37-yard pass interference penalty gave the Bulldogs the ball at the NWOSU 16. Stenta then kept himself and scored on a 16-yard run to move SWOSU's margin to 28-14 with 2:50 to go in the third.
     Later in the game, Stenta then connected on a 54-yard pass to Esau Bauknight to get the Bulldogs out of a deep hole down. D. C. Walker then used a twisting, turning 25-yard run down the Rangers six-yard line. SWOSU's drive stalled from that point and
Colton Rainey came on for a 28-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs ahead 31-14 with 13:11 to play.
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Last Time Out
     Despite milestone days for quarterback
Dustin Stenta and tight end
Ryan Corbin, the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team fell to Tarleton State, 49-32, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon.
     Stenta threw for 443 yards and two touchdowns, becoming just the seventh active player in Division II – and 25th across all NCAA divisions – the reach the 10,000-yard mark for total offense. He also came within two yards of matching his own Bulldog single-game record for passing yardage, set against Ouachita Baptist in 2011. Stenta now owns five of the top seven single-game marks in SWOSU history.
     Corbin caught 11 passes for 109 yards, establishing a new Bulldog single-season record for receptions, 68, breaking Bruce Hatton's two-year old record and tying the career mark of catches with 173, set previously by Johnathan Haggerty from 2006-09.
     The Bulldogs (5-5) fell behind 14-0 before Stenta orchestrated their first scoring drive of the contest. He hit
M.J. Porter on a 62-yard touchdown pass with 2:06 left in the opening quarter.
     Midway through the second quarter, with the Bulldogs down 21-7, the offense put together a nine-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a nine-yard run by Stenta. A bad snap on ensuing extra point left the Bulldogs down 21-13.
     The two team exchanged turnovers on the next three possessions.
Ryan Feller forced and recovered a fumble, but Stenta threw an interception on the first play of the subsequent drive. The Bulldogs got the ball right back as
Brandon Washington notched his second interception of the season.
     The Bulldogs needed only three plays to capitalize on the turnover. Following a 41-yard pass from Stenta to Corbin,
Matt Farris found the end zone from four yards out to bring the Bulldogs to within two, 21-19.
     In the second half, Tarleton State (7-2) opened with touchdowns on its first two possessions to push the lead out the 35-19. SWOSU closed to 35-26 when
Karl Hodge capped a five-play, 47-yard drive with a 10-yard run.
     The Texans added two fourth-quarter touchdowns before Stenta connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to
Teverick Boyd. For the game, the Bulldogs amassed 549 yards of offense; however, the Texans accumulated 618.
Steven Townsley led the Bulldog defense with 10 tackles.
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Checking the Standings
     A non-conference defeat to Tarleton State didn't harm the Bulldogs in the Great American Conference standings. In fact, with Southern Arkansas taking a defeat at the hands of Henderson State, SWOSU and Arkansas Tech actually pulled into a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference with the Muleriders. Henderson State is 9-0 and has already clinched the GAC Championship for a second straight season while Harding and Ouachita Baptist are tied for second at 7-2 in GAC play.
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New Record Holder
     The pursuit of SWOSU single-season and career receiving records by senior tight end
Ryan Corbin has continued all season and the first record fell last weekend. With 10 catches for 104 yards against Tarleton State, Corbin now has 67 receptions for the season, setting a new single-season mark by surpassing former teammate Bruce Hatton's 63 catches in 2011.
     It was believed that Corbin tied Johnathan Haggerty's career receptions mark in the game, but one reception from the game was miscredited, leaving him needed two catches on Saturday to become the leading pass catcher in SWOSU history.
     Corbin also became just the fourth player in SWOSU football history with more than 800 receiving yards in a season. With 809 yards for the year, the senior from Newcastle, Okla., needs exactly 100 yards this week to set a new single-season record for receiving yards at SWOSU. That mark of 908 yards is currently held by Chase Pratt from 2003.
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Total Offense Over 10k
     Corbin wasn't alone in passing milestones against the Texans. Senior quarterback
Dustin Stenta threw completed 39-of-63 passes for 443 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat, setting new single-game school records for completions and attempts and throwing for the second-most pass yards in a game. Stenta now holds five of the top seven single-game passing marks in SWOSU football history.
     He also went over the 10,000-yard mark for total offense and 9,000-yard mark for passing during the game. Stenta holds the SWOSU career records in both categories and he is one of seven active players in NCAA Division II with more than 10,000 yards of total offense and one of eight players with over 9,000 yards passing.
   For his career, Stenta is 814-of-1,472 passing with 9,244 yards and 60 touchdowns. He has added 868 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing on 296 attempts and he holds nearly every passing record -- single game, single season and career -- in SWOSU football history.
