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SWOSU (2-5, 2-5 GAC) at East Central (4-2, 4-2 GAC) Saturday, October 25, 4:00 pm Ada, Okla. (Norris Field) Live Stats  |  Watch Live ($) |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU will make the in-state trip to Ada to face East Central this Saturday, the meeting between the two programs in Ada since 2010
- The Bulldogs are looking to snap a four-game slide - their longest in two years - after a 28-24 defeat against Southeastern Oklahoma State last weekend
- East Central enters the game with consecutive wins over Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State by a combined 90-33 score
- SWOSU is 0-3 on the road this season with defeats by an average of 29.3 points per game
 
The Series
- SWOSU has faced East Central more times than any other opponent with 91 meetings on the gridiron in a series that dates back to 1915
- East Central leads the all-time series with 48 wins, while SWOSU has defeated the Tigers 41 times and the teams have tied twice
- The programs have split their meetings over the past eight seasons, but ECU holds an 11-6 edge in games during the NCAA Division II era (since 1997)
- East Central has won the last two meetings between the teams in Ada, with SWOSU's last victory on the Tigers home field coming in 2006
- SWOSU has hosted the Tigers the past three seasons, going 1-2 with a 13-10 victory in 2012
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 20-41 (Sixth Season)
- Returned home to lead his alma mater in 2009 following a long, successful high school coaching career
- Led SWOSU to their first winning season since 2007 with a 6-5 record last season
- Earned his 20th win as the Bulldogs head man against Southern Arkansas (Sept. 20), ranking him 8th in all-time wins at SWOSU
- Has a record of 2-3 against East Central
 
East Central: Tim McCarty, 37-43 (Eighth Season)
- In the sixth season of his second stint as East Central's head coach after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State
- Has won at least five games in each of the past four seasons after going 0-11 in his first year back at ECU
- Previously spent five seasons as the head coach at Tabor College
 
The Last Meeting (Oct. 26, 2013)
- East Central took advantage of five SWOSU turnovers to defeat the Bulldogs 24-21 on their 2013 Homecoming
- Dustin Stenta threw for 318 yards and a touchdown, with two receivers - Brian Robinson and Teverick Boyd - eclipsing the 100-yard receiving mark
- Hunter Dinkines caught the first pass of his career, a seven-yard touchdown in the first quarter
- ECU recovered three SWOSU fumbles in the second half, converting two of which into their final 14 points
- Stenta scored on a two-yard TD run with 1:20 to play, then hit Boyd for the 2-point conversion to get within three at 24-21 before ECU recovered SWOSU's onside kick attempts
- Ryan Feller and Jim O'Brien each made nine stops to lead the Bulldog defense
 
Last Time Out (Oct. 18, 2014)
- Southeastern Oklahoma State scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to stun SWOSU 28-24 last Saturday at Fast Lane Field
- SWOSU's defense intercepted four passes and set up 17 points, including a 34-yard pick six by Conner Bays that put the Dawgs up 24-7 with 1:09 to play in the third quarter
- Bays had two interceptions in the game while Austin Loomis and Steven Townsley also picked off Southeastern Oklahoma State passes
- Cameron Nix carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards, including touchdown runs of 14 and 7 yards - the first two rushing TDs of his SWOSU career
- SWOSU offense was limited to 234 total yards and picked up just two first downs in the fourth quarter
- Tanner Thompson led the defense with 12 stops while Tyler Follis had a career-best nine tackles
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU is holding steady at eighth place in the Great American Conference standings this week with a 2-5 conference mark
- The Bulldogs trail Southeastern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech by one game in the win column and two on the loss side
- East Central is alone in fourth in the GAC with a 4-2 conference mark, one game behind Harding for third and two games out of first place, which is occupied by unbeaten Henderson State & Ouachita Baptist at 6-0
 
Bulldog Offensive Notes
- Karl Hodge ranks fourth in the GAC with an average of 80.4 rush yards per game and he is tied for third in the conference with six rushing touchdowns
- Hodge has 1,283 career yards, ranking fourth at SWOSU in the NCAA Division II era, and his six rushing TDs is the fourth-most in a single season
- The Bulldogs were held to 234 yards of total offense against Southeastern Oklahoma State, their second-lowest offensive output of the season, dropping their season average to just under 300 yards per game (299.3 ypg)
- Cameron Nix scored the first two touchdowns of his SWOSU career with TD runs of 14 and 7 yards against Southeastern
- In his third start under center, true freshman Klark Ashmore was limited to 120 yards on 15-of-28 passing. He has combined to throw for 245 yards in the past two games
- For the year, Ashmore is 57-of-116 for 536 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions after becoming the first true freshman to start under center for the Bulldogs since current SWOSU Pass Game Coordinator Steve Day in 2005
- SWOSU has committed at least two turnovers in every game this season and they are tied with Southern Nazarene with 24 turnovers this season, the most in the GAC
- The Bulldogs have attempted 27 fourth-down conversions this season - the second-most in all of NCAA Division II - converting on 5 for an 18.5% rate
- SWOSU has not converted on fourth down since Matt Farris scored a one-yard TD on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter against Southern Arkansas (Sept. 20), a span of 11 consecutive failed attempts
- Brad Smithey continues inching closer to fourth place in all-time receptions at SWOSU. He currently has 30 receptions for the year - and 135 for his career - needing three more to overtake Chase Pratt (137, 2001-05) for fourth place
 
Bulldog Defensive Notes
- The Bulldog defense has forced eight turnovers in the past two weeks, four each against then-No. 7 Henderson State and Southeastern Oklahoma State
- In his second start of the year, Conner Bays made eight tackles and intercepted two passes, returning one 34 yards for a third-quarter touchdown
- Austin Loomis and Steven Townsley also added INTs, the first of Loomis' career and the third of the season by Townsley
- SWOSU ranks third in the GAC with 11 INTs this season behind CB Kevin Joseph, who leads the GAC in passes defended (13) and is second in INTs (4)
- The Bulldogs played without two of their top five tacklers: LB Kale Sawatzky & FS Kapena Olsen, against Southeastern
- Sawatzky missed the first game of his SWOSU career after appearing in the previous 36, making 26 starts at linebacker for the Dawgs. He has 222 career tackles, needing four more to move past Charles Thomas (225, 2003-04) for fifth place in the NCAA Division II era at SWOSU
- Tanner Thompson set a new career high with 12 tackles against Southeastern and he took over the team lead with 58 stops on the year
- Thompson and Townsley (52 tackles) both rank in the top ten in the GAC for that category
- Devin Benton had his NCAA Division II lead in tackles for loss taken this week by Nores Fradi of Wayne State (Mich). Benton has 16.0 TFL for the year, which leads the GAC and ranks second in the country
- Earlier this season, Benton became the NCAA Division II leader in sacks at SWOSU and his record currently stands at 17.0. He also has 43.0 career tackles for loss, needing 2.5 more to move past Ruzell McCoy (44.5, 2005-08) and Russell Radford (45, 1997-00) and atop that list also
 
Bulldog Special Team Notes
- True freshmen Dalton Jackson and Justin Tharp continue to split kicking duties for the Bulldogs
- Jackson converted the first field goal of the season for SWOSU, splitting the uprights from 19 yards out in the second quarter against Southeastern
- Tharp has assumed the kickoff role of late, averaging 60.1 yards on 13 attempts with two touchbacks
 
Scouting East Central
- Second-best passing offense in the conference, averaging 282.0 yards per game through the air
- Allowing opponents to score 32.0 ppg, but they've held their last two opponents under 30 points after three 40-point performances in a row
- Ranked last in the GAC in time of possession, maintaining the ball for just an average of 24:45 each game
- QB Spencer Bond is ranked third in the GAC with an average of 240.8 passing yards per game and he is the second-leading rusher among conference QBs with 336 rush yards
- His top target is Juwan Dotson, who leads the GAC in receptions per game, averaging 5.2 for 67.2 yards per game
- RB JoJo Snell leads the GAC in kick return average (24.0 yards/return) and all-purpose yardage (177.4 yards/game) while ranking sixth in rushing (71.6 yards/game)
- Leading tackler is LB Jameel Whitney, who is averaging 10.2 tackles per game while DE Daniel Holland is second in the conference in sacks (6.0) and third in TFL (10.0)
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs are back on the road November 1st when they head to Bethany to face Southern Nazarene before entering their bye week