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SWOSU (1-4, 1-4 GAC) at East Central (1-4, 1-4 GAC) Saturday, Oct. 8, 6:00 pm Ada, Okla. (Norris Field) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Armed with momentum following their first victory of the 2016 season, the SWOSU Football team looks to make it two in a row when they head to Ada on Saturday to face East Central
- East Central is SWOSU Football's most-played, with Saturday's game being the 94th meeting all-time between the schools
- Both teams enter the game with a record of 1-4, with SWOSU riding a one-game winning streak while East Central is coming off of back-to-back losses
- SWOSU has lost in their last three visits to Ada and the Bulldogs are just 2-6 against the Tigers on the road since moving to NCAA Division II in 1997
- Last season, the Bulldogs defeated ECU 38-31 and they will be looking for their first back-to-back wins over ECU since 2006-07
 
The Series
- SWOSU has faced East Central more times than any other opponent with 93 meetings on the gridiron in a series that dates back to 1915
- East Central leads the all-time series with 49 wins, while SWOSU has defeated the Tigers 42 times and the teams have tied twice
- SWOSU and East Central have faced off in every season since the end of World War II in 1946 and the last time the teams did not play in a year when games were played was 1926
- The teams have split the series over the past decade, but ECU holds a 12-7 edge in games during the NCAA Division II era (since 1997)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 30-51 (Eighth Season)
- Has been the head coach at his alma mater since 2009, leading the Bulldogs to two winning seasons in the past three years
- Earned four Coach of the Year Awards following the 2015 season, including: Great American Conference, AFCA Region 4, HERO Sports Region 3 and OklahomaSports.Net Small College
- With SWOSU's victory over Southeastern on October 1st, Cocannouer moved into a share of sixth place on the SWOSU all-time wins list, tying Jake Spann (30, 1939-48)
- Has a record of 3-4 against East Central as the Bulldogs head coach, including a record of 0-2 against the Tigers in Ada
 
East Central: Tim McCarty, 46-55 (10th Season)
- In the eighth season of his second stint as the East Central head coach, with three seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State in between
- Led the Tigers to their first postseason trip since 1993 in 2014 as they met Texas A&M-Commerce in the Heart of Texas Bowl
- Has coached an All-American at ECU in six straight seasons, while sending four players on to the NFL on free agency contracts
 
The Last Meeting (Oct. 10, 2015)
- SWOSU scored four touchdowns in the second half as they came from 10 points down to defeat East Central 38-31 on Homecoming at ASAP Energy Field
- The Tigers led 20-10 at halftime, but SWOSU scored on four of their six second-half drives to earn the comeback victory
- Karltrell Henderson scored the game-tying touchdown with 12:00 to play and Kwame Tate finished off a four-play drive for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:08 to play in the fourth quarter
- Marc Evans completed 23-of-46 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns while completing a pass to 10 different receivers in the game
- D.J. Jones had his second 100-yard receiving game of the season, finishing with four receptions for 127 yards and a TD while Henderson and Derrick Styles also had touchdown catches
- Conner Bays again led the Bulldogs in tackles with 10 while Ja'Vaughn Mitchell and Austin Loomis had six apiece
 
Last Time Out (Oct. 1, 2016)
- SWOSU outscored Southeastern Oklahoma State 14-3 in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning touchdown with just 20 seconds remaining, to defeat the Savage Storm 37-33
- The Bulldogs found themselves facing a 17-7 deficit late in the first quarter after turning the ball over on three of their first four drives, but SWOSU tied the game at 20-20 late in the half
- Southeastern again took a 10-point lead at 30-20 early in the third quarter, but SWOSU again rallied to tie the game with 9:26 to play
- On their final drive, Southeastern got into the red zone but the Bulldogs held them to a field goal and SWOSU went on a 14-play, 75-yard drive to win the game on a nine-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Martey
- Marc Evans threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns while Karltrell Henderson carried the ball for 116 yards and a score
- Conner Bays led the defense with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble while TJ Harris had nine tackles and one tackle for loss and Dominic Blue added two sacks
 
Checking the Standings
- With their win over Southeastern, SWOSU improved to 1-4 and moved into a tie for 10th place in the league standings with East Central
- The Bulldogs remain just one game behind a four-way tie for sixth place in the standings that includes three teams that SWOSU has yet to face
- Harding and Henderson State are both ranked in the AFCA and D2Football.com Top 25 Polls as both teams continue to lead the league with matching records of 5-0
- Southern Arkansas is the lone team with a 4-1 record while Ouachita and Southeastern both enter the weekend at 3-2
 
SWOSU Offensive Notes
- With a season-high 503 yards of total offense against Southeastern, the Bulldogs upped their season average to 391.2 yards per game, a mark ranked 10th in the GAC
- In just his second year of playing at SWOSU, Karltrell Henderson has totals of 1,328 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns, marks that rank fifth and tied for second at SWOSU in the NCAA Division II era, respectively
- The 37 points scored by the Bulldogs against Southeastern is also a season-high and it upped the Dawgs scoring offense to 25.4 points per game, ninth-best in the conference
- Marc Evans has risen to fourth in the GAC rankings for passing, averaging 220.0 yards per game while completing 52.6% (90-for-171) of his attempts
- Evans completed passes to nine different receivers against Southeastern, including a team-best five for 55 yards and a touchdown to JR Omigie
- D.J. Jones was held to two receptions for 27 yards, but he did catch a touchdown pass, while Matt Farris caught his first touchdown pass for the Bulldogs against Southeastern
 
SWOSU Defensive Notes
- Conner Bays totaled 12 tackles (nine solo, three assist) against Southeastern and was named the GAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career
- Bays moved into fifth in career tackles at SWOSU in the NCAA Division II era with 232 and he has had 10 or more tackles in four consecutive games and 12 times in his career
- SWOSU held Southeastern to 121 yards rushing on Saturday, almost 100 yards below the Savage Storm's season average, after two straight opponents had rushed for over 200 yards against the Bulldogs
- The Bulldogs currently rank ninth in the GAC in scoring defense (36.4 ppg), sixth in total defense (397.2 ypg), sixth in rushing defense (191.8 ypg) and fifth in pass defense (205.4 ypg)
- Deric Robertson grabbed his first interception as a Bulldog on Saturday, the seventh INT by SWOSU's defense this season, which is third among conference foes
- TJ Harris was very active with nine tackles and one tackle for loss against Southeastern, giving him 19 stops (10 solo, nine assist) for the year
- Gentry Rogers had six stops against SE and he's fourth on the team with 23 for the year
 
SWOSU Special Teams Notes
- Tyler Peterson remained perfect on field goals this season by hitting a 37-yard attempt against Southeastern, but he had one extra point blocked and he's now 16-for-17 for the year
- SWOSU is ranked 12th in the conference in net punting, averaging 29.1 yards per punt and 2.9 yards per return for a 26.2 yard net
- The Bulldogs are sixth in the league in kickoff returns, averaging 21.9 yards per on 22 returns, led by Sheldon Wilson with a 34.8 yard per return average
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU plays a second straight road game next Saturday (Oct. 15) at Southern Nazarene before concluding the season with three of the final four games at home
- The Bulldogs next home game will be on October 22nd against Oklahoma Baptist, with kickoff at 2:00 pm at ASAP Energy Field