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Arkansas Tech (5-4, 5-4 GAC) at SWOSU (4-5, 4-5 GAC) Saturday, Nov. 5, 2:00 pm Weatherford, Okla. (ASAP Energy Field) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Football enters November with two home games remaining to close out the 2016 regular season, beginning this Saturday against Arkansas Tech
- The Bulldogs fell to #5/10 Harding 42-27 last weekend in Searcy, snapping SWOSU's four-game winning streak and dropping the Dawgs to 4-5 on the year
- Arkansas Tech enters the game having won three of their last four contests, including a 41-35 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State last Saturday, and the Wonder Boys are 5-4 on the year
- After going undefeated at ASAP Energy Field last season, the Bulldogs dropped their first two home games of 2016, but they've responded with wins over Southeastern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Baptist in their last two home contests
 
The Series
- This Saturday's contest will be the 13th all-time matchup between SWOSU and Arkansas Tech in a series dating back to 1968
- SWOSU leads the all-time series 7-5, including three consecutive wins and a 4-1 record as members of the Great American Conference
- The Bulldogs are 3-3 against the Wonder Boys all-time in games played in Weatherford, with a 2-1 record at home against ATU as GAC foes
- SWOSU's 14-point victory at Arkansas Tech last season is the largest margin between the schools in the GAC era and the average margin of victory in those five games is 8.0 points
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 33-52 (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
- After the victory over Oklahoma Baptist on October 20, Cocannouer is now alone in sole possession of fourth place on SWOSU's all-time win list with 33 victories
- Has a record of 4-1 against Arkansas Tech as the Bulldogs head coach, including an 2-1 mark against the Wonder Boys in Weatherford
 
Arkansas Tech: Raymond Monica, 22-21 (4th Season)
- Three years into his tenure as the head football coach at Arkansas Tech, Monica took the Wonder Boys back to the postseason last season for the first time since 2009
- Monica led ATU to a 9-3 record in 2015, a six-win improvement from 2014 that included a victory in the Heart of Texas Bowl
- Previously spent seven seasons as the head coach at Kutztown University, leading the Golden Bears to two playoff appearances and their first PSAC Championship
 
The Last Meeting (Nov. 7, 2015)
- SWOSU picked up their fifth consecutive win on Saturday, defeating Arkansas Tech 28-14 to improve to 7-3 on the year
- The win gave the Bulldogs their first five-game winning streak since 1993 and moved them into a tie for second place in the GAC standings
- SWOSU scored 14 points off of turnovers, turning two interceptions by Trevon Hartfield into touchdowns, including the game-clinching TD pass from Marc Evans to Derrick Styles with 2:38 to play
- Five different defenders reached double figures tackles, led by Conner Bays with 14, Tyler George with 13 and Gentry Rogers with 12
- Marc Evans finished 16-for-37 passing for 276 yards and three touchdowns
 
Last Time Out (Oct. 29, 2016)
- SWOSU gave #5/10 Harding one of their toughest tests of the season before the Bisons scored with 2:23 to play and secured a 42-27 victory last Saturday in Searcy
- Harding led 28-13 at the break and scored early in the third quarter to go up 35-13, but the Bulldogs slowed the Bisons the rest of the second half and got within one score late in the game
- The Bisons offense rushed for 506 yards against the Bulldogs while totaling 560 yards of offense, but SWOSU countered with 335 passing yards, the most against Harding this season
- Marc Evans was 20-for-33 passing for 335 yards and two touchdowns, both to D.J. Jones who finished with four receptions for 136 yards
- Karltrell Henderson was limited to 29 yards on 13 carries, but he did have two rushing touchdowns
- Dominic Blue led SWOSU with 13 tackles while Deric Robertson added 12
 
Checking the Standings
- A setback at Harding dropped the Bulldogs back below .500 and they enter this week's game tied for seventh in the GAC standings at 4-5
- SWOSU is tied with Arkansas-Monticello and Northwestern Oklahoma State at 4-5, one game behind a trio of teams -- including Arkansas Tech -- who are currently 5-4
- Harding remains unblemished and atop the GAC standings at 9-0, having clinched at least a share of the 2016 conference championship
- Henderson State and Southern Arkansas are two games behind Harding and tied for second place with records of 7-2
 
SWOSU Offensive Notes
- SWOSU's offensive line, which has seen Garrett Luke (LT), Brandon Roe (LG/RT), Justin Bigelow (C) and Kevin Blessing (RG) start each game this season, is tied for the NCAA Division II lead with only three sacks allowed this season
- Marc Evans completed 20-of-33 passes for 335 yards against Harding, becoming just the third SWOSU quarterback in the NCAA era to surpass the 5,000-yard for career passing yards
- Evans has thrown for 5,084 yards and 41 touchdowns in a Bulldog uniform, both marks that rank third at SWOSU during the school's NCAA era
- Karltrell Henderson has broken both single-season and career rushing touchdown records for SWOSU's NCAA era with 16 touchdowns this season and 27 now for his career
- Henderson also continues to climb the career rushing list and he's currently in fourth with 1,630 rushing yards, needing 71 yards to pass Karl Hodge (1,700, 2009-14) for third
- D.J. Jones had his sixth 100-yard receiving game at Harding to move into fifth on SWOSU's NCAA era receiving yardage list with 1,630 and second on the career touchdowns list with 14
 
SWOSU Defensive Notes
- Dominic Blue set a new career-high with 13 tackles (seven solo, six assist) at Harding, nearly doubling his season total which is now 28 tackles (13 solo, 15 assist)
- For the second straight week, SWOSU safety Deric Robertson totaled 12 tackles and he now ranks second on the team with 52 stops for the year
- Conner Bays had 11 tackles against Harding, his 14th game with 10 or more tackles in his career, and he now has 269 career tackles, 13 away from tying SWOSU linebacker coach Ryan Feller (282, 2010-13) for third place on SWOSU's NCAA era tackles list
- Bays has surpassed the 100-tackle mark for the second straight season, and his 102 tackles (62 solo, 40 assist) leads the GAC and ties him for seventh in NCAA Division II
- Michael Adefolarin has had 3.0 tackles for loss in each of the last two games, giving him a team-leading 9.0 TFL for the year which ranks second in the conference
- SWOSU is ranked seventh in the league with 13.0 sacks, with Dustin Johnson leading the team with 3.0 sacks on the year
 
SWOSU Special Teams Notes
- Dalton Jackson averaged 37.1 yards per punt on seven attempts at Harding and he's now averaging 37.0 yards per punt on 32 attempts for the year
- Tyler Peterson was 3-for-4 on extra point attempts against Harding, making him now 33-for-36 on extra points and 4-for-6 on field goal attempts this season
- SWOSU is ranked fifth in the league in kickoff returns (20.9 yards per return) and 10th in punt return average (4.0 yards per return) this season
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU Football concludes the 2016 season next Saturday with Homecoming on campus as the Dawgs host long-time rival Northwestern Oklahoma State
- That game will kick off at 5:30 pm from ASAP Energy Field in Weatherford