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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Football plays a top team from the Great American Conference for the second straight week with Arkansas Tech coming to ASAP Energy Field on Saturday afternoon
- This will mark the Bulldogs second consecutive afternoon game and their first and only afternoon kickoff at home during the 2017 season
- Saturday's contest also marks the Bulldog's lone home game during the month of October with two consecutive road games upcoming to close out the month
- Arkansas Tech comes to town following back-to-back defeats after starting the season 4-0 and rising to a No. 11 national ranking in the AFCA Top 25
- The Wonder Boys have suffered their two defeats by a combined six points, falling 35-31 against Ouachita and 46-45 at Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday
- SWOSU has had their top two offensive performances of the season during the last two weeks, but the Bulldogs upset bid of No. 23-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State came up just short in a 31-24 setback on Saturday in Durant
- The Bulldogs enter Saturday's contest with a record of 2-4, which includes a 1-2 mark in games played at ASAP Energy Field
 
The Series
- SWOSU and Arkansas Tech have met 13 times on the gridiron in a series that dates back to the 1968 season
- The Bulldogs currently hold a 7-6 advantage in the all-time series, having won five of the last eight meetings dating back to 1993
- Arkansas Tech won four of the first five meetings between the schools, but ATU forfeited their 23-20 win in 1991 which is currently the difference in the series
- SWOSU has a record of 4-2 against Arkansas Tech since the teams helped form the Great American Conference in 2011, but ATU won last year's meeting 24-20 in Weatherford
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 36-57 (9th Season)
- Has been the head coach at his alma mater since 2009, leading the Bulldogs to two winning seasons in the past four 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
- Ranked fourth in SWOSU Football history for coaching victories with 36, three shy of Bob Mazie (39-37-2; 1978-85) for third place on the list
- Has a record of 4-2 against Arkansas Tech as the Bulldogs head coach, including a mark of 2-2 against the Wonder Boys in Weatherford
 
Arkansas Tech: Raymond Monica, 27-24 (5th Season)
- Led the Wonder Boys to a 9-3 record in 2015, a six-win improvement and a victory in the Heart of Texas Bowl that was the first postseason appearance for the program since 2009
- Last season, Monica guided ATU to their second straight winning season at 6-5
- 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. 5, 2016)
- Two SWOSU turnovers in the fourth quarter were turned into 10 points for Arkansas Tech and the Wonder Boys held off the Dawgs for a 24-20 victory at ASAP Energy Field
- SWOSU took a 20-14 lead on a one-yard touchdown plunge from Karltrell Henderson in the third quarter, but Tyler Peterson's extra point was blocked to keep it a six-point game
- Arkansas Tech converted a SWOSU fumble into the go-ahead touchdown with 7:46 to play and added a field goal after an interception to make it 24-20 with 1:13 to play
- The Bulldogs moved into position for another last-second victory and had two chances from the four-yard line with seven seconds to play but threw two incompletions in the final seconds
- Marc Evans completed 25-of-46 passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns with D.J. Jones (139) and JR Omigie (106) each going over 100 yards receiving
 
Last Time Out (Oct. 7, 2017)
- SWOSU Football fell to No. 23-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State 31-24 on Saturday afternoon in Durant despite leading for a majority of the contest
- The Savage Storm scored 24 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 63-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left to play in the game
- The Bulldogs took a 17-7 lead on a 26-yard field goal from Trent Dennis right before halftime and maintained that lead into the fourth quarter
- Southeastern scored the first 17 points of the fourth before SWOSU tied the game on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Casey Freeman to Jordan Jackson with 4:07 to play
- SWOSU failed on a fourth down conversion in the final minute and Southeastern responded on the next play with the game-winning touchdown pass
- Freeman completed 22-of-44 passes for 266 yards and he tossed three touchdown passes for the second straight week
- Austin Loomis had 10 tackles to move up to 6th on the Dawgs NCAA era tackle list
 
Checking the Standings
- Southeastern Oklahoma State now has a two-game lead on the pack at 6-0 after defeating SWOSU last Saturday
- Arkansas Tech falls into a three-way tie for second place with Ouachita and Southern Arkansas at 4-2
- Five teams are currently tied for fifth place in the standings with a 3-3 record: Arkansas-Monticello, Harding, Henderson, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene
- SWOSU is holding down sole possession of 10th place in the league standings at 2-4
- East Central is alone in 11th at 1-5 while Oklahoma Baptist is currently in the league cellar and looking for their first conference victory of the season
 
SWOSU Offensive Notes
- SWOSU has had their two highest-scoring games of the season over the past two weeks, raising their scoring average to 21.7 points per game, which ranks 10th in the GAC
- Sophomore QB Casey Freeman has thrown for 580 yards and six touchdowns over the past two games to rise to third in the conference with 221.2 passing yards per game
- JR Omigie hauled in a season-best five receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown against Southeastern and he's now second on the team with 16 receptions this season
- Karltrell Henderson continues to inch closer to SWOSU's NCAA Division II era rushing record, needing 24 yards to surpass Jimmy Jenkins (2000-04) for the top spot on the list
- SWOSU has had 12 different receivers catch a pass this year, led by Jared Rayburn with 27 for 258 yards
 
SWOSU Defensive Notes
- A 10-tackle game at Southeastern moved SWOSU senior LB Austin Loomis into the team lead with 44 tackles (25 solo, 19 assist) for the season
- Loomis also climbed two spots on SWOSU's NCAA era tackles list, moving into sixth place with 232 tackles, 18 away from the fifth-place spot which is currently occupied by Greg Franklin (249, 2005-08)
- Dominic Blue and Gerald White each had eight tackles and combined for 2.5 tackles for loss at Southeastern
- Braden Sweet recorded his second sack of the season last Saturday and he's now SWOSU's team leader in the category
- SWOSU ranks eighth in the GAC in Scoring Defense (33.3 points per game) and sixth in Total Defense (392.2 yards per game) but have forced the third-most turnovers with 13 takeaways (six fumbles, seven interceptions) on the year
 
SWOSU Special Teams Notes
- Trent Dennis knocked through his second field goal of the year on Saturday, hitting a 26-yard attempt late in the first half before missing his first kick of the season when a 31-yard try in the third quarter misfired
- Dennis is now 16-for-16 on extra point attempts and 2-for-3 on field goal opportunities in his freshman season
- JR Omigie and Jared Rayburn handled the bulk of return duties against Southeastern
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will play three of their final four games on the road, beginning next Saturday with a trip to Searcy to face Harding
- The following weekend, the Bulldogs head to Oklahoma Baptist before returning home for Homecoming against Southern Nazarene during the first weekend in November