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Setting the Scene
- The 108th season of intercollegiate football at Southwestern Oklahoma State University begins on Saturday night as the Bulldogs head to Arkansas for a Great American Conference battle against the University of Arkansas at Monticello
- This weekend marks the beginning of the seventh season of competition in the GAC, which was established for the 2011-12 athletic year
- SWOSU and Arkansas-Monticello have met in each of the previous six seasons, splitting the series 3-3 with the home team coming out victories in all prior meetings
- Last season, the Boll Weevils defeated SWOSU 35-28 in a contest that was delayed by lightning twice
- Heading into the 2017 season, SWOSU has been picked to finish seventh in the Great American Conference while UAM is one spot behind and predicted to take eighth in the league
- UAM finished last year with a record of 4-7, but they were strong at home with a mark of 4-2 in games played at Willis "Convoy" Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium
 
The Series
- The series between SWOSU and UAM dates back to the beginning of the Great American Conference in 2011 and the teams will be meeting for the seventh consecutive season
- All prior meetings have been won by the home team and the Bulldogs and Weevils have split the all-time series 3-3
- The primary difference for the Bulldogs against UAM has been offensively, with SWOSU averaging 41 points per game in three home wins over the Weevils while being limited to 21 points per contest in three trips to Monticello
- SWOSU is traveling to UAM in consecutive seasons for the first time, while the Weevils made the trip to Weatherford consecutively during the 2012-13 seasons
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 34-53 (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 34, five shy of Bob Mazie (39-37-2; 1978-85) for third place on the list
- Has a record of 3-3 against Arkansas-Monticello as the Bulldogs head coach, including an 0-3 mark against the Boll Weevils in Monticello
 
Arkansas-Monticello: Hud Jackson, 18-47 (7th Season)
- Entering his seventh season as the head coach at Arkansas-Monticello after being hired prior to the 2011 season
- Prior to taking the job at UAM, Jackson served the previous six seasons as association head coach at FCS Central Arkansas
 
The Last Meeting (Sept. 10, 2016)
- Two separate lightning delays and a late start due to the weather contributed to SWOSU's 35-28 setback at Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday
- SWOSU led the game 14-6 when the game was halted in the second quarter due to lightning, but UAM scored twice quickly once play resumed making it 21-14 at halftime
- Karltrell Henderson had two rushing touchdowns in the second half - three for the game - but an errant snap caused Marc Evans to fall on the ball for a safety and put UAM up 35-28 late
- Henderson finished with a career-high 170 rushing yards and three touchdowns while carrying the ball just 15 times
- Conner Bays had a career-high 18 tackles, the most by a Bulldog since his position coach, Jonathan Darby, had 18 against Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2010
 
Last Time Out (Nov. 12, 2016)
- SWOSU outscored Northwestern Oklahoma State 27-9 after halftime and closed the 2016 season with a 47-16 rivalry victory on Homecoming at ASAP Energy Field
- The Bulldogs accumulated exactly 500 yards of total offense, getting 274 yards passing from Marc Evans, who set a new single-season school record with 3,048 passing yards
- Kenneth Martey rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns in his final game as a Bulldog while Karltrell Henderson added 59 yards on the ground
- Conner Bays finished with 12 tackles and set a new NCAA era school record with 295 career tackles in his four-year career at SWOSU
- SWOSU finished the 2016 season with a 5-6 record, sweeping all five of the Oklahoma teams in the Great American Conference while going 0-6 against the Arkansas opponents
 
GAC Preseason Poll
#. Team, Points (1st-Place Votes)
1. Southern Arkansas, 110 (5)
2. Harding, 107 (5)
3. Henderson State, 106 (2)
4. Ouachita, 90
5. Southeastern Oklahoma State, 82
6. Arkansas Tech, 80
7. SWOSU, 60
8. Arkansas-Monticello, 44
9. Northwestern Oklahoma State, 40
10. East Central, 38
11. Oklahoma Baptist, 24
12. Southern Nazarene, 11
 
SWOSU Offensive Notes
- SWOSU returns seven starters on the offensive side of the ball, including all five offensive lineman from last season
- The Bulldogs OL of Garrett Luke (LT), Brandon Roe (LG), Justin Bigelow (C), Kevin Blessing (RG) and Elijah Britton (RT) ranked second in the GAC and top-five nationally after only allowing five sacks throughout the 2016 season
- Four members of the offense are back after garnering All-GAC recognition last season: RB Karltrell Henderson and OL Garrett Luke (Second Team); WR JR Omigie and OL Kevin Blessing (Honorable Mention)
- Henderson ranked sixth in the GAC with 881 rushing yards in 2016 while also setting a new single-season school record with 17 rushing touchdowns
- The battle to replace record-breaking quarterback Marc Evans is down to two candidates, with redshirt-sophomore Casey Freeman listed atop the depth chart for Week 1, followed by senior transfer Joel Blumenthal
 
SWOSU Defensive Notes
- The SWOSU defense welcomes back four starters from a year ago but they must replace both All-GAC selections in defensive backs Conner Bays and Kevin Joseph
- The top returner for the Bulldogs is linebacker Austin Loomis, who has totaled 188 career tackles (69 solo, 119 assist) in 30 games wearing a SWOSU uniform
- On the defensive line, SWOSU brings back two starters in ends TJ Harris and Dustin Johnson, who combined for 13.5 tackles for loss in 2016
- The interior of the defensive line returns a pair of familiar faces in Dejai Johnson and Tyler Follis, who has started 15 career games but missed time with injuries in each of the past two seasons
- SWOSU's secondary features the most new faces as cornerback BJ Kellogg is the lone returning starter
- Quinton Gale is slated to start opposite Kellogg at corner while both safety spots are occupied by transfers Ethan Savoy (strong safety) and Nick Ward (free safety)
 
SWOSU Special Teams Notes
- Dalton Jackson is back for his fourth season of special teams and is slated to handle both punting and kicking duties after averaging 36.5 yards per punt as a junior
- SWOSU ranked third in the GAC with 22.7 yards per kickoff return last season and juniors Cedric Cooper and Jared Rayburn are set to handle those duties in 2017
- The Bulldogs were held to 5.1 yards per punt return in 2016 and Cooper will look to reverse those fortunes as the Dawgs return man this year
 
Looking Ahead
- Week 2 of the SWOSU Football season brings Ouachita to ASAP Energy Field for the Paul Sharp Cup, which kicks off at 6:00 pm on September 9th
- The Bulldogs are then back on the road to Southern Arkansas on September 16th before closing out the month with home games against Henderson State (Sept. 23) and East Central (Sept. 30)