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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Football concludes the opening month of the season on Saturday evening with the annual Parents Day contest against East Central
- East Central is SWOSU's most-played football rivalry, with Saturday's game marking the 95th all-time meeting between the schools dating back to 1915
- SWOSU has defeated the Tigers in each of the last two seasons and the Bulldogs have not won three straight contests over ECU since 1995-97
- The Bulldogs are looking to end a three-game losing skid that has dropped their record to 1-3 (1-3 GAC) on the year while East Central is also on a three-game slide since defeating Oklahoma Baptist in their season opener
- SWOSU has opened the season with back-to-back defeats at ASAP Energy Field and they look to avoid their first three-game home losing streak since the back half of the 2014 season
The last time the Bulldogs welcomed ECU to town, SWOSU came out on top with a 38-31 victory during the 2015 season
 
The Series
- SWOSU has faced East Central more times than any other opponent with 93 meetings between the teams on the gridiron dating back to 1915
- East Central leads the all-time series with 49 wins, while SWOSU has defeated the Tigers 43 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 12-8 edge in games played during the NCAA Division II era (1997-present)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Dan Cocannouer, 35-56 (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 35, four shy of Bob Mazie (39-37-2; 1978-85) for third place on the list
- Has a record of 4-4 against East Central as the Bulldogs head coach, including a mark of 3-2 against the Tigers in Weatherford
 
East Central: Tim McCarty, 47-64 (11th Season)
- In the ninth 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 six All-Americans at ECU and sent five players on to the NFL
 
The Last Meeting (Oct. 8, 2016)
- SWOSU scored on their third play from scrimmage and never looked back in a dominating 41-7 victory at East Central on Saturday night
- The Bulldogs built a 20-0 lead on two touchdown runs by Karltrell Henderson and a TD pass from Marc Evans to JR Omigie before ECU got their lone score of the game in the second quarter
- Before halftime, the Bulldogs tacked on two more scores with a TD pass from Evans to Matt Farris and a Kenneth Martey scoring run right before the break that made it 34-7
- Marc Evans was 23-for-32 passing for a career-high 414 yards and three touchdowns, hitting D.J. Jones for seven receptions and 112 yards
- The Dawgs defense held ECU to four net rushing yards and had seven tackles for loss, with three TFL and one sack coming from Clinton Horn
 
Last Time Out (Sept. 23, 2017)
- SWOSU was held scoreless after halftime as Henderson State defeated the Bulldogs 37-14 on Saturday evening at ASAP Energy Field
- Henderson State built a 16-0 lead early in the second quarter before SWOSU closed to within nine, 23-14, at halftime
- The Bulldogs got on the board with a six-yard touchdown run from Karltrell Henderson and a 23-yard touchdown strike from Casey Freeman to JR Omigie just before halftime
- In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to move the ball but were kept off the scoreboard by two interceptions and two turnovers on downs
- Jared Rayburn had a team-high nine receptions for 80 yards while Omigie had three catches for 71 yards and the lone touchdown
- Antoine Albert recorded a team-best seven tackles (five solo, two assist) along with a forced fumble and pass breakup
 
Checking the Standings
- Just two teams remain atop the Great American Conference standings unblemished as Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State are both currently 4-0
- Ouachita is the only other team currently above .500 at 3-1 following their victory over East Central on Saturday
- Five teams are now tied for fourth in the standings at 2-2: Arkansas-Monticello, Henderson State, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southern Arkansas and Southern Nazarene
- SWOSU and East Central are tied with Harding at 1-3 while Oklahoma Baptist remains in the conference cellar while still looking for their first victory of 2017
 
SWOSU Offensive Notes
- Bulldog RB Karltrell Henderson enters Saturday's game needing 68 yards on the ground to become SWOSU's leader in career rushing yards during the NCAA Division II era
- Henderson currently has 1,966 rushing yards to his credit, with Jimmy Jenkins (2000-04) the only person still ahead of him with 2,033 yards in his career
- SWOSU's 14 points against Henderson State is right at the team's scoring average for the year (14.5 ppg) - which ranks 12th in the Great American Conference
- The Bulldogs are ranked 11th in the league in total offense (349.5 yards per game) and rushing offense (126.8) while the passing offense (211.5) is ranked seventh in the league
- Casey Freeman has completed 69-of-125 passing attempts this season for 747 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions and his 186.8 yards per game is ranked sixth in the GAC
- With a career-best nine receptions against Henderson State, Jared Rayburn moved into fifth in the league with 19 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown
 
SWOSU Defensive Notes
- The Bulldog defense has allowed 37 or more points in each of the last three games, dropping the scoring average to ninth in the conference at 33.0 points per game
- SWOSU's total defense ranks fifth among league teams as the Bulldogs are allowing 371.8 yards per game for the year, with 160.2 yards on the ground and 211.5 yards per game through the air
- Antoine Albert is the team leader and he ranks 11th in the GAC with 30 tackles (19 solo, 11 assist) through four games while Austin Loomis is not far behind with 26 stops (15 solo, 11 assist)
- Gerald White hauled in his first career interception against Henderson State while adding six tackles as he made his first start for SWOSU at strong safety
- TJ Harris leads the Bulldogs with 2.5 tackles for loss and he's one of three Bulldogs (Colten Buie, Bailey McKay) to record a sack this season
- Dominic Blue ranks third on the team with 18 tackles and second with three pass breakups
 
SWOSU Special Teams Notes
- Poor field position has plagued the Bulldogs all season and SWOSU is ranked 10th in the GAC in punting (30.3 yards per punt) and 12th in kickoff coverage (23.1 yard net average)
- Trent Dennis is a perfect 8-for-8 on kicks this season, making his only field goal attempt against Ouachita and connecting on all seven of his extra point attempts
- Jared Rayburn has emerged as SWOSU's top kick returner, averaging 21.7 yards per on 11 attempts
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will play three of their four games in the month of October away from home, beginning next Saturday at Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant
- The Bulldogs are back at home on October 14th to face nationally-ranked Arkansas Tech before back-to-back road trips to Harding (Oct. 21) and Oklahoma Baptist (Oct. 28) to close out the month