The East Central University football team will take on Southern Nazarene for the 2013 Homecoming game at Norris Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5.
Game Notes
The Broadcast: ECU's radio home for Tiger football in 2013 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Mike Manos returns to broadcast the games for his 17th consecutive season. Manos has worked 173 Tiger games since taking over the play-by-play duties in 1997.
The Coverage: Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com. Go to the football schedule page. You can also download the KXFC radio app for your smartphone by searching '105.5 the X Factor.'
Tailgating: This year the Tigers will have a designated tailgating location in the parking lot in front of the ECU baseball and softball fields. A reservation is required and can be done through Katie Wellington in the ECU Alumni Office (580-559-5651) or email at katmwel@ecok.edu.
Coaches Show: Every Monday night fans are encouraged to come to Rib Crib in Ada for the weekly Coaches Show on 105.5 the X-Factor. Each week coaches from all 13 sports will be on hand to talk about the latest news from their teams. Fans will be able to tweet in questions to @ECUTigersCoach or ask them in person. Each week will feature different coaches and food specials.
Honoring the 1993 Championship: The 2013 Homecoming theme is 'Roary Loves the '90's,' and the ECU Athletic Department will be honoring the 20-year anniversary of the 1993 Football NAIA Championship. The team will be the Grand Marshal of the Homecoming parade, have a special tailgating area set up before the game and will be honored on the field at 3:30 p.m.
2013 Milam Award: At halftime the 2013 Milam Award will be presented to former head football coach Hank Walbrick. Walbrick was the coach of the 1993 NAIA Championship team during his nine-year run as the head of the Tiger program.
Scouting Southern Nazarene: The Crimson Storm head into Saturday's game with a 0-4 overall and conference mark in 2013. SNU has played most of the teams in the top half of the league standings so far in 2013, with their opponents having at most one loss on the season.
The Crimson Storm are averaging just 15.5 points per game, while allowing 60.8 points per game to be scored against them. They are also struggling to produce large numbers of yardage per game, with a 290 to 590 per game difference. SNU is a passing team, with 205 of their 290 yards per game coming in the air. Because of the large number of pass attempts their quarterback has been sacked 14 times (67 yards). When the team does get in the red-zone they make the most of it, scoring 9-of-11 times, with seven TDs.
Dylan Terry leads the offense, throwing for 577 yards, with two touchdowns. He is 63-of-111 and has five interceptions. Terry's top receiver is Ryan Mischler, with 19 catches for 88 yards and two TDs. The Crimson Storm have three other receivers with over 100 yards in 2013.
Chris Hunter is the player who controls the running game, with 90 rushes for 339 yards and SNU's five rushing touchdowns of the season. The next leading rusher on the team has just 25 total yards.
Michael Hicks is the top defensive producer for the Crimson Storm. Hicks had 34 (19-15) total tackles, two tackles-for-loss (7 yards), two passes defended, one pass break-up and one interception for 11 yards.
Against the Crimson Storm: In the first home football game of the 2012 season, ECU claimed a 37-15 win over SNU.
The Tigers led the Crimson Storm in all statistical categories, including 227 yards of total offense to 88. The ECU defense was strong on the night holding SNU to a -70 rushing yard, collecting three interceptions and tallying 8.5 sacks for 66 yards.
The Series: Saturday's game will be just the third in the all-time series between the Tigers and the Crimson Storm. ECU holds a 2-0 advantage, including a 1-0 mark when playing in Ada. This is the second-straight season that the teams will battle on Norris Field, with the first meeting of the series taking place in Bethany in 2008.
Long Arm of Gaines: Gaines has had his hands in the faces and paths of the opponent's offensives this season. The Fresno, Calif., native had three pass break ups and eight total tackles, including one for loss, in the game against Ouachita Baptist. He now has season totals to 22.5 tackles, six passes defended, four pass break ups and two interceptions.
Getting in the Red Zone: The Tigers have been very strong in the red zone this season, scoring all 10 times they have made it past the 20-yard line. The 100% mark ranked then No. 1 in the nation in the category. ECU has scored eight TDs (80%) and a field goal when making it into the red zone and also held their opponents to a 15-of-19 (79%) mark, with 12 touchdowns and three field goals.
All-Around Bond: Sophomore Spencer Bond took control of both the running and passing aspects of the game against Ouachita Baptist, leading the Tigers in rushing and passing. Bond had a passing TD and a rushing TD in the game and ran for a team-high 150 yards. He then added a career-best 406 yards of total offense at No. 8 Henderson State. For the season he has a 109.35 passing efficiency, 867 passing yards, six touchdowns and 1,088 yards of total offense.
Penalty Woes: Penalties have been a key point for ECU so far this season, with two losses coming when they recorded more penalties than their opponents. This was evident in the loss to Ouachita Baptist when the Tigers committed 13 penalties for 124 yards. As a team, ECU is averaging 85.2 yards in penalties per game in 2013.
Special Teams Power: In the Tigers game at Southern Arkansas special teams led the way. ECU scored a safety and a touchdown on a kickoff return. Senior LaQuan Harper tallied a total of 111 yards for the night on kickoff returns, including a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Fellow senior Ruben Tiller added two more points for special teams, with a safety on a point after attempt return in the fourth quarter.
Defense Producing Offense: Junior Qumain Black had an outstanding first game of the season for the Tigers and was named the GAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Black intercepted a pair of passes against Arkansas-Monticello. He returned the second interception 80 yards for the final touchdown of the game. In the first quarter, he returned his first interception 58 yards to the five-yard line that led to the second touchdown of the game. He also added a 40-yard kick return to finish with 178 all-purpose yards.
Todd's Turn: Last season Justin Todd was behind Titus Mobley on the depth chart. This year he may be behind JoJo Snell, but he has already made a spot for himself on the field. In the first game of the year, Todd doubled the number of touchdowns he had scored in his career and recorded more yards than he had in 2012 combined. Todd had eight rushes for 97 yards (85 yards in 2012) and tallied two touchdowns (1 TD in 2011) all in the first half.
The JoJo Express: Junior transfer JoJo Snell had an impressive first game for the Tigers and accomplished it all in the first half of action. Snell exploded out of the pack for 101 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards. Snell averaged 6.3 yards per rush and had long runs of 45 yards, while scoring a TD.
Tigers Picked Fifth in GAC Poll: This year the league's head coaches have picked ECU to finish fifth (65 points). Henderson State was picked as the top team in the league (100 points/10 first-place votes), with Southern Arkansas (85/1), Harding (83) and Ouachita Baptist (73) rounding out the spots above the Tigers in the poll. Southeastern (49), Southwestern (47), Arkansas Tech (37), Arkansas-Monticello (31), Northwestern and Southern Nazarene (17) fill out the remainder of the poll.
New Season; New Field: Besides the new faces on the field, the team will be competing on a new surface, as the natural grass that had been at Norris Field for over 80 years was replaced with turf by the FieldTurf Company. The $880,300 facelift was completed in late April.
Gaines Garnering Pre-Season Honors: Senior Fred Gaines claimed three 2013 pre-season honors. Gaines was named to the 2013 D2Football.com Pre-Season All-America Second Team, the 2013 USA College Football Pre-Season Division II All-America First Team and the 2013 Beyond Sports Network Pre-Season All-America Second Team. He had a strong junior season for the Tigers in 2012. The safety was a 2012 Daktronics Super Region #3 Second Team Defensive selection after leading the Tigers and the Great American Conference with seven interceptions, for 80 yards. He also added 63 (46-17) tackles and three pass break-ups in 2012.
Gaines was also honored as an All-GAC First Team Selection as a safety in 2012. The Fresno, Calif., native is one of nine players from the GAC honored by Beyond Sports Network.
Black Gaining Attention: Junior Qumain Black was named to the 2013 USA College Football Pre-Season Division II All-America honorable mention team. Black was also a strong defensive presence for ECU as a sophomore in 2012. The All-GAC Honorable Mention tallied 51 total tackles (30-21), two tackles-for-loss, five pass breakups and two forced fumbles. One on his forced fumbles resulted in a recovery and touchdown for 35 yards. The defensive back also added three interceptions for 29 yards and returned six kickoffs for 119 yards.
Offensive Consistency: The 2012 version of the ECU offense struggled to find consistency early in the season, but over the last three games emerged as a strong force. The good news for the Tigers is that eight of the offensive starters from a year ago are returning, including sophomore quarterback Spencer Bond.
Bond earned the starting quarterback position four games into the 2012 season and made the most of his new spot. He went 94-189-10 in passing, with eight touchdowns. Bond also added seven rushing touchdowns and rushed 86 times for 340 yards.
From the Playing Field to Coaching: The majority of the ECU coaching staff consists of familiar names for Tiger football fans. Seven of the current coaches were members of the ECU football program as collegiate athletes. Rashad Jackson, Chad Roark, Josh Phillips, Chris Espinoza, Brian Gonzalez, Dustin Lasell and Tyler McGrew have all worn an orange and black uniform before moving to a leadership role.
Seeking Winning Season Consistency: For the past two seasons the Tigers have had winning seasons, with an 8-3 mark in 2011 and a 6-5 record in 2012. It is the first time since 2000-01 that the Tigers have had back-to-back winning seasons (6-5/6-4). A winning season in 2013 would mark the first time since 1991-93 that ECU had three-straight winning seasons. In 1991 the Tigers went 5-4-1, 1992 was 6-3 and 1993, the National Championship season, had a 10-3 record.
Up Next: The Tigers will get a week off right in the middle of the season and will then return to action at Norris Field, Saturday, Oct. 19 when they host Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.
