The East Central University football team will host Harding for a rare Thursday contest, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at Norris Field at Koi Ishto Stadium.  

Game Notes

The Broadcast: ECU's radio home for Tiger football is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Mike Manos returns to broadcast the games for his 20th consecutive season. Manos has worked 208 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.'

Pink Out: Saturday's game in the annual Pink Out game, sponsored by Mercy Ada.  The game is designed to help raise awareness for breast cancer and prevention programs available.  Mercy Ada will be passing out Pink Out T-Shirts at the gates of Chickasaw Plaza.

The Series: The teams have met on 14 previous occasions, with the Tigers trailing 3-11 in the all-time series.  All three of ECU's wins have come at home, but Harding has claimed the victory in the last four meetings.

Scouting Harding: The Bisons are currently ranked No. 7 in the country and have a 7-0 record after earning a 63-15 win over Southeastern in their last outing.

Harding has both a strong offense (averaging 45 points per game) and defense (allowing just 10.7) on the year.  The Bisons also hold a 2,888 to 1,680 advantage in total yards.

The key to Harding's game is on the ground, as they have 2,490 rushing yards and just 398 passing yards this season.  They also defend against the rush better with 601 rushing yards allowed and 1,079 passing.

The Bisons have two players with over 500 rushing yards this season, with the top producer being the starting quarterback.  Park Parish has 540 rushing yards on 84 attempts, with 12 TDs.  He is also 14-of-30 passing for 367 yards and three touchdowns.  Michael Latu is the other leading rusher, with 93 attempts, 505 yards and eight TDs.

Andrew Dather has the majority of the reception yards on the season for Harding, with 256 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns.

On the defensive side, the Bisons have three players with over 30 tackles.  Daylan Skidmore leads the team with 39 (21-18), while Benjamin Shields adds 34 (23-11) and Daylon Markham 33 (25-8).  Shields also contributes an interception, four pass breakups and five passes defended.  Markham has an interception and two fumble recoveries.

Campbell Setting Defensive Tone: Junior Camnik Campbell has stepped up for the Tigers on defense this season, with 74 total tackles so far.  Campbell has a chance to reset the current season record of 113 tackles, set by Jameel Whitney in 2015, if he keeps at his current pace of 10.6 tackles per game.

Lexus's Defensive Power: Senior Lexus Jackson had a strong defensive game for the Tigers against Arkansas Tech, netting his second interception of the season and his first forced fumble.  Jackson also added eight (5-3) total tackles.

Moore Adding More: Senior wide receiver David Moore returned to the team after setting several records in 2015 and earning several postseason honors.

He has continued right where he left off, setting yet another career record for the Tigers in 2016.  Moore now has 2,476 career reception yards, breaking the old record of 2,101 set by Chris Barnes (1999-2001).

Moore has also added to his current career records, recording seven touchdowns to move his own career receiving TD record to 34.  He has also set the single season receiving TD record (13) in 2015.

Moore is also ranked in the top 25 in five NCAA Active Career Lists.  He is No. 1 in Receiving TDs (34), No. 3 in Yards per Catch (18.5), 12 in Receiving Yards (2,570), No. 14 in Total TDs (34) and No. 16 in Receiving Yards per Game (69.5).

Ranking Among the Nation's Best: The Tigers are ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA in four categories.  ECU is No. 1 in Blocks Kicks Allowed (0), No. 13 in Blocked Punts (2), No. 21 in Net Punting (37.67), No. 21 in Passing Offense (301.0).

Two members of the team are also individually ranked in the top 25. Senior David Moore is No. 12 in Receiving TDs (9).  Junior Camnik Campbell recently moved into a position in the top 25, earning the No. 16 position in total tackles per game (10.6).

Going to Overtime: When the Tigers and Oklahoma Baptist went to triple overtime, Sept. 24, it marked the first time since Nov. 5, 2011 that ECU has been to the extra period in a game.  That season the Tigers played three overtime games, going 2-1.

Haynes GAC Player of the Week: Senior Jarod Haynes has been named the Great American Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for Sept. 19 after helping the Tigers claim a 23-6 win at Southern Nazarene.

Haynes converted all three of his field-goal attempts against the Crimson Storm. He improved to 6-for-6 on field goal attempts on the year. No player in Division II had made as many field goals without a miss than Haynes and he was ranked No. 1 in the nation for field goal percentage (1.000) and No. 5 in field goals per game (2.0).

The Allen, Texas, native also punted three times with a 34.0 average. Two of his punts finished inside the 20-yard line, including one at the eight-yard line.

Defensive Depth: One of the areas that the Tigers will have great depth and experience is on the defensive side of the ball.  Last year was a growing season for the defense, who saw big changes including a new defensive coordinator just weeks before the start of the year.

The Tigers will be bolstered by the return of Vernon Johnson and Lexus Jackson.  Johnson will come back to the field after a very promising start in 2015 before an injury sidelined him.  Jackson took up the slack and earned All-Great American Conference honors as a defensive back.

The defensive line as a whole is expected to produce, as in 2015 the Tigers had so many options it allowed them to role the players through every three or four plays, yet each player still got valuable experience in each game.  That depth will continue this season, giving ECU several options to keep their legs fresh throughout the game.

Up Next: The Tigers will hit the road for the final time in 2016, Saturday, Oct. 29 when they travel to face Arkansas-Monticello at 3 p.m. in Monticello, Ark.

Next at Koi Ishto Stadium: ECU will then play the final two games of the 2016 season at Norris Field, starting with a Saturday, Nov. 5 battle with Southern Arkansas at 2 p.m.  The final game of the year is The Great American Classic against arch-rival Southeastern (Nov. 12/2 p.m.).