The East Central University football team will play the first of two-straight games at Koi Ishto Stadium Saturday, Nov. 5 against Southern Arkansas at 2 p.m.
Game Notes
Chickasaw Appreciation Day: Saturday's game is the annual Chickasaw Nation Appreciation Day. The day is designed to show the ECU Athletic Department's appreciation for all that the Chickasaw Nation citizens and employees do to help support ECU and the Tigers. Those with a Chickasaw Nation Citizenship Card or Employment Badge will receive free admission for the entire family.
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 209 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.'
The Series: The Tigers trail the Muleriders (7-10) in the all-time series, with just five meetings having been played as Great American Conference foes (2-3). The series is closer when played in Ada, with it knotted at three games each.
Scouting Southern Arkansas: The Muleriders are 7-2 on the season after picking up a 38-24 win over Southeastern last weekend. SAU is averaging 34.4 points per game and is allowing 22.4.
The Muleriders also have a key advantage in overall yardage, with 4,176 to 2,966 for the year. They have done much better in the air with 2,714 of their yards coming on the pass and 1,462 rushing. They have defended the pass a little better, allowing 14 rushing TDs and just eight passing, but having allowed close to the same amount of yardage for the season (1,411/1,555).
SAU is led offensively by Barrett Renner, who is 210-of-322 with 2,551 yards and 19 passing TDs. He has three receivers with over 400 yards on the season. Tanner Hudson leads the team with 552 yards and seven TDs, while Karonce Higgins adds 500 yards and four touchdowns.
The Muleriders have two rushers who have gained over 300 yards in 2016. Michael Nunnery leads the group with 148 attempts, 713 yards and seven TDs. Keiandre Purifoy adds 77 attempts, 307 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, SAU has three key players to watch. Elgin Moore leads the team with 62 (41-21) total tackles, 5.0 TFL, two interceptions, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. Corey Jenkins adds 50 (28-22) tackles, 9.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks. Stacy Lawrence is a key all-around defensive threat, with 45 (27-18) tackles, 1.0 TFL, four interceptions, eight break-ups and 12 passes defended.
Campbell Setting Defensive Tone: Junior
Camnik Campbell has stepped up for the Tigers on defense this season, with 98 total tackles so far. Campbell has a chance to reset the current season record of 113 tackles, set by
Jameel Whitney in 2015. He is currently just 16 away from breaking the record with two games left and he has averaged over 10 per game.
Louden's Defensive Power: Sophomore
Louden Johnson had a strong defensive game for the Tigers against Arkansas Tech, netting his first interception and forced fumble of the season. Johnson 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 2,659 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 10 touchdowns to move his own career receiving TD record to 35. 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 (35), No. 4 in Yards per Catch (18.1), 14 in Receiving Yards (2,659), No. 18 in Total TDs (35) and No. 24 in Receiving Yards per Game (68.2).
Ranking Among the Nation's Best: The Tigers are ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA in five categories. ECU is No. 1 in Blocks Punts Allowed (0), No. 15 in Blocked Kicks (5), No. 11 in Fumbles Recovered (11), No. 15 in Blocked Punts (2) and No. 9 in Net Punting (38.16).
Three members of the team are also individually ranked in the top 25. Senior
David Moore is No. 15 in Receiving TDs (10). Junior
Camnik Campbell recently moved into a position in the top 25, earning the No. 13 position in total tackles per game (10.0). Senior
Gumaro Murphy is also ranked No. 20 in Fumbles Recovered (2).
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.
Next at Koi Ishto Stadium: ECU will play the final game of the season at home, Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. The game is the annual Great American Classic, sponsored by Landmark Bank, against archrival Southeastern. The game will also be the annual Senior Day, where ECU will recognize its 15 seniors and the 10 athletic training senior students.
