The East Central University football team will look to rebound from its triple overtime loss, Saturday, Oct. 1 when the Tigers travel to battle Northwestern Oklahoma State at Ranger Field at 4 p.m.

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 205 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 Voice of the Tigers: Mike Manos has been the Voice of the Tigers on 105.5 The X-Factor radio broadcast for the past 20 seasons.  Last year Manos marked his 200th Tiger game since taking over the play-by-play duties in 1997, what is thought to be a record for broadcasters of ECU Football.

The Series: The all-time series with the Rangers dates back to 1913, with ECU leading 48-23-7.  The teams have met on just seven occasions as NCAA teams and the Tigers have claimed the win five times.  ECU also leads the series 10-5-1 when playing in Alva.

Scouting Northwestern: The Rangers are 1-3 on the season after losing the last three games.  NWOSU has not had a hard time scoring, averaging 32.5 points per game and allowing 48.2.  The Rangers are a rushing team with 1352 of their 1725 total yards coming on the ground.  However, they also allow more yards on the rush, with 1428 compared to 772 passing.

Reid Miller leads the offense with a 98-of-165 completion record, with five interceptions, 1352 total yards and 13 TDs.  Miller also adds three rushing touchdowns on the year.  Horatio Smith is his top receiver with 21 catches for 403 yards and five TDs.  Anthony Cota and Jacob Peyton are the top rushers.  Cota has 36 catches for 168 yards and one TD, while Peyton adds 21 receptions for 152 yards.

Maurice Wright and Devin Peyton lead the defensive charge for NWOSU.  Wright has 44 (26-18) total tackles, 2.0 TFL, two breakups and one forced and recovered fumble.  Peyton adds 39 (18-21) total tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1.0 sacks and one fumble recovery.

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.

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

Moore started to receive honors for the 2016 season, as he was named to Football Gameplan's 2016 Preseason DII All-America Third Team Offense list.  The 2015 All-GAC First Team and all-America selection is one of six players to earn a spot on the three teams.

He has continued right where he left off, recording six touchdowns to move his own career receiving TD record to 31.  Moore has also set the single season receiving TD record (13).

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.

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 Kicks Allowed (0), No. 1 in Blocked Punts Allowed (0), No. 1 in Passing Yards Allowed (110.5), No. 11 in Blocked Punts (1) and No. 19 in Blocked Kicks (2).

Four members of the team are also individually ranked in the top-25. Jarod Haynes is currently ranked No. 7 in field goals per game (1.5), David Moore is No. 6 in receiving TDs (6), Jackson Lamb in No. 12 in completion percentage (.689) and Brooks Holder is No. 25 in passing yards per completion (14.85).

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: ECU will return home, Saturday, Oct. 8 for a 6 p.m. kickoff against Southwestern Oklahoma State.