The East Central University football team will look to get back on the right track, as they are hosting Ouachita Baptist at Norris Field at Koi Ishto Stadium Saturday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m..

Game Notes I Live Video I Live Stats I Live Radio

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 21st consecutive season. Manos has worked 213 Tiger games since taking over the play-by-play duties in 1997.

This year fans in the stadium will have a chance to rent or buy a Smart Bug.  The Smart Bug will let you listen to The X-Factor radio broadcast from the stands, through the post-game show, and for a chance for exclusive content during broadcast breaks.  Cost is $15 to purchase and use for the entire 2017-18 season at football and basketball, or $10 to rent with a $5 return when the unit is checked back in after the game.

The Series: The all-time series with Ouachita dates back to 1947, but the teams have had two large breaks in the series, with only 20 games having being played.  ECU trails 5-15 overall in the series and 2-7 since they have been conference opponents.  When playing in Ada, the series is closer, with ECU trailing just 4-6.

Last Meeting: ECU fell in the opening game of the 2016 season, 42-28, to Ouachita Baptist at Cliff Harris Stadium in Great American Conference action.

The key offensive returners for ECU are Tre'von Jackson and Dezmon Jackson.  Tre'von Jackson tallied 46 total yards rushing, while Dezmon Jackson added nine yards rushing and 59 yards receiving.

On defense, junior Camnik Campbell led a well-balanced line with seven total tackles.

Both teams battled through the game, with Ouachita recording 396 total yards to ECU's 398.  The key difference came on kick returns, where Ouachita garnered 223 yards to just 108 by the Tigers.

Ouachita started the scoring right off the bat, taking the opening kick-off back for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.  Ouachita added a second TD in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead.

It took until the second quarter for the Tigers to start their scoring, getting on the board with a 29-yard field goal.  ECU added a 37-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Ouachita kept pushing the tempo and added a touchdown to push the lead back to 21-10.  However, ECU's offense connected again just 30 seconds later for a 54-yard pass to make it a 21-16 score at the half.

ECU came out fighting in the second half and diminished the lead to two (21-19) on a 35-yard field goal.  However, Ouachita pushed back about a minute later and increased the lead to 28-19.  The teams then ended the third quarter with a 28-22 score in favor of Ouachita.

The teams started the fourth quarter by trading TD's, but a missed extra point by ECU left the score 35-28.  Ouachita was able to put the final TD on the board for a final score of 42-28.

Holle Named GAC Offensive Player of the Week:  After his first game of the 2017 ECU football season, junior quarterback Noah Holle was named the Great American Conference Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 4.

Holle, went 20-of-27 in his debut in an orange and black uniform, throwing for 351 yards and five touchdowns.  He used seven different receivers and connected for touchdowns with five of those receivers.

Holle also set up two more touchdowns on the rush, helping the Tigers to 546 total offensive yards, the most since Sept. 19, 2015.

Williams Starts Off Season on High Note: Senior Devyn Williams gave the Tigers a great start to the 2017 season, by returning the opening kickoff of the first game of the season (Sept. 2) 91 yards for a touchdown.  It was the first time since Sept. 14, 2013 that any kickoff during a game had been returned for a TD.  The last time was when LaQuan Harper returned a kickoff, in the middle of the game, 94 yards for TD against Southern Arkansas.

Up Next: ECU will return to the road for a 6 p.m. game at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Saturday, Sept. 30.  The next opportunity to see the Tigers at Koi Ishto Stadium will be Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. against Northwestern for the annual Pink Out! Game sponsored by Mercy Ada to promote breast cancer awareness.