Harding Game Notes
Southeastern Oklahoma Game Notes
Great American Conference Game Notes

•    The 17th-ranked Harding football team will host Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday at 2 p.m. for Homecoming 2014. It will be the fourth of five home games for the Bisons this season.

•    Harding enters the game ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 rankings. The top six teams in the super region advance to the NCAA II Championship tournament. Super Region 3 is made of teams from the Great American Conference, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, MIAA, and Great Northwest Conference.

•    Super Region 3 Rankings with this week's opponents:
    1. Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota-Crookston, 1 p.m.
    2. Minnesota State-Mankato vs. Sioux Falls, 1 p.m.
    3. Sioux Falls at Minnesota State-Mankato, 1 p.m.
    4. Ouachita Baptist vs. Southern Arkansas, 1 p.m.
    5. Azusa Pacific vs. Western Oregon, 8 p.m.
    6. Pittsburg St. at Missouri Southern, 7 p.m.
    7. Northwest Mo. St. vs. Missouri Western, 1 p.m.
    8. Humboldt St. at Simon Fraser, 3 p.m.
    9. Harding vs. Southeastern Oklahoma, 2 p.m.
    10. Henderson St. vs. Ark.-Monticello, 3 p.m.

•    The Bisons will be playing their sixth straight game as a nationally-ranked team. Harding entered the AFCA poll on Sept. 15 at No. 20 and is currently ranked No. 17. Harding's highest ranking was No. 12 on Nov. 12, 2012. The Bisons have been as high as No. 13 this season.

•    Harding will be playing its 55th Homecoming game and enter with a 35-17-2 (.667) record on Homecoming. The Bisons have never played Southeastern Oklahoma for Homecoming, and have only played an Oklahoma team on Homecoming twice, hosting East Central in 1997 (W, 41-21) and 1999 (W, 30-7).

•    Harding's offense enters the game ranked No. 2 in Division II in rushing offense (394.9 yards per game). Lenoir-Rhyne leads Division II with 410.5 rushing yards per game.

•    The Bisons rank No. 8 in NCAA II in scoring offense with 44.6 points per game. Harding, who leads the GAC in the category, has scored more than 40 points five times this season.

•    Harding had the ball 43 minutes, 58 seconds against Henderson State and now ranks No. 3 in NCAA II in time-of-possession. The Bisons average 35:40 and have won the TOP battle in all seven games.

•    Harding leads the GAC and ranks No. 5 in NCAA II in total defense, allowing just 265.3 yards per game.  The Bisons have held four opponents to 300 yards or fewer.

•    Harding's rush defense leads the GAC and ranks No. 4 in NCAA II at 79.4 yards per game. The Bisons have held five of their seven opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards.

•    Harding leads the GAC and is tied for third in NCAA II in turnover margin. The Bisons have forced 26 turnovers, including an NCAA II-high 14 fumbles, and 12 interceptions. Harding has only 13 turnovers, nine fumbles and four interceptions.

•    Harding's defense has allowed opponents only 14 trips to the Red Zone in seven games, the fewest among GAC teams. Harding's offense has made 39 trips to the Red Zone.

•    Harding set a school record for consecutive road victories by winning its eighth straight Saturday, a 28-24 victory over Henderson State. The old record of seven was held by the 1971-73 teams. The record is tied for the seventh-longest active road winning streak in NCAA II.

•    Harding and Southeastern Oklahoma are meeting for the 26th time with the Bisons leading the series 18-7. Harding has won the last three meetings and five of the last six. The Bisons hold a 10-1 advantage  and have won the last five meetings in Searcy.

•    Saturday's game will be the 620th game in program history. Harding enters the game with a record of 303-298-18. The Bisons earned their 300th victory at Southern Nazarene on Sept. 27.

•    Harding senior running back Romo Westbrook is third in career rushing yards with 2,720 He needs 104 yards to pass Jim Howard (1964-67) for second.

•    Westbrook scored his 26th career touchdown vs. Ouachita Baptist and is tied for third on Harding's career touchdowns list. He needs three more touchdowns to tie Kurt Adams (2006-10) for second.

•    Harding senior kicker John Gay made two field goals and two extra points at Henderson State and moved into third in career scoring at Harding with 214 points. He trails only fellow kickers Coy Nance (243 points) and Jeremy Thompson (241).

•    Through seven games, Harding has 37 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or more (25 rushing, 12 passing). Harding's opponents have 20 plays of 20 yards or more (5 rushing, 15 passing).

Winning Tradition
•    Harding has won 24 games in the last two-plus seasons. Harding won 18 games over the last two seasons, breaking the previous record of 17 wins in 1972-73.

•    Harding has broken the school record for wins in three seasons. The Bisons from 1971-73 won 23 games.

•    Harding has played in the postseason in each of the last two years, a first for the Bison program. In 2012, Harding reached the NCAA II Super Region 3 Playoffs, meeting Northwest Missouri State, and last season the Bisons won the inaugural Live United Texarkana Bowl 44-3 over Texas A&M-Commerce.

Head Coach Ronnie Huckeba
Harding is in its eighth season under head coach Ronnie Huckeba. Now in his 29th season as a coach at Harding, Huckeba has a 46-34 overall record as head coach.

The Series vs. Southeastern Okla. - Highlights
1981 - Steve Hunter set a Harding record by making five field goals in a 36-28 victory over Southeastern. His longest was 52 yards, then a Harding record.
1982 - Kyle Blickenstaff set a then-Harding record with a 64-yard punt against Southeastern. He broke his own record later in the season with a 72-yard punt vs. Southwestern (Tenn.), now Rhodes College.
1987 - Mike Alexander became the first Harding receiver with three touchdown receptions in a game. The feat came in a 24-14 victory over Southeastern.
1989 - Eric Cook returned seven punts in Harding's 7-3 loss to Southeastern.
1990 - Brent Goodwin kicked what was then a school-record 54-yard field goal in a 15-14 Harding victory.
1992 - Paul Mann became the first Harding quarterback to throw 50 passes in a game in a 28-24 win over Southeastern.
1999 - Luke Cullins completed an 85-yard touchdown pass to Marc Fager vs. Southeastern.
2012 - Ty Powell blocked two kicks for the second time in the season in Harding's 31-9 victory.

Harding's individual best games against Southeastern Oklahoma: RUSHING - Z.C.O. Uhatafe (33 rushes, 170 yards in 1983); PASSING - Tad Niblett (15-of-32, 217 yards, 0TD in 1989); RECEIVING - Barry Bowens (6 receptions, 148 yards in 2000); TACKLES - Aaron Gillaspie (12 tackles in 2011).

Harding vs. Southeastern Okla. - Last Meeting
DURANT, Okla. – Harding broke open a close game with three fourth-quarter touchdowns and defeated Southeastern Oklahoma 42-10 on Saturday in Great American Conference play at Paul Laird Field.

The victory gave the Bisons a 6-2 record overall and in conference play. Southeastern dropped to 2-7 overall and 2-6 in the GAC. Harding plays its final home game of the season next Saturday against East Central.

Harding's defense completely shut down the Southeastern Oklahoma State running game and used its own methodical rushing attack to defeat the Savage Storm. The Bisons rushed for 267 yards, its lowest total since the season's opening game, but limited the Savage Storm to only 24 yards on 26 carries.

Leading 14-7 at halftime, Harding opened the second half with an 11-play, 56-yard drive with junior Keenan Kellett scoring on a 1-yard run to give Harding a two-touchdown lead.

Harding's defense sacked Southeastern quarterbacks six times, led by three from senior defensive end Daniel Riley. He became the first Bison with three sacks in a game since Jermaine Blanchard vs. Valdosta State in 2009.

CURRENT BISONS
VS. SOUTHEASTERN OKLA.
RUSHING
NAME    G    ATT.    YARDS    TD
Kellett    2    25    134    3
Kelly    1    1    36    1
Luckett    3    2    5    0
Magalei    1    6    13    1
Oller    3    4    19    0
Pletta    3    3    23    0
Scott    3    18    128    1
Westbrook    3    25    117    1

PASSING
NAME    G    A-C    YARDS    I-TD
Kellett    2    8-14    118    1-1

RECEIVING
NAME    G    REC    YARDS    TD
Luckett    3    6    81    1
Oller    3    2    29    0

DEFENSE
NAME    G    T    TFL    SCK    INT
Bassett    1    6    0.0    0.0    0
Biglow    1    1    0.5    0.5    0
Bracken    2    3    0.0    0.0    0
Britt    3    6    0.0    0.0    0
Buckner    1    8    0.0    0.0    0
Cantrell    2    3    1.0    1.0    0
Carter    1    1    0.0    0.0    0
Jackson    1    1    1.0    1.0    0
Lane    1    3    1.0    0.0    0
Morgan    1    2    0.0    0.0    0
Roberson    3    9    1.0    0.5    0
Sarkissian    2    1    0.0    0.0    0
Skidmore    1    7    0.5    0.0    0
Stevenson    1    4    0.0    0.0    0
Stock    2    2    0.0    0.0    0
Zalenski    1    2    0.0    0.0    0

Offensive Notes
•    Harding fullback Romo Westbrook leads the GAC and ranks 28th in NCAA Division II with 111.6 rushing yards per game.

•    Harding starting quarterback Keenan Kellett leads the GAC in pass efficiency (163.0). He is completing 56.9 percent and has five passing touchdowns in 29 completions.

•    Donatella Luckett is 10th in the GAC with 63.0 receiving yards per game. He is second in the conference with a 21.6-yards-per-catch average.

•    Senior Romo Westbrook ranks 20th among active players in NCAA Division II with 2,720 career rushing yards. He is seventh with 6.4 yards per carry and 30th with 25 rushing touchdowns.

•    With his 190-yard effort at Ouachita Baptist, Westbrook has 10 career 100-yard rushing games. He is tied with Kale Gelles (2008-11) for second. Alan Dixon is Harding's career leader with 21 100-yard games.

•    Harding rushed for 333 yards against Henderson State and have now rushed for over 300 yards 27 times in the last 39 games since 2011. The Bisons have rushed for over 400 yards 13 times since 2011.

•    Harding currently ranks second in NCAA II in rushing offense with 394.9 rushing yards per game. Harding ranked No. 3 in NCAA II in rushing offense last season with 359.7 yards per game. The Bisons rushed for over 300 yards eight times, over 400 yards four times, and over 500 yards once (505 vs. Southern Nazarene).

•    Harding has finished in the top five in rushing offense in each of the last four seasons.

    HARDING'S NCAA RUSHING OFFENSE RANKINGS (SINCE 2009)
    2013 - No. 3 (359.70)
    2012 - No. 4 (320.55)
    2011 - No. 1 (360.91)
    2010 - No. 5 (272.20)
    2009 - No. 124 (94.55) - HU's last season in the spread offense

•    Harding has scored 44.6 points per game in its first seven games and ranks No. 8 in NCAA II. Harding ranked No. 7 in NCAA II last season in scoring offense with 43.5 points per game. It broke the previous school record of 35.5 points per game in 2011.

•    Harding wide receiver Donatella Luckett scored on a 3-yard reverse against Henderson State, only the second of his 20 career touchdowns that came inside the Red Zone. He still averages 48.1 yards per touchdown.

•    Luckett has 2,918 all-purpose yards in his career to rank ninth all-time at Harding. He needs 82 yards to become only the ninth Bison with 3,000 career all-purpose yards.

•    Senior Mike Thompson, a 1st Team All-GAC offensive lineman last season, anchors the Bison line. Thompson has started 29 consecutive games, including all 11 last season at left guard.

•    Center David Lee has played 422 plays this season, the most by any Harding offensive linemen and 83 percent of the Bisons' total snaps. He has been on the field for 33 of Harding's 41 offensive touchdowns.

•    Senior Keenan Kellett is Harding's starting quarterback. He will make his 17th career start, and the Bisons have a 14-2 record in his previous 16 starts. Kellett has 17 career rushing touchdowns and 14 touchdown passes.

Defensive Notes
•    Harding has three defensive players in the top 50 in the GAC in tackles per game -- LB Daylan Skidmore (35th, 5.3 tackles per game), LB Jordan Cantrell (38th, 5.2), and DB Devonte Britt (46th, 4.7).

•    Harding defensive players lead the GAC in both fumbles forced (Romas Roberson, 3) and fumbles recovred (3, Darious Lane).

•    Harding enters the Southeastern Oklahoma game ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Divsion II in the following defensive categories:
    - First Down Defense, 4th (102)
    - Rushing Defense, 4th (79.4)
    - Total Defense, 5th (265.3)
    - Scoring Defense, 7th (13.7)

Special Teams Notes
•    Senior John Gay has made 23-of-30 field goal attempts in his career. including 7-of-8 from 40 yards or further. He is Harding's career record holder with 145 extra points. He needs 29 points to become Harding's career scoring leader.

•    Harding kicker John Gay ranks eighth in the GAC and fifth among kickers in scoring with 7.1 points per game. Gay has made all 41 of his extra points, the most without a miss in the GAC.

•    Harding kickoff returner Donatella Luckett has 918 career kickoff return yards to rank ninth in program history.

•    Sophomore linebacker Benjamin Shields is Harding's leading tackler on special teams with nine tackles on kickoff returns.