Harding Game Notes
Northwestern State Game Notes

Today's Game
•    The Harding football team will play its first road game of the 2014 season Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Bisons take on Northwestern Oklahoma State at Ranger Field.
•    Harding and Northwestern Oklahoma are meeting for the eighth time with the Bisons leading the series 5-2 overall. Northwestern has won two of the three meetings in Alva, including a 24-21 victory in 1976, the last time the team's met at Ranger Field.
•    Saturday's game will be the 614th game in program history. Harding enters the game with a record of 298-297-18. It is the first time since Harding was 2-1 in the 1924 season that the Bisons have a winning percentage over .500.
•    Harding is looking to extend a five-game overall winning streak and a four-game road winning streak, both of which date to last season. The school record winning streak is eight games (10/28/72-9/29/73), and the record road winning streak is seven games (11/20/71-9/29/73).
•    Saturday's game is the second of 10 GAC games for the Bisons. The 2014 season will be the second straight that every game of the regular season is a conference game.
•    Harding head coach Ronnie Huckeba is in his eighth season as head coach of the Bisons and has a record of 41-33. 
•    After defeating Southwestern Oklahoma on Saturday, the Bisons are 40-21-3 (.648) all-time in the first game of a season and have won 11 of their last 13. Harding has won eight straight season openers at home since a 15-14 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1994.
•    Harding kicker John Gay needs six PATs made to break the school record of 115 held by Jeremy Thompson. Gay enters the game with 110 PATs made, the 10th-most of active NCAA Division II kickers.

Last Week's Game in One Paragraph
•    Harding rushed for 325 yards and held Southwestern Oklahoma to only 7 rushing yards in a 42-6 victory at First Security Stadium. Senior Romo Westbrook rushed 16 times for 100 yards and a 12-yard touchdown, and senior quarterback Keenan Kellett completed 7-of-11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Eric Kelly caught a 25-yard touchdown pass and Donatella Luckett had a 43-yard touchdown reception.

Winning Tradition
•    Harding has won 19 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 needs five more wins this season to break 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 41-33 overall record as head coach. Under Coach Huck, the Bisons are 15-20 on the road and 32-25 in conference games.

First Quarter Success
Harding outscored Southwestern Oklahoma 14-0 in the first quarter last Saturday, and has outscored its opponents 150-37 in the first quarter over the last 12 games. Over the last four-plus seasons, Harding has scored 421 first-quarter points to only 151 by its opponents.

AFCA Poll
Harding is receiving votes in the AFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bisons received 20 poll points and were three places out of the Top 25. Henderson St. is the only GAC team ranked in the poll, coming in at No. 7.

Preseason GAC Poll
Harding was picked to finish second of 11 teams in the GAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Southwestern Okla. was picked to finish sixth. Henderson State is the preseason favorite.

The Series with Northwestern Oklahoma
Harding and Northwestern Oklahoma have played seven times, beginning in 1965. The teams then played each year from 1974-77, then one game in Searcy in 1988, and again in Searcy last season.

Harding won the opening game of the series 16-13 in 1965. Gail Mote rushed for 100 yards on 18 carries to lead the Harding offense.

Harding tied a school record by scoring 10 touchdowns against Northwestern Oklahoma in 2013.

Harding set a school record with 692 total yards last season against Northwestern Oklahoma. The Bisons compiled 454 rushing yards and 238 passing yards and averaged 10.6 yards per play.

Harding rushed for 454 yards on 56 carries against Northwestern last season, the eighth-highest single-game total in program history. The Bisons averaged 8.1 yards per rush and scored eight rushing touchdowns (tied for second in program history).

Harding completed seven passes for 238 yards last season against the Rangers, an average of 34.0 yards per completion. It remains the most passing yards in a GAC game by the Bisons. 

Harding's individual best games against Southwestern Oklahoma: RUSHING - Joe David Smith (17 rushes, 135 yards in 1976); PASSING - Jacob Moore (4-of-5, 186 yards, 1TD in 2013); RECEIVING - Alex Rachal (3 receptions, 110 yards in 2013).

Harding vs. Northwestern Okla. – Last Meeting
Harding's offense had its most productive game in program history and its defense posted its first Great American Conference shutout with a 69-0 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma on Sept. 14, 2013 at First Security Stadium.

Harding (1-1, 1-1) scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, punted once, and then scored touchdowns on each of its next three possessions. The Bisons rolled up 692 yards of total offense, breaking the previous record of 674 against Arkansas Tech in 2007. Harding had 10 touchdowns from eight different players and averaged a school-record 10.6 yards per play.

Northwestern Oklahoma (0-2, 0-2) lost two quarterbacks to injury early in the game and used redshirt freshman L.T. Pfaff at quarterback for the game's final three quarters. The Bisons limited the Rangers to 167 total yards and forced nine punts.

Current Bisons vs. Northwestern Okla.
•    OFFENSE: Donatella Luckett - 1 reception, 52 yards; Alapeti Magalei - 6 rushes, 43 yards; Jason Oller - 2 rushes, 26 yards; Park Parish - 5 rushes, 12 yards; 3-of-4 passing, 52 yards, 1 TD; Ahmad Scott - 2 rushes, 22 yards; Eric Simmons - 2 rushes, 55 yards; Matthew Tenison - 4 rushes, 33 yards, 1 TD; Romo Westbrook - 8 rushes, 109 yards, 1 TD.
•    DEFENSE: Trevon Biglow - 2 tackles, 1 sack; Jordan Cantrell - 3 tackles, 0.5 sack; Devon Carter - 3 tackles; De'Onte Garrett - 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Vanard Placide - 2 tackles, 1 pass defended; Chris Sarkissian - 5 tackles, 1.0 sack; Daylan Skidmore - 5 tackles; Aric Stock - 4 tackles
•    SPECIAL TEAMS: John Gay - 9-of-9 PAT.

The Roster
Harding currently has 117 players on its roster, 85 active players and 32 red-shirts.  Below is a breakdown of the 2014 Harding Football active roster:
    • Class: Seniors (22), Juniors (20), Sophomores (20), Redshirt Freshmen (22), Freshmen (1).
    • Harding has 14 seniors who have been with the Bisons throughout their collegiate careers: RB Jason Oller, RB Ahmad Scott, WR Donatella Luckett, DL Jeremy Bracken, RB Romo Westbrook, QB Keenan Kellett, DB Devonte Britt, RB Christian Pletta, Andrew Brackins, K John Gay, OL David Lee, OL Mike Gallaway, OL Patrick Bingham, DL Romas Roberson.
    • Harding has one true freshmen on its active roster -- K Tristan Parsley.
    • The Bisons have 46 offensive players, 35 defensive players, and four special teams players on the opening day roster.
    • Offensively, Harding has three quarterbacks, 15 running backs, seven wide receivers and 18 offensive linemen.
    • Defensively, the Bisons have 13 defensive linemen, five linebackers and 17 defensive backs.
    • K John Gay, K/P Colin Harper, K/P Tristan Parsley, and LS Angel Morales are the four special teams players.
    • Harding's active roster has student-athletes from 16 different states. The leaders are Arkansas (26), Texas (18), Tennessee (9), Florida (8),  and California (6).

Southwestern Oklahoma Leftovers
•    Harding moved above .500 as a program at 298-297-18. It is the first time Harding has had a winning record since the team was 2-1 in the 1924 season.
•    Harding extended its series lead to 6-4 over Southwestern Oklahoma, including 3-1 in GAC games.
•    Harding has won the last three games at home against Southwestern by a total of 150-41.
•    Harding is now 40-21-3 in season openers, has won 10 of its last 13, and eight straight at home.
•    Harding had a 226.0 passing efficiency, the seventh-best figure in program history. The Bisons completed 7-of-12 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Kellett's passing efficiency of 246.6 was a career best and the fifth-best ever by a Bison.
•    Keenan Kellett averaged 14.6 yards per pass attempt, completing 11 passes for 161 yards.
•    Harding limited Southwestern to only 7 rushing yards, tied for eighth-fewest by a Bison opponent and the second-best effort by Harding in a GAC game.
•    Harding's defense allowed only 197 total yards, its fourth-lowest figure in a GAC game.

Offensive Notes
•    Senior Romo Westbrook ranks 23rd among active players in NCAA Division II with 2,039 career rushing yards. He is eighth with 6.3 yards per carry and 26th with 20 rushing touchdowns.

•    Westbrook rushed for 100 yards on 18 carries vs. Southwestern Oklahoma for his seventh career 100-yard game. Only five running backs in Harding history have more 100-yard games. Mike Vanlandingham is next with eight.

•    Harding rushed for 325 yards against Southwestern Oklahoma and have now rushed for over 300 yards 22 times in the last 34 games since 2011.

•    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 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. The Bisons averaged 55.4 points per game in its five home games.

•    Harding scored on 90% (45-of-50) of its trips to the Red Zone last season, ranking No. 8 in NCAA II. The Bisons scored 41 touchdowns in the Red Zone to only 18 by their opponents. All but one of Harding's Red Zone touchdowns in 2013 were rushing touchdowns.

•    Harding ranked No. 6 in NCAA II last season in time-of-possession. The Bisons held the ball an average of 33 minutes, 43 seconds per game. Harding held a time-of-possession lead in seven of its last eight games and twice had advantages of more than 20 minutes.

•    Harding wide receiver Donatella Luckett scored on a 43-yard touchdown reception vs. Southweestern Oklahoma. Luckett now has 16 career touchdowns, all of them of 21 yards or more and averaging 51.9 yards per touchdown.

•    Luckett has 2,546 all-purpose yards in his career to rank 14th all-time at Harding and 40th among active Division II players.

•    Senior Mike Thompson, a 1st Team All-GAC offensive lineman last season, anchors the Bison line. Thompson had started 23 consecutive games, including all 11 last season at left guard.

•    Senior Keenan Kellett is Harding's starting quarterback. He will make his 11th career start, and the Bisons have a 9-1 record in his previous 10 starts. Kellett has 14 career rushing touchdowns and 11 touchdown passes. Kellett had a career-best 226.0 passing efficiency against Southwestern Oklahoma, completing 7-of-11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensive Notes
•    Harding limited Southwestern Oklahoma to only 7 rushing yards, the eighth-best defense effort in program history and second-best in a Great American Conference game.

•    Harding has a streak of seven straight games holding its opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.

•    Harding will have two new defensive starters vs. Northwestern Oklahoma after DL Jensen Jackson and LB Daylan Skidmore were injured Southwestern Oklahoma. Jackson will be replaced on the defensive line by junior Matt Cain, who will be making his eighth career start. Andrew Brackins will start in place of Skidmore and make his third career start.

•    Harding had three interceptions vs. Southwestern Oklahoma, marking the third time in the last two seasons that Harding had three or more interceptions in a game. Last season, Harding had three interceptions at Southern Arkansas and at Ouachita Baptist.

•    Harding finished the 2013 season ranked No. 2 in rushing defense, allowing only 69.3 yards per game. Only three times did opponents rush for more than 100 yards in a game. Harding held opponents to below 50 yards five times.

•    Harding has finished in the top 13 in rushing defense in three of the last four seasons.

    HARDING'S NCAA RUSHING OFFENSE RANKINGS (SINCE 2009)
    2013 - No. 2 (69.3)
    2012 - No. 10 (96.4)
    2011 - No. 48 (130.6)
    2010 - No. 13 (90.0)

•    Harding set a school record by allowing only 2.0 yards per rush last season.

•    Harding's 2013 defense also ranked No. 4 in Division II with 3.64 sacks per game. The Bisons had multiple sacks in nine of the 11 games, including a school-record 10.0 sacks vs. East Central. 

•    Harding returns eight defensive starters, including senior defensive lineman Romas Roberson, who had 35 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks.

•    Daylan Skidmore, Harding's leading returning tackler, became only the second freshman in the team's NCAA era to lead the team in tackles (Kyle Young, 2007). Skidmore had 75 tackles.

Special Teams Notes
•    Senior John Gay returns as Harding's kicker. Gay has made 20-of-26 field goal attempts in his career. His 77% field goal conversion percentage is tied for the highest ever by a Bison. Gay needs five extra points to become Harding career leader, and with 73 points will become Harding's career scoring leader.

•    Harding kickoff returner Donatella Luckett has 897 career kickoff return yards to rank ninth in program history and 33rd among active NCAA II players.