Harding Game Notes
Southwestern Oklahoma Game Notes
Great American Conference Notes

Game 1
Date: Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: Harding Sports Network
Streaming: www.hardingsports.com
Radio: KVHU 95.3 FM (Billy Morgan & Jerry Mote)
Venue: First Security Stadium
Capacity: 5,000
Series: Harding leads 5-4

Today's Game
•    The Harding football team will open its 64th season of intercollegiate football Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Southwestern Oklahoma at First Security Stadium. 
•    Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma are meeting for the 10th time with the Bisons leading the series 5-4 overall and 2-1 since the beginning of the Great American Conference. Harding has won four of the six meetings in Searcy, including the last two by combined scores of 108-35 (70-28 in 2011 and 38-7 in 2012).
•    Saturday's game will be the 613th game in program history. Harding enters the game with a record of 297-297-18. A victory would move the Bisons over .500 for the first time since Harding defeated Arkansas Tech's Third Team 10-7 on Oct. 18, 1924 in the third game in school history.
•    Saturday's game is the first 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. HU is 4-2 in Huckeba's season openers and has won both of his season openers played in Searcy (17-15 vs. Missouri Southern in 2009 and 20-0 vs. Southern Arkansas in 2010).
•    The Bisons are 39-21-3 (.643) all-time in the first game of a season and have won 10 of their last 12. Harding has won seven straight season openers at home since a 15-14 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1994. Harding last opened a season at home in 2010, defeating Southern Arkansas 20-0 on Sept. 4.

Winning Tradition
•    Harding has won 18 games in the last two seasons, breaking the previous record of 17 wins in 1972-73.
•    Harding needs six 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 40-33 overall record as head coach. Under Coach Huck, the Bisons are 23-13 at home and 31-25 in conference games.

First Quarter Success
Harding outscored its opponents 136-37 last season in the first quarter. It was the fourth consecutive season that Harding scored more points in the first quarter than its opponents. In fact, over the last four seasons, Harding has scored 407 first-quarter points to only 151 by its opponents.

AFCA Poll
Harding is receiving votes in the AFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bisons received 27 poll points. Henderson St. is the only GAC team ranked in the preseason poll, coming in at No. 8.

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 Southwestern Oklahoma
Harding and Southwestern Okla. have played nine times, beginning in 1994 with a 39-27 Bison victory in Searcy. Harding leads the series 5-4 overall and 2-1 in GAC games. This will be the seventh time in 10 games that the teams have played in Searcy. Harding has outscored Southwestern Oklahoma 237-158 in the previous six games played in Searcy.

Harding rushed for 479 yards on 64 carries and had eight rushing touchdowns vs. Southwestern Okla. in a 70-28 victory in 2011. It ranks as the fourth-best rushing game in program history in terms of yards gained and tied for the second-most rushing touchdowns. It was the third-highest scoring performance by a Harding team.

In 1997, Harding running back Chris Pierson scored four rushing touchdowns and rushed for 168 yards on 24 carries in the Bisons' 42-33 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma.

In 1999, Harding punter Andrew Patton booted a school-record 82-yard punt vs. Southwestern Oklahoma. Also in that game, Harding rushed a school-record low 16 times (26 yards).

Harding's individual best games against Southwestern Oklahoma: RUSHING - Lloyd Coakley (19 rushes, 184 yards in 1994); PASSING - Luke Cullins (15-of-43, 204 yards, 2TD in 1999); RECEIVING - Chris Pierson (3 receptions, 85 yards in 1997).

Harding vs. Southwestern Okla. – Last Meeting
Southwestern Oklahoma quarterback Dustin Stenta led his team on a 44-yard drive and scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left to give the Bulldogs a 27-23 victory over Harding on Sept. 5, 2013, in Great American Conference action at Fast Lane Field.

The loss was only the second for Harding in a season opener in the last 12 seasons.

Harding (0-1) held a 23-20 with 8:48 remaining after John Gay kicked a 34-yard field. The Bisons forced a punt on Southwestern's next possession, but had a costly fumble on a center-quarterback exchange as they attempted to run out the clock. The Bulldogs took over at the Harding 44-yard line and scored the eventual game-winning touchdown.

Harding wide receiver Donatella Luckett had 129 all-purpose yards, and senior safety Philip Mion had a team-high 12 tackles.

Current Bisons vs. Southwestern Okla.
•    OFFENSE: Keenan Kellett has 7 rushes for 42 yards and has completed 2-of-3 passes for 42 yards and 1 TD ... Donatella Luckett has 7 rushes for 110 yards and 1 TD and 6 receptions for 93 yards and 1 TD in 3 games ... Jason Oller has 7 rushes for 44 yards in 3 games ... Park Parrish had 1 rush for 8 yards and 1 TD ... Christian Pletta has 1 rush for 19 yards and 1 TD ... Ahmad Scott has 14 carries for 98 yards and 1 TD in 3 games ... Romo Westbrook has 18 carries for 64 yards and 1 TD in 3 games.
•    DEFENSE: Devonte Britt has 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery in 3 games ... Jordan Cantrell has 7 tackles and 1 pass defended in 2 games ... Romas Roberson has 3 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery in 3 games.
•    SPECIAL TEAMS: John Gay has made 2-of-3 field goals and 8-of-8 extra points.

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).

OFFENSIVE NOTES
•    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's leading returning rusher is senior fullback and 1st Team All-GAC honoree Romo Westbrook,  who ranks sixth at Harding with 1,939 career rushing yards. He led the Great American Conference with 1,123 rushing yards last season. Westbrook ranks second at Harding with 19 career rushing touchdowns. He needs 18 rushing yards to move past Glenn Segars (1982, 84-87 - 1,957 yards) into fifth place.

•    Harding returns two slot backs that earned honorable mention All-GAC honors--seniors Jason Oller and Ahmad Scott. Oller averaged 8.8 yards per carry, rushing for 309 yards on 35 carries. Scott is Harding's career leader with 7.7 yards per carry. He has rushed for 1,003 yards on 131 carries in his career. Last season, Scott averaged 9.0 yards per rush, gaining 434 yards on 48 carries with five touchdowns.

•    Harding's top returning wide receiver is senior Donatella Luckett, a 1st Team All-GAC honoree last season. Luckett has scored 15 touchdowns in his Harding career with an average distance of 52.5 yards. Luckett made 28 receptions last season for 570 yards and three touchdowns. He ranks 15th at Harding with 2,474 all-purpose yards and needs 270 yards to move into the top 10.

•    Senior Mike Thompson, a 1st Team All-GAC offensive lineman last season, anchors the Bison line. Thompson had started 22 consecutive games, including all 11 last season at left guard.

•    Senior Keenan Kellett is Harding's starting quarterback. He will make his 10th career start, and the Bisons have an 8-1 record in his previous nine starts. Kellett has 14 career rushing touchdowns and nine touchdown passes.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
•    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-25 field goal attempts in his career. His 80% field goal conversion percentage is the highest ever by a Bison. Gay needs 12 extra points to become Harding career leader, and with 79 points will become Harding's career scoring leader.