The RiverHawks will make their furthest trip of the season and will invade the Lopers this Saturday for their homecoming game.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5
Time: 2 p.m.
Video: TheMIAANetwork.com
Radio: Billy Country 96.3
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nsuok/football/
RECORDS
Northeastern State: 0-4, 0-4 MIAA
Nebraska-Kearney: 2-2, 2-2 MIAA
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE GAME NOTES - NSU VS. NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
NSU Notes
>> Sixth-year senior Ashton Antwine is a nominee for the 2019 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year (click here for story).
>> Redshirt-freshman Jacob Medrano earned his first start for NSU in week-four and helped guide the team to their best offensive output of the season with 458-yards. Medrano went 18-for-27 with two touchdown passes and 197 yards in the air. This was the first time since Oct. 6, 2018, at Washburn that an NSU quarterback had two touchdown passes.
>> The RiverHawks rushed the ball for 261 yards one week ago against Missouri Western for their best afternoon since Nov. 14, 2015, against Lindenwood. Kevin Jackson led the rushing attack with 140 yards on 17 carries.
>> Ty Nichols leads the MIAA in passes defended and is fifth nationally with ten this season. The sophomore is second on the NSU roster with 26 total tackles and has one forced fumble. Nichols needs six more to crack into NSU's single-season record book and nine to match the program best (Jameel Jones, 1996). Against Missouri Western, he had four defended passes, which is tied for second-most in a game this season in the MIAA and tied for ninth nationally.
>> Lane Yoder continues to have a career season for the NSU defense and has a team-high 31 tackles. The senior is sitting on 90 tackles.
>> Courtland Clark is the first NSU football player to have a pair of fumble recoveries in a game since 2015, and he had an interception against Missouri Western.
>> Jahmel Bodrick played basketball for the RiverHawks last season and played in 28 contests while making four starts.
>> Redshirt quarterback Cayden Aldridge is a two-way player and will play for the NSU baseball program in the spring. Aldridge played quarterback for Tahlequah High School and was signed to play baseball at Oklahoma.
>> Ukoh Essang and Damani Carter will play their final playing season at graduates. There are 117 players from 32 schools in Division II who are graduates playing this season.
>> NSU will be sporting gray uniforms twice this season on the road. The uniform set will make their debut at Lincoln on Oct. 19 and will see the field against at Central Oklahoma on Nov. 9.
>> What dose BTC mean on the front of the NSU football helmets? Be the Change. The tag is on the back of the main fountain at the entrance to Northeastern State.
>> Three Northeastern State coaches have won a national championship as a player or as a staff member. Tom Howe (University of Duluth) and Michael Conrad (Texas A&M-Commerce) both won NCAA Division II National Titles, and Head Coach J.J. Eckert was a member of the 1994 NAIA Championship at NSU.
>> NSU has two graduate assistants with Big 12 playing experience. Darius Curry was a four-year letter winner at Oklahoma State, and Brady Foltz played four-years at TCU.
Series Breakdown
| Overall: |
UNK leads 5-4 |
| In Tahlequah: |
NSU leads 3-1 |
| In Kearney: |
UNK leads 3-1 |
| In MIAA Play |
UNK leads 3-2 |
| Streak: |
UNK, W2 |
| Last Meeting: |
Nebraska-Kearney 49, at Northeastern State 7 (Sept. 29, 2018) |
| Last NSU win: |
at Northeastern State 31, Nebraska-Kearney 21 (Oct. 21, 2017) |
>> Furthest trip of the regular season for the RiverHawks, clocking-in at 531 miles.
>> This will be the second season in a row that the meeting will be the home institution's homecoming game.
>> First of two straight years that NSU will visit Kearney with the RiverHawks slated to finish the 2020 season at Cope Stadium.
>> Lopers have averaged 45.5 points in their last two meetings with NSU.
>> UNK head coach Josh Lynn faced Northeastern State at a student-athlete at Eastern New Mexico. Lynn and the Greyhounds handed NSU a 20-14 loss at Gable Field. NSU head coach J.J. Eckert on staff as a quarterbacks/wide receivers coach for that contest.
About the Lopers
>> UNK has lost their last four games at home and has dropped their previous four homecoming contests with their last win coming on Sept. 20, 2014, against Missouri Southern (34-17).
>> Lopers lead the MIAA in rushing with 259.8 yards per game, UNK head coach Josh Lynn's former team Eastern New Mexico is leading the nation with 426.8 yards per game. Eleven players this season have rushed the ball for UNK with TJ Davis getting the most carries with 49 and has 260 yards this season. Davis has spent time this season as UNK's quarterback and saw the primary playing time in their 31-21 win during week-2 at Emporia State.
>> The Lopers control the time of possession with its offense holding the ball for 34:26 per game, which leads the MIAA and is tenth in the nation.
>> A tale of two halves this season with UNK out-scoring teams 74-to-47 in the first half. In the second half, they are being out-scored 67-to-33.
>> Defense is lead by Sal Silvio, who has 266 career tackles for the Lopers and is fourth on their program tackle list.
>> Running back Darrius Webb and NSU Defensive Coordinator Michael Conrad were both at Texas A&M-Commerce in 2017 for their national championship run. Webb was two-yards short of a 1,000 last season for the Lopers and has 46 carries in 2019 for 195 yards.
>> Roster features zero players from the State of Oklahoma with 60 hailing from Nebraska.
>> Was picked ninth by the MIAA Coaches and Media in the 2019 preseason poll.
>> DJ Stirgus is fifth nationally with 2.3 pass deflections per game. The sophomore has been credited with six broken-up passes and has one interception this season.
>> Was picked to finish in seventh in the MIAA preseason coaches and media polls.
