NORTHEASTERN STATE (2-3, 2-3 MIAA)
vs. CENTRAL OKLAHOMA (2-3, 2-3 MIAA)
Thursday, October 7 -- 7 p.m.
Gable Field at Doc Wadley Stadium (Tahlequah, Okla.)
All-Time Series: Northeastern State trails 50-28-2

TAHLEQUAH -- The RiverHawks host intrastate rivals Central Oklahoma in a rare October Thursday evening game for the President's Cup.

TOP STORYLINES

1 | Thursday's meeting with Central Oklahoma is the lone college football game in Oklahoma and the only MIAA game going on that day.  Northeastern State did not play on Thursday in the first month of the season, and playing a game with four days in-between has not happened post World War II (1945-).

2 | Oklahoma's Division II version of Bedlam.   The series started in 1912 is the oldest active one NSU presently has, with Pitt State's series a near second by a few weeks.   Of the teams in the MIAA, the NSU and UCO rivalry is the second longest-running series behind Emporia State and Washburn, who have met 115 times. From 1985-96, the NSU/UCO was dormant due to membership changes.

3 | Northeastern State will be looking to take back the President's Cup for the first time since 2013.  Central Oklahoma has won the last six meetings and leads the cup series 13-9. 


4 | Mark Wheeland leads the MIAA with six touchdown catches this season and had a career game at Lincoln with 127 yards on nine receptions.  Despite having zero catches in week one, Wheeland is fifth overall in the MIAA with 356 receiving yards.  Wheeland has two consecutive 100-yard games. 

5 | NSU Head Coach J.J. Eckert and UCO Head Coach Nick Bobeck faced each other from 2008-11 while at Kilgore and Navarro College.  Both coaches are alums of their respective programs.


NSU QUICK HITS
>> Madison Wrather has started 27 consecutive games on the RiverHawks' offensive line, the longest streak among student-athletes on the NSU roster.  

>> Keon Moore had his first 100-yard rushing day against Lincoln with 103 on the ground.  Moore had an 84 yard run for a touchdown which was the longest this season in the MIAA.  In the NSU record book, it is eighth longest. 

>> Through five games, Isaiah Davis has two 100-yard rushing games this season and is the first running back since 2012 (Joel Rockmore) to have at least two 100-yard days in the backfield.

>> NSU's tight end Matt Amos has his longest career pass reception against Lincoln for 62 yards.  His catch was the second-biggest play this season for NSU and tied for the 12th longest reception this year in the MIAA.

>> Mark Wheeland has caught a touchdown in the last four games and has 26 receptions this season.

>> Redshirt freshman Grant Elerick is 2-2 as Northeastern State's scoring quarterback. 

>> Jacob Frazier has appeared twice this season and is 10-for-13 in pass attempts.

>> Northeastern State's seven touchdowns against Lincoln are the most since Oct. 2011 vs. Harding and tied for seventh-most in the modern scoring era (1945-).  The five rushing touchdowns were tied for the fifth-most and highest total since Nov. 2003 at Central Oklahoma. 

>> Northeastern State's defense is tied for third in the MIAA with nine sacks this season.  Through the entirety of the 2019 season, they had five.  COVID-freshman Blake Corn is tied for third in the MIAA with 2.5 sacks. 

>> Marques Williams leads the MIAA with 54 tackles this season and has 40 solo take-downs, which is also an association high.

>> Triumphant Olatunji was named MIAA Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week on Sept 27.  The sophomore had the longest kick return this season in the MIAA at Lincoln with a 70 yard run back.  Olatunji is the second NSU football player to earn MIAA Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week honors (Garrett Powell, 2015).

>> Damani Carter had a career day at Lincoln with five tackles and had one solo sack, and shared a second one which combined were good for a 15-yard loss.

>> Taoheed Karim is tied for second in the MIAA with four pass breakups. 

>> Tim Davis is a sixth-year member for the RiverHawks and averaged 37.7 yards per punt through five weeks.  The graduate student forced six fair catches, with a 57-yard punt good for seventh-longest in the MIAA this season so far. 

>> Tyler Crawford, NSU's starting kicker, was a late addition to the team after transferring from Nebraska at the start of camp.  A Broken Arrow native, Crawford played three games for the Cornhuskers in 2020 and was their starting punter to finish the season. 

>> Northeastern State is sixth in the MIAA in average kickoff returns (17.9) and seventh in punt return yardage (8.3).

THE SERIES WITH THE BRONCHOS
>> At home, Northeastern State is 16-24-2 when facing Central Oklahoma. 
>> The Bronchos have won the last six meetings.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS
>> Central Oklahoma is second in the MIAA with 13 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 153.4 yards per game on the ground, good for fifth-most. 

>>  Passing the ball, UCO is second to last this season in average yards per game, at 168.2. 

>> The Bronchos are tied with NSU in sacks with nine and are also tied with the RiverHawks in interceptions with two.  UCO quarterbacks have been taken down in the backfield a MIAA high 13 times. 

>> The active roster for UCO has 107 listed from Oklahoma. 

>> Stephon Brown leads UCO in yardage with 120 yards per game in the air and 64.3 on the ground.  The junior has five touchdowns for the Bronchos this season. 

>> Michael Slater has a MIAA high 7.5 tackles of loss this season and 1.5 sacks. 

>> Tahlequah HS alumni Qua'shon Leathers is a freshman on the UCO roster but has not appeared in a game this season.

>> Freshman defensive lineman Jamar Goff is the foster son of Ree Drummond 'The Pioneer Woman'.  Goff has not played in a game this season. 

>> Jack Mullen, a graduate assistant for UCO, was at Northeastern State during the 2020-21 season and was on the RiverHawks coaching staff. 
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