NORTHEASTERN STATE (1-6, 1-6 MIAA) at
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (5-2, 5-2 MIAA)
Saturday, October 22 -- 2 p.m.
Bearcat Stadium, Maryville, Mo.
All-Time Series: Northwest Missouri leads 11-0

TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State will travel northward to face the No. 14/16 ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats this Saturday at 2 p.m.

The game will be aired on the radio on Billy Country 96.3 - Tahlequah and GoRiverHawksGo.com. The video broadcast can be found on The MIAA Network through the NSU video portal.  

TOP STORYLINES

1 | Saturday's game will be the second time the RiverHawks will face a team ranked inside the top 25 nationally this season.  Northwest Missouri checks in at number 14 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.

2 | Both of NSU's final road trips will be treks for the program.  The trip to Maryville is the northernmost trip this season, and its upcoming visit to Fort Hays will be the furthest west the team will go in 2022. 

3 | A win for NSU Saturday against the Bearcats would be the first home loss against an Oklahoma football team since 1992.   Northwest Missouri is 118-10 on their home field since 2001. 

4 | Saturday is the 30th official game for Northeastern State under head coach J.J. Eckert. 

5 | Despite the cool weather in the middle of the week, the high temperature in Maryville is slated to be a comfortable 74 degrees.


NSU QUICK HITS
>>  Dashawn Williams leads the team with four touchdown catches and has 27 receptions.   Against Missouri Western in week seven, the senior had seven catches for a career-high 110 yards.  Williams is ninth in the MIAA with 3.9 receptions per game.  Malik Antwine leads NSU's receiving group with 331 yards and 24 catches.  The sophomore has three touchdowns and has thrown one on a 46-yard pass in the second quarter at Pittsburg State.

100-Yard Receiving Games (2022)
Malik Antwine - 106 yards vs. Missouri Southern State
Dashawn Williams - 110 yards vs. Missouri Western

>> Darius Salters paces the NSU running back group with 269 rushing yards on 72 carries.   The senior ran in his first touchdown against Missouri Western in week seven.  Isaiah Davis has led NSU in carries in the previous two games and has 259 rushing yards and two touchdowns.   

>> Ben Ward earned the starting nod at quarterback in week seven and went 11-for-15 with 103 passing yards.  Grant Elerick shared drives in week seven and was 8-for-10 from under center.  Elerick started nine games at quarterback during the 2021 season as a redshirt-freshman.   Jacob Frazier started the first six weeks for the RiverHawks and has a pass completion percentage of 61.2 with seven touchdowns.   

>> Northeastern State's defense has a new look in 2022.  Mike Lucas took over the RiverHawks' defense in August and is a well-seasoned coach with 30-plus years of coaching at the NCAA Division I college level.  Lucas was the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana and was most recently the defensive coordinator at Northwestern State.  Damani Carter, an NSU letterwinner, will be the defensive line coach, along with Jalen Alexander, who was at Texas A&M-Commerce and Kilgore College.

>>  After recording a sack in the first four games of the season, the NSU defense went two weeks without one.  In week seven, they had a season-high of four and the first safety since 2019.   The RiverHawks are seventh in the MIAA with ten sacks and fifth in 6.4 tackles for a loss per game. 

>> Jordan Lamotte leads the NSU defense with 44 tackles (31 solo-13 assist).  His 31 solo tackles are eighth overall among those in the MIAA.  Novis Cullom paces the team with 4.5 tackles for a loss this season.

>>  Tyler Crawford is 6-for-10 on field goal attempts this season, but he is just the third kicker in NSU history to have a pair of 50+ yard made attempts.  The Broken Arrow native is the only kicker in NCAA D-II football this season with three 50+ yard kicks and is 13-for-13 on extra point attempts.  Additionally, in NSU history, he is one of two kickers with three 50+ yard made attempts and owns three of the top-14 longest field goals.  Crawford was an MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week selection in week four and also handles punting duties for NSU where he is fourth in the MIAA in 41.7 yards per kick.

>> The RiverHawks are the sixth-lowest penalized team in the MIAA, with 38 flags called this season.

>> Instant replay is available in the MIAA during the 2022 season; the RiverHawks are 1-3 in coaches' challenges.   A charged time out is given to a team if their challenge is unsuccessful. 

>> Northeastern State's captains for the 2022 season are: Shaakir Smith (#7), Jacob Frazier (#9), and Coltin Knape (#48).

>> The RiverHawks' 2022 roster holds 62 student-athletes from Oklahoma. 

THE SERIES WITH THE BEARCATS
>> Saturday is the sixth time NSU has traveled to Northwest Missouri
>> First meeting occurred in the 1939 season.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
>> Northwest Missouri has won its last 16 home games, and it is the longest active streak among NCAA Division II programs.  

>> The Bearcats have two from Oklahoma, the lowest total for an NSU foe to date this season. 

>> Despite being already home the week prior, Saturday is homecoming at Northwest Missouri.  The Bearcats have won 24 of its last 26 homecoming games. 

>> Northwest's defense is tops in the nation allowing just 39.1 rushing yards per game and averaging 4.3 sacks.   The Bearcats allow an MIAA-low 278.9 yards per game.  Elijah Green is third nationally with 1.43 sacks per game and fourth with 2.5 tackles for loss per game.

>> Turnovers have been the Achilles heel for the Bearcats, and in lost fumbles, they are second to last in the MIAA and tenth with 13 overall turnovers. 

>> Penalties have also stung for Northwest, where they are last in the MIAA, allowing 64.43 yards per game and 19 first downs.

>> Offensively, Northwest is ninth in the MIAA in third down conversions (37.2-percent). 

>> Quarterback Mike Hohensee is fifth nationally with a 164.3 passing efficiency and has thrown 11 touchdowns, good for fourth this season in the MIAA.