TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State football competes in the middle game of their three-contest homestand in a battle for the President's Cup with #11/8 Central Oklahoma this Saturday with an afternoon kickoff (1 p.m.).

NORTHEASTERN STATE vs.
#11/8 CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Saturday, Oct. 19 -- 1 p.m.
Gable Field at Doc Wadley Stadium
All-Time Series: Northeastern State trails 52-30-2 -- Last meeting was Oct. 21, 2023 in Tahlequah (L, 37-21)

TOP STORYLINES

1 | The RiverHawks match up for the 85th time in program history against Central Oklahoma. They face the 11th-ranked team in the country, according to the most recent AFCA Top 25 poll, marking their third ranked matchup across their first seven games of the 2024 campaign. NSU seeks their 31st win in the series against UCO and their first carry of the President's Cup since 2013.

2 | The RiverHawks enter the week off of their best single-game performance on both sides of the ball in over a decade. The team's seven points surrendered to Lincoln (Mo.) marked their lowest total in a game since the team's 31-3 win over Southwest Baptist on Nov. 2, 2013, while the offense's 55 points was their highest in a single contest since a 56-39 win over East Central on Sep. 29, 2001.

3 | This weekend's game marks the season's Indigenous Peoples' Game at Doc Wadley Stadium, sponsored by Cherokee Nation. As part of the afternoon's event, admission is free for all tribal citiziens who present their tribal ID or CDIB card at the gate.

4 | Dereun Dortch had his best performance of his young NSU career last Saturday, as he enters this week with momentum following a ten-of-ten showing through the air for 233 yards and four passing touchdowns, while adding an additional score on the ground. Dortch produced four completions of at least 39 yards in the win, while becoming the first NSU player to throw for four touchdowns in a game since Dom McKinzy tossed four against Northwest Missouri on Oct. 22, 2016.

5 | Cameron Woods has been a hot hand at Doc Wadley Stadium this season, as the tight end has caught six passes for 143 yards and four touchdowns across the team's two games played in Tahlequah this fall. Last week, Woods made three catches for 115 yards and two scores.

NSU QUICK HITS

>> Dereun Dortch's performance last week through the air earned him a 427.72 passer efficiency rating after he went ten-of-ten and tossed for 233 yards and four touchdowns. In comparison, the FBS record for an individual game passer efficiency rating was set by Kyler Murray at Oklahoma in 2018, when Murray logged a rating of 348.04 against Baylor. 

>> Dereun Dortch returned to the lineup after missing the previous game against Missouri Southern. Splitting time at quarterback with Luke Milligan, Dortch threw his first touchdown pass of October on a 14-yard pass to Deuce Roberson in the second half last week at Emporia State. He would go on to throw for 70 yards and was the team's leading rusher with 31 yards on the ground across a team-high nine carries.

>> The rushing attack added 213 yards to NSU's offensive tally, the ground game's strongest performance of the season and their highest single-game yardage total since 2022. 

>> Blake May led the ground game with a season-high 86 yards on ten carries. This week, he faces a UCO run defense that he scampered for 149 yards against last year, which marked the highest single-game rushing total for an NSU player since 2018.

>>  Kacie Riley hit paydirt for the second time this season by catching a nine-yard pass from Dereun Dortch in Saturday's win over Lincoln. Since returning from injury on Oct. 5, Riley has led the offense with 21 touches (18 carries, three catches) across two games.

>> Deuce Roberson continued to impress in last weekend's win, catching a team-high four passes for 67 yards, while adding a receiving touchdown for a second straight week. Just over halfway into the season, Roberson has 30 receptions for 324 yards and is on pace to have the highest end-of-season reception total since 2014 and the highest receiving yardage total since 2021.

>> LaKedrick Holmes took his first interception of the season to the house late in the opening half of Saturday's game against the Blue Tigers, picking off an Isaiah Tate pass and returning the takeaway for a touchdown. It marks his sixth interception with the program and his second touchdown after returning a kickoff for a score last season against Washburn (Nov. 11, 2023).

>> Ayden Guess and Jamar McKee were factors up front last week, with each providing 1.5 tackles for loss and McKee registering his second sack of the season. Guess provided a season-best six tackles (five solo) in the win.

>> Alonso Person led the team in tackles (nine) for a second straight game last week and has 19 across that span. Person netted a tackle for loss, as well, in the win.

>> Clavon Caine turned in his second game of the fall with two tackles for loss against the Blue Tigers. Caine is tied with Alexander Green for the team tackling crown with 36 stops on the campaign.

ON THE AIR

>> Radio coverage of this weekend's contest is presented by the official radio partner of NSU football, Lakes Country 102.1 FM. Hear the "Voice of the RiverHawks" Orry Phillips on the call for the matchup alongside color analyst Lou Kelly. Radio coverage begins with Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Tahlequah Family Vision Clinic, at 12 p.m., while the MIAA Network video broadcast will begin streaming during the hour before kickoff.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS

>> Central Oklahoma is in its third season under head football coach Adam Dorrel. Dorrel faced his alma mater and the team he led to three national championships in Northwest Missouri last week and handed the Bearcats a 48-20 defeat, their worst loss in 20 years. 

>> The Bronchos are one of 13 remaining undefeated teams in the country, wininng their first six games off of a top-ranked total offense (577.8 yards per game) and the nation's second-ranked pass offense (360.3 PYPG) and scoring offense (52.8).

>> Quarterback Jett Huff boasts the second-highest completion percentage in the MIAA (74.6%) among regular starting QBs and is also second in passing yards (2,042) and touchdowns (20). 

>> Terrill Davis broke his own single-game school record for receptions in a game by catching 15 passes last week against Northwest Missouri. Davis leads the nation in receiving yards (835) through six weeks, while his nine receiving touchdowns and 52 receptions are second in the country. His big week earned him MIAA Athlete of the Week honors.

>> The UCO rushing offense ranks just outside the top ten nationally with 217.5 yards per game. Jaylen Cottrell leads the MIAA with 621 yards on the ground and 8.9 yards per carry.

>> UCO holds one of the better pass defenses in the MIAA, holding opposing quarterbacks to just 140-of-263 (53.2%) for the second-lowest opposing completion percentage in the conference, while the team's 1,705 surrendered passing yards ranks fifth and their interception total (nine) ties for third.

>> The Bronchos allow the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the conference (700) and 3.7 yards per carry, the fifth-lowest amount in the league. In last week's 48-20 win over Northwest Missouri, UCO held the Bearcats to just 67 yards on the ground over 26 carries (2.6 ypc).