SEASON OPENER ON TAP: Central Oklahoma opens its 103rd season of intercollegiate football Saturday when the Bronchos host No. 17-ranked Pittsburg State in a showdown between two of the winningest teams in NCAA Division II.
Kickoff at 10,000-seat Wantland Stadium is 6 p.m. Click here for complete release.
Click here for live stats on the game or here to listen to the broadcast.
PSU leads Division II in all-time wins with 621 (621-311-48) and has won three national championships (1957 and ‘61 in NAIA, 1991 in Division II). UCO ranks fourth with 578 victories (578-325-47) and has two NAIA national titles to its credit (1962 and ‘82).
The Bronchos are coming off a 4-6 campaign, while the Gorillas were 8-3 last year.
General admission tickets are $8 ($5 for youth/senior), with reserve seats $14 and box seats $17. The ticket office will open at 4 p.m. Saturday and visitor side seats are general admission only
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS: The Bronchos are 53-43-6 in 102 previous season openers, including a 27-17 upset of Abilene Christian to kick off the 2007 season.
WANTLAND STADIUM: UCO is beginning its 44th year at Wantland Stadium, which has undergone a dramatic face-lift the past few years and now rates as one of the finest stadiums in Division II.
The Bronchos are 145-69-5 in Wantland Stadium, including a 28-13-2 mark in home openers.
THE SERIES: The Bronchos have a 3-2-1 lead in the short series with PSU. The two teams had three previous back-to-back meetings (1915 and ‘16, ‘25 and ‘26 and ‘67 and ‘68).
UCO is 1-1-0 against the Gorillas in Edmond -- a 6-6 tie in 1925 and a 29-3 win in 1968.
Tonight’s game will be the first of four straight season-opening meetings between the teams, with the Bronchos going to Pittsburg, Kan. in 2009 and ‘11 and PSU returning to Edmond in 2010.
NEXT WEEK: UCO stays home to host three-time defending LSC champion and No. 10-rated West Texas A&M.
PSU goes on the road to Chadron State.
ON THE AIR: All UCO games are broadcast live on either KTOK (1000 AM) or Fox SportsRadio (1340AM), with veteran announcer David Garrett calling the action. Saturday’s contest will be aired on KTOK.
ABOUT THE LSC: The 13-team Lone Star Conference is divided into North and South divisions, with UCO part of the six-team North Division.
Divisional champions are decided by results of division games only, while the overall league champion is decided by counting division games plus crossover games.
UCO was picked to finish fourth in the LSC North this season, according the the league’s preseason poll.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: UCO faces a tough challenge with its 2008 schedule, particularly in the first five weeks of the season.
The Bronchos will meet three teams ranked in the preseason Division II top 25 in the first five weeks, including back-to-back games against No. 17 Pittsburg State and No. 10 West Texas A&M to open the season.
UCO goes to 26-time Lone Star Conference champion Texas A&M-Kingsville in the third week, then travels to perennial Division II playoff contender Tarleton State on Sept. 20 before finishing its rugged early slate with a Sept. 27 home date
against 18th-rated Texas A&M-Commerce
LAST YEAR: UCO started the 2007 season with high hopes after a stunning 27-17 upset of No. 11-ranked Abilene Christian, but the Bronchos lost their next three games en route to a 4-6 finish.
UCO picked up close wins over Texas A&M-Commerce (21-20 in overtime), East Central (24-21) and Southwestern Oklahoma (10-7) in earning a share of the LSC North Division title at 3-2 while tying for sixth in the overall league standings at 4-5.
THE COACHES: Tracy Holland will make his debut as UCO’s head coach with Saturday’s season opener. An assistant coach at then-Division II Northern Colorado in the early 1990s, Holland also has experience as a head coach at both the high school and professional level. He became the school’s 11th football coach last December.
Chuck Broyles has enjoyed remarkable success as PSU’s head coach, owning a 182-39-2 record entering his 19th year at the helm. He’s led the Gorillas to the Division II playoffs 14 times, winning the national championship in 1991 and finishing as runner-up in 1992, ‘95 and ‘04.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO OFFENSE: UCO will unveil a new offense in the season-opener, with the Bronchos set to go with a wide-open spread attack under first-year offensive coordinator Jay Wilkinson.
Senior tailback Ben Birmingham is UCO’s top offensive returner, earning first-team All-LSC North Division honors last year after rushing for 983 yards and five touchdowns on 193 carries (5.1/carry).
He had four 100-yard rushing games and two of the longest TD runs in school history -- 92 (fifth) and 78 (15th). Birmingham has seen limited practice time due to an injury suffered last spring, but is expected to play this week.
The Bronchos have their top four receivers back -- senior Rick Montgomery (39 catches, 579 yards), senior Marcellus Parker (39-571), junior Ryan Gallimore (20-140) and Birmingham (11-134).
Set to start at quarterback is junior Brandon Noohi, a junior transfer from LSC rival Southeastern Oklahoma who was a part-time starter for the Savage Storm last year.
Senior center Jonathan Llama, a second-team All-LSC North pick last year, returns to lead the offensive line along with senior tackle Dustin Finn.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO DEFENSE: UCO featured one of the Lone Star Conference’s best defenses last year in giving up 304.1 yards a game -- including just 129.4 yards rushing -- and several of the key players from that unit are back this season.
Leading the Bronchos is junior tackle Jermelle Cudjo, a first-team All-LSC North Division pick last year after collecting 47 tackles with 3.5 sacks.
Senior safeties Marcus Martinez (41 tackles) and T.J. Shaw (49 tackles, three interceptions) were second-team All-LSC North performers in 2007.
Junior linebacker Terry Hardeman (41 tackles), senior cornerback Matt Gates (36 tackles), senior end Freddie Harris (29 tackles, 4.0 sacks), junior cornerback Ellis White (28 tackles), junior cornerback Caleb Prince (24 tackles), senior end Micah Howeth (22 tackles) and senior nose guard Kenneth Point (21 tackles) also saw extensive playing time last season.
Senior linebackers K.C. Asiodu and Mike Reed are a pair of transfers expected to have a big impact this season.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO SPECIAL TEAMS: Sophomore Alex Weaver will handle the place-kicking duties this season after sharing the job last year. He made 7-of-8 extra points and 3-of-6 field goals.
Junior transfer Cole Reynolds will take over as the punter.
Junior Ryan Gallimore and sophomore Kendall Hendricks are slated to be the main kick returners. Gallimore averaged 21.0 yards a kickoff return (4-84) and didn’t return a punt last year, while Hendricks netted 37.2 yards a kickoff return (5-186, one TD) and 10.7 yards a punt return (6-64) in 2007.
ABOUT THE GORILLAS: Pittsburg State just missed the Division II playoffs last year, going 8-3 and finishing third in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
The Gorillas return 14 starters, seven on each side of the ball.
PSU averaged 454.2 yards a game (269.1 rushing, 185.1 passing) last year and most of the top players return to that potent unit.
Quarterback Mark Smith completed 111-of-176 passes for 1,737 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding 939 yards and 12 TDs rushing. Tailback Caleb Farabi rushed for 1,370 yards and 20 scores in addition to catching 31 passes for 291 yards.
Defensively, the Gorillas are led by linebacker Rusty Morgan (66 tackles) and end Rashad Pittman (56 tackles, 7.0 for loss).