Football 9/4/2022 1:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Hosts Emporia State In Home Opener

Bronchos To Open Newly Expanded Chad Richison Stadium Thursday Night

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma is ready to celebrate the 2022 football home opener at the newly expanded Chad Richison Stadium Thursday night when the Bronchos take on Emporia State.

Central Oklahoma (0-1) welcomes the Hornets from Emporia, Kansas (1-0) with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

"We're ready to get back out there," first-year UCO head football coach Adam Dorrel said. "Nobody is pleased with how Week 1 went, and we've had a good couple of days of looking at film and talking about it. Now it's time to get back out there and play the way we are capable of playing."

Central Oklahoma opened the 2022 season on the road last week and the Bronchos suffered a 35-0 loss at Missouri Western. UCO's offense struggled throughout the game to put together drives of substance. The Broncho defense started slow, but put together a pair of strong quarters in the middle part of the game before surrendering a couple of late scores.

"When everything is new, you're going to go through some growing pains," Dorrel said. "We thought we were better than that, but we're working on figuring out the right guys for the right situations. It takes time."

Central Oklahoma put up 157 yards of total offense in Week 1, with the Bronchos totaling 92 passing yards and 65 rushing yards. UCO recorded 12 first downs, five from the passing game and four more on the ground.

Peyton Thompson and Stephon Brown took almost equal reps in Week 1 at quarterback. Thompson was 12-for-25 passing with 66 yards and Brown went 9-for-12 with 26 yards.

The longest pass play of the game for UCO was a 14-yard completion by Thompson to running back Jaylen Cottrell. Andrew Carney also caught a 10-yard pass from Thompson in what was the only other pass play to reach double-digit yards.

Nasir Kemper led the UCO rushing attack. He had seven carries for 32 yards with a long of 10. Wide receiver Diego Richards added an 11-yard rush in the only other rushing play to reach double-digit yards.

Brown also had seven carries on the day for 33 yards before factoring in three sacks for a combined loss of 24 yards. His official line was 10 carries for nine yards.

Defensively, Central Oklahoma conceded over 500 yards to Missouri Western. The Bronchos gave up 335 yards rushing and 171 yards passing.

UCO did force one turnover via an interception and another via turnover on downs.

Blake Barron and Connor Johnson, who both got the start at linebacker in their Broncho debuts Thursday night, led UCO's defense with eight tackles each.

Dylan Buchheit, who led the Bronchos in tackles last season and earned All-MIAA honors, made seven tackles in Week 1. Robert Fuentes also made seven tackles, including a team-high 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage.

Defensive backs Emmonte Davis and Vaughn Deary both had six tackles. Davis had an assisted tackle behind the line of scrimmage and Deary had one pass breakup.

Hunter Largent and Noah West both made five tackles last week. The two teamed up for one tackle behind the line of scrimmage and were credited with a half-sack each for their big stop on third down as time expired in the second quarter yards before the goal line.

Kobey Stephens finished with three tackles and had the one interception for the UCO defense. The sophomore also had a pass breakup and two kick returns, working in a variety of ways for the Bronchos. Stephens had a 35-yard and a 40-yard kick return in the second half Thursday.

Central Oklahoma welcomes an Emporia State squad to Edmond that is 1-0 on the season following a 42-17 victory against Northeastern State in Kansas last week.

ESU totaled 451 yards of offense, splitting the mark with 312 passing yards and 139 rushing yards. QB Braden Gleason went 23-for-37 with 312 yards and three touchdowns. A trio of running backs all scored once each. The Emporia defense allowed 262 yards (157 rushing, 105 passing) to NSU.

Central Oklahoma and Emporia State have met on the gridiron 22 times since 1928. The two have met nine times since UCO joined Emporia in the MIAA. The Bronchos own an 11-10-1 advantage in the all-time series, while the Hornets have a 7-2 advantage in the series since 2012.

The last Broncho win in the series came in Edmond in 2017. UCO trailed by 15 points with three minutes left but scored two late touchdowns, converting two-point tries on both to win 53-52. Central Oklahoma outscored Emporia 24-14 in the fourth quarter to get the win, scoring the game-winner with 20 seconds left in the game.

Central Oklahoma alternates home and away games almost every week in 2022. The Bronchos are scheduled to visit Missouri Southern in Week 3 Sept. 17 before hosting Northwest Missouri in Week 4 Sept. 24 at Chad Richison Stadium.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#2 Stephon Brown: QB; 6' 5"; Senior

#10 Dylan Buchheit: DB; 6' 1"; Junior

#27 Jaylen Cottrell: RB; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

#0 Robert Fuentes: DL; 6' 4"; Senior

#21 Connor Johnson: LB; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#97 Hunter Largent: DL; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#3 Kobey Stephens: DB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#40 Noah West: DL; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#5 Diego Richards: WR; 5' 8"; Junior

#37 Blake Barron: LB; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#2 Stephon Brown
: 6' 5"; Senior
: QB

#10 Dylan Buchheit
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DB

#27 Jaylen Cottrell
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: RB

#0 Robert Fuentes
: 6' 4"; Senior
: DL

#21 Connor Johnson
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: LB

#97 Hunter Largent
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: DL

#3 Kobey Stephens
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: DB

#40 Noah West
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: DL

#5 Diego Richards
: 5' 8"; Junior
: WR

#37 Blake Barron
: 5' 10"; Junior
: LB