Football 11/1/2024 8:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

No. 13 Central Oklahoma Visits Missouri Western

Bronchos Play Back-to-Back Road Games In Week's 9-10

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – No. 13 Central Oklahoma moves to November with back-to-back road games beginning with Missouri Western Saturday at 2 p.m.

UCO is 7-1 this season with a 5-1 record in the MIAA. The Bronchos will also play at Washburn next Saturday before wrapping up the regular season November 16 in Edmond.

There are three one-loss teams atop the MIAA standings heading into Week 9. Pitt State, which beat the Bronchos last week in Edmond, is 6-1. Emporia State, which beat Pitt earlier this season, is also 5-1 and tied with UCO for second place. The Bronchos and the Hornets meet in Week 11.

Those three are among 10 teams are included in the first NCAA regional rankings of the season. Super Region III includes the MIAA and Great American Conference, as well as the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Association. A seven-team regional field will be announced Nov. 17 for the NCAA football playoffs.

Central Oklahoma made a long-awaited return to the national rankings earlier this season and moved up to No. 6 in the D2Football.com Top 25 and No. 9 in the AFCA Top 25. Following the first loss of the season, UCO dipped to No. 9 in the D2Football.com poll and No. 13 in the coaches' poll.

UCO ranks No. 1 in the country in scoring and total offense this season, No. 2 in pass offense, and No. 13 in rush offense, and the high-octane show all starts with quarterback Jett Huff. The sophomore from College Station, Texas has led the team to average 50.3 points per game and 569.3 yards per game, more than any school in the country. The Broncho passing attack ranks second at 358.4 yard per game, and the Broncho rushing attack ranks 13th at 210.9 yards per game.

Huff himself ranks second in the country in passing yards (2,747), passing yards per game (343.4), and passing touchdowns (27). In eight games with the Bronchos, the former Midwest City kid and Class 5A Division I state finalist in Texas is 196-for-289 passing the football. That 67.8 percent completion rate ranks No. 7 in the Division II.

Terrill Davis leads the UCO wide receiver room and he, like Huff, leads the country at his position. The junior has 65 receptions for 1,046 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games. Davis ranks first in the nation in receiving yards and yards per game (130.8). He ranks third in receptions per game (8.1) and fourth in receiving touchdowns.

Davis is sixth in school history for single season receiving yards, seventh for receptions, and second for TDs. Earlier this season, Davis twice set a single game record at UCO for receptions (14 and later 15), and he tied the school record with four TD catches in one game. Davis is one of just three Bronchos ever to have multiple 200-yard receiving games in one season.

A bulk of the run production that makes UCO's offense No. 1 in the country is carried by junior running back Jaylen Cottrell, who ranks No. 1 in the country at 8.9 yards per carry this season. Cottrell is 10th in rushing yards (868) and 11th in both rushing touchdowns (10) and rushing yards per game (108.5). He has scored four touchdowns this year from 60+ and has done so six times in his career.

Cottrell's 97 rushes leads the team but only two more than William Mason. The sophomore running back has 95 carries for 518 yards and four touchdowns. His 5.5 yards per carry help in bunches. The Bronchos also run Andrew Carney, a junior fullback. He has 13 carries this season for 42 yards and five touchdowns – four from 1-yard out.

While Davis leads the way for the wide receivers, 13 different players have caught a pass this season and eight have scored. Ashton Schumman is second on the team with 47 receptions for 605 yards and five touchdowns. Jacob Delso adds 31 catches for 370 yards and five touchdowns. Christian Romero (11-134) and Cottrell (5-86) both have two receiving touchdowns this season and Dominique Dunn (15-262) and Madison Ridgeway (18-245) both have one TD catch.

Though UCO's numbers don't rank as high nationally on defense, the production is still a big part of the Bronchos' 7-1 start. UCO gives up 27.1 points per game and holds opponents to 437.3 yards of offense per game, splitting that mark with 294.2 passing yards and 143.0 rushing yards per game this season. The Bronchos have 49 tackles in the backfield through eight games, and 21 of those are quarterback sacks. Additionally, UCO's defense has 26 QB hurries, 44 pass breakups, and 12 interceptions.

Jack Puckett leads UCO with 65 tackles through eight games. The sophomore middle linebacker has 37 solo and 28 assisted stops. He leads the team with 8.5 tackles for a loss this season and has a team-high four sacks. Puckett adds three QB hurries to his menacing record as well as one forced fumble.

Dylan Buchheit has 52 tackles this season, which is the second most on the team. The sixth-year senior has made three tackles in the backfield, broke up three passes, recovered two fumbles, hurried the QB once, and intercepted a pass, doing just a little bit of everything for the team he's played for since 2019.

UCO has four veterans leading the charge on defense in defensive lineman Zane Adams and Hunter Largent, and linebackers Connor Johnson and Noah West. Johnson's 43 tackles leads this group and he has 6.5 in the backfield including two sacks. Adams has 39 tackles and leads the team along with Puckett with four sacks. West adds 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks, and Largent has 28 tackles with 2.5 sacks. That's a dozen sacks for the four of them.

David Williams is another leader on defense with 33 tackles and the safety has two interceptions and a forced a fumble. JK Moore has 26 tackles and joins Williams with a team-high two picks. Moore has eight pass breakups and a forced fumble. Kobey Stephens has 24 tackles and joins Williams and Moore with two picks. Daniel Ekwese (19 tackles) also has six pass breakups and a fumble recovery, and Willie Rice has 16 tackles and six pass breakups with a forced fumble.

For Central's special teams play, punter Grayson Miller has been a target seeker for the Bronchos. The junior has 27 punts in six games and is booming kicks 45.5 yards per punt. Miller has 11 punts of 50 or more yards. Nicky Quevedo is 6-for-8 on field goal attempts this season and 39-for-42 on PATs. Quevedo also has 54 kickoffs at 59.9 yards per kick with 24 touchbacks.

Missouri Western owns a 9-4 advantage in the all-time series. The two schools played twice as non-conference games with MWSU winning both in 2005 and 2006. The Griffons have also won the last two meetings. UCO is looking for its first win in the series since the 2021 season opener in Edmond.

Central Oklahoma follows Saturday's matchup in St. Joseph, Missouri with another road trip next weekend. UCO takes on Washburn in Topeka, Kansas in Week 10 before finishing with Emporia State Nov. 16 in Edmond.

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Players Mentioned

#31 Zane Adams: DL; 6' 1"; Senior

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

#18 Andrew Carney: RB; 6' 1"; Junior

#0 Jaylen Cottrell: RB; 6' 2"; Junior

#8 Terrill Davis: WR; 6' 0"; Junior

#1 Jacob Delso: WR; 6' 0"; Senior

#5 Dominique Dunn: TE; 6' 3"; Junior

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

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

#22 William Mason: RB; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#31 Zane Adams
: 6' 1"; Senior
: DL

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

#18 Andrew Carney
: 6' 1"; Junior
: RB

#0 Jaylen Cottrell
: 6' 2"; Junior
: RB

#8 Terrill Davis
: 6' 0"; Junior
: WR

#1 Jacob Delso
: 6' 0"; Senior
: WR

#5 Dominique Dunn
: 6' 3"; Junior
: TE

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

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

#22 William Mason
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: RB