Football 10/27/2026 12:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Hosts UNK Saturday Afternoon

Bronchos Welcome Lopers From Kearney, Nebraska For Annual Hall of Fame Game

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma hosts Nebraska Kearney Saturday at 1 p.m. in the annual UCO Athletics Hall of Fame Game at Chad Richison Stadium.

UCO is 3-5 this season with a 2-4 record in the MIAA. The Bronchos are aiming to snap a two-game losing streak. Central is 2-0 at home this fall.

The Lopers of Kearney, Nebraska are 1-7 overall this season with a 1-5 record in the MIAA. UNK started the season 0-5 before winning a close game over Missouri Southern. Kearney dropped a home game last week against Northwest Missouri.

Central Oklahoma is averaging 25.0 points per game this season on 347.1 yards of total offense. The Bronchos split the production with 255.3 passing yards per game and 91.8 rushing yards per game.

Defensively, Central allows 26.5 points on 347.4 yards of total offense per game. Opponents post 191.2 passing yards and 156.1 rushing yards per game.

In eight games this season, opponents have outgained Central Oklahoma by two yards (2,779 – 2,777). The scoring margin is almost as close. UCO has been outscored 212 – 200 this season.

Senior linebacker Reese Roller has played in all 43 games since arriving on campus in 2023. He leads the Bronchos with 74 tackles this season, including nine behind the line of scrimmage. Roller has one sack, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, two QB hurries, three passes broken up, and two interceptions.

Central Oklahoma linebacker Chris Fitzpatrick was named MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week after his performance against Northwest Missouri last month. The Edmond native had nine tackles, two sacks, one strip sack forced fumble that the Bronchos recovered, and one QB hurry. Fitzpatrick is second on the team with 43 tackles and second with four sacks this season.

Bryant Coley has 33 tackles, the third most on the team, from his safety position. Marcus Works (32) and David Williams (30) are among the leaders as well. Coley has three forced fumbles, two interceptions, four pass breakups, and a 39-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Williams has five pass breakups and one interception and one forced fumble. Marcus Works has one pass broken up and one interception.

Cameron Done has 33 tackles to lead all UCO defensive lineman. The senior defensive end has 5.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and leads the Bronchos with four QB sacks this season. Done also has four QB hurries, and he adds one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to his credit this season.

Matthew Ciers recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown in Week 1 against Central Arkansas. The block was credited to Cannon Wood, who shoved a UCA player into the kick. It was the first special teams touchdown since 2024. UCO also has a blocked field-goal attempt in Week Zero, a blocked PAT and another punt in Week 7, and a second blocked field-goal attempt in Week 8.

Central Oklahoma freshman Bradley Thao has been named MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week presented by FieldTurf twice this season and was named to the Fred Mitchell Award midseason watchlist. The Bixby, Oklahoma product is 23-for-23 on PAT attempts and 10-for-15 on field goals this season. Thao has a season-long 46-yarder against Northwest. The rookie also averages 61.2 yards per kickoff with 17 touchbacks on 38 kicks this season.

Pittsburgh transfer Cade Dowd handles the punting responsibilities for Central this season. He has 38 punts and averages 41.2 yards per punt with a long of 54. Dowd also has two touchbacks, and 13 punts inside the 20. Tyler Madsen has two punts this season and averages 42.5 between the two. He has one touchback and one fair catch. Madsen's long is 48 yards.

Senior All-American quarterback Jett Huff makes his final flight leading Central Oklahoma in 2026. The fifth-year gunslinger has thrown for 7,323 yards and 60 touchdowns in two and a half seasons at UCO. He is just the second player in school history to throw for 7,000 career yards and is just 88 yards shy of the record set by Chas Stallard (2014-18). Huff already owns the school records for career touchdown passes (60), 300-yard passing games (10) and 400-yard passing games (three). This season, Huff is 139-for-222 (62.6 pct.) with 1,515 yards, eight touchdowns, and six interceptions this season.

UCO has used four quarterbacks this season as the injury bug has hampered the Broncho offense. Sophomore Clayton Creasey is 10-for-16 with 49 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Owen Jones is 4-for-12 with 71 yards and a touchdown. And true freshman Cruz Campbell is 34-for-61 with 382 yards and two touchdowns.

Andrew Carney is a fifth-year Broncho, a team captain, and a versatile weapon for Central Oklahoma. The Collinsville native has 93 carries for 369 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns in 42 career games at UCO. He has 39 receptions for 487 yards and four receiving touchdowns.

Central Oklahoma averages 91.7 rushing yards per game. Juniors Dev Mathews and Ja'Daniel Nettles lead the way. Nettles has 343 rushing yards on 83 carries, an average of 4.1 yards per carry. He has a long rush of 31 yards and one rushing touchdown. Mathews has 234 yards on 48 carries with three touchdowns. He's missed two games due to injury and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Junior Makel Paiva and freshman Tahkari Bethel are leading the way in the pass game for the Bronchos. Paiva has a team-high 49 receptions with 483 yards and three touchdowns. He tied the UCO single game record with 15 receptions earlier this month at Central Missouri. Bethel has a team-high 557 yards on 33 receptions and has two touchdowns – both in the season-opening win at Texas Wesleyan. Zayden Martinez has 168 yards on 13 catches. C.J. Williams has 13 catches for 171 yards. Both have one touchdown. Javohn Thomas has three touchdowns, tied for the team lead with Paiva. Thomas has eight catches for 55 yards.

Nebraska Kearney comes to Edmond averaging 16.3 points per game through eight games played this season. UNK puts up 265.3 yards of total offense per game splitting that mark between 145.3 rushing yards and 120.0 passing yards per game.

Defensively, the Lopers give up 26.3 points per game and 353.3 yards per game. Opponents manage 189.0 passing yards and 164.3 rushing yards per game against Kearney.

Central Oklahoma owns an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series against Nebraska Kearney. The Bronchos won the inaugural meeting 42-22 in the 1979 NAIA Playoffs. The two split meetings in 1993-94 and since becoming MIAA rivals, UCO is ahead in the series 6-5. Kearney won last year's meeting 35-24 in Kearney, Nebraska.

The Bronchos travel to Missouri Southern in Week 10 for its final road game of the season. UCO will host Missouri Western in Week 11 to wrap up the season. Central Oklahoma will honor its seniors prior to kickoff and it's also the Military Appreciation Game in Edmond.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney: TE; 6' 1"; Senior

#31 Matthew Ciers: DB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#5 Bryant Coley: DB; 6' 1"; Senior

#10 Clayton Creasey: QB; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#0 Cameron Done: DL; 6' 5"; Senior

#40 Chris Fitzpatrick: LB; 6' 0"; Senior

#3 Jett Huff: QB; 5' 8"; Senior

#11 Owen Jones: QB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#7 Zayden Martinez: WR; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#6 Dev Mathews: RB; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney
: 6' 1"; Senior
: TE

#31 Matthew Ciers
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: DB

#5 Bryant Coley
: 6' 1"; Senior
: DB

#10 Clayton Creasey
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: QB

#0 Cameron Done
: 6' 5"; Senior
: DL

#40 Chris Fitzpatrick
: 6' 0"; Senior
: LB

#3 Jett Huff
: 5' 8"; Senior
: QB

#11 Owen Jones
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#7 Zayden Martinez
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: WR

#6 Dev Mathews
: 6' 0"; Junior
: RB