Football 9/22/2026 11:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Bronchos, Bearcats, Battle In Homecoming At UCO

Central Oklahoma Plays First Home Game Saturday Night At Chad Richison Stadium

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma makes its home debut in 2026 Saturday night at Chad Richison Stadium, where the Bronchos host No. 7 Northwest Missouri.

UCO is 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in the MIAA. The Bronchos were receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association Preseason poll, as well as the first three polls of the regular season, but a 14-10 loss last week at Washburn in the MIAA opener has UCO no longer in the rankings discussion. Northwest Missouri is 3-0 on the season and already 2-0 in the MIAA. The 2025 co-champions were No. 8 in the preseason and have been at No. 7 nationally in three consecutive polls.

"They're a good football team in all aspects of the game so this is going to be a tough battle for us," UCO head football coach Adam Dorrel said. "We've played really well on defense and we need to again this week. Our offense has not been where it needs to be so that's our focus. We need to get better up front and take care of the football if we want to have a chance."

It's Homecoming Week for UCO. The Bronchos conclude the week-long celebration with Saturday night's game. In addition to the action on the field, it's Teacher Appreciation Night and a postgame drone show is in place.

UCO's offense enters the game averaging 392.3 yards per game. The Bronchos put up 307.6 passing yards and 84.7 rushing yards per game through three games played.

Senior All-American quarterback Jett Huff is 65-for-97 (67.0 pct.) with 772 yards, three touchdowns, and four interceptions. The fifth-year QB has thrown for 6,578 yards and 55 touchdowns in two-plus seasons at UCO. He is just the second player in school history to throw for 6,000 career yards and is just 833 yards shy of the record set by Chas Stallard (2014-18). Huff broke Stallard's record for most touchdown passes in a career two weeks ago at Central Arkansas. Huff also owns the school records for 300-yard passing games (10) and 400-yard passing games (three).

Junior Makel Paiva and freshman Tahkari Bethel are leading the way in the pass game for the Bronchos. Paiva has a team-high 17 receptions with 204 yards. Bethel has a team-high 276 yards on 15 receptions and has two touchdowns – both in the season-opening win at Texas Wesleayn. Zayden Martinez has 112 yards on eight catches. Javohn Thomas also has a touchdown catch.

UCO is averaging just 84.7 rushing yards per game through three games this season and the Bronchos don't have a 100-yard game yet. Dev Mathews leads the team with 82 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown. Ja'Daniel Nettles has 68 yards on 20 carries, Rod Sloan has 44 yards on 12 carries. Huff and Clayton Creasey both have rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, Central Oklahoma concedes 336.0 total yards of offense per game. Opponents rush for 220.7 against UCO and pass for 115.3 against the Bronchos.

Senior linebacker Reese Roller, who has played in all 38 games since arriving on campus in 2023, leads the Bronchos with 25 tackles this season, including 7.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Roller has one sack, one forced fumble, two QB hurries, and two passes broken up. Last week at Washburn, Roller had a career high 14 tackles. He had eight solo stops and was in on six more assisted tackles. Roller also had three tackles behind the line of scrimmage and one pass breakup.

Central Oklahoma has 12 quarterback hurries in two games this season. Roller, Cameron Done, Trip Roberts, and Ethan Stites each have two. Nasir Hudson, Bradyn Smith, Zacary Stilwell, and Joey Havir have one each.

Christian Cooper is second on the team with 18 tackles in three games. The safety is one of four defensive backs with at least 10 on the year. Xzavier Booth and David Williams both have 11 tackles and Bryant Coley has 10.

Three Bronchos have two pass breakups on the season (Roller, Kentrelle Omar, and Chad Walker) and seven Bronchos have at least one to give UCO 13 as a team. Cooper Snyder has five tackles in three games at UCO. He is one of the defensive players with a pass breakup. In Week 3, Bailey nabbed an interception at Washburn, the first of the year for the Bronchos.

Central Oklahoma freshman Bradley Thao was named MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week presented by FieldTurf in Week Zero. The Bixby, Oklahoma product is 10-for-10 on PAT attempts and 4-for-5 on field goals this season. Thao has makes from 32, 23, 37, and 30. His 22 points lead the team. The rookie also averages 60.0 yards per kickoff with five touchbacks on 15 kicks this season.

Central has gone with Cade Dowd for nine punts this season. He averages 37.2 yards per punt with a long of 51, one touchback, and two inside the 20. Tyler Madsen has two punts and averages 42.5 between the two. He has one touchback and one faircatch. Madsen's long is 48 yards.

While Central Oklahoma trails the all-time series against Northwest Missouri 12-5, the Bronchos have a bit of an edge in Edmond. UCO has won three consecutive home games against Northwest Missouri. The last time the Bearcats won in Edmond was 2016, when Dorrel was coaching his alma mater. Central's other two wins in the series came in Maryville, Missouri in 1985 and 1992.

UCO goes back on the road again with a visit to Central Missouri in Warrensburg Saturday, Oct. 3 with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#26 Xzavier Booth: DB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

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

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

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

#42 Joey Havir: LB; 6' 4"; Senior

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

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

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

#33 Reese Roller: LB; 5' 11"; Senior

#91 Bradyn Smith: DL; 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#26 Xzavier Booth
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: DB

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

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

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

#42 Joey Havir
: 6' 4"; Senior
: LB

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

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

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

#33 Reese Roller
: 5' 11"; Senior
: LB

#91 Bradyn Smith
: 6' 1"; Junior
: DL