Football Opens Conference Season at Midwestern State

September 1, 2005

  Weatherford, Oklahoma - Southwestern Oklahoma State University hopes to carry the enthusiasm and confidence generated by last week’s season-opening football win to an even bigger scale when it faces Midwestern State University on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the 14,000-seat Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The 1-0 Bulldogs, who were 13-10 victors against Oklahoma Panhandle State in new coach Ryan Held’s first game, will face a MSU team that is coming off an 8-3 season in which they qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Indians are picked third in the LSC South Division behind defending champion Texas A&M-Kingsville and Tarleton State.

“They certainly will have a swagger about them,” Held said. “It’s their first game, home opener, big crowd, all the things you’d want in a football game. We have to be ready and match them emotionally at the start.”

Recent history has not been favorable to the Bulldogs in the series. The Indians have won the last five straight, including last year’s 19-14 win in Weatherford. Overall, MSU has won 10 of the last 15 games. SWOSU’s last win was in 1996, its NAIA National Championship team.

MSU is the first of four straight LSC South teams the Bulldogs will face in conference crossover action. The others are Eastern New Mexico , West Texas A&M and Tarleton State . Since the Bulldogs joined the conference in 1997, they are 6-21 against teams from the South Division.

Last week against OPSU, SWOSU unveiled a much-improved rushing attack. Bulldog runners carried the ball for 116 yards, a total that was bested only one other time last year. Freshman tailback Terry Sampson had 92 yards while teammate and fellow freshman Steve Ihekona added another 59 yards on the ground.

SWOSU will likely need more production out of its passing game if it is to keep the Indians off balance. In his first-ever collegiate start, freshman Steve Day completed only eight-of-17 passes for 74 yards and had one interception. SWOSU’s two game-breaking receivers – Chase Pratt and Danny Howard – combined to catch just one ball for 11 yards in the game.

MSU is expected to again use a spread offense that will put as many as four and maybe five receivers in pass patterns during a play. Quarterback Rahsaan Bell, a Wichita Falls native, is a run-pass threat who can do a number of things with the football. Last season he threw for 1,646 yards and eight touchdowns while adding another 200 yards and three TD’s on the ground.

Work horse running back Ross Harrison returns at tailback after rushing for 789 yards as a sophomore. He had 19 carries for 90 yards in MSU’s 19-14 win against the Bulldogs a year ago.

The game will be broadcast live on KWEY 97.3 FM with veteran sportscaster Chuck Edwards and color analyst Dr. Les Crall calling all the action. The game also can be heard on the web by clicking on the “Listen Live” link on SWOSU’s football home page.