Great American Conference Notebook
Southern Nazarene Game Notes
Henderson State Game Notes

BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene enters a new era of Crimson Storm football as SNU now begins its first season as full active members of NCAA Division II. It is the second full Great American Conference season schedule for the Crimson Storm who open up with Henderson State for the third straight season. The past two seasons the Crimson Storm have made the jaunt to Arkadelphia and this is the first time in the series history that the Reddies will make the trip to Bethany.

WELCOME BACK
While Southern Nazarene does lose 13 starters from the 2013 team, it does return a handful of impact players. Starting first on the defensive side of the ball, Michael Hicks, the school's all-time leader in tackles, blocked kicks and interceptions returned for a touchdown, gets set for his senior campaign. The Cushing, Okla., native had both the 2012 and 2013 season cut short as he missed the final five games of last season because of a torn Achilles. He had 56 tackles through six games and was in the top five in the Great American Conference before the season-ending injury.

Also returning at linebacker is Matthew Gregg. He recorded 85 tackles as a junior last year, ranking him ninth in the GAC. He also had 9.5 tackles for a loss ranking him 14th and had two interceptions last season. Josh Price had a stellar freshman campaign at linebacker as he had 63 tackles and recorded at least on in every game last season.

Sherrod Daniels, BJ Smith and Dylan Parker all return on the linebacker core as well. Daniels tied Gregg for the team high in interceptions with two and had 50 tackles on the year. Smith had 69 tackles last year as a freshman which ranked him in the top 25 in the GAC while Parker had 23 tackles and a pass breakup.

On the offensive side of the ball, Brian Yenor burst onto the scene late in his freshman season and had 633 yards rushing. Yenor averaged four yards a carry and 57.5 yards per game. The yards per game should increase as more of the offensive load will be put on the backfield. 

Will House and John Clark, both offensive lineman, are the only others returning on the offensive side.

 
NEW FACES IN OLD PLACES
Two three-star signees highlight SNU's incoming class as Western Kentucky transfer James Mauro and Eastern Arizona transfer Larry Butler III were the key figures on signing day. Mauro played one year at Western Kentucky and was a top-5 rated quarterback in Texas out of high school and was rated the 67th-best quarterback in the nation by ESPN. Butler was ranked the No. 3 linebacker out of junior college in 2013 when he finished at Eastern Arizona. 

THE SERIES
These two teams have only played each other twice and it really hasn't been close. The Reddies won the first meeting in 2012, 63-21, before HSU won 82-10 in last year's contest. In SNU's defense, Henderson State hasn't lost a GAC game since Sept. 17, 2011, and has won 21 straight conference games over the past three seasons. In the first meeting, the Reddies put up 564 yards of total offense with 384 yards coming through the air. Kevin Rodgers, just a sophomore at the time, threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns.

The Crimson Storm had 177 yards passing and 88 yards rushing for 265 yards of total offense. Dylan Terry went 27-for-47 passing with two touchdowns. 

Last year was something that most video games don't see in terms of numbers. Henderson State put up 855 yards of total offense with 557 yards through the air and 298 yards rushing. Rodgers threw for 468 yards and six touchdowns on 17-for-25 passing. Ryan McDonald ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Terry threw for 223 yards while Chris Hunter ran for 75 yards for SNU. The Storm had 223 yards passing and 101 yards rushing for 324 total yards

ABOUT THE REDDIES
All-everything quarterback Kevin Rodgers returns for his senior season for Henderson State and is undoubtedly the focal point of the Reddies for the 2014 season. Rodgers was a Harlon Hill finalist (NCAA Division II equivalent to the Heisman) and has been named to several All-American team including Associated Press, D2Football.com, Daktronics, Don Hansen's, Beyond College Sports and Lindy's. Rodgers finished with a nation-high 400.6 yards per game and nearly threw for 5,000 yards last season at 4,807. 

Henderson State as a team had 16 players named to an All-GAC list last year with both Rodgers and Darius Davis returning. Last year Davis, an All-American last year as well, set the school's single-season record for touchdown receptions with 16. He led the GAC in receiving yards per game at 133.1.

As a team, the Reddies led all of Division II in total offense, passing offense and scoring offense. Henderson State averaged 576.4 total yards per game, 428.4 passing yards per game and 53.3 points per game. They were in the top five in nearly every category in the nation. 

All-GAC first team and Daktronics All-Super Region second team choice Glennon Bobo returns on the defensive side for HSU. Bobo had 28 tackles and three sacks. He ranked fourth in the GAC in tackles for a loss at 14.5 and was in the top 20 in sacks.

OUT OF THE GATE
Southern Nazarene's history in season openers got off to a rough start. The Crimson Storm lost their season opener the first seven years of existence, but won three straight from 2007-09. SNU is 4-10 all-time in season openers. This will be the sixth time in school history SNU has opened with a ranked opponent. The Reddies are No. 8 in AFCA and D2Football.com Top 25 Polls.

THIS DAY IN FOOTBALL HISTORY
Twice Southern Nazarene has played on this day and both times the Crimson Storm picked up a win. The first time was back in 2003 and SNU scored a 38-21 win at Southwestern Assemblies of God. That win sparked a four-game winning streak. Jason Kilmer ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way. 

The second one came in 2008 in a 30-23 win over Olivet Nazarene. The Storm ran for 270 yards while Branden Smith led the way with 158 yards rushing and a touchdown. Larry Dockery threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Jared Elmore caught both touchdown passes and had 112 yards of receiving on eight catches.

THE NUMBER CHASE
Brian Yenor is 152 yards from moving into sixth all-time in school history in rushing yards. Chris Hunter (2012-13) is sixth all-time at 785. Michael Hicks is just 20 tackles away from being the first player in school history to record 300 career tackles. He is also just seven unassisted tackles away from tying the school record of 154 set by Matt Pruitt (2010-12). He also has 133 assisted tackles, just two away from Chris Bogle (135) in second place and 13 off of the all-time lead of Jarrod Dewald (2002-05) who had 146. With one more tackle for a loss, Hicks will also become the school's all-time leader in that category as well. He currently has 45.0 tackles for a loss and is just a half tackle for a loss behind Dewald. He is also seventh all-time in sacks with 14, 11 away from tying TJ Pearsall (2005-08) for the all-time record.