Kearney, Neb. – The 61st all-time meeting between the Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State football teams will come this Saturday, November 1st, at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

In honor of Military and Service Appreciation Day, UNK will wear an American Loper decal on their helmets.

Kickoff time is set for nigh noon on day that could be a bit blustery. Winds are expected to blow as high as 35 miles per hour with temperatures slated to be in the mid-50's.

Check the Loper schedule page for multi-media and ticket links.

The Tigers (4-4, 4-4) have won four of the last five meetings with the Lopers (2-6, 6-6) but still trail the all-time series, 34-25-1. The series dates back to 1926 and was an annual affair between 1954-2005.

In 2013, the teams met on the last game of the year and a shootout was brewing at Lewis Field as the Tigers led 21-17 late in the 1st half. However, Hays reeled off 35 unanswered points to claim victory.

They finished with 711 yards of offense (381 passing and 330 rushing) with junior QB Treveon Albert having a day. He went 20 of 27 for 357 yards and five TD's while also rushing for a score.

Albert is back as the Tiger signal caller, having a hand in 11 TD's and averaging 185.0 yards of offense per game. His favorite target is former Toledo Rocket Ed Williams (44 recep., 694 yds., three TD's).

The senior receiver had just four catches last year against UNK but they went for 124 yards and two TD's.

Besides Albert and Williams, senior back Edward Smith produces 51 yards per game and has reached the end zone four times. He and Williams are the only senior starters on a group that is 11th in the MIAA in total offense (290.4 ypg).

On the other side of the ball, six senior and five junior starters makeup a unit that ranks fourth in the MIAA in both total defense (371.6 ypg) and scoring defense (19.4 ppg).

Back in September, Hays held current No. 7 Pitt State to just 240 yards of offense and two field goals in the Tigers first win, 7-6, over the Gorillas in 35 years.
 
Having nine INT's and eight recovered fumbles, Hays is led by ILB's Brock Long and Justin McPhail. Long has a team-high 75 tackles (39 solo) with McPhail second (74). That includes 7.5 TFL's, including 3.5 sacks. McPhail also has two INT's, as does senior bandit Nathan Lindsey.
 
Next, senior end Joita Te'i has team-highs in TFL (8.5) and sacks (5.0) with senior free safety Michael Jordan earning 2013 second-team All-MIAA honors. He currently has 49 stops, one INT and four PBU's.
 
On special teams, sophomore DeAndre James brought back a kick 89 yards for a score in the loss to Central Oklahoma. He has 13 total returns, averaging 22.1 yards an attempt.
 
Junior Drew O'Brien has a healthy 40.3 punt average but has seen three of his attempts blocked. When he has time, 16 of his boots -- tops in the MIAA -- have land­ed inside the opponent 20-yard line.

O'Brien has also shared time with sophomore JP Maciel as the place kicker. O'Brien has had more success, going 5 of 7 on field goal tries with three makes between 40-49 yards. The pair have combined to go 18 of 18 on PAT's.

 

This will be FHSU's first look at Loper junior QB Bronson Marsh (Millard South H.S.) as he sat out last year's game due to injury.

Marsh currently has the third most rushing yards by a Division II QB in 2014 (672) while being tied for the national lead in rushing TD's by a QB (10).

Last week, while he ran 34 yards for a score at Pitt State, Marsh let his arm doing the talking. He completed TD passes of 74 and 75 yards, respectively, the two longest passing plays this year for UNK.

Over the last two games, Marsh & Co. have had 13 plays of 25 or more yards. Those "big gainers" have resulted in seven TD's.

Junior back Romero Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) had one of those home run plays as he scampered 43 yards in the loss at Pitt. Last year at Hays, he had 17 carries for 94 yards and one TD.

Cotton, the nation's No. 1 ranked wrestler at 197 lbs., has 125 carries in 2014 for 571 yards and a TD.

Defensively, sophomore ILB Tyke Kozeal (Sargent) is about to break his own single season tackle record. After 118 tackles last fall, "Sgt. Stopper" has 102 tackles this year, second most in the MIAA and tied for eighth nationally.

His tackle total includes 14 TFL's for a loss of 30 yards. Kozeal also has four QB hurries, four PBU's, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one of UNK's four INT's.

Showing its youth, the Kearney defense is relying on a host of freshmen to allow just 9.9 points per game in the 1st half.

Six first year players – ends Wyatt Anderson (Arapahoe) and Nathan Hinrichs (Adams Central H.S.), safety George Brown (University City, Mo.), OLB Devontay LeFlore (Omaha Central), corner Famous McKinnon (Miami) and linemen Sam Stoltenberg (Creighton Prep) – have combined for 140 tackles.

Twenty three of those tackles have come behind the line of scrimmage with Brown having two INT's for 49 yards, LeFlore bringing back a pick 62 yards for a TD and McKinnon having three PBU's.

Next Saturday, UNK travels four hours down the road to face Missouri Western State at 1:30 p.m