![]() We started nine freshmen on defense, seven on offense. “We were the youngest team in all of Division II at the end of year, 2019. “I tried to fight for as many games as we could get in the spring. “We were lucky to be able to play in that springtime,” Johnson said. Williams and linebacker Ke’Von Curry of John Marshall. ![]() It is hard to find good, tough, dirty little guys that are going to come out and roll up their sleeves and go to work.”ĭefensively, ECU will led by safety Cam Jones of Sulphur, linebacker R.J. “We have a bunch of guys coming back that have some ability. ![]() “We have an unbelievable set of skill positions,” Johnson said. Johnson even has talent and experience at backup quarterback, with Taye Gatewood, who has played extensively. ![]() Also back is tailback Mookie Douglass, of Lawton Eisenhower, who rushed for 1,132 yards and scored 18 touchdowns in 2019.ĮCU’s veteran talent extends to receivers. JayQuan Lincoln, from Lawton High, had 49 catches for 649 yards in 2019, while Teslim Abubaker had 24 catches for 337 yards. We have to show up and do it every week.”įrom the 2019 ECU squad, the Tigers return quarterback Kenny Hrncir, who completed 58.7 percent of his passes, for 1,876 yards and five touchdowns. But the spring showed our guys they have the talent to play with just about anybody in the conference. “We haven’t played a full season since ‘19. In the spring, East Central went 2-0, beating Southern Nazarene 35-28 and Division I-AA Tarleton State 21-14.Īnd ECU coach Al Johnson returns a load of talented ballhandlers. Trouble keeping up with the Arkansas teams, primarily Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist and Harding.Ĭan ECU reverse the trend? There are some positive signs. We continue our series of state-college football previews, today looking at East Central, and the Tiger story is mostly the story of all the Oklahoma schools in the GAC. In East Central University’s first five football seasons in the Great American Conference, 2011-15, the Tigers fashioned a record of 31-23. And almost no one showed up.Įast Central has experienced ballhandlers The Bruins blasted Hawaii 44-10 at the Rose Bowl, the first time in 637 days that fans were allowed in the vaunted venue. But the Cornhuskers were upstaged by the proceedings out in Pasadena, California. Illinois upset Nebraska in a Week Zero college football game Saturday. Will the Big 12 use the knowledge garnered from 2016? Almost surely, and invitations can be extended with the comfort that schools already had made their desire known, to join the Big 12. If Houston makes the most financial sense for expansion, bygones will be bygones. These are difficult times for the Big 12. Will that harm the Cougars now? Not necessarily. The schools who applied for Big 12 membership felt used, particularly the University of Houston, whose officials were quite vocal in their Big 12 criticism. Instead, the contract was reworked, with a conference championship game added, supplying the Big 12 members with more money and eliminating the pro rata clause, which could have become an annual negotiating chip for the conference. The Big 12 had a pro rata clause in its contract, by which league members would get an additional $25 million per school through expansion. The Big 12 expansion plan was a money grab five years ago. More: 'Female version of him': How Olivia Rattler is following in her big brother's footsteps This time around, the top contenders are expected to be BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, Boise State, SMU and Memphis. Schools that did not make the cut were Arkansas State, Boise State, East Carolina, Memphis, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, San Diego State and Nevada-Las Vegas. The Big 12 ended up with 12 finalists for expansion in 2016: Air Force, Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Connecticut, Houston, Rice, South Florida, Southern Methodist, Temple and Tulane. With the Pac-12's statement last week that it would not consider expansion at this time, we know the Big 12 will be heading toward adding members.Īnd thanks to that 2016 process, the Big 12 has a working list.
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