Tonight's meeting between the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers and Ouachita Tigers is the tenth all-time. After falling in the first three metings as NAIA opponents, Ouachita has won the last six since joining Division II. Tonight's 5:00 p.m. kickoff marks the second time Ouachita has opened at home against NWOSU since joining the GAC.  

The Series
Ouachita's all-time record versus NWOSU stands at 6-3. The Tigers are 5-0 against the Rangers since joining the GAC. The Tigers are 41-16 in GAC games and have an overall record of 243-217-24 versus the 11 teams that make up the conference. 

Ouachita has outscored the Rangers 238-81 in the last five meetings. The last time the Tigers opened the season against NWOSU was in 2012. Ouachita won that home opener by a final of 55-3. Ouachita is 6-0 in home openers since 2011. In season openers, the Tigers are 13-5 under head coach Todd Knight and have an overall record of 67-35-6 . 

Last year's meeting in Alva ended in a 42-34 victory for the Tigers. The Tigers racked up 498 yards of offense, 322 yards coming from the ground game. Junior Kris Oliver carried the ball 33 times and finished with 237 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard fourth quarter run that sealed the Ouachita win. Quarterback Austin Warford threw for three touchdowns and ran for one for one more in the game. Shaquille Hunter, Luke Holt and John Rachal led the Tigers with six tackles each. Hunter blocked a Ranger PAT attempt while Holt and Rachal combined for a sack. 

Heading into 2017 
Junior Cole Antley begins the season on the 2017 Fred Mitchell Award Kick Off Watch List. Antley was a two-time All-American and a top-10 finalist for the Fred Mitchell Award in 2016. The award recognizes the top kicker in all of college football for their performances on the field and their involvement in their community. Antley was also named to the 2017 D2Football.com Preseason All-America first Team. 

The Tigers' ground game looks to continue it's tradition of dominance this season. The team's three leading rushers from 2016 are back this season. Running backs Kris Oliver and Shun'cee Thomas are joined by quarterback Austin Warford to spearhead the running attack. Neither of the three played an entire season last year but still put up impressive numbers. Oliver rushed for 761 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games. Thomas ran for 611 yards and six touchdowns in five games. Warford carried the ball for 488 yards and three touchdowns in five games. 

2016 GAC Freshman of the Year and Breakthrough Male Athlete of the Year Allie Freeman will look to build on an outstanding debut season. As a true freshman, Freeman led the team in receptions (36), receiving yards (514) and receiving touchdowns (6). Allie also led the GAC in punt return average and finished third in the conference in kickoff return average. 

Senior linebackers Elijah Jones and Luke Holt led the Tigers in tackles and tackles for loss in 2016. Jones finished with 105 total tackles and nine tackles for loss last season. Holt tallied 64 tackles and made eight tackles for loss. Senior defensive lineman John Rachal finished last season with 51 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He leads a seasoned defensive line that returns two starters and four letterman.

Senior cornerback Shaquille Hunter will lead the Tiger secondary this season. He's joined by senior cornerback Zach Miller, who missed all of last season after being injured in the home opener versus ECU. Two young safeties, Tyrik Harris and Tevin Jones round out the secondary.