ALVA, Okla. – 2015 is sure to be an exciting year as there are many changes surrounding the Northwestern Oklahoma State football team. Many field renovations, including brand new artificial turf and a state-of-the-art two-story press box named after Hall of Famer, Dean Linder.
 
Northwestern is also entering the 2015 season as a full member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level after being approved for affiliation earlier this summer.
 
The Rangers will see a good portion of lettermen returning to the squad for the upcoming season as a total of 48 student-athletes will return to the gridiron for the black-and-red. Among those individuals include five starters on the offensive side of the ball and six defensive starters from the 2014 season. Northwestern posted a 3-7 record overall a year ago with a 3-7 record in Great American Conference play as well.
 
Newly appointed head coach for the 2015 year, Matt Walter, a 2001 graduate of Northwestern Oklahoma State and a member of the 1999 Football National Title team (as well as being named MVP of that game), looks to right the ship for the Rangers ­and return the team back to their winning ways. Walter returns to Northwestern after a six year stint with MIAA institution, Emporia State, where he served as Offensive Coordinator and strength and conditioning coach.
 
Coach Walter also brings with him multiple new coaches to the Ranger football family along with seeing several returning to the staff from a year ago. Dan Lemke will resume duties as Defensive Coordinator and strength and conditioning coach, DeAndre Wynn, Joseph Foteh, Mike Brown, and Mike Mancino all return to the Ranger work-force as well from last season.
 
New faces to the Northwestern football staff include Cory Sullivan (Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs), Ben McKaig (Offensive Line), T.J. Andrade (Offensive Line), Trey Rodgers (H-Backs), Andrew Stewart (Wide Receivers) and finally former Ranger Keenan Lott (Cornerbacks).
 
Defensively the black-and-red sees a total of six returning starts from a year ago which include Jacoby Beasley, Brandon Cannon, Jordan Norris, Joby Saint-Fleur, Theodis Williams, and Reggie Winfield. Cannon was third overall in total tackles during the 2014 season with 57 (1.5 TFL) and Saint-Fleur also led the Rangers in sacks a year ago with 7.5 total. Norris and Winfield each return to provide leadership in the Northwestern secondary as the pair combined for four total interceptions, 10 total broken up passes, 15 passes deflected and two fumble recoveries. Beasley and Williams each started in every game in 2014 as well and combined for 77 total tackles and 10 total sacks.
 
"We've got three or four interior d-linemen to go along with those really talented d-ends we have and hopefully our front on defense will be our strength of our defense and we really think we got a lot of good additions in that area as well." Walter said.
 
The offensive side of the ball will be strengthened by several returning starters which include Jonte Berry, Austin Maly, Reid Miller, James Pitts and Justin Schanbacher. Berry and Maly both return to the Ranger offensive line after each starting in all 10 games a season ago. Pitts also saw action on the field in all 10 of the contests for Northwestern at the full-back position. Miller looks to lead the offense from the quarterback position after starting in six games last year for the black-and-red and finished the season with a team high quarterback efficiency rating of 114.3 and threw for four total touchdowns. Miller also rushed for over two-hundred yards during the season adding a touchdown on the ground to his stat-line. Finally Schanbacher looks to have a breakout season for the Rangers after being a key component to the passing game in 2014. The tight-end looks to improve upon his twenty receptions and two-hundred and fifty plus yards from a year ago along with two receiving touchdowns.  
 
"We are looking to focus on building the speed positions on the offense side of the ball, coming out of the spring we weren't really explosive, we need to score the ball quick and we basically had one player on offense who could score from anywhere on the field and that's kind of nerve-wrecking since you want about three or four of those guys, and we think we accomplished that in the players we brought in now." Head Coach Matt Walter said.
 
Northwestern will also see several key returners on the offensive side of the ball look to contribute during the 2015 campaign as well. Tamarick Courtney led the Rangers in receptions last season, catching 30 total passes for just over three-hundred yards and one touchdown. Zachry Doyle looks to contribute to the rushing game after having 76 total carries last year for three-hundred yards and one rushing score. Finally quarterback Ty Hooper will look to compete for the starting job as he saw significant time under center in 2014, finishing the year with just over seven-hundred yards through the air and five total passing touchdowns.
 
The Rangers also return starting kicker and punter Will Hawkins who finished the 2014 season with 27 total points scored on two field goals and 21 made extra points. Hawkins also posted a punting average of 38.1 yards, as well as 13 punts landing inside the twenty yard line and eight total punts of fifty or more yards.
 
The Northwestern opens up their 2015 season on the road as they will face Great American Conference opponent Arkansas-Monticello in Monticello, Ark. on Thursday, September 3^rd at 7:00 p.m.

2015 Season Prospectus

GAC Preseason Poll