ODESSA, Texas (December 5, 2025) – The No. 10-ranked University of Texas Permian Basin football team is headed to the quarterfinal round (and Super Region Four final) of the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs for the first time in program history. The Falcons and the No. 2-ranked Harding University Bisons will square off starting at 1 p.m. Central Time on Saturday, December 6, in Searcy, Arkansas.

It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The winner advances to the national semifinal at a site to be determined.

WHAT'S ON THE LINE
UTPB has made the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the second time in program history and for the second time in the last three seasons. In addition to earning the first two playoff wins in program history this season, the Falcons will be playing in a Super Region final for the first time. Now with a program-record 11 wins in one season, the Falcon football team is the first UTPB program in the NCAA Division II era to advance to the Elite Eight. Harding, meanwhile, will be playing in a Super Region final for the fifth time overall and for the third straight season (also 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024). Harding holds a 14-8 all-time record in NCAA Division II playoff games while UTPB is 2-1.

In addition to going for a program-record 12 wins in one season, the Falcons will be attempting to reach the national semifinal for the first time in program history. UTPB is 4-1 this season against top-15 nationally-ranked opponents, and is the only team in the country with three wins over teams ranked in the top-five. The Falcons will need to earn their fifth nationally-ranked win this season and the best win in school history to keep the year going.

ROAD WARRIORS VS. HOME WINNING STREAK
UTPB is now 15-3 overall on the road in three seasons under Head Coach Kris McCullough. In addition to earning the second 10-win season in program history and second in the last three years, the Falcons have now had three straight winning seasons under Coach McCullough, who with 28 wins, is the Falcons' all-time winningest coach. UTPB comes into the game at Harding having won six straight games.

Harding enters the game with the second-longest active home winning streak in Division II at 23 games.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE FALCONS
UTPB is 11-2 overall and finished tied for second in the Lone Star Conference with a 7-2 record. The Falcons are currently averaging 37.9 points per game and are only allowing 18.0 points per game to their opponents. UTPB is currently outrushing its opponent by a slim margin of 137.9-134.5 yards per game. However, UTPB makes up for it in the air, averaging 331.5 passing yards per game compared to the 162.6 passing yards their opponents are averaging. In total the Falcons are outgaining their opponents 469.5 yards per game to the 297.1 yards they are giving up.

UTPB is a disciplined team accruing 78 penalties on the year for 727 yards for an average of 55.9 penalty yards per game. The Falcons also like to hold onto the ball, averaging 32:08 minutes per game with the ball. They have been efficient on third-down opportunities, converting on 46.52 percent and have been extremely difficult to stop on fourth down, converting 25 of 36 attempts this season.

FALCONS' LAST TIME OUT
No. 10 Falcons score 21 unanswered to stun No. 15 Mountaineers in second round NCAA Playoff game: The No. 10 UTPB football team will be playing in a regional final for the first time in program history after ending the game with 21 unanswered points to defeat No. 15 Western Colorado University 21-15 on the road in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs this past weekend in Gunnison, Colorado. UTPB entered the fourth quarter trailing 15-0, but quarterback Kanon Gibson accounted for three combined touchdowns, two passing and one rushing, during the fourth quarter and overtime to help lead the comeback. In all, Gibson totaled 425 yards of offense while the UTPB defense held WCU to 219 total yards and 2-for-12 on third down.

BISONS UNDER THE LENS
Bison's Last Time Out: Harlon Hill nominee Andrew Miller rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns as No. 2 Harding extended the second-longest home winning streak in Division II to 23 games, defeating No. 6 Pittsburg State 37-21 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The 2023 national champion Bisons (13-0) amassed 430 rushing yards to advance to the Super Region 4 final next Saturday at First Security Stadium.

National Statistical Dominance: The Harding Bisons lead all of NCAA Division II in rushing offense (455.2 yards per game), total defense (240.4 yards per game), scoring defense (8.23 points per game), and redzone defense (44.4 percent score rate).

Unstoppable on Third Down: Harding's third-down conversion rate of 56.9% is second in all of DII, highlighting their offensive efficiency, while their defense limits opponents to only a 29.4 percent conversion rate.

Record Rushing Watch: Harding is within striking distance of breaking two program records: they need 241 more rush yards to top their all-time record of 6,160 yards (set in 2023) and three more rushing touchdowns to break the record of 79.

The Iron Man QB: Harding QB Cole Keylon is set to make his 54th career start, having already won an astounding 49 games as a starter (49-4). He is also the Bisons' career leader in pass efficiency (193.9).

Harlon Hill Hopeful's Efficiency: Fullback Andrew Miller, Harding's Harlon Hill Award nominee, is a statistical outlier, ranking second in DII with 8.12 yards per carry and in total rushing yards (1,730). He is second in D2 with 23 rushing touchdowns and has exactly 3,300 career rushing yards.

GAC Player of the Year Marksman: Slotback Braden Jay, the GAC Offensive Player of the Year, holds the HU and DII career record at 12.5 yards per rush and is one of only two Harding players with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Tackles Leader and Playoff Veteran: Linebacker Clark Griffin, the GAC Defensive Player of the Year, is the NCAA DII active leader with 407 career tackles and has been a dominant force in the playoffs, logging 59 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 4.0 sacks in eight career playoff games. He is the HU NCAA-era leader with 45.5 tackles for loss.

Harding Bisons Claim Top Seed in NCAA DII Playoffs: The Great American Conference champion Harding football team has secured a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the 10th time. The undefeated Bisons entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in Super Region 4. Harding holds a 14-8 all-time record in NCAA Division II playoff games. This postseason represents the first time the Bisons have hosted a postseason game since their national championship run in 2023, when they defeated Central Missouri, Grand Valley State, and Lenoir-Rhyne at First Security Stadium. In contrast, the Bisons played all three of their playoff games on the road in 2024.

No. 2 Harding Extends 89-Poll Streak: The Harding Bisons maintained their position as one of the nation's premier programs, holding the No. 2 ranking in the final regular-season American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches Poll. The ranking marks the Bisons' 89th consecutive appearance in the AFCA poll (honoring former Bison No. 89 Ben Trotter), extending a historic streak that underscores the program's consistent success. The undefeated Bisons received one first-place vote and finished the regular season with a dominant 47-13 victory over Arkansas Tech.

Perfect Regular Season, Record Honors: Following a flawless 11-0 regular season that saw them capture the GAC Championship and earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II playoffs, the No. 2 ranked Harding Bisons dominated the 2025 Great American Conference (GAC) Football Awards. The Bisons secured three of the league's four major individual honors. The major award winners included senior running back Braden Jay as Offensive Player of the Year, senior outside linebacker Clark Griffin as Defensive Player of the Year, and Paul Simmons who was named Coach of the Year. Jay's Offensive Player of the Year award is the second in Harding's GAC history, following Park Parish's win in 2016. Jay, a senior from Cabot, Arkansas, was the catalyst for the Bisons' nation-leading rushing attack (460.2 yards per game). He totaled 1,043 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging a phenomenal 14.1 yards per carry – a figure that ranks among the highest in Division II history. He joins First-Team selection, junior fullback Andrew Miller (a unanimous choice), to form one of the GAC's most dominant backfields. Miller was the GAC's rushing leader, finishing the season with 1,363 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, which ranks third in all of Division II football. Clark Griffin's Defensive Player of the Year honor continues a tradition of excellence, marking the program's fourth such award since 2016 (Tre'von Biglow in 2016, T.J. Winslow in 2018, and Nathaniel Wallace in 2023). Griffin, a unanimous selection, anchored a Bisons' defense that led the GAC in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 6.36 points per game. The Mountain Brook, Alabama, native led the unit with 113 total tackles (44 solo, 69 assist) and became the NCAA-era leader in career tackles for the program during the season. He was also a key component of a defense that held opponents to just 96.9 rushing yards per game. Simmons received his second career Coach of the Year award (also winning in 2023) after guiding the Bisons to their third consecutive GAC championship and the program's third 11-0 regular season finish.

Miller Named Finalist for 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy: For the third time in program history, a Harding University football player has been named a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II College Football Player of the Year. Junior running back Andrew Miller was announced Wednesday as one of eight national finalists for the prestigious award following a round of voting by the division's sports information directors. He joins former Bison greats David Knighton (2007) and Cole Chancey (2019) as the only players in school history to reach the final ballot. Miller, a native of Searcy and graduate of Harding Academy, has served as the engine for the Bisons' offense during a dominant 2025 campaign. A unanimous First Team All-GAC selection, Miller enters the national quarterfinals as the Great American Conference leader in every major rushing category. Through 13 games, Miller has racked up a school-record 1,730 rushing yards, ranking second nationally in Division II. He is averaging 133.1 yards per game (5th in DII) and an astounding 8.12 yards per carry (2nd in DII). His ability to find the end zone has been equally historic; Miller has 23 rushing touchdowns this season, just one shy of Chancey's single-season school record of 24. Miller's consistency has been matched only by his explosiveness. He has found the end zone in 12 of 13 games this season and has eclipsed the 100-yard mark nine times, including a current streak of seven consecutive games. His resume features two 200-yard performances, headlined by a record-shattering afternoon against Henderson State. In that contest, Miller rushed for 298 yards, setting new NCAA Division II records for rushing yards in a single quarter and a single half. For his career, the junior now ranks third all-time at Harding with 45 rushing touchdowns, fourth with 3,300 rushing yards, and fifth in rushing yards per game (80.5).

Harding Football Favored to Win Third Straight GAC Championship: The Harding Bisons' football team was the favorite to win the Great American Conference, receiving nine first-place votes in the 2025 preseason coaches poll. Harding won the 2023 title outright and shared the 2024 championship. The Bisons were coming off a 12-2 season that included playoff victories at Pittsburg State and Grand Valley State. Last season, the high-powered Harding offense led Division II in scoring (48.1 points per game), rushing yards per game (413.9 yards per game), and third-down conversion rate (56.5 percent). The defense was equally dominant, pacing the nation in total defense and passing yards allowed. Key returners for the Bisons included 1,000-yard running backs Andrew Miller and Braden Jay, quarterback Cole Keylon, and First-Team All-GAC defenders Clark Griffin and Ty Dugger.

HARDING HEAD COACH
In 2017, Paul Simmons became Harding's 13th head football coach in program history and the sixth since the university restarted football in 1959.

In Simmons' seven seasons ...

• He led the Bisons to the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship, Harding's first national championship in an NCAA sport, with a 38-7 victory over Colorado School of Mines.
• He was the 2023 AFCA National Coach of the Year, 2023 Don Hansen Football National Coach of the Year, 2023 D2Football.com National Coach of the Year, 2023 Arkansas-Democrat Gazette Sportsperson of the Year and 2023 Great American Conference Coach of the Year.
• He has a 77-14 overall record, becoming Harding's fastest head coach to 50 career wins ... has an .870 winning percentage in conference games ... has won nine or more games every season and 10 or more five times.
• Harding has won the 2021, 2023 and 2024 Great American Conference championships and has never finished lower than second.
• Harding finished the season ranked in the AFCA Top 25 every season, topping out at No. 1 in 2023.
• Harding has reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs six times, compiling a 10-5 record and winning the 2023 national championship, reaching the national semifinals in 2017 and reaching the Super Region 3 finals in 2024 ... no other active coach in the GAC has more than one NCAA II Playoff win.
• Harding has had 102 All-GAC honorees and 43 All-America citations.
• The Bisons have had 152 Academic All-GAC recipients and 12 Academic All-Americans.

FALCONS TO WATCH:
Kanon Gibson has been the focal point of the Falcons' offense, passing for over 3,500 yards (3,678 yards) and 30 touchdowns this year for an average of 282.9 passing yards per game. He's passed for a completion percentage of 62.94 percent and has only thrown eight interceptions out of 456 attempts. Gibson has passed for over 300 yards in a game seven times this season, has five games with at least three touchdown passes, and has three games with five combined touchdowns between the air and the ground. He also had a career-high three rushing touchdowns in UTPB's 28-14 win at No. 5 Angelo State University (Oct. 4). Kory Harris leads the UTPB rushing room, earning 626 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Gibson and Camden Tyler are the other 300-yard rushers on the team, with Gibson accumulating 496 yards and 11 touchdowns while Tyler has added 362 yards and four touchdowns, respectively. Traylen Suel (696 yards, 8 touchdowns), Ben Patterson, TJ McKenzie (661 yards, 6 touchdowns) and (641 yards, 5 touchdowns) have led the receiving corps for the Falcons with over 500 yards.

The LSC Defensive Player of the Year, Linebacker of the Year and two-time D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week, Tristan Exline, leads the defense with 123 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss that include 5.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles while adding one interception. Jamarion Ravenell and Jayden Plater lead the Falcons with three interceptions each while Caimon Mathis has 13 pass breakups to his name to lead UTPB.

FALCONS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

• As a team, UTPB ranks third in all of NCAA Division II in passing offense (331.5) and is sixth in total offense (469.5) and 11th in scoring offense (37.8).
• The Falcons are also 11th in passing defense (162.6), tied for 13th in scoring defense (18.0), and are 18th in total defense (297.1).
• Quarterback Kanon Gibson is third in passing yards (3,678), fourth in total offense per game (321.1), fifth in points responsible for (248), seventh in points responsible for per game (19.1), eighth in passing yards per game (282.9), tied for eighth in passing touchdowns (30), 12th in completions per game (22.08), 35th in completion percentage (.629), 36th in passing efficiency (148.89), and 49th in passing yards per completion (12.82).
• Running back Kory Harris is tied for 52nd in rushing touchdowns (9) while Gibson is tied for 29th (11).
• Wide receivers Traylen Suel and Jaylon Tillman are tied for 28th in receiving touchdowns (8). Suel is also 23rd in receptions per game (5.60) and is 47th in receiving yards per game (69.6).
• Wide receiver Ben Patterson ranks seventh in yards per reception (22.10).
• Linebacker Tristan Exline is 11th in solo tackles per game (5.54), is tied for 13th in tackles for loss per game (1.50), and is 22nd in total tackles per game (9.5).
• Cornerback Caimon Mathis is tied for 25th in passes defended per game (1.17).
• Kicker Angel Diaz is tied for 36th in total points scored (84) and is 44th in field goals per game (0.44).
• Returner Heston Kelly is 42nd in punt return yards per game (5.7).

FALCONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Single-Game Records:

• Quarterback Kanon Gibson's 38 passing completions in the Falcons' most recent playoff win at Western Colorado (Nov. 29) surpasses the previous program record of 34 completions set by Dylan Graham vs. Western Oregon (Sept. 24, 2022).
• Gibson's 432 total yards of offense (348 passing yards, 84 rushing yards) at Western Oregon (Oct. 18) surpassed the previous record of 430 yards set by Taylor Null vs. Humboldt State (Oct. 13, 2018). Gibson also had 425 yards of offense (354 passing yards, 71 rushing yards) in the most recent playoff win at Western Colorado (Nov. 29), which is tied for the fourth-most in a single season.
• Safety Jamarion Ravenell returned his first interception of the season 96 yards for a touchdown in UTPB's win at Adams State (Sept. 6). The 96-yarder is good for the longest interception return in program history, surpassing the previous record of 88 yards set by D'Ondre Robinson vs. Southern Nazarene on February 27, 2021.

Single-Season Records:

• Quarterback Kanon Gibson has broken the Falcons' single-season records for completions (287), passing attempts (456), passing yards (3,678) and total offense (4,174 yards) while his 30 passing touchdowns are tied for the most in a single season.
• With his latest tackle for loss in the most recent playoff win at Western Colorado (Nov. 29), linebacker Tristan Exline has broken the UTPB record for tackles for loss in a single season (19.5). He is also tied for first for solo tackles (72) in a single season and ranks third in total tackles (123) and fourth in assisted tackles (51).

Career Records:

• Quarterback Kanon Gibson's 3,678 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns and 4,174 yards of total offense this season all already rank second in a career in program history while his 287 completions and 456 attempts both rank third.
• Running back Kory Harris owns the UTPB careers records with 627 carries, 2,958 rushing yards, 32 rushing touchdowns and 198 points.
• With 1,737 career receiving yards, wide receiver Ben Patterson is second in program history and is 56 yards shy of the program record of 1,793 receiving yards by MJ Link (2020-22).
• For his career, linebacker Tristan Exline ranks fourth in tackles for loss (39.0) and sacks (12.0) and fifth in total tackles (252), solo tackles (148) and sacks (12.0). He is also third in assisted tackles (104) and forced fumbles (4).
• Safety Jamarion Ravenell has recorded six interceptions in his three years at UTPB, which is tied for the second-most in program history. In addition, Ravenell is first in interception return yards in UTPB history for a career (265) and for a single season (121 this year).

GAME INFORMATION
The game will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ and will be broadcast live on "KQRX 95.1 FM, 95X, a West Texas Radio Group station". All UTPB home and away football games can be heard live on "KQRX 95.1 FM, 95X, a West Texas Radio Group station" with the pre-game show beginning 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Monty Montgomery (Play-by-Play) and Chad Kelly (Color Commentary) begin their first season together in the broadcast booth.

To follow the action for the Falcons all season long, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://utpbfalcons.com/coverage.