Sept. 30, 2009

Written by Chad Waller | NAIA Director of Sports Information & Media Services  

Weekly Report No. 6 | Full PDF Release | 2009 Composite Schedule

• There are two games this Saturday between Top 25 programs: No. 19 Eastern Oregon heads to No. 2 Carroll (Mont.) while No. 4 St. Francis (Ind.) visits No. 23 Malone (Ohio). Please check page eight for the complete schedule of all games this weekend.

• One coach is nearing the 100-win mark at his school. Jim Dennison at Walsh (Ohio)

needs one more victory as he stands 99-57 in his 15th year at Walsh. Overall, he is 179-119-2 in 28 years of collegiate coaching. He gets his shot this Saturday as No. 24 Walsh hosts Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). Carl Poelker at McKendree (Ill.) is right behind with a 98-42 mark as a Bearcat. Overall, he is 186-81 in 28 years of coaching. No. 14 McKendree is idle this week and next plays St. Francis (Ill.) on Oct. 10.

• So far in 2009, there have been 109 occurrences of a rusher gaining at least 100 yards, 46 times for a quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards and 140 times for a receiver to record at least 100 yards. Check out page three for further details.

• No. 1 Sioux Falls is riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 18 games. The Cougars have outscored their opponents 242-25 in a 4-0 start to the year. Sioux Falls hosts Doane (Neb.) this Saturday and has a 37-game conference winning streak on the line and a 37-game home winning streak.

• After just one minor upset last week in NAIA football, there was not much shuffling around in the third regular season NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll (Sept. 28). For the sixth straight poll, Sioux Falls (S.D.) is recognized in the No. 1 spot. Sioux Falls nabbed 444 total points and 18 of the 19 possible first-place votes. The Cougars have now been ranked No. 1 a total of 35 times since the 2000 season including 18 mentions since 2007.

• The College Fanz Sports Network “Game of the Week” features Campbellsville (Ky.) at No. 10 Shorter (Ga.) on Thursday at 7 p.m. EDT. In the second game of a rare doubleheader, No. 21 Georgetown (Ky.) heads to Virginia-Wise on Saturday with kick-off slated for 1:30 p.m. EDT. The streaming is live and free through the College Fanz Sports Network website at www.collegefanz.com. Next week features No. 5 Morningside (Iowa) at No. 17 Hastings (Neb.) on Oct. 10. Check out page five for the entire schedule.

NAIA Game of the Week

No. 19 Eastern Oregon (3-1) at No. 2 Carroll (Mont.) (5-0):

Oct. 3, Helena, Mont., 1 p.m. MDT, Nelson Stadium

• In a series dominated by Carroll since 2000, the Fighting Saints are 10-0 against Eastern Oregon this decade including five straight home wins.

•  During this stretch, Carroll has averaged 41.3 points while EOU has scored an average of 8.8 points -- Eastern Oregon has reached 10-plus points on just four occasions.

•  During the five-game home winning streak against Eastern Oregon, Carroll has averaged 43 points and hit 45 points in two of those wins.

•  In the last meeting, Carroll won 28-7 on Nov. 8. Eastern Oregon tallied just 110 yards of total offense and quarterback Chris Ware went 7-for-17 for 74 yards with one interception.

•  Standing 65-3 in its last 68 games, Carroll has won five of the last seven national championships and nine straight Frontier Conference titles (outright or shared).

• Eastern Oregon turns to sophomore sensation Chris Ware at quarterback. He ranks third nationally in total offense (376.4 ypg) and passing (339.8 ypg). Back on Sept. 5, Ware accounted for six touchdowns as he was recognized as the national NAIA Offensive Player of the Week. Ware finished the game 22-of-30 (.733) for 336 yards and five touchdowns in the air and rushed the ball 11 times for 76 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

•  Carroll (Mont.) is riding a 19-game home winning streak at Nelson Stadium, dating back to the final contest of 2006. Also, Carroll has won 27 straight conference contests. The last league opponent to defeat the Fighting Saints was MSU-Northern back on Oct. 28, 2006, in a 10-3 win.

•  Watch out for two quarterbacks at Carroll. Sophomore Dane Broadhead, who as a freshman last year started 10 games, came in relief and delivered a 17-10 win last Saturday against Montana-Western. Senior Gary Wagner has been the starter in all five wins this season, but was ineffective in the first half last week.

Around the Top 25 This Week         

•  No. 4 Saint Francis (Ind.) starts on a three-game road swing this weekend with a visit to No. 23 Malone (Ohio) on Saturday. Malone will mark the second ranked opponent this season for USF. After that, USF heads to No. 24 Walsh (Ohio) followed by NCAA Division II member, Missouri University of Science & Technology.

•  Blowing out its opponents so far this year including a 80-0 win last week, No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) will look to extend a 37-game home and conference winning streak with a matchup against Doane (Neb.). Looking ahead, mark Oct. 17 on your calendar as the Cougars travel to NCAA Division I North Dakota.

•  In the first game of the College Fanz/NAIA Game of the Week (Thursday), No. 10 Shorter (Ga.) hosts Campbellsville (Ky.) The Hawks are coming off a record-setting offensive effort in a 43-27 win over Faulkner. Shorter set single-game records for rushing yards (521) and total yards (547). Shorter is 3-0 all-time in the short-lived series with Campbellsville.

•  The game between No. 21 Georgetown (Ky.) and Virginia-Wise will feature two teams moving in opposite directions. Ranked for the first time this year, Georgetown stands 3-1 after a 21-15 upset over then-No. 10 Union (Ky.) last Thursday. Meanwhile, UVa-Wise is 2-3 overall and has allowed two opponents to put up 50-plus points. The Cavaliers had high expectations coming into 2009 with a No. 21 preseason ranking. The contest is the second game of the College Fanz/NAIA Game of the Week.

Upsets in the Top 25 Last Week

• In the 21-15 win for Georgetown over No. 10 Union (Ky.), the Tigers rolled up 242 yards of rushing. Union had a chance late to win after holding Georgetown on “downs.” Union took possession with the ball on the Georgetown 26-yard line with 1:48 to play but couldn’t “cash in.”

•  One minor upset was No. 16 McKendree (Ill.) holding off No. 14 St. Ambrose (Iowa), 17-12. It was McKendree’s fourth straight win. Down 9-7 at the half, the Bearcats came out of the locker room scoring on their first possession in the second half. Nearly eight minutes into the third period, McKendree struck on a nine-yard touchdown toss from Austin Fisher to Byron Gettis. The Bearcats held on from there.

Are you Serious?

•  The No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) defense has been anything but spectacular this season. Through four games (Sept. 28), the Cougars are ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense (136.3 ypg) and rushing defense (26.8 ypg), No. 2 in scoring defense (6.3 ppg) and No. 3 in passing defense (109.5 ypg). The Cougars have allowed just two touchdowns this year (2 passing) through 16 quarters.

•  This is a continuation of a record-breaking 2008 season. Setting a school record with seven shutouts in 2008 (in 14 games), USF was one shy of the national all-time record set back in 1989. Last year, Sioux Falls ranked first in all four major defensive categories (total, scoring, pass, rush).

•  Since the start of the 2008 season (in 18 games), Sioux Falls has surrendered just 12 touchdowns (10 passing, 2 rushing). Just four opponents have reached 10 or more points and USF has held two opponents to negative yardage in total offense.

•  During this streak of 18 games, all of which Sioux Falls has won, the Cougar offense has scored more points in the fourth quarter (153) than the opponent has scored total throughout the 18-game span (102).

•  The defense has not surrendered an 100-yard rusher during the streak of 18 games. In fact, no rusher has tipped 50 yards -- the best was 46 yards by Jake Peterson of Morningside on Nov. 15, 2008. The last rusher to gain 100-plus yards was Carroll’s (Mont.) Gabe Le (115 yards) in the 2007 National Championship loss on Dec. 15. That also marked the last loss for USF.

Individual Milestones -- 2009 Season

•  Through Sept. 28 games, there have been numerous individuals to accomplish single-game milestones. In some cases, a player may have hit the milestone more than once this season. There have been 109, 100-yard rushing games, 140, 100-yard receiving games and 46, 300-yard passing games.

•  In rushing, Hasting’s (Neb.) Maurice Mansfield holds the single-game high with 233 yards on 38 carries (6.1 ypc) against Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on Sept. 26. Overall, nine rushers have hit for 200-plus yards and there have been 29 games of 150-yards or more.

•  In receiving, Kevin Brooks of Southern Nazarene (Okla.) is No. 1 on the list with a 323-yard, 13-reception game (24.8 ypc) against Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) on Sept. 26. Overall, there are seven receivers to post 200-plus yards and there are 28 games of 150-yards or more.

•  In passing, Ethan Haller of Ottawa (Kan.) leads the list with 587 yards on 42-of-70 passing (60.0%) against McPherson (Kan.) on Sept. 19. He is one of five quarterbacks to go over 500 passing yards (Ethan has accomplished the feat twice). Overall, there have been 14 occurrences when a quarterback hit for 400-plus yards.

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