GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Sept. 30 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Ill.

Series History
Overall: Saint Xavier leads 24-1.
First: Saint Xavier 20, at USF 13 (9/30/00)
Last: at Saint Xavier 24, St. Francis 21 (11/12/22)
Streak: Saint Xavier has a 16-game winning streak.
 
The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 61-57 (12th year)
at USF: 61-57 (12th year)

SXU: Mike Feminis
Alma Mater: St. Francis 1990
Career: 208-80 (25th year)
At SXU: 208-80 (25th year)

TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday's game represents the 26th meeting between the two teams with Saint Xavier holding a commanding 24-1 advantage.  Twelve of the games have been decided by seven points or less, including eight of the last ten meetings.  

• USF's scoring defense ranks No. 1 in the nation (6.5 ppg) and has allowed just three touchdowns on the season, none of which have come in the opening half.  Opponents have been outscored 73-6 in the first 30 minutes.

• The Saints have opened the season with four straight wins for only the second time in school history.  They have also won six straight at home dating back to last year.  In those games, they have allowed just 6.8 points per contest.

• Saturday's game will feature two of the top return men in the game in USF's Scott Tumilty and SXU's Justin Pringle.  Both rank in the Top 20 in kickoff and punt return average.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACH: Joe Curry is in his 12th season as the Saints' head coach, which makes him the longest serving coach in school history.  He has surpassed program founder Gordie Gillespie, who served as the head coach for eight seasons, and his own coach, Mike Slovick.  Slovick served the program from 1994 through 2004.  Curry is also the winningest coach in the program with 61 victories and second in winning percentage (.517).  Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

ABOUT SAINT XAVIER: Known for its offense for much of its success through the years, it is Saint Xavier's defense that is gaining the headlines in 2023 highlighted by the No. 1 unit in the nation in sacks with 17.  Defensive ends Justin Yeazell and Marcus Griffin headline the attack with 3.5 and 3.0 sacks, respectively.  Linebacker Terry Elias adds two more sacks as part of his team-leading 42 tackles with three other tackles for loss and a forced fumble and recovery.  Strong safety Ron Carroll sits second behind Elias with 35 stops and is first in interceptions with a pair.  While the Cougars have allowed nearly 20 points per game, the majority of that has come in the first half.  After halftime, SXU has allowed just 4.0 points per game, or 16 points total.  The Cougars have also stopped the opposition five of 17 times inside the red zone.  Saint Xavier's offense has not been able to hit on all cylinders as of yet, primarily because it has not been able to convert on third down.  The SXU offense has the eighth-lowest third-down conversion rate in the nation at just 22.5 percent (11-of-49), which has resulted in the third-lowest time-of-possession average (24:54).  On the opposite side of the ball, opponents have converted at a 40 percent rate and maintained possession for 35:06 of the game's 60 minutes.  Nonetheless, SXU has scored from the start, averaging 13.0 points in the opening quarter, but just 5.0 points in each of the other three quarters.  Saint Xavier has returned to veteran Stuart Ross as its signal caller after Aidan Voss was lost for the season with an injury in Week 2.  Stuart has completed nearly 55 percent of his passes (24-of-44) for an average of 166.5 yards with four touchdowns.  He has also thrown only one interception, while Voss was picked off six times in his two games.  On the ground, the Cougars again rely on Amari Venerable, who has accounted for three of the team's five rushing touchdowns.  He has averaged 5.5 yards per carry with his 230 yards on 42 carries.  Justin Pringle is the other key man to stop in the Saint Xavier lineup.  He is SXU's version of Scott Tumilty in that he creates havoc in many different aspects.  Besides averaging 18.5 yards per catch (19 for 352 yards) with four touchdowns, he also averages 42.0 yards on kick returns and 11.2 yards on punt returns.  Those averages rank him second and 17th in the nation, while his yards-per-catch average ranks him 14th.  As a team, SXU has the fifth-best kick return team (26.8 ypr).  Where the Cougars have also hurt themselves this year has been on penalties, where they are the eighth-most penalized team in the NAIA at 91.0 yards per game.  Despite facing one of the most difficult schedules in the nation (No. 6 Marian in Week 2, No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan in Week 3) with more to come on Saturday against the Saints (No. 13) and NCAA II Saginaw Valley State University in the middle of October, Saint Xavier has been in every game, losing by just one point to Indiana Wesleyan (16-15) and by one score versus Marian (28-21).  That is because the Cougars boast similar numbers to their opposition in nearly every statistical category, including total offense (296.8-293.8).  Joe Polselli handles punting chores for SXU, averaging a solid 40.4 yards per punt with nine of his 16 attempts ending inside the 20-yard line.  Peyton Benes, meanwhile, has been perfect on the year with his 14 PATs and two field goals (38, 40 yards).  The Cougars are a minus-two in the takeaway department.   

FROM LAST TO FIRST: After playing each other the last league game of the regular season each of the past four years, the Saints and Saint Xavier square off against one another to open the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League in 2023.  Saturday represents the 26th meeting between the two schools with SXU holding a commanding 24-1 lead in the all-time series. 

IT'S BEEN THIS CLOSE: Of the 25 previous games in the series between the Saints and Saint Xavier, 12 games have been decided by one touchdown or less, including last year's 24-21 win for SXU and eight of the past ten contests. 

SOUR 16: The Saints have dropped 16 straight games to Saint Xavier.  USF's only victory in the all-time series was a 24-21 win back on Sept. 11, 2008 in Chicago.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: After playing each of its last five games in the series in less than ideal conditions, including the 13-degree home opener for both teams in the Spring of 2021, the weather is expected to be perfect for the Saints' Homecoming game on Saturday.  From 2019 on, the temperature has been 42 degrees or less at kickoff in the rivalry.  

MOVING ON UP AGAIN: For the third straight week, the Fighting Saints climbed up the NAIA rankings, this time moving up one spot to No. 13.  Saint Xavier went from No. 18 to No. 16.  USF's highest-ever rankings were No. 8 to conclude the 2011 season and No. 7 to begin 2012.

STREAKING: The 2023 season marks just the second time in school history that the St. Francis program has opened a season with four wins in a row.  The first time was in 2008 when that team finished 7-4.  The Saints have also won six in a row at home over the past two years.  They have allowed just 6.8 points per game during that stretch.  Head coach Joe Curry's club has posted 11 wins in its last 12 games, as well.

TWO OF THE BEST: Saturday afternoon will feature two of the top return men in the nation.  As mentioned previously, Justin Pringle ranks second in the nation in kick return average (42.0) with one of his six returns going for a 100-yard touchdown.  He also averages 11.2 yards on five punt returns, placing him 17th in the nation.  Meanwhile, USF's own Scott Tumilty sits No. 9 on punt returns (14.0 average) and No. 18 on kick returns (24.6 avg.).

PERFECT PAIR: Both USF's Brian Maday and SXU's Peyton Benes have been perfect on their PAT attempts this year with Maday going 16-for-16 and Benes being perfect in 14 attempts.  Both kickers also have a pair of field goals.

SUPER COOPER: Jalen Cooper became the second member of USF's football team to claim Mid-States Football Association Midwest League Defensive Player of the Week honors for 2023 when he gained the recognition last week.  Cooper joined teammate Kwaku Appiah, who won it in Week 1.  Cooper picked off two passes in USF's 24-7 win over Taylor University (Ind.).  The pair of interceptions came on the last two offensive series for the Trojans with the final pick coming in the end zone.  The graduate student safety also finished tied for second on the team in total tackles with six, four of which were solo stops.  The two interceptions give Cooper three on the season, which ranks him tied for fifth in the NAIA.  He also ended the previous week's contest – a 14-12 win over Lawrence Technological University (Mich.) – with a game-sealing pick.  Cooper's other season numbers include two pass breakups and 16 tackles (tied for fifth on the team).

BACK IN A PASS: After missing the Lawrence Tech contest – his first in 22 games as a Saint – Sam Tumilty returned with a passing vengeance on Saturday.  The junior quarterback threw for a personal-best 260 yards, completing 15 of his 29 attempts with one touchdown.  His previous-best mark was 259 yards versus Trinity International on October 8 last year.     

T STANDS FOR TUMILTY TOUCHDOWN: Joey Tumilty accounted for two of USF's three touchdowns last week with his 13-yard reception and fumble recovery in the end zone.  That ties him for the team lead with his older brother Sam Tumilty with five each and gives the family at last one touchdown in 23 straight St. Francis games.

T ALSO STANDS FOR TOP OF THE CHARTS: That is where Joey sits after his season-highs in catches (seven) and yards receiving last week (99).  He now has 17 catches for 229 yards with three receiving touchdowns, all of which are club highs. 

JUMP FOR JORDAN: Dezzion Jordan, USF's other main threat in the air, has averaged just shy of 30 yards per catch (29.6) on his seven receptions this year.  He had a season-best 54-yarder last week.

NO. 1 D: USF's defense has allowed less touchdowns than games played in 2023 with just three in the first four contests, which has led to the Saints securing the No. 1 spot in the nation in scoring defense at 6.5 points per game.

AS EVEN AS IT GETS: USF's defense has allowed an average of 114.8 yards per game on the ground and 114.8 yards through the air (third in the nation).  With its offense's 365.5 yards per game, St. Francis has outgained its opponents by 136 yards per contest in 2023.   

EYE-OPENING NUMBERS: The Saints have outscored their opponents 73-6 in the first half alone and 118-26 for the season.  Taylor's touchdown in the third quarter marked the first time an opponent has scored in that 15-minute period.

CRACKDOWN ON CONVERSIONS: None of USF's first four opponents have converted more than four third-down plays this season with that only happening once by Saint Francis (Ind.) (4-for-16).  The other three opponents have converted either two or three times leading to USF's 20 percent conversion-allowed rate (11-of-55).     

A BAKER'S DOZEN: With Cooper's two interceptions on Saturday, USF's defense has authored a pick in 13 straight games dating back to last year.

LOGAN'S LUCK: For the second time in his career, USF linebacker Logan Johnson found himself in the right place at the right time.  One year after returning a punt 32 yards for a touchdown against Missouri Baptist University, Johnson recovered a fumble that was scooped to him by teammate Nick Mabutas at the two-yard line that he then took into the end zone for a score on Saturday.

TRICKY NICK: Besides his scoop for a score, Mabutas led the Saints with a season-high ten tackles on Saturday.  Coming into the game, he had that many stops on the year.  His 20 total tackles on the campaign are one fewer than team leader Matthew Perry, who has 21 stops.

IN THE RED ZONE: All but one of USF's scores have come in the red zone this year, where they have gone 15-for-17 with 13 of those being touchdowns.

OTHER NUMBERS: For the first time this season, the Saints did not register a sack last week.  They have nine on the campaign, while USF's offensive line has allowed Saint quarterbacks to be sacked just four times.

TUMILTY CAREER CHART TOPPERS: With his 22 kick return yards last week, Scott Tumilty moved into the No. 2 spot on the career list in that category.  Other numbers to follow include:

Total Touchdowns – Career
1. 38 – Brandon Ruffin (2016-19)
2. 37 – John Larsen (1987-89)
3. 36 – Sam Tumilty (2021-23)

Total Points – Career
1. 234 – John Larsen (1987-89)
2. 229 – Brandon Ruffin (2016-19)
3. 216 – Sam Tumilty (2021-23)

Kick Return Yards – Career
1. 1,754 – Elliot Allen (2010-13)
2. 1,552 – Scott Tumilty (2020-23)

FOR THE RECORD: The Saints are 169-225 all time, 140-167 in day games and 88-100 at home.