GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 2 • 12 pm CT
Bishop John M. D'Arcy Stadium
Fort Wayne, Ind.

Series History
Overall: Saint Francis (Ind.) leads 6-1.
First: Saint Francis (Ind.) 37, St. Francis 28 (10/19/13)
Last: at St. Francis 17, Saint Francis (Ind.) 0 (9/9/23)
Streak: St. Francis has a one-game winning streak.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 70-61 (13th year)
at USF: 70-61 (13th year)
 
USFIN: Kevin Donley
Alma Mater: Anderson College 1973
Career: 356-156-1 (45th year)
At USFIN: 242-72 (27th year)


TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday's matchup features two of the winningest active coaches in the NAIA with Saint Francis' Kevin Donley leading the group by better than 100 victories above his next-closest challenger at 356 wins and Joe Curry ranking 11th with 70 victories.

• Two of the top quarterbacks will also be matching up on Saturday with Saint Francis' John Kulka completing 72.2 percent of his passes (third-best in the NAIA) and Sam Tumilty hitting on 68.8 percent of his attempts to sit seventh in the nation.
 
• Both teams are scoring at better than a 40-point clip per game, while the Saints are holding opponents to 18.7 points per game.  Saint Francis (Ind.) has allowed 28.1 ppg.  

• Saint Francis has recovered the most fumbles in the NAIA this year (11), while also totaling the fifth-most interceptions (14).  The Cougars are a plus-nine in takeaways, while the Saints are a plus-eight.
 
• The Saints are a perfect 4-0 on the road this year and have won six in a row away from home overall.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACH: Joe Curry is in his 13th 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 directed the program from 1994 through 2004.  Curry is also the winningest coach in the program with 70 victories and ranks 11th in the NAIA among active coaches.  At USF, he sits second in winning percentage (.534).  Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593. 

ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS (Ind.): The Cougars are a well-oiled offensive machine.  With the exception of their 52-14 season-opening setback to NAIA No. 2-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University, Saint Francis has scored no less than 31 points in each of its other seven contests this season.  That adds up to a 46.6 points-per-game scoring average, which ranks ninth in the nation.  The Cougars passing game has a lot to do with that, ranking first in the NAIA in passing touchdowns (36), third in completions (200), fourth in passing yards per game (330.4) and fifth in passing first downs (116).  That and another 154.0 yards per game on the ground leads to the ninth-best offense at 484.4 total yards per game.  MSFA Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week Josh Kulka directs a unit that features nine upperclassmen.  He is one of only three NAIA quarterbacks to complete better than 70 percent of his passes, sitting at 72.2 percent (third) by completing 148 of his 205 attempts for 1,972 yards.  He is also fourth in touchdown passes (27) and pass efficiency (191.6), while ranking 11th in total completions.  Kulka has no one threat that he relies on with four receivers having better than 20 receptions and at least four touchdowns each.  O'Vauntay Vickers leads the pack with 39 receptions for 599 yards and four scores.  McCall Ray ranks ninth in the land with his eight receiving touchdowns.  His 26.8 yards-per-catch average would also rank him second in the nation, but falls short of the three-catch minimum per game by two receptions.  On the ground, seven players have averaged at least two carries per contest topped by Dave Smith with his 59 rushes for 395 yards.  Lenny Bennett is right behind at 54 for 283 yards and four touchdowns.  On defense, Saint Francis is just as dangerous, especially when it comes to takeaways.  The Cougars, which start nine veterans just like on offense, have the most fumble recoveries in the NAIA this year with 11, while their 14 interceptions (from eight players) rank fifth.  It puts Saint Francis at a plus-nine in the takeaway department on the season.  The unit also has reached the end zone six times, which is the third-most in the NAIA this season.  If the 14 interceptions are not enough, Saint Francis' defense also has 36 pass breakups, 71 tackles for loss and 33 sacks.  Defensive end Marquise Cross is the most threatening with his 10 TFLs and 6.5 sacks.  Others to keep an eye on are AJ Moore (9 TFLs) on the other side, Chamaar Smith (8.5 TFLs/4.5 sacks) inside and Tamarris Springfield (team-best 39 tackles) at one cornerback spot.  Despite some of the impressive numbers above, the Saint Francis defense has allowed its share of points, to the tune of 28.1 per game, while allowing 389.8 yards of total offense per contest (127.9 rushing, 261.9 passing).  On special teams, Austin DeLeon has not kicked many field goals (2-for-3), but he had the decisive one last Saturday in a 31-28 upset of NAIA No. 18 Marian University (Ind.) to earn NAIA Special Teams Player of the Week accord.  On PATs, he is 40-for-44.  Kyle Mattern handles punt detail and is averaging 36.7 yards per boot.  DJ White is the main return man with averages of 24.8 yards on kickoffs and 11.4 on punts.  Kevin Donley, who started the program 27 years ago from scratch, runs the show.  He is the all-time winningest active NAIA coach by more than 100 games with his 356-155-1 record and boasts a .696 winning percentage.           

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Saints claimed their first-ever victory over Saint Francis last year by pitching a 17-0 shutout at Joliet Memorial Stadium, one year after being beat up by the Cougars 52-14.  USF's defense held the visitors to just 173 yards with Matthew Perry registering a pair of interceptions.  The win was the first in seven attempts against the Cougars. 

MOVIN' ON UP: The Saints moved up four spots in the NAIA Coaches' Poll to No. 19 on Monday.  Saint Francis (Ind.) is among others receiving votes in the latest rankings.
 
SEVENTH HEAVEN: USF will be seeking to go 7-1 for just the third time in school history when it faces the Cougars on Saturday.  The last time that happened was 2011.  The Saints' best-ever start came in 1987 – the second year of the program – when that team opened 8-1.

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD: Saturday represents the final regular-season road game for St. Francis in 2024.  Head coach Joe Curry's club has been perfect through the first four games away from Joliet Memorial Stadium this season, outscoring the opposition by better than 100 points (181-74).  Including the final two road games of 2023, the Saints have won six in a row in away contests and are 8-1 in their last nine road affairs over the past two seasons.

POINTS APLENTY: St. Francis opened Saturday's game by scoring on each of its first seven possessions in building a comfortable 49-6 advantage.  Earlier this year, the Saints went 8-for-8 in scoring chances to start the Waldorf contest.  That has led to USF outscoring its opponents 176-70 in the first half this year.  It has also fueled a 41.9 points-per-game scoring average, which ranks 17th in the NAIA.

SATURDAY SUPERLATIVES: Saturday's contest also resulted in the highest offensive output on the season.  USF produced a total of 571 yards of offense and 36 first downs to land the top marks of the campaign in both categories.  The previous highs were 500 and 27.  The Saints have now totaled 24 or more first downs in five of their seven games.

EIGHT IS GREAT: The Saints were 8-for-8 in the red zone against Judson with all eight scores being touchdowns.  USF's 30 touchdowns amongst its 33 scores inside the red zone this year ranks fifth-best from a percentage standpoint at 81 percent.  

THE 3,000/5,000 MAN: Sam Tumilty became the first-ever St. Francis player to throw for better than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career.  The graduate student accomplished the feat by throwing for 255 yards and rushing for 40 this past Saturday.  That puts him at 5,209 yards passing and 3,042 yards rushing.  The latter number marks another school record broken by Tumilty, eclipsing the 2,927 yards set by EJ White between 2010-13.  Tumilty has thrown 43 touchdown passes, while rushing for 52, which is also a school record.

RECORD-SETTING SATURDAY?: Tumilty needs three rushing touchdowns on Saturday to break his own mark of 16 ground scores in one season set during his sophomore campaign.  That same number would tie him for the most total touchdowns of 17 set by John Larsen in 1989.

MORE TUMILTY TOTALS: Tumilty's four-rushing touchdown day was the fourth of his career.  His career high is five touchdowns, established during his freshman season … It also marked the fifth time in seven games this season that he has scored twice in the same contest and the sixth time in his career that he has both thrown and ran for two or more touchdowns in the same game … Tumilty has recorded 14 of the team's 24 rushing touchdowns this season with the team figure placing USF's offensive unit No. 6 in the nation.  On the opposite side of the ball, opposing teams have rushed for just seven scores.

I CAN DO THAT IN JUST SEVEN CARRIES: Tumilty needed only seven carries to register the four scores, which went for four yards (twice), one yard and 10 yards against Judson.

COMPLETIONS HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE: By completing 15 of his 18 passes for 255 yards with two touchdowns against Judson in only 30 minutes of action, it marked the third time this season that Tumilty has thrown 17 or more passes with only three being incomplete.  That has led to the seventh-best completion percentage in the nation (68.8 percent) as well as the 13th-best passer efficiency rating (172.1).  Tumilty opened the game Saturday with 11 completions among his first 12 attempts.
  
A CENTURY-IAN: With his 101 yards receiving on five catches versus Judson, Joey Tumilty hit the century mark for the third time this fall and the sixth time in his brief two-year career.  He currently sits 13th in the NAIA in yards receiving per contest at 98.2.  He also leads the club in all-purpose yards at 113.0 per game.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME: Dezzion Jordan's name can also be found among the top receivers in the nation with his 21.6 yards per catch ranking eighth in the entire NAIA.  Aided by both Jordan and Joey Tumilty among other receivers, the Saints rank 13th in the nation in passing yards per attempt at 9.2 yards.

PLENTY OF FUN FOR EVERYONE: A total of nine different Saints carried the ball and eight caught passes in last Saturday's contest, including true freshmen Nathan Maul (QB) and Kevin Holland (WR).  Maul ran for 37 yards on six carries with a score and completed four of his nine passes for 48 yards, including one for 21 yards to Holland for a touchdown.  Ryan Little also netted a career-high with his 67 yards on four catches.

SWEET 16: With Maul and Holland each gaining their first collegiate touchdowns and Luis Torres providing a pair of PATs kicking, the Saints have now had 16 different players put points on the board this year.

PUNT AWAY: Adrian Guerrero's punting has led to the Saints averaging 40.2 yards per boot this season, which is the 12th-best average in the nation.

ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PUNT: USF's 19.9 return average on punts ranks fourth in the nation, keyed by the second-best return man in the nation in Scott Tumilty at 20.8 yards per return.

FIVE STARS: Sam Tumilty and Gavin Day are both averaging better than five yards per carry with Day at 5.8 and Tumilty at 5.4.  The team's 268 yards last week, topped by Day's 79 on ten carries, were the second-highest output this year.  

BACK-TO-BACK PICKS: Nick Mabutas has netted interceptions in each of his last two games to give the Saints nine picks on the season.  USF itself has only thrown three interceptions on the campaign, while turning over the ball just six times leading to a plus-eight takeaway number.

OTHER NUMBERS: The Saints are 21-1 over their last 22 games when they score four times in a contest … USF has converted 42.5 percent of its third downs (34-of-80) and 54.6 of its fourth downs this year (6-for-11).

FOR THE RECORD: St. Francis is 178-229 all time, 149-170 in day games and 86-127 on the road.