GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 9 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Ill.

Series History
Overall: St. Francis leads 20-11.
First: at St. Francis 37, Olivet Nazarene 16 (10/18/1986)
Last: Olivet Nazarene 35, at St. Francis 7 (10/28/23)
Streak: Olivet Nazarene has a one-game winning streak.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 70-62 (13th year)
at USF: 70-62 (13th year)
 
ONU: Avante Mitchell
Alma Mater: Northwood University 2019
Career: 19-32 (6th year)
At ONU: 5-3 (1st year)


TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday's matchup continues the longest-running series for the Saints among any single opponent with their 32nd meeting against Olivet Nazarene University.  The Saints hold a 20-11 lead in the all-time series, which started in USF's first year (1986) before pausing for seven seasons (1992-98) and then restarting in 1999.

• USF will be on record watch Saturday with Sam Tumilty needing just one more rushing touchdown, two total scores and nine points to become the single-season leader in school history in each of those categories.  He also needs just 84 yards to move into the No. 4 spot in career passing yardage.
 
• ONU dual-threat player Evan Leake ranks eighth in the NAIA in yards per kickoff return (29.9) and 15th with his ten rushing touchdowns.

• The Tiger defense has secured the second-most fumble recoveries in the nation with its 12.
 
• The Saints are 21-1 over their last 22 games when scoring four times in a contest.

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 (.530).  Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593. 

ABOUT OLIVET NAZARENE: The Tigers come in with nearly-identical numbers and victories to that of St. Francis.  Both teams have defeated four similar foes in Concordia (Mich.) Siena Heights (Mich.), Saint Xavier and Judson.  The only real difference is that the Saints have allowed only 19.9 points per game, while Olivet Nazarene has given up 30.1.  The Tigers' No. 1 threat is senior Evan Leake, who has scored 11 touchdowns, including ten on the ground, which ranks 15th in the nation.  Leake has rushed for 400 yards on 70 carries (5.7 yards per carry) and presents as a dual threat with his 29.9 yards per kickoff return (eighth in the NAIA).  His 11th touchdown came on one of his 17 returns leading to a team-best 9.4 points per game.  Also key to stopping the ONU offense is its No. 1 rusher in sophomore Aaron Bennett, who enters Saturday with a 7.2 yards-per-carry average and 508 yards on 71 attempts.  Running the show is junior Jack Miller, who has thrown for 1,820 yards with a 57.7 completion percentage (124-of-215).  Thirteen of his completions have gone for touchdowns and is offset by 12 interceptions.  Junior wide receiver Ray Coffey leads the team in receiving yards (516) on 28 catches with four touchdowns.  The Tigers love to use their tight end, as well.  Senior Blake Lamb has caught a team-high nine touchdown passes among his 32 total receptions.  That has amounted to 499 yards.  Those two along with the rest of ONU's receivers have averaged 14.5 yards per completion, which ranks 15th in the nation.   Nine of the starters on offense are upperclassmen.  On the defensive side of the ball, eight starters are veterans, including three of the four along the line being graduate students.  Two of the top defenders are linebackers John Harman and Abe Flores.  Harman leads the club in both total tackles (53.0) as well as tackles for loss (7.5).  Flores sits at 44 stops, six tackles for loss and three sacks.  As a unit, ONU's defense has recorded the second-most fumble recoveries in the nation with 12.  The Tigers have also produced three defensive scores.  Sophomore Gavin Lentz handles the punting detail and averages 38.0 yards per boot.  On the kicking side, Josiah Johnson and Daniel Real have split the placekicking responsibilities with Real being a perfect 22-for-22 on PATs.  Johnson is 11-for-12.  He also has all five field goal attempts, converting just one from 39 yards out.  Besides his kick returning responsibilities, Leake is averaging 6.6 yards on nine punt returns.  Offensively, ONU has averaged better than 420 yards per game (168. 5 rushing, 251.8 passing) leading to 34.3 points per game.  Defensively, the Tigers have yielded 367.4 yards per outing (126.3 rushing, 241.1 passing).                      
ABOUT THE SERIES: Saturday's contest will mark the 32nd meeting between the two schools, which represents the longest-running series among St. Francis opponents.  The two teams met every year from 1986-91 before a seven-year pause from 1992-98 when the Saints played at the NCAA II level.  The rivalry was renewed in 1999 and the two teams have played every year since with USF holding a 20-11 all-time series lead.  One year ago at Joliet Memorial Stadium, USF turned the ball over six times resulting in 21 points for Olivet Nazarene en route to a convincing 35-7 victory.  Included in the touchdown counts were a 75-yard fumble return and a 45-yard punt return by Leake.                       
TRIPLE SEVENS: The Saints will be seeking their seventh victory of the season on Saturday, which would match their win counts each of the past two years.

SNAPPED AT SIX: USF had its six-game winning streak on the road dating back to last year snapped on Saturday when it fell 28-20 to University of Saint Francis (Ind.).  The loss also dropped the Saints out of the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

THREE WINS, ONE LOSS, THREE WINS, ONE LOSS: That is how the season has gone for St. Francis through its first eight games.  The Saints opened the campaign with three straight victories before falling to Indiana Wesleyan University.  They then started their second three-game winning streak right after that before falling on Saturday.

FOUR SCORES A WINNER; USF has failed to score four times in a game twice this season with both resulting in setbacks.  When the Saints do score four or more times, they are 21-1 over their last 22 games.  St. Francis has scored no less than 31 points in each of its victories this fall.

SECOND-QUARTER FIREWORKS: The Saints' highest-scoring quarter this season has been the second 15-minute session, where they have totaled 103 points.  That is just 13 points off their combined second-half effort of 116 points.  USF's opponents have also tallied their most points in the second quarter with 61 points.  In each of their other three frames, the opposition has been in the 30-point range.  For the season, the Saints are averaging 39.1 points per game, which ranks 19th in the NAIA.

WHAT A RUSH: St. Francis sits ninth in the nation in rushing touchdowns with 26 on the season.  Sixteen of those have come from Sam Tumilty, who has tied his own single-season school record and ranks fourth in the nation with that total.  His next one will establish a new high, while two more will also set a new record for total touchdowns scored in a single season held by John Larsen (17) in 1989.  Tumilty has scored at least two rushing touchdowns in six of eight games this year.

OTHER SAM-TASTIC NUMBERS: Tumilty also needs just nine more points to become the single-season leader for points in one year.  He currently holds the Nos. 2 and 3 spots with his 98 points this year 9sixth in the NAIA) and 96 in 2022.  The all-time record is 106, set by Larsen in 1989.  On the passing front, Tumilty is 84 yards away from moving into the No. 4 spot on the career charts.  He is currently at 5,452 with John Goolsby next up on the list at 5,535.  EJ White holds the all-time record of 10,053 passing yards.  In all, Tumilty holds one single-season record and four career marks in the rushing and scoring categories.  From an NAIA perspective, he sits 13th in completion percentage (64.7) and 18th in passer efficiency rating (161.0) on the year.

THE LONE TWO: Last Saturday, the Saints had only two players carry the ball.  Tumilty recorded his third 100-yard rushing game of the season with his 143 yards on 22 carries, which left him three yards short of his season-high 146 yards earlier this season.  Gavin Day was also solid with 72 yards on 19 carries.

TOP 20 TUMILTY: Joey Tumilty can find his name in two spots among the Top 20 receivers in the NAIA.  His 96.9 yards receiving per game place him in the No. 13 slot, while his 46 receptions on the year rank 18th.

ONE SHY GUY: Dezzion Jordan slipped back out of the Top 10 rankings in yards-per-catch average.  He sits at 23 receptions in eight games and needs three receptions per contest to qualify in the receiving category.  His 21.0 yards per catch would put him in the No. 6 spot nationally.

OTHER OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: USF's 32 red-zone touchdowns in 41 red-zone opportunities rank the Saints 11th in red-zone touchdown percentage … St. Francis is also fourth in punt return average (19.9 ypr) and 17th in yards per passing attempt (8.8).

BACK UP THE TRUCK: Karsen Hansen, Allan Richards and Pat Strocchia all added to their tackle-for-loss numbers with their efforts last week.  Hansen remains in the top spot in both TFLs (16.5) and sacks (seven), while Strocchia is second in sacks (4.5) and Richards the same in TFLs (10.0).

OTHER NUMBERS: Sam Tumilty was held below 50 percent on his completion rate for just the second time this season last Saturday … The Saints converted just one of their five fourth-down plays versus Saint Francis (Ind.).       

FOR THE RECORD: St. Francis is 178-230 all time, 149-171 in day games and 92-102 at home.