GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, November 8 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Illinois

Series History
Overall: Saint Francis leads 7-1.
First: Saint Francis 37, at USF 28 (10/19/13)
Last: at Saint Francis 28, USF 20 (11/2/24)
Streak: Saint Francis won the last game in the series.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 74-68 (14th year)
at USF: 74-68 (14th year)

USFIN: Adam Sherman
Alma Mater: Saint Francis 2005
Career: 7-2 (1st year)
At Saint Francis: 7-2 (1st season)

TOP STORYLINES
• Saint Francis' defense ranks third in the nation in interceptions (16), fifth in fumble recoveries (nine) and 14th in sacks (24).    

• The Cougars have two of the best bookends in the league on defense in ends AJ Moore and Marquise Cross.  Both players have recorded 9.5 tackles for loss and have combined for 6.5 sacks.     
 
• Carl Bew has returned two of his 19 kickoffs for touchdowns this year with each of those (100 and 97 yards) representing the two longest returns in school history.   
 
• Over its last three games, the St. Francis defense has held the opposition to a .244 conversion rate on third-down plays (10-of-41).
 
• The last time the two teams met at Joliet Memorial Stadium, the Saints blanked Saint Francis, 17-0.
 
• 17 Saint players will make their final Joliet Memorial Stadium appearance on Saturday.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACHES
Joe Curry (St. Francis) is in his 14th season as the Saints' head coach, which makes him the longest-serving coach in school history.  He is also the winningest coach in the history of the program with 74 victories and second in winning percentage (.521, 74-68).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Adam Sherman (Saint Francis) became just the second head coach in the history of the program back in May after serving as the Cougars' offensive coordinator each of the previous three seasons.  One year ago, he was named the MSFA Midwest League Assistant Coach of the Year.  A graduate of the program, as well, he was the recipient of the Rimington Award as the best offensive center in small college football back in 2004.     

ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS
The Cougars enter Saturday's matchup ranked No. 22 in the nation after winning seven of their last eight contests, including last week's 30-22 upset of then-NAIA No. 22 Olivet Nazarene University.  Offensively, Saint Francis relies on its passing game two-thirds of the time with the Cougars having thrown for the tenth-most yards in the NAIA (2,460) to go along with 21 scores through the air.  The scoring strikes have all come from the arm of grad quarterback Josh Kulka.  He has completed nearly 63 percent of his passes (195-for-312) for 2,442 yards with nine interceptions.  Kulka has a bevy of receivers to go to, as well, with 15 different Cougars having caught passes this year, five of which have at least 22 receptions.  Junior tight end Chris Mullen boasts both the most catches (35) and receiving touchdowns (five).  Grad wide receiver Adam Smith has the most yardage (459) courtesy of his 30 grabs.  Freshman Azariah Wallace has taken over for the injured Drew Wheat, who was averaging better than 100 yards per game through the first four weeks of the season.  Wallace has carried the ball 112 times for 623 yards with six touchdowns   The Cougars are young upfront with three of the five starters being underclassmen, but they are strong at nearly 290 pounds per man.  Defensively, Saint Francis has a nose for the ball as is evident by their 16 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.  Those numbers rank the Cougars third and fifth, respectively.  They also are 14th with their 24 sacks.  Defensive backs EJ Hunter and Nick Nondorf are the pick artists with three apiece, while linebacker Jaydin Evans tops the tackle charts with 48, including three for loss.  Defensive ends AJ Moore and Marquise Cross are a handful, as well, with 9.5 tackles for loss each and 6.5 combined sacks.  As a unit, ten different Cougars have recorded interceptions.  On special teams, Noah McPeek handles punt detail (38.6 yards per boot) and Austin Deleon kick scoring (37-of-39 PATs, 2-of-6 FGs).  Five different players have at least three kickoff returns with Christian Peterson amassing the highest average (25.4).  Peterson and Beau Braun have combined to return all punts.  Saint Francis has scored no less than 21 points in each of its seven wins and has also gone 3-1 in games decided by three points or less.  The Cougars have gained 24 first down by penalty, as well, this year, the seventh-best mark in the NAIA.    

ABOUT THE SERIES
Saint Francis has claimed all but one of the eight previous matchups between the two teams.  That one came two years ago at Joliet Memorial Stadium when the Saints shut out the Cougars, 17-0.   

BACK-TO-BACK BILLINGS
The matchup against No. 22 Saint Francis will be the second straight against a NAIA ranked foe following last week's contest versus No. 7 Marian University (Ind.).  It will also be the third such contest of the season with Indiana Wesleyan University (No. 16) serving as the first ranked team.

THERE HE GOES … AGAIN
For the second time this season on Saturday, Carl Bew delivered a touchdown on a kickoff return with the one against Marian on Saturday going for 97 yards.  Combined with his 100-yard return versus Lawrence Technological University, Bew now holds down the top two spots for the longest kickoff returns in school history.  For his efforts this past week, Bew was named the league's Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time.  He was also named the NAIA National Player of the Week following his 100-yard return.  For the season, Bew ranks 18th in the nation with his 26.8 return average.

A 1-2 PUNCH
Larry Stringham and Aboubacar Barry each had their best games wearing the Brown & Gold last week.  Stringham led the Saints with 77 yards on 16 carries with Barry adding another 58 yards on nine attempts.  With his totals, the former has also taken over the team lead in both attempts (59) and rushing yardage (267) for the season.

STARTING OVER
After making seven field goals in a row with his 20-yard kick in the third quarter last week, Adrian Guerrero saw that streak snapped when he missed on a 50-yard attempt – his longest of the year – later in the game.  Nonetheless, he is still perfect on PATs on the season with 28 straight and has made 36 in a row dating back to last year.

CHOUTE, I CAN INTERCEPT HIM
Nathen Choute's interception late in the first half of last Saturday's game marked just the second time this season that Marian quarterback Tristan Polk had been picked off all year.  Heading into the contest, he had only thrown one interception in 176 pass attempts and had the 12th-best quarterback rating at 165.0.  It was Choute's second pick of the campaign.

HOLDING STEADY
Though he did not register an interception this past week, Michael Hackman remained just one behind the NAIA leaders with his five picks.  Two other players joined the top spot with six interceptions, moving Hackman from No. 3 to tied for fifth.  As a team, St. Francis has recorded 13 interceptions, ninth-best in the nation.

PICK ME DOWNS
For the second time this season, the Saints were picked off three times in a game.  It also marked the third time this fall that USF has been intercepted multiple times in a contest.  For the season, St. Francis has thrown 12 interceptions and lost nine fumbles leading to its minus-six turnover ratio.

THIRD-DOWN TRIBUTES
Marian came into last week's game converting on third downs at a 50 percent clip, but on Saturday they hit on just 4-of-13 attempts for a 30.7 percent mark.  Senior linebacker Allan Richards had a lot to do with that with his season-high nine tackles, including two for loss.  Over the past three games, opponents have converted at just a .244 clip (10-of-41) on third downs.

SLOWING DOWN THE SCORING
Marian also came in averaging 46.3 points per game (sixth-best in the NAIA), but was held 18.3 points below its scoring average versus USF.

A FIRST
Last Saturday's game marked the first time in the history of St. Francis football that the team scored exactly 11 points in a game in 418 all-time contests.      

SENIOR SAINTS
The St. Francis athletic department will recognize 18 senior members of the football program and another three members of the competitive dance team prior to the start of Saturday's game.  The list is made up of football players: Matthew Alston, Ryan Banas, Marcello Bernardi, William Brandau, Mike Carver, Gavin Day, Nick Franciskovich, Jake Friddle, Karsen Hansen, Brandon Harry, Rylan Heersink, Nick Mabutas, Owen McGuire, Anthony Niecikowski, Athanasius Nwalozie, Curtis Reeves and Allan Richards; football support personnel: August Coria; and competitive dance members: Cierra Cosentino, Aleksandria Potoczny and Stefanie Schellhorn.   

FOUR SCORE AND 40 YEARS AGO
This is the 40th season of football at St. Francis with the inaugural campaign coming in 1986.  The Saints went 6-4 that first year.  

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 182-236 all time, 153-177 in day games and 95-106 at home.