GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Sept. 20 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Illinois

Series History
Overall: St. Francis leads 3-0.
First: St. Francis 48, at Lawrence Tech 28 (9/28/19)
Last: at St. Francis 46, Lawrence Tech 7 (9/14/24)
Streak: St. Francis has won all three games in the series.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 71-65 (14th year)
at USF: 71-65 (14th year)

LTU: Oscar Olejniczak
Alma Mater: Central Michigan University
Career: 0-2 (1st Year)
At Lawrence Tech: 0-2 (1st year)

TOP STORYLINES
• Both the Saints and Lawrence Tech are seeking their first win of the season after dropping their first two decisions of the campaign.

• USF's offense is a perfect 7-for-7 in the red zone with all seven drives resulting in touchdowns.  Lawrence Tech's defense has allowed the opposition to score touchdowns all eight times it has gotten inside the 20-yard line.
 
• Besides throwing for 285 yards with 30 completions in 58 attempts, Blue Devil quarterback Ryan Schuster also leads his team with 30 carries and 79 yards rushing.
 
• USF strong safety Michael Hackman has opened his collegiate career with interceptions in each of his first two games.
 
• USF and LTU are two of the least-penalized teams in the NAIA with nine and ten calls against them, respectively.


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 71 victories and second in winning percentage (.522, 71-65).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Oscar Olejniczak (Lawrence Tech) is currently in his first season as Lawrence Tech's head coach.  He joined the program one year ago as the Blue Devils' offensive coordinator before being elevated to the head coaching ranks after former head coach Scott Merchant resigned.  Olejniczak also served as Merchant's coordinator at University of Detroit-Jesuit High School.  His collegiate coaching experience has included stints at Michigan State University, Wayne State University (Mich.) and Campbell University (NC).

ABOUT LAWRENCE TECH
Like the Saints, Lawrence Tech is still seeking its first win after playing preseason ranked foes in No. 23 Marian University (Ind.) and No. 24 University of Saint Francis (Ind.) the last two weeks.  The Blue Devils have yielded 35 points in each of their first two contests, both of which were at home, making Saturday's game their first road affair under new head coach Oscar Olejniczak.  After scoring 21 points in the season opener, LTU failed to put any points on the board last week against Saint Francis.  Only two of its three touchdowns have come from its offense.  The other one came on a 39-yard fumble return by Brandon Kedrow.  Lawrence Tech's low point total is due in large part to being limited to just 220.0 yards of offense per game (75. 0 rushing/145.0 passing) and going just 2-for-4 in the red zone.  The passing game has been hurt by LTU being sacked 12 times, thus far.  Junior quarterback Ryan Schuster is a dual-threat quarterback for the Blue Devils.  He leads the team in both carries (30) and yards rushing (79), while completing 30 of his 58 pass attempts (51.7 pct.) for 285 yards.  He has thrown three interceptions against one touchdown.  Freshman TJ Byard (6 recp., 69 yards) and junior Tyler Garrett (5-69) are Schuster's two main receiving targets.  Upfront, Lawrence Tech boasts two true freshmen at the center and right guard spots as well as another underclassman in tight end Joey Pitsch.  It is a similar story on the line defensively, where three of four starters are underclassmen.  The Blue Devils also have three young secondary players (two true freshmen, one sophomore).  LTU has been hurt defensively from extended drives by the opposition, which has converted 60.7 percent of its third-down plays (17-of-28).  Opponents have also been a perfect 8-for-8 with touchdowns in the red zone.  In terms of total defense, LTU has yielded 221.0 yards per game on the ground and 171.5 through the air for a total just under 400 yards per outing (392.5).  Three of the key defenders are junior tackle Aaron Mitchell, senior linebacker Brody Snyder and sophomore linebacker Karter Schmitt, who have double-digit tackle totals.  Three of Mitchell's 18 stops have gone for loss, including both LTU sacks registered this season.  On special teams, kick returner Jon Jasionowski is a key player to watch, averaging 33.5 yards per return, including a long of 58 yards.  As a team, LTU ranks 16th in the nation in kickoff returns at 26.5 yards per attempt.  Carter Dixon handles both punting (32.1 avg.) and kickoff duties (53.4 avg.).  Vincent Robison has converted each of the three Lawrence Tech kicking PATs, but has had his lone field goal attempt blocked.                 

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Saints are a perfect 3-0 against Lawrence Tech, including two wins on the road.  The series started just recently in 2019 with the other two contests being played each of the last two years.  USF has delivered 40-plus points in two of the three games, including last year's 46-7 win at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

STARTING FAST
For the second game in a row, the Saints put the first points of the contest on the board against Siena Heights, going up 7-0 each time.

SEVEN-FOR-SEVEN
Each of the seven times that USF has gotten into the red zone this year have resulted in touchdowns, including three times against Siena Heights.  That ranks the Saints tied for first in the nation.

GRINDING IT OUT
St. Francis opened the second half with an incredible 19-play, 73-yard march down the field that took up the first 10 minutes, 48 seconds of the third quarter and put the Saints up 14-7 on a Gavin Day six-yard run.  With the exception of two pass plays in the middle of the series (one incompletion, the other a 14-yard reception by Jake Friddle on fourth-and-five), the other 17 plays were rushes with only one carry going as far as ten yards.  The other 16 were six yards or less.  The first nine plays were rushes as were the last eight.   

HALT, WHO GOES THERE?
USF's defense limited Siena Heights' offense to just one first down in nine third-down attempts last week.  For the year, the Saints have held the opposition to just seven first downs on 24 third-down attempts (29.2 pct.).

FOURTH-DOWN FRENZY
St. Francis' offense went 3-for-3 on fourth down last Saturday, all of which came on their long scoring drive.  For the season, USF is 4-for-5 for an 80 percent efficiency rating on fourth down to rank 13th in the nation.

THREE-AND-OUT
St. Francis went three plays or less on two-thirds of its drive (8-of-12) against Siena Heights.  Of the four that were not, three resulted in scores.  The only one that did not result in points was the final drive of the game, where the Saints picked up one first down before turning it over.  For the season, USF is converting at a 29.6 rate on third downs.

PASS SAD
USF's defense surrendered 18 plays of at least ten yards with 15 of them being on pass plays vs. Siena Heights.

RIDING ON LARKIN(S) AVENUE
USF newcomer Aaron Larkins led the Saints rushing attack on Saturday.  He carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards and also authored his first touchdown both at the collegiate level and as a Saint with his seven-yard run in the first quarter.

PLAYING NICE
Lawrence Tech and St. Francis are two of the least penalized teams in the nation through the first few weeks of the season.  LTU has been hit with the flag just nine times to rank tenth in the NAIA, while USF is 15^th with ten penalties.  

BLANK STARES
USF's defense has not allowed a point in the third quarter, but has given up at least 20 points in each of the other three frames.

A PICK HERE, A PICK THERE
Freshman strong safety Michael Hackman has recorded an interception in each of his first two collegiate contests. 
 
BACKFIELD BUSTERS
Karsen Hansen and Marcello Bernardi combined to account for half of USF's nine tackles for loss on defense versus Siena Heights.  Hansen led the way with 2.5 TFLs (1.5 sacks) with Bernardi right behind at 2.0 (1 sack).   

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.  

LUCKY SEVENS
USF has gone 7-3 in each of their last three seasons.

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 179-233 all time, 150-174 in day games and 92-106 at home.