GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Sept. 27 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Illinois

Series History
Overall: This is the first meeting between the two schools.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 72-65 (14th year)
at USF: 72-65 (14th year)

MU: Brett Guminsky
Alma Mater: Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016
Career: 1-13 (2nd Year)
At Madonna: 1-13 (2nd year)

TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between the two programs,  The Saints are 34-46 all-time against first-time foes.  Madonna represents the 81st different opponent to face USF
 
• The game will also serve as Homecoming for USF.

• Keyed by the longest kickoff return (100 yards) in USF history, Carl Bew ranks second in the nation in yards per return at 38.4.
 
• Madonna averages 258.3 yards passing per game, but has been sacked 21 times and picked off seven times over its first three games.
 
• The Saints have scored first in each of their first three games and have averaged 400-plus yards in two of those affairs.
 
• Madonna is minus-seven in the takeaway category, while the Saints are a minus-six.


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 72 victories and second in winning percentage (.526, 72-65).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Brett Guminsky (Madonna) is currently in his second season as Madonna's head coach.  He took over the program in January, 2024, becoming the third head coach in the five-year history of the program at the time.  The Crusaders represent the ninth collegiate program Guminsky has been a part of since 2016 beginning with the University of Richmond as an offensive and recruiting assistant. 

ABOUT MADONNA
The Crusaders secured their first win in the six-year history of the program in Week 2 when they knocked off the University of Olivet (Mich.) by a 45-28 count.  After suffering 46 straight losses to begin its career, Madonna has made positive strides under the direction of second-year head coach Brett Guminsky.  The Crusaders are averaging better than 21 points per game and over 330 yards per game on offense, which are some of the best numbers in the history of the program.  Senior Keel Watson IV is expected to get the starting call on Saturday after Nathan Patterson left last week's game due to injury.  Patterson had completed 50 percent of his passes for 555 yards prior to the injury.  Watson IV is no stranger to the lineup.  He has completed 12 of his 26 pass attempts for 218 yards with two touchdowns against two interceptions.  MU relies heavily on its passing game with 258.33 of its 330.3 total average yards of offense coming through the air.  At the same time, the Crusaders have been hurt by it, committing seven interceptions and the team's quarterbacks being sacked a total of 21 times, or an average of 7.0 times per game.  MU is a minus-seven in the takeaway department.  The offensive front is a veteran group with all but one player being an upperclassman.  Kwame Miller accounts for the majority of the running game.  The sophomore averages 66.0 yards per game on the ground with the team as a whole producing at a 72.0 clip.  Madonna uses a plethora of receivers with no less than 13 players having caught passes, 12 of which average at least one catch per contest.   Rodney Francois (6 recp., 119 yards) and Mohammad Berro (4-111) are the two Crusaders to have reached the century mark in yardage.  Madonna is also having tremendous success on late-down attempts having converted at a 44.2 pct. clip on third down (23-of-52) and 50 pct. (7-of-14) on fourth down.  Defensively, MU is led by junior linebacker Colin Tola and freshman cornerback Chris Coates with 18 and 17 tackles, respectively.  Junior defensive end Baba Conate tops the team's charts with four tackles for loss.  As a unit, the Crusaders have allowed an average of 373 yards per game broken down to 238.7 yards through the air and 134.3 on the ground.  Madonna has used four different punters during the season with sophomore Jordan Zimmerman having booted nearly half of the balls (5 of 11) for an average of 27.2 yards per kick.  Zimmerman has also handled placekicking responsibilities (4-5 PATs, 1-1 FG).  William Stoyanovich gets the call on kickoffs.  Freshman Eric Thomas Jr. is responsible for returns, having averaged 20.0 yards on kickoffs and 16.0 on punt returns. 

ABOUT THE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.  Madonna will represent the 81st different opponent to have faced St. Francis when the two teams square off on Saturday.  USF is 34-46 all-time against first-time opponents.

THERE HE GOES
Carl Bew became the first-ever Saint to record a 100-yard kickoff return in the 40-year history of the program when he did it last week against Lawrence Technological University.  The previous longest return was 93 yards set by Eli Spann in 2015 against St. Ambrose.  Bew is one of three NAIA players to have returned a kickoff 100 yards this season.
 
WITH THE YARDS COME THE REWARDS
Bew was named both the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League and NAIA National Special Teams Player of the Week for his numbers last week.  Besides his 100-yard return, he also had another one for 32 yards to go along with nine yards receiving and 37 on the ground (with another touchdown) for 178 all-purpose yards.  For the season, Bew ranks 22nd in the nation in all-purpose yards with his 135.7-yard average.       

ON HIS WAY UP
With his 132 kickoff return yards on only two attempts last week, Bew boosted his season average up to 38.4 yards per return, which ranks him second in the nation.

OUT OF THE GATES QUICKLY
The Saints have been the first team to score in each of the team's first three games this season.  Bew got USF off to the quick start on Saturday with his 26-yard run two minutes, nine seconds into the game.

COUNT ME IN FOR AT LEAST THREE SCORES
The Saints have scored no less than three touchdowns in each of their first three games this season leading to their 30.3 scoring average for the campaign. 

GROUND BEEF
St. Francis is averaging 162.0 yards per game on the ground with an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Aaron Larkins and Bew lead that charge with their respective 6.7 and 6.6 per-carry averages.

GO FOR IT
The Saints have converted five of their seven fourth-down attempts for a 71.4 conversion rate.  That ranks them tenth in the nation.

COUNT ME IN FOR SIX
Of their nine red-zone drives this season, the Saints have scored touchdowns on eight of them for the fourth-best percentage in the NAIA this season.

THE HECK WITH THE SHORT PASSING GAME
USF ranks tenth in the nation in passing yards per completion at 16.2 with three different Saints averaging at least that mark.  Ryan Little leads the group at 22.8 yards per catch (10-228), followed by Jake Friddle at 20.5 (8-165) and Bew at 16.6 (5-83). 

ACROBATIC ENGSTROM
USF wide receiver Connor Engstrom had the first two-touchdown game of his career last Saturday when he caught passes of 26 and 21 yards in the opening half.  The first score came on a fourth-down pass play that was tipped by an LTU defender, then tipped by Engstrom before he hauled in the pass while lying on the ground in the end zone.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED
USF freshman runningback Larry Stringham recorded his first collegiate touchdown last week when he carried the ball six straight times to get to the end zone from two yards out.  By day's end, Stringham led USF's 199-yard ground attack with 54 on nine carries.  

DOING MORE WITH LESS
Despite having five less offensive plays, the Saints outgained Lawrence Tech 458-366 last Saturday.  USF split its 22 first downs evenly between rushing and passing, while 20 of LTU's 22 came through the air.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
Michael Hackman added to his team-leading breakup numbers with two more against Lawrence Tech to give him four for the season.  However, he did come up short in his bid to open his career with interceptions in each of his first three games.

RUNNING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
Karsen Hansen led a Saint defensive charge that kept Lawrence Tech from gaining any positive yardage on the ground.  The Blue Devils finished the afternoon with a net loss of three yards on 19 carries.  Hansen was again a key disruptor with a team-best ten tackles, 1.5 of which were for loss (one sack).  For the season, Hansen leads the club in tackles (28), tackles for loss (5) and sacks (2.5).

OTHER NUMBERS
USF's defense has allowed nearly 400 yards per game (398.3) with nearly 300 (291.3) coming through the air ... St. Francis suffered its sixth lost fumble of the season last week and is at a minus-six in the takeaway department for the year … The Saints have gained 400-plus yards in two of their first three games.

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 its last three seasons.

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 180-233 all time, 151-174 in day games and 93-106 at home.