GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Sept. 6 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Illinois

Series History
Overall: St. Francis leads 5-3.
First: at St. Francis 21, at Taylor 14 (11/1/86)
Last: St. Francis 24, at Taylor 7 (9/23/23)
Streak: St. Francis won the last game in the series.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 71-63 (14th year)
at USF: 71-63 (14th year)

TU: Aaron Mingo
Alma Mater: Greenville University
Career: 19-25 (5th year)
At Taylor: 19-25 (5th year)

TOP STORYLINES
• USF opens its 40th season of intercollegiate football on Saturday in a league crossover game against Taylor University.  For the first time in school history, all ten games on the slate will come against Mid-States Football Association foes.

• Taylor represents one of four teams on USF's schedule that are either ranked or among others receiving votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Trojans fall into the latter category.
 
• A total of 14 starters are back for the Saints, seven of which garnered all-conference accolades one year ago highlighted by second-team picks Matthew Alston, Anthony Niecikowski, Karsen Hansen and Trey Sayers.   

• For the first time in five years, St. Francis will be led by a freshman quarterback in Nathan Maul.  He is one of five freshmen expected to get the starting nod on Saturday.
   
• USF has gone 7-3 in each of its last three seasons and has won each of its last two openers.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACHES
Joe Curry (St. Francis) enters 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 (.530, 71-63).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.
Aaron Mingo (Taylor) is currently in his fifth season at Taylor and sports an overall mark of 19-25.  His best season came one year ago when the Trojans went 9-2.  Prior to his arrival at Taylor, he served as the offensive coordinator at Dordt University (Iowa) for five seasons and at Bluefield University (Va.) for three years.  He got his start in coaching at Greenville University (Ill.), his alma mater.

ABOUT TAYLOR
The Trojans are coming off their second-best season in school history, going 9-2.  The best mark was the 1999 club that put together ten wins.  That led to head coach Aaron Mingo's 2025 team earning votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll.  It did not, however, lead to victory in Week 1 last week after Olivet Nazarene rallied from 21 points down early in the third quarter to force overtime and eventually gain a 48-42 win.  Nonetheless, TU still boasts a high-powered triple-option offense, one that ranked second in the nation in rushing touchdowns (54) and yards per game rushing (311.7) last fall.  The Trojans were also third in scoring (48.4 ppg) and sixth in total offense (486.4 ypg).  Back to run the show is senior quarterback Damon Hockett, who threw for 1,358 yards on 57.6 percent accuracy with 13 touchdowns opposite just two interceptions in 2024.  Last week, he averaged 23.5 yards on his six completions in just ten attempts with two being scores.  Two of the top receivers are also back in senior wide receiver Jack D'Arcy (25 recp., 420 yards) and sophomore tight end Nathan Munson (14-416).  Taylor does not have two of its top rushers back, including 1,100-plus yard runningback Jameson Chesser, but they do have junior Kyle Turanchick (88 carries, 509 yards) in the fold.  The offensive line is a veteran group with only one underclassmen.  The Trojans took a hit defensively to its starting corps after compiling the fourth-most sacks (41) in the nation in 2024.  Among those gone are Jeremiah Mansfield (12 sacks), Parker Whitby (7.5) and Aven Jones (5).  Jones also led the club in total tackles with 132.  The top performers that are back are safety David Worlds (43 tackles) and Grady Stanley (35).  In the special teams department, all four key assets are back in punter Carter Loveless (39.2 ypp), placekicker Lucas Shilts (3-5 FG, 44-46 PATs), Worlds as the kick returner (24.2 ypr) and D'Arcy as the punt returner (5.4 avg.).     

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Saints and Taylor have played each other eight times with USF holding a 5-3 edge.  The two teams first met during St. Francis' first two seasons of football back in 1986 and 1987 and then did not cross paths again until 2000.  USF claimed each of the first four matchups before yielding to the Trojans in the next three.  USF snapped the losing streak in 2023 with a 24-7 victory in Upland, Ind.

THE SCHEDULE
Taylor is one of two foes on the 2025 schedule that did not play the Saints one year ago.  The other one is Madonna University (Mich.).  The other eight teams – Siena Heights, Lawrence Tech, Indiana Wesleyan, Saint Xavier, Judson, Marian, Saint Francis (Ind.) and Olivet Nazarene – all are back on the slate.  The first five are all crossovers with MSFA Mideast League teams before the Saints take a week off and then hit the ground running against the five Midwest League clubs.   

THE RANKINGS
Of USF's ten opponents, four are either ranked in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top 25 poll or among others receiving votes.  Indiana Wesleyan tops the list at No. 6 with Marian and Saint Francis (Ind.) at Nos. 23 and 24, respectively.  The Saints join Taylor among others receiving votes.
 
THEY'RE BACK
A total of 14 starters are back from last year's 7-3 team, broken down to seven on defense, six on offense and one special teamer.  The defensive list is led by second-team selections Karsen Hansen (LB) and Trey Sayers (NB) as well as honorable-mention picks Curtis Reeves (DL), Allan Richards (LB) and Nick Mabutas (FS).  Also back are Marcello Bernardi (DL) and Nick Franciskovich (LB).  On offense, the cast includes second-team choices Matthew Alston (OL) and Anthony Niecikowski (OL).  The others back are runningback Gavin Day, tight end Jake Friddle, lineman Rylan Heersink and wide receiver Ryan Little.  Adrian Guerrero is back to handle kicking and punting duties.

THEY'RE NOT
Among the nine starters lost, seven were postseason award winners topped by three-time MSFA Midwest League Offensive Player of the Year Sam Tumilty.  The other offensive losses are first-team picks Ashtin Sorgea (OL) and Joey Tumilty (WR) and second-team selection Dezzion Jordan (WR).  Among those not back on defense are College Sports Communicators Academic All-America pick Pat Strocchia and five-time all-conference choice Scott Tumilty.  Also missing will be second-team selection Matthew Perry (DB).

REMEMBERING 2024
The Saints opened the season collecting victories in six of their first seven games before dropping two of their final three contests.  The only setback among the first seven games came against NAIA No. 6-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University.  One of the keys to USF's offense in 2024 was its first-half success to the tune of outscoring the opposition by nearly a 100-point margin (226-128).  That included a 109-50 difference in the opening quarter.  For the season, USF ranked seventh in the nation in rushing touchdowns (34), tenth in red-zone touchdown percentage (76 pct.) and 11th in punt return average (14.5).  Defensively, the Saints forced an average of two turnovers per game, leading to a plus-10 takeaway/giveaway ratio.  Keys to those numbers were Mabutas with five interceptions and Sayers with four forced fumbles.

AND FRESHMEN WILL LEAD THEM
For the first time in five years, the St. Francis offensive unit will be led by a freshman in Nathan Maul.  Maul played in only two games one year ago, tossing one touchdown and completing four of his nine pass attempts for 48 yards.  He also ran six times for 37 yards with another score.  The other freshmen expected to get the start on Saturday are wide receiver Connor Engstrom, offensive lineman Isaac Pula, defensive lineman Isaac Johnson and strong safety Michael Hackman.   

LUCKY SEVENS
The Saints have gone 7-3 in each of their last three seasons.

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 179-231 all time, 150-172 in day games and 92-104 at home.