Game Time/Place: 1:00 at Perkins Stadium on the north end of the UW-Whitewater campus in Whitewater, Wisconsin

Won-Loss:  UW-Whitewater is 6-1 overall, 5-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.   Mary Hardin-Baylor is 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the American Southwest Conference. 

By the Numbers: UW-Whitewater starts seven seniors on offense, two juniors and two sophomores. The offensive line averages 278 pounds.   The  Mary Hardin-Baylor defensive starters include five seniors, four juniors and two sophomores.  Their line averages 242 pounds.  Whitewater's defense includes eight seniors, a junior and two sophomores. The UW-W defensive line averages 261 pounds.  Facing them will be a Crusader offense that includes nine seniors, one junior and one sophomore.  The UMHB offensive line averages 273 pounds.

The Coaches: Lance Leipold, 6-1, is in his first season at UW-W and his first season as a collegiate head coach.  Pete Fredenburg, 82-25, is in his tenth year.  Fredenburg has directed the Crusaders to four American Southwest Conference championships in the last five years.  The Crusaders also finished second in their league three times under Fredenburg, and UMHB has not lost more than one game in their conference in the last eight years.  UW-Whitewater has advanced to the NCAA III championship game the last two years, UMHB has been in the NCAA III playoffs five times in the last seven years. 

The Series:  It's hard to call this a series, with Whitewater holding a 1-0 lead all-time.  Most of the reason these teams haven't met more often is geographic … Division III teams don't usually fly around the country for non-conference games.  But another reason is that 2007 is just the tenth year that UMHB has fielded a football team.  In just the seventh year of the program's existence, 2004, the Crusaders advanced to the NCAA III championship game.  

Streaking:  UW-Whitewater's nineteen game Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win streak will be on hold for a week.  However, UW-W's string of nineteen consecutive wins at Perkins Stadium, also dating back to the final game of 2004, is will be on the line. 

Last Year's Game:    Whitewater won an October 28 match-up of ranked teams 7-3 in Belton, Texas.  The defenses ruled the day, with Whitewater rushing 32 times for 30 yards, and Mary Hardin-Baylor totaling 49 yards on 37 carries.  The Warhawks' only points came from a Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale) 94-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, and the Crusaders got a field goal mid-way through the fourth.  Both teams fumbled four times, although they each lost just one, and Whitewater picked off two Crusader passes.  Whitewater was 2-12 in third down conversions, and UMHB was 3-13 (and 0-1 in fourth down conversions). 

Last Week:  UW-Whitewater knocked number twenty (or twenty-two, depending on the poll) UW-Stevens Point from the unbeaten ranks, winning 31-14 in Point.  The victory extended Whitewater's WIAC win streak to nineteen.  Whitewater trailed in the game 7-0, but tied the game on the next possession and held a slim 17-14 lead at halftime.  Two Danny Jones (Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley) touchdown passes in the third quarter, one to Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale) and the other to Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford), were the difference.  The Pointers came in to the game averaging almost 35 points per game.  UW-W controlled the ball 37 minutes, much of it coming on a season high 41 carries by Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle).  Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale) kept the Pointer defense honest with nine catches, the most by a Warhawk this season.  UW-W had a team season best 29 first downs in the game.

Mary Hardin-Baylor also won their conference showdown last week, defeating Mississippi College 69-30 on the road.  Crusader running backs Jarvis Thatcher (12 carries, 324 yards … not a typo) and Quincy Daniels (8 for 199, yes I checked), establishing a NCAA record for any division for combined rushing yards for two backs in one game.  Thatcher and Daniels combined for six touchdowns and a 26.2 yard per carry average.  The duo recorded the three longest touchdown runs in school history (93, 89, 87).  To show how easily the Crusaders scored, Mississippi College had the ball twelve minutes more than UMHB, MC ran 101 plays to 48 for Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Mississippi College had 34 first downs to 15 for the Crusaders.

In a League of Their Own:  Since this is a non-conference game this could be apples and oranges, but here are the categories each team leads in its respective conference statistics.  UMHB leads the American Southwest Conference in scoring (57.3 points/game), scoring defense (15.7), turnover margin (+2.43), rush defense (48.8 yards/game), rush offense (379.9 yards/game), total defense (289.9), total offense (532.4), pass efficiency and pass efficiency defense, opponent first downs (109), red zone offense (.925), red zone defense (.625), third down conversions (.495), opponent third down conversions (.237), sacks allowed (32) and kickoff coverage (43.5).  Crusader individuals at the top of the ASC include Jarvis Thrasher in rushing (155.3 yards/game) and scoring (13.7 points/game), Josh Welch in pass efficiency, and Brett Parker in punt returns (14.5/return) and passes defended (1.71/game).  UW-W is number one in punting (38.1 net/punt), rush offense (230.6), rush defense (78.9), total defense (263.7), first downs (160), opponent first downs (84), sacks (144), red zone offense (.882), third down conversions (.477), opponent third down conversions (.265) and time of possession (33:42).  Warhawk individuals leading the WIAC include Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) in rushing (178.3), Ben Farley (Brookfield/East) in interceptions (0.57/game), and Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption) in kick scoring (8.9 points/game), field goals per game (1.86), field goal percentage (.722) and PAT kicking (23-23).

In the NCAA III Stats:  UW-W is ninth in net punting, fourteenth in quarterback sacks, and nineteenth in rush defense.  Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) is second in rushing, and Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption) leads Division III in field goals per game.  Mary Hardin-Baylor leads Division III in rushing offense, scoring offense, tackles for a loss and interceptions.  The Crusaders are also third in total offense, second in turnover margin, seventh in pass efficiency, and seventh in sacks allowed.  Jarvis Thrasher is fourth in rushing and second in scoring, and backfield mate Quincy Daniels is seventeenth in rushing and eleventh in scoring.  Brett Parker is fifteenth in punt returns and seventeenth in passes defended.

In the Polls:  UW-Whitewater is ranked third in the D3football.com poll and fourth in the Football Gazette poll.  The Warhawks were also fourth in the American Football Coaches Association poll last week (released late Tuesday).  Mary Hardin-Baylor is second in both polls, and was second in the AFCA poll last week.

Record Watch:  Running back Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle), now with 5,361 yards, continues to add to his UW-W and WIAC career rushing records.  His game against Stevens Point also added to his school record of eight games rushing for 200+ yards.  Currently fourth in the UW-W record book for rushing touchdowns, he is just one behind Travis Talton for third and three short of Chad Wurth's (2000-2003) top mark.  Punter Nick Croak (Muskego/Muskego), the UW-W and WIAC all-time leader in yards with 9,244, is closing in on the school and league records for number of punts.  Croak has totaled 247 punts, with Joel Gmack (1982-85) the school leader with 251 attempts and Mike Breaker of UW-Stevens Point (1967-70) number one in the WIAC book with 254.  Return specialist Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale), already number one in the UW-W record book for punts returned and yards returned for both a single season and career, and in first place in WIAC annals with 123 punts returned in his career, is close to Matt Pekarske of UW-La Crosse (1982, 84-86), who holds the WIAC career mark for punt return yardage.  Pekarske totaled 1,181 and Mrkvicka has accumulated 1,137 yards to move in to second place.  Senior defensive back Andy Murray (Mount Horeb/Mount Horeb)'s interception last Saturday gave him twelve for his career, tied with Eric Studesville (1986-88) for fourth in the school record book and one behind Bob Connell (1976-79) for third.  Senior linebacker AJ Raebel (Cary Grove, IL/Cary Grove) has accumulated 280 career tackles, moving past Lon Kolstad (1969-71) for fifth place.  Tony Azarian (1977-80) is fourth with 288.  Raebel is also second in career assisted tackles, with former teammate Robb Widuch (Greenfield/Whitnall) the school's all-time leader at 165.  Sophomore placekicker Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption) broke Bryan Mader's (1994-97) school record, kicking his thirty-first field goal at Stevens Point.  Schebler is now second all-time in the WIAC career field goal book, tied with Jedidiah Jensen of UW-La Crosse.  UW-Oshkosh senior Lucas Raschke, still adding on to his mark, is number one in that category. 

UW-W Players of the Week: Senior running back Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) and senior quarterback Danny Jones (Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley) shared UW-W Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Beaver rushed 41 times for 232 yards in the win over UW-Stevens Point.  Jones completed 23-33 for 239 yards and four touchdowns, also rushing 11 times for 39 yards.  Senior defensive back Andy Murray (Mount Horeb/Mount Horeb) earned UW-W Defensive Player of the Week honors with three solo tackles, two assists, one pass knocked down, and an interception in the win over the Pointers. 

Special Occasion:  A number of promotions will take place in connection with Saturday's game to "Pack the Perk".

U.S. Cellular is sponsoring the Text Message Warhawk Player of the Game promotion. Fans at the stadium, or watching the game on TV, or listening to the radio will be asked to text message their choice as the U.S. Cellular Warhawk Player of the Game during the game on Oct. 27.  Palm cards will be handed out at U.S. Cellular's booth that will be located near the main gate into Perkins Stadium. Stop by and register to win a $50 gift certificate from the University Bookstore.

The game has been designated Military Appreciation Day. The U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) will have a number of pregame activities in the Perkins Stadium parking lot prior to the game.  Among the activities will be an X-Box 360 trailer, climbing wall, football toss, along with National Guard mascots GI Joey and GI Jane.  A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter is also scheduled to be on hand to do a fly-over of the stadium during the national anthem.

For the fourth-consecutive year, the famous Klement Racing Sausages will make a stop at Perkins Stadium for the annual halftime “challenge race” against UW-Whitewater mascot “Willie Warhawk.”  This year's race will also include U.S. Army National Guard mascots GI Joey and GI Jane along with Culver's restaurant mascot “Scoopie.”  Culver's sponsors this year's Warhawk football Junior Captains promotion.

Five hundred area youth football players and coaches will also be the guests of Warhawk football at Saturday's game, and the 2007 Gold Level Corporate Sponsors, responsible for funding of Perkins Stadium's new, state-of-the-art video scoreboard will be honored in halftime ceremonies.

For more information contact:  University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Paul Plinske  262-472-1543.

The Schedule/Tickets:  UW-W will travel to UW-Stout in Menomonie Saturday, November 3.  The final regular season home game is set for Saturday, November 10 at 1:00 with UW-Platteville visiting Perkins Stadium for the annual Shrine Game. Tickets for all UW-W home games are available in the ticket office in the Center of the Arts on Main Street during normal business hours.  Tickets are also available on game day at the Perkins Stadium windows.  Call 262-472-2222 for ticket information, or go to http://www.uww.edu/athletics/visitorinfo/tickets.html