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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team seeks its 24th consecutive this Saturday against UW-Oshkosh at 1 p.m. at Perkins Stadium as part of Homecoming festivities on campus.
 
The Warhawks (6-0 overall, 3-0 WIAC), ranked No. 1 by both D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association, enter Saturday's game with the nation's second-longest winning streak in all of college football.
 
UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Eau Claire 52-3 last Saturday in Eau Claire. The Warhawks tallied 28 points in the fourth quarter and took advantage of four turnovers by the Blugolds, including three first-quarter fumbles.
 
Head coach Lance Leipold picked up career win No. 100 and became the fastest to reach the milestone in NCAA history, reaching triple digits in just 106 games.
 
Leipold's achievement was recognized by multiple local, regional and national media in the days following UW-Whitewater's victory. ESPN College Gameday will run a feature on the program and its place in the city of Whitewater this Saturday between 8-11 a.m. on ESPN.
 
The Warhawks' defense continued its strong play last Saturday, allowing just 30 total yards in the second half. The team leads the nation in both scoring defense (5.0 points per game) and rushing defense (45.7 yards per game).
 
UW-Whitewater enters the weekend with as many defensive touchdowns (4) as touchdowns allowed (4) during the season.
 
Junior linebacker Justin Dischler (Milwaukee/Pius XI) leads the team with 28 tackles, including 21 solo stops, two forced fumbles and five passes defended. Junior defensive back Ryan Winske (Omro/Omro) ranks second in tackles with 25 and four passes defended.
 
Senior defensive lineman Mykaell Bratchett (Milwaukee /Hope School) leads the group up front with 13 tackles and a team-high four sacks. Bratchett and sophomore defensive lineman John Flood (Spring Grove, IL/Richmond-Burton Community) are tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (5.5), while junior defensive lineman Zach Franz (DeForest/DeForest Area) and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Threloff (Chicago, IL/St. Rita of Cascia) are close behind with 5.0 apiece.
 
Offensively, the Warhawks' balanced rushing attack is led by junior Dennis Moore (Elgin, IL/Elgin), who has 377 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Junior Nick Patterson (Sussex/Hamilton) enters the contest with 365 yards and a team-best six touchdowns, while senior Ryan Givens (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Riverside) has 247 yards and three scores. In three games back since returning from injury, junior Jordan Ratliffe (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Vincent) has registered 224 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Moore, Patterson and Ratliffe are all averaging better than seven yards per carry.
 
Senior quarterback Matt Behrendt (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy) extended his consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 371 last week. He's completed 73.7 percent of his throws for 1,340 yards and 15 touchdowns.
 
Senior wide receiver Jake Kumerow (Bartlett, IL/South Elgin) leads the conference in receiving yards (648) and touchdowns (9). Senior wide receiver Justin Howard (West Bend/Homestead) ranks second on the team with 335 yards and three scores, while junior Joe Worth (Hartford/Hartford Union) enters Saturday with 189 yards and two touchdowns.
 
UW-Oshkosh (3-3 overall, 3-0 WIAC) is one of three teams still unbeaten in league play. The Titans celebrated Homecoming last week with a 37-7 triumph over UW-River Falls.
 
After UW-River Falls made it a two-possession game early in the fourth quarter, UW-Oshkosh tallied 17 unanswered points to run away with a victory.
 
Three of the Titans' leading offensive skill position players are freshmen, including quarterback Brett Kasper, running back Dylan Hecker and wide receiver Sam Mentkowski.
 
Kasper has completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 587 yards and three touchdowns, while Hecker ranks second in the WIAC in yards per game (77.4), averages 5.9 yards per carry and has scored six touchdowns.
 
Mentkowski leads UW-Oshkosh with 27 receptions for 212 yards and a touchdown. Junior tight end Joe Sommers has a team-high 348 yards, while senior wide receiver Zach Kasuboski leads the team with three touchdowns.
 
Defensive back Reese Dziedzic leads the Titans' defense with 42 tackles. Linebacker Beau Steffens ranks second with 38 tackles, while defensive lineman Cody Huemmer leads the team in sacks (4) and tackles for a loss (6.5).
 
Three players have two or more interceptions, including Steffens (2), defensive back John Eagan (3) and linebacker Kevin MacCudden (2).
 
UW-Oshkosh ranks fourth in the league in scoring offense at 22.0 points per game, and surrenders 20.7 points per affair, good for third in the conference.