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AFCA Division III Top 25
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team begins a run of four road games in six weeks this Saturday at UW-Stout in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at 2 p.m. in Menomonie, Wis.
 
The Warhawks (4-0 overall, 1-0 WIAC), who are ranked No. 1 in the nation by both D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association, opened WIAC play last Saturday with a 38-7 victory over UW-La Crosse at Perkins Stadium. The win followed the team's bye week.
 
"It was good to be back home on a Saturday," UW-Whitewater coach Lance Leipold said. "We had an awesome crowd considering the weather had taken a turn late in the week. We really appreciate the crowd we had. It was great to get off to that great start, and get the conference season started right."
 
UW-Whitewater posted a season-high 619 yards of total offense while holding UW-La Crosse to just 155 yards, including just 11 on the ground. The Warhawks possessed the ball for over 42 minutes, by far its highest mark of the season.
 
Senior wide receiver Jake Kumerow (Bartlett, IL/South Elgin) was named WIAC Offensive Player of the Week, recording 10 catches for 143 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns from senior quarterback Matt Behrendt (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy). Junior running back Nick Patterson (Sussex/Hamilton) carried 12 times for 61 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to cap two first-quarter drives that spanned 10 and 14 plays, respectively.
 
Behrendt finished 23-of-27 (85.2 completion percentage) with 300 yards and three scores. Playing in his first game of the season, junior running back Jordan Ratliffe (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Vincent), the team's leading rusher last season, led the team with nine carries for 76 yards.
 
Nine players finished with multiple tackles to lead the defense, paced by junior linebacker Justin Dischler (Milwaukee/Pius XI), who had four. Junior defensive lineman Zach Franz (DeForest/DeForest Area) tallied three tackles, including two for a loss.
 
UW-Whitewater allowed its first points in more than 10 quarters of action midway through the fourth. The Warhawks' scoreless streak, which started with the second quarter at Franklin (Ind.) on Sept. 13, covered 156 minutes and 46 seconds of game clock.
 
UW-Whitewater leads the WIAC in several major statistical categories. The Warhawks are No. 1 in the league in scoring offense, scoring defense, rushing offense, rushing defense, pass offense, total offense and total defense.
 
Behrendt ranks second in the nation with a superb 76.7 completion percentage. He is also fifth with a 197.5 passing efficiency, a measure based on completions, attempts, yards, touchdowns and interceptions. Behrendt has thrown 320 passes since his last interception, which occurred in the first quarter of UW-Whitewater's 35-16 victory over UW-Platteville last season.
 
Kumerow leads the conference in both scoring (10.5 points per game) and touchdowns (7). The latter mark ranks sixth in the nation.
 
The Warhawks' rushing attack has shown incredible balance and consistency. The team eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season last week against UW-La Crosse, and is averaging 6.0 yards per carry. Four running backs enter Saturday's game with 25 carries or more. Patterson paces the team with 352 yards and six touchdowns, while juniors Dennis Moore (Elgin, IL/Elgin) and Ryan Givens (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Riverside) have 223 and 196 yards, respectively.
 
"We'll going to continue to find ways to utilize those guys as best we can, including on special teams," Leipold said regarding the team's depth in the offensive backfield. "We'll continue to rotate backs and see where it takes us as we move along."
 
The defense has shown similar balance, with 12 players averaging two or more tackles per contest. Dischler leads the team with 19 stops, including 2.5 for a loss, while senior defensive lineman Mykaell Bratchett (Milwaukee /Hope School) enters the weekend with team bests of 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. Twelve players currently have at least a half sack.
 
Senior defensive back Zach Nellis (Waupaca/Waupaca) leads the secondary with 15 tackles, good for second on the team, as well as two interceptions and a forced fumble. Five other players have interceptions in 2014, including junior defensive back Ryan Winske (Omro/Omro), who also has 12 tackles.
 
UW-Stout (1-3, 0-1) enters Saturday's game coming off a 32-7 setback at UW-Oshkosh. The Blue Devils were outgained 410-248 and didn't get on the board until late in the third quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Garrett Peterson to wide receiver Aaron Jenny.
 
Jenny led the passing offense with four receptions for 57 yards, while running back Adolfo Pacheco led the ground attack with 54 yards on 15 carries.
 
Linebacker Luke Bakkum totaled 13 tackles, including two sacks, to lead the defense. Linebacker Kyle Hoefft contributed with 12 tackles, including two for a loss.
 
UW-Stout's offense is averaging 15.2 points per contest, but is one of just seven teams in the nation that is perfect in the red zone, converting scores on all seven chances inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
 
Pacheco ranks third in the league in rushing, while Jenny ranks third in the conference in touchdowns with five, and leads the team in receptions (15) and yards (175).
 
"He seems to be their deep threat," Leipold said of Jenny. "They like to throw the ball down the field to him. Our corners aren't the tallest, so you're always worried about the 'jump ball' type of situations. He's a good player, and someone we have to be aware of."
 
Defensively, the Blue Devils surrender an average of 29.2 points per contest. UW-Stout is tied for the league lead with 15 sacks, while UW-Whitewater's offense leads the WIAC in fewest sacks allowed (2).
 
The Blue Devils rank fifth in the nation in third down defense, allowing opponents to convert on just 20.8 percent of third downs. The team also ranks ninth in the country with a conference-high 9.8 tackles for loss per affair.
 
Bakkum leads the WIAC and ranks among national leaders in sacks (6.5), solo tackles (30) and tackles for a loss (11.0). Defensive back Tyler Naatz leads the secondary with 30 tackles and three passes defended.