Box Score The No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team piled up 535 yards of total offense and tallied seven sacks Saturday en route to a 48-0 victory at The College of New Jersey in a non-conference contest in Ewing, N.J.
 
The Warhawks (3-0 overall), the nation's top-ranked team according to D3football.com, started the game with a defensive stand at its own goal line, found the end zone on their first four offensive drives of the game and didn't look back.
 
"It was a long trip, and there's a lot that can be looked at, but we got another big stop inside the 1-yard line and got a shutout," UW-Whitewater head coach Lance Leipold said. "There were some things we should be proud of."
 
Senior quarterback Matt Behrendt (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy) finished 19-of-28 for 265 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver Jake Kumerow (Bartlett, IL/South Elgin) posted nine receptions for 184 yards and one score, all in the first half. Junior running back Nick Patterson (Sussex/Hamilton) recorded his second straight 100-yard rushing performance with 101 yards on just 11 carries, good for a 9.2 yards-per-carry average, and two touchdowns.
 
Junior linebacker Justin Dischler (Milwaukee/Pius XI) led a balanced UW-Whitewater defense with seven tackles, including one for a loss. Senior defensive back Zach Nellis (Waupaca/Waupaca) totaled five tackles and finished with two interceptions. Eight different players contributed to the team's seven sacks, paced by freshman defensive lineman Hunter Higginbotham (Germantown, Wis./Germantown), who had 1.5.
 
The defense held the Lions (1-2) to just 88 total yards, including 12 rushing yards on 32 attempts, despite TCNJ's nearly five-minute advantage in time of possession.
 
The defense set the tone for the Warhawks on TCNJ's first drive of the contest. The Lions marched 74 yards and had a first-and-goal from the UW-Whitewater 1-yard line. After two rushes for no gain and an incomplete pass, Nellis forced a fumble on fourth down that was recovered by senior defensive back Marcus McLin (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) on the 1-yard line with 9:03 to play in the first quarter.
 
UW-Whitewater proceeded to drive 99 yards on 11 plays in just over two minutes to take a 7-0 advantage with 6:39 on the clock. Patterson capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run.
 
Following a TCNJ three-and-out, the Warhawks quickly doubled their lead on a 10-yard pass from Behrendt to senior wide receiver Justin Howard (West Bend/Homestead) with 3:39 left in the period.
 
After another punt by the Lions, UW-Whitewater posted a 10-play, 74-yard drive, punctuated by a 2-yard touchdown run on third down by senior running back Ryan Givens (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Riverside) with 12:01 on the clock in the second.
 
The Warhawks forced another punt and registered a fourth straight scoring drive as Behrendt hit Kumerow from four yards out to conclude a seven-play, 79-yard drive that put UW-Whitewater ahead 27-0 at the 4:02 mark of the quarter.
 
UW-Whitewater took its four-score advantage into the locker room after posting 370 total yards, including 265 through the air, in the opening half.
 
Both teams punted on their first drives of the second half. The Warhawks got on the board with 6:02 left in the third quarter on Patterson's second touchdown of the affair, a 5-yard scamper, to push their lead to 34-0. All seven plays on the drive were rushing plays, highlighted by a 19-yard run by junior wide receiver Joe Worth (Hartford/Hartford Union) to set up Patterson's score.
 
UW-Whitewater started the fourth quarter by completing a five-play, 45-yard drive, wrapped up by junior running back Dennis Moore (Elgin, IL/Elgin), who crossed the goal line with 13:39 to play. Moore's touchdown was keyed by a 30-yard pass on the previous play from sophomore quarterback Chris Nelson (Twin Lakes/Wilmot Union) to freshman wide receiver Marcus Hudson (Delavan, Wis./Delavan-Darien).
 
The Warhawks took advantage of good field position following a 7-yard punt by the Lions, needing only 15 yards for their final score of the afternoon. Freshman running back Eric Wade (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) accounted for all 15 yards on the drive, finding the end zone from one yard out with 4:20 on the clock.
 
UW-Whitewater returns to action in two weeks for its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against UW-La Crosse. Kickoff at Perkins Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. and is part of Hall of Fame, Family and Alumni Day on campus.
 
"We should have a lot of time to get ready for UW-La Crosse, and we can be methodical about it while giving the players a few days of rest," Leipold said.