UMAC Game of the Week: St. Scholastica at Northwestern - Football
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Saturday, October 17 as the University of Northwestern hosts the College of St. Scholastica in a football showdown between the only two unbeaten teams in the conference. The Eagles and Saints both own 5-0 UMAC records heading into Saturday.
About the Saints
The Saints will enter Saturday night's game on a 26-game conference unbeaten streak and a 21-game conference road win streak. The Saints are coming off a 41-7 victory over Iowa Wesleyan last weekend, which saw CSS use its third starting quarterback of the season. Four different quarterbacks have thrown touchdown passes this season and 18 different receivers have caught a pass.
The Saints have scored on special teams the past three weeks with punt returns for scores against Crown and Martin Luther and then returning a blocked punt for a touchdown against Iowa Wesleyan last week. It was the first blocked punt for the Saints since the opening game of the 2010 season. That same play was also the last time the Saints returned it for a touchdown.
Saturday night's game will only be the seventh night game for St. Scholastica in program history. The last night game for CSS was last season against Eureka College (Ill.) at PSS, in which the Saints won 59-0. Saturday will also be the latest road game the Saints have ever played.
About the Eagles
The Eagles enter Saturday’s showdown with a 5-1 overall mark after grinding out a 21-13 win at MacMurray last week. UNW used two second-half touchdowns and a gutsy effort from the defense to escape the Land of Lincoln with its fifth win in a row. Last weekend’s victory marked the 100th for head coach Kirk Talley while at the helm of Northwestern.
The Eagles have exploded on offense in 2015, averaging nearly 35 points per game, while racking up an average of over 385 yards of total offense. The defense has been stout, holding opponents to an average of 10.50 points per game and surrendering just 217.3 yards of total offense per contest.
Grant Schoen continues to be very efficient, as the senior signal caller is averaging a UMAC-best 169.5 yards per game through the air. Schoen became the first conference quarterback to break the 1,000 yard mark last week, throwing for 184 yards and a score. He now has 1,017 passing yards on the season and has thrown for six scores. On the other side of the ball, senior linebacker Nathan Van Zee has been all over the field this season for the Eagles, as Van Zee has racked up 46 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss – which ranks second in the UMAC. He has also posted 3.5 sacks.
Game Notes
Saturday will feature the top two defenses in the UMAC, as Northwestern is surrendering a conference-low 217.3 yards per game, while CSS ranks second at 251 yards per game. The Saints have only given up 61 points (10.2 points per game) this season, while the Eagles have allowed just 63 (10.5 points per game).
-In its last two games, St. Scholastica has out-scored its opponents 82-0 in the first half. In the second quarter, the Saints have out-scored teams 98-10 this season.
- UNW is 7-0 at its newly renovated Reynolds Field. Northwestern has outscored its opponents 267-104 in the last two seasons at home.
- The Saints are 47-0 since 2010 when they score at least 20 points. They are only 1-16 all-time when they don't reach 20 points. That lone win came against Northwestern in 2010.
-Northwestern was the last UMAC team to beat the Saints, winning 14-13 in 2012 in Duluth.
-Three of the last five meetings have been decided by four points or less. The all-time score in the series slightly favors Northwestern 156-153.
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