The Benedictine University football team plays the final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, returning home to meet Olivet College, a playoff team last year, in a 1:00 p.m. contest on Hall of Fame Day.

DETAILS
KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m.
TAILGATE INFO
LIVE STATS/VIDEO

COMET CLIPS
Olivet has won two consecutive contests and arrives in Lisle, IL with a 4-2 record. The Comets blitzed through 2016, winning nine in a row to earn the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and reach the playoffs. This year, Olivet has scored at least 20 points in every game and utilizes a balance of run and pass. Olivet was picked to finish second in the MIAA preseason poll. Olivet owns a 37-21 victory over Aurora. Jerome Washington was selected as the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week after last week's 47-26 win over Albion and also earned a slot on the D3football.com Team of the Week after rushing 30 times for 265 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Washington owns 665 yards in the six games this season. Kornelius Saxton has caught 46 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns while Jacob Jodway owns 21 grabs for 638 yards with six touchdowns. Quarterback Lane Porter has thrown for nearly 1,500 yards with 12 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Olivet has turned the ball over just four times this season.

LAST YEAR
The NACC and the MIAA have a scheduling agreement that pits teams from the conferences against each other twice during the year, once during a challenge game and once during respective school's bye weeks. Benedictine and Olivet are meeting for the second straight year on a bye week from conference play. Olivet scored a 54-48 decision in overtime last year at home. Olivet tied the game with under two minutes left and had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but Benedictine blocked a field goal to force overtime. Benedictine did not score on the first possession and Olivet won the game on a touchdown. Ryan Sample set a school record by throwing for 475 yards to go with five touchdowns. Elijah Walker and Luke Ludolph both gained over 100 yards receiving. Jerome Washington finished with 114 yards rushing and three touchdowns for Olivet. The teams combined for over 1,000 yards with Benedictine gaining 479 and Olivet 557.

REWIND
Benedictine led just once in a 57-21 loss at Lakeland, losing for the first time in conference play. Brandon Moore reeled in a 26-yard touchdown from Ryan Sample and a two-point conversion made the score 8-7 Benedictine with 10:01 remaining in the opening quarter. Lakeland scored the next three touchdowns and held a 29-14 edge at the half. Benedictine managed just 316 yards, the second fewest of the season. Sample threw for 228 yards with two touchdowns, but completed just 17-of-39 attempts. Matt Fleming snared a 54-yard touchdown and finished with 104 yards on six catches, a season high. Grant Jochums totaled 59 yards rushing on 10 carries. Tyreese Fontanez led the defense with 12 tackles while Calvin Jordan added 10. Benedictine turned the ball over four times.

UP NEXT
Benedictine is back to conference play next week with a road affair at Concordia University Chicago in a 12:00 p.m. contest. Concordia Chicago hosts Concordia Wisconsin this week.

HALL OF FAME
Saturday marks the induction of the 2017 Hall of Fame Class. The group will be honored during the game and will be officially welcomed into the Hall of Fame at a dinner later in the night.

SAMPLE SIZE
Ryan Sample now owns nearly every record for a quarterback at Benedictine. The senior, who has thrown for over 400 yards three times this season, became the career leader in attempts and yards in the win over Rockford to open the conference schedule on September 30. Sample threw a for a season high five touchdowns with 413 yards in the win over Concordia Wisconsin, finishing with just seven incompletions. Sample completed a season high 31 passes for 407 yards in the loss to Alma on September 16. Sample sported three 400+ performances last year and owns six in his career. The Manteno, IL product owns career records for touchdowns, yards, attempts and completions. Sample sits second in the conference in passing yards per game at 313.2. The three-year starter set single season records for touchdowns (29), yards (3,299), completions (234) and attempts (402) last year. Sample threw his 50th career touchdown pass in the season opening loss to Wheaton and owns 65 in his career. Sample has thrown 16 touchdowns this season, second in the conference, against just five interceptions. Last year, Sample set the single game record for completions (38) and attempts (61) in a game at Wisconsin Lutheran while throwing for 475 yards at Olivet, a single game mark. Sample owns 1,651 yards passing this season, second in the conference and 14th in the country.

MOORE THAN BRANDON
Brandon Moore has rebounded in a big way in 2017 after seeing action in just four games last year due to injury. Moore leads the conference in receiving yards with 645, an average of 107.5, also the most in the conference. The Wheaton, IL native has reeled in 37 passes, second on the team and fifth in the NACC. Dean Pauley leads the team with 38 catches for 415 yards. The 38 catches rank fourth in the conference. Moore also owns seven touchdowns, most in the conference. The junior has reeled in at least three passes in each of the six games this year and owns three contests with 149 or more yards receiving. Moore caught six passes last year. Moore was selected as the NACC Offensive Player of the Week following an eight-catch performance at St. Norbert that produced 181 yards and two scores.

SCHEDULE STRENGTH
The non-conference schedule features four games in 2017 against three different conferences. The combined non-conference record of the Benedictine non-conference schedule so far is 17-8. All of the non-conference opponents have a record better than .500. Benedictine faces Olivet College (MI) in the final non-conference game at home on Saturday.

PRESEASON POLL
Benedictine was slotted third in the preseason NACC poll released on August 22. Benedictine, who finished 6-4 last season, gathered three first place votes and 76 total points. Lakeland, who has won or shared three straight conference titles, received eight first pace votes and 85 points to earn the role of favorite. Aurora notched two first place votes and finished with 80 points.