Football | 9/28/2017 1:48:00 PM

The Benedictine University football team finishes a string of three consecutive road games on Saturday afternoon with the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener at Rockford University.

DETAILS
KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS
VIDEO (NO AUDIO)

REGENT REPORT
Rockford is led by former Benedictine defensive coordinator Jim Schroeder, who is in his third season as the head coach. The staff features several former Benedictine standouts. Rockford is 0-2 on the season and will play just nine games this year. The Regents were soundly beaten last week at Adrian, 62-7. Rockford allowed 763 yards including 644 on the ground while managing to gain just 191 yards. Chance Manning, a First Team All-NACC selection last year, totaled 61 yards on 10 carries. Manning owns 139 yards this season. Rockford opened the season with a 22-14 loss at MacMurray before notching a 44-0 win in an exhibition over Robert Morris-Peoria.

LAST YEAR
Benedictine rolled to a 67-15 win at home over Rockford at home in the conference opener on October 1. Benedictine scored the final 29 points of the game. Seven different individuals scored touchdowns in the contest and Ryan Sample threw for four scores and 326 yards on just 22 attempts. Benedictine did not punt in the game and totaled 556 yards of offense, throwing for 332 and running for 224. Nine players carried the ball at least once while six caught passes. Rockford held the ball for almost 40 minutes of the game. Chance Manning accumulated 110 yards on the ground for Rockford.

REWIND
Benedictine had a week to recover from a 45-40 loss at Alma in the NACC-MIAA Challenge. Alma gained 405 yards on the ground and finished the game with 512 yards as the teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards. Consecutive rushing touchdowns from Joshua Williams gave Benedictine a 13-7 lead  in the first quarter. Down 45-19 early in the fourth, Benedictine scored the final 21 points and came up just short on a comeback attempt when Alma converted on a fourth down with less than a minute to play. Caleb Reinhart finished with an Alma record 241 yards rushing, scoring three touchdowns. Ryan Sample threw for 407 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for 53.

UP NEXT
Benedictine finally returns home on October 7 to face Concordia University Wisconsin. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. in the homecoming game. Concordia Wisconsin is 1-2 on the season so far and was picked fifth in the preseason poll. Concordia Wisconsin hosts Lakeland this week.

SAMPLE SIZE
Ryan Sample has thrown for over 400 yards in each of the last two games. The senior, who is in his third season as a starter, 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 five in his career. Sample sits just 167 yards away from setting the Benedictine career record for passing yards. The Manteno, IL product already owns career records for touchdowns and completions and is also just three attempts away from the career mark. Sample sits second in the conference in passing yards per game at 319.3. Sample 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 56 in his career. Sample has thrown seven touchdowns this season against only one interception. The seven touchdowns are third in the league. 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.

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 374, an average of 124.7 per game, also best in the conference. The Wheaton, IL native has reeled in 21 passes, most on the team and tied for third in the conference. Dean Pauley sits second on the team with 19 receptions. Moore also owns three touchdowns, tied for third in the conference. The junior has reeled in at least four passes in each of the three games this year and owns back-to-back games with 149 or more yards receiving. Moore native 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.

20 SOMETHINGS
Austin Nirva leads a defense that features five players with 20 or more tackles by owning a team high 24 stops. The 24 tackles sit eighth in the conference. Nirva came to Benedictine from St. Joseph's College in Indiana, a Division II school that closed its doors last spring. The Cary, IL product led Benedictine with 12 tackles against Alma and earned the NACC Defensive Player of the Week award. Danny Drummond and Chris Branson are tied for second on the team with 23 tackles apiece. Drummond dominated against St. Norbert with 13 tackles including five for loss to earn NACC Defensive Player of the Week. Mark Hammond and Evontrae Pierce both own 20 tackles.

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 9-4. St. Norbert is the only team with a losing record, sitting a 1-2. Benedictine will face Olivet College (MI) in the final non-conference game at home on October 21. Benedictine opened the season against Wheaton College, currently ranked fifth in the D3football.com Top 25.

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.