BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University football team looks to get back on track this weekend when it hosts Millikin University at Tucci Stadium Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff between the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foes is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Titans saw their four-game win streak snapped with a 21-0 loss against Washington University in St. Louis at a wet and windy Tucci Stadium Saturday, Oct. 26. Illinois Wesleyan is now 4-3 on the year and 4-2 in league play. Meanwhile, Millikin bounced back with a 34-0 win over Elmhurst to move to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the CCIW.
Links on how to follow along with Saturday's game can be found on the football schedule page of IWUsports.com.
MEETINGS WITH MILLIKIN: Illinois Wesleyan and Millikin's 111-game history dates back to 1904. Millikin holds the edge 54-50-7 all-time, but IWU has dominated the series as of late. In fact, the Titans hold a nine-game win streak and have won 12 of the last 14 matchups.
Last season, the Titans downed the Big Blue 49-32 in a high-scoring affair in Decatur. Brandon Bauer threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns and Morgan Alexander added 144 yards and three scores on the ground. On defense, Trevor Koepke was one of three Titans to pick off Millikin's quarterback.
D-LUX: Senior linebacker Dave Lux put together a 16-tackle performance with four tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble in IWU's loss to WashU. His 16 stops are tied for the eighth-most in IWU single-game history.
IWU IN NOVEMBER: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 44-33 record in the month of November under the tutelage of Norm Eash. The Titans are 3-2 in the month since 2016, with one of its two setbacks being a NCAA Division III playoff game against Case Western, Nov. 18, 2017.
GETTING STOPS: Illinois Wesleyan's defense has been especially good on third and fourth downs this season. IWU is slotted second and third in the conference in third and fourth down conversion defense, respectively. The Titans' opponents are converting just 27.3 percent of the time on third down (16th nationally), and 20 percent of the time on fourth (12th nationally).
BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Millikin travels to Bloomington with a 4-3 overall record and 3-3 mark in CCIW play. The Big Blue have averaged 38.0 points over their last three games, including a 53-50 shootout loss to Carthage, Oct. 19. Millikin is 4-1 when scoring more than 14 points this season.
Millikin's offense is led by junior quarterback Cal Pohrte and running back Ladavion Severado. Pohrte has thrown for 1,624 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, both of which rank second-most in the CCIW. Severado leads the ground game with 514 yards on 104 carries, including five scores. Meanwhile, Jordan Smith has been Pohrte's favorite target with 41 receptions, nearly double that of any other MU receiver. Smith has racked up 790 yards through the air and hauled in nine touchdowns.
Jequan Harrell, Matt Brown, and Jordan Telez pace the Big Blue defensive unit. Harrell has a team-best 13.0 TFLs to his credit, including four sacks, while ranking second on the team with 44 tackles. Brown enters Saturday as the team's leading tackler with 56 stops this season, eight for loss, while Telez has tallied a team-high five sacks.
200-WIN CLUB: Thirty three-year veteran Norm Eash is one of just nine coaches nationally in NCAA Division III with 200-or-more career wins. Eash, who has won 212 games as the head man at his alma mater, ranks seventh in the country among active head coaches.
Redlands Head Coach and 1980 Illinois Wesleyan alumnus Mike Maynard joined Eash in the 200-win club with a 27-19 victory over Linfield, Sept. 21.
YEAR 128: In its 128th season, IWU has an overall 1,055-game record of 597-416-42 (.586) winning percentage). Of the 1,055 games, head coach Norm Eash has been involved in 357 of them (321 as a coach, 36 as a player from 1971-74).
Illinois Wesleyan's 35-27 win at Albion on Sept. 13, 2014 was the 1,000th game in Illinois Wesleyan football history
HOME COOKING: The Titans are 114-47 (.708) at home since Norm Eash became head coach in 1987. IWU has won 13 of its past 16 home games dating back to the 2016 season.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!: The Titan defense wreaked havoc behind the line of scrimmage in their win over the Red Men in Kenosha, Oct. 12. Illinois Wesleyan's defensive unit racked up 14 tackles for loss, its most since notching 14 against North Park Nov. 14, 2009.
Through seven games, IWU has registered 70 TFLs, 11 more than its total all of last season.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan hits the road for the final time this season when it treks to Naperville, Ill. for a CCIW matchup with North Central Saturday, Nov. 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
