BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Hitting the road for the final time this season, the Illinois Wesleyan University football team travels to Naperville, Ill. this weekend, Nov. 9, for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin showdown with No. 6 North Central College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
Illinois Wesleyan is 5-3 on the season, 5-2 in league play, following a 40-12 win over Millikin, Nov. 2. North Central checks in at No. 6 in the national rankings following an 82-7 dismantling of Elmhurst, Nov. 2. The Cardinals are now 7-1 on the year and 6-1 in league games.
Links on how to follow along with Saturday's game can be found on the football schedule page of IWUsports.com.
MURPHY LANDS ON D3FOOTBALL TEAM OF THE WEEK: Junior defensive tackle Mike Murphy earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week, Nov. 5, for his efforts in leading IWU past Millikin 40-12, Nov. 2. Murphy's selection marks just the third time in the publications 21-year history that a Titan has earned a spot on the team of the week.
Murphy, who finds himself amid one of the greatest defensive seasons in IWU history, is the first Titan to be named to the D3football.com Team of the Week since John Worley garnered the award following the opening season of the 2014 season.
DICANIO'S CAREER DAY = CCIW HONORS: Senior quarterback Johnny Dicanio was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Offensive Player of the Week the league office announced Monday, Nov. 4. Dicanio is the sixth Titan to earn a CCIW weekly award this season.
The Elmhurst, Ill. native put together a career-best performance to lead Illinois Wesleyan past Millikin 40-12, Nov. 2. Dicanio threw for a career-high 300 yards, completing 19-of-35 passes, and three touchdowns. He also added a career-best 68 yards on the ground, including a 22-yard rushing TD.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Titans hold a 98-61-1 record away from Tucci Stadium under veteran head coach Norm Eash. Illinois Wesleyan is 2-2 on the road this year, with the losses coming to top-25 teams.
WE'LL TAKE THAT: Illinois Wesleyan's defense recorded four interceptions in its win over Millikin, Nov. 2. IWU's four picks are the second-most in a game in program history, and the most since the Titans tallied four INTs against Alma, Sept. 8, 2012.
Jake Kapp, Keenan Scott, Nico Gubenko, and Zach Mitchell all hauled in picks for the Titans, who moved their season total from three to seven with the defensive effort.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW BY NOW: Mike Murphy is amid one of the best defensive seasons by a Titan in program history. With two games remaining, Murphy has made a strong case for defensive player of the year. The Orland Park, Ill. native is ranked second in the conference with 14.5 tackles for loss, while his 11.5 sacks are the most of any CCIW player. Nationally, Murphy is second with 1.44 sacks per game and 18th in the country with 1.8 TFLs per contest.
For the year, Murphy is third in IWU single season history with 11.5 sacks. He trails John Worley's second-place mark of 12 by just a half sack. Jeff Heinzl owns the record with 19 QB takedowns in 2000.
IWU IN NOVEMBER: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 45-33 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 third in the conference in both third and fourth down conversion defense. The Titans' opponents are converting just 28.7 percent of the time on third down (26th nationally), and 22.2 percent of the time on fourth (10th nationally).
AGAINST NCC ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and North Central have met on the gridiron 69 times ahead of Saturday's showdown, with the Titans owning a 37-29-3 edge in the all-time tally. NCC has had the upperhand as of late however, winning the past nine matchups.
IWU owns a 24-15-1 lead when taking on NCC in Bloomington, but holds a 13-14-2 record against the Cardinals in Naperville, Ill.
LAST WIN OVER THE CARDINALS: Illinois Wesleyan's last win over North Central came via a 28-22 overtime thriller on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2009. It was just the second OT game in IWU history.
North Central had the ball first in overtime but missed a 42-yard field goal on fourth down. On the Titans' possession, which consisted of five plays, Kraig Ladd hit Michael Sloboda with his first catch of the day for a 10-yard score to give IWU the 28-22 win.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES: North Central is 7-1 on the season and checks in at No. 6 in the latest D3Football.com Top-25. The Cardinals' lone loss came at the hands of league-leading Wheaton 35-21, Oct. 5.
NCC is one of the top scoring offenses in the country, averaging a league-best 52.8 points per contest. The Cardinals put up 571 yards of total offense a game, 228.3 on the ground and 342.8 through the air. Broc Rutter leads the North Central offense as quarterback. Rutter has thrown for 2,546 yards, the best in the CCIW, and 32 touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes. Ethan Greenfield averages a league- high 126.9 rushing yards per game and has found the endzone 12 times. Andrew Kamienski and Blake Williams hold down the receiving game, and rank first and third, respectively, in yards per game. Kamienski hauls in about nine receptions a game and has 14 TDs to his name. Meanwhile, Williams has caught five touchdowns and averages 15.0 yards a grab.
Defensively, North Central is giving up just north of 11 points per contest. The Cardinals have held opponents to 238.3 yards of total offense per game. Ben Wong leads NCC with 42 tackles, including 5.5 for loss. Nryan Beauchamp added 35 stops, while Talha Ayhan's 7.5 TFLs are a team-best.
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 213 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 1,056-game record of 598-416-42 (.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.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan hosts North Park, Nov. 16, for its regular season finale at Tucci Stadium. The Senior Day contest will kickoff at 1 p.m. and will be the first leg of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team who will take on Alma College at 4:30 p.m.
