BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University football team returns to Tucci Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 7, for Homecoming against Washington University in St. Louis. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
    Illinois Wesleyan heads into the weekend following its first win of the season, a 45-17 triumph at Millikin University, Sept. 30. With the win, IWU now sits at 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. WashU, who has received votes in the D3football.com Top-25 all season long, makes the trip to Bloomington sporting a 4-0 record. The Bears moved to 3-0 in league play with a 41-7 rout of North Park University, Sept. 30.
    Fans can tune into a video broadcast with Eric Stock calling the action on the field alongside Joel Swanson, while live stats will also be available for the contest. Links can be found on the football schedule page of iwusports.com.

BATTLING THE BEARS: Illinois Wesleyan and WashU will battle on the gridiron for the 22nd time since the series began back in 1899. The Titans narrowly trail the Bears, 11-10, in the series. Despite dropping the latest two chapters in the storied rivalry, IWU has won seven of the last 11 meetings. On the flip side, the Bears held the upperhand in the early years of the series as WashU won six of the first seven games between the two.

HOMECOMING HAPPENINGS: In the last 57 years, Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 37-20 record in its Homecoming games. The Titans have come out victorious in each of their past four Homecoming matchups, most recently against Carroll in comeback fashion, 26-21.
The weekend will see the Titans recognize members of IWU track and field teams that placed in the top-four nationally, decades worth of former football captains, and more.
In addition to various alumni games taking place over the weekend, Titan athletics will host dedications for the video board at Inspiration Field Friday evening, Oct. 6, and then the Wuethrich Skills Lab Saturday, Oct. 7.

PALAGANAS HITS PAY DIRT: Having already returned a kickoff for a touchdown, courtesy of a 99-yard house call from Seth Albin, junior Marco Palaganas found the endzone with a punt return against Millikin, Sept. 30. Palaganas shook off an initial tackle attempt, split a pair of Millikin players and then won a foot race down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown.
Illinois Wesleyan is one of three programs across Division III with both a kickoff and punt returned for a touchdown this season alongside Susquehanna and Shenandoah.

POW! POW! POW!: Junior defensive end Zach McNees was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Week Monday, Oct. 2. It marks the first weekly award of McNees' career.
McNees wreaked havoc in the Big Blue backfield Saturday, Sept. 30, as he led IWU to its first win of the year. The junior made five tackles, all behind the line of scrimmage, as he finished with five tackles for loss and two sacks. He also forced a fumble in the win.

TITANS IN OCTOBER: The Titans have compiled a 102-54 (.654) record in the month of October under Norm Eash. More recently, in the past six seasons, IWU is 26-7 in October.

COMMON BOND: Former Illinois Wesleyan athletic communications assistant Brian Kindt currently serves as the Assistant Director of Athletics Communication at WashU. 

IT'S GOOD! PART II: With his career-long 40-yard field goal at Millikin, Sept. 30, freshman Kaden Junge became just the third CCIW kicker to convert a field goal of 40-or-more yards this season. Also having accomplished the feat are WashU's Ross Muchnick (45 yds.) and Carroll's Jacob Laurent (44 yds.).

HOME COOKING: The Titans are 125-52 (.706) at home since Norm Eash became head coach in 1987. IWU has won 24 of its past 32 home games dating back to the 2016 season. In fact, Illinois Wesleyan has posted a winning record at home in each of the past five seasons dating back to the 2017 campaign, including a 5-1 mark last season.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Junior defensive end Zach McNees has spent plenty of time in opponent's backfields this season, as evidence by his league-leading 11.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. The Hillsboro, Mo. native has been one of the most effective defensive ends in the league this season. He currently leads the CCIW in tackles for loss (11.0), TFLs per game (2.75), sacks (4.5), and sacks per game (1.13). Moreover, he is fourth across Division III in TFLs, 12th in forced fumbles, and 18th in sacks.

WINNING TRADITION: Veteran head coach Norm Eash is one of just two active coaches nationally in NCAA Division III with 200-or-more career wins. Eash, who has won 225 games as the head man at his alma mater, ranks second in the country among active Division III head coaches. Across all NCAA divisions, Eash is sixth trailing Alabama's Nick Saban (284), North Carolina's Mack Brown (278),  LSU's Brian Kelly (276), Sam Houston's K.C. Keeler (259), and Bethel's Steve Johnson (245).

TEAM AWARDS - WEEK FOUR: Seth Albin, Zach McNees, and Marco Palaganas were IWU's week four team MVPs as voted by the team. Albin was named Offensive MVP, with Palaganas garnering Special Teams MVP honors. McNees picked up his third team MVP award of the year. Matthew Hyland (co-offense), Jimmy Deacy (co-offense), Joe Genna (co-defense), and Nathan Schmidt (co-defense) were voted scout players of the week. Jahari Scott was the recipient of the Titan Award.

LONGEVITY IN LEADERSHIP: Illinois Wesleyan Head Coach Norm Eash is one of the longest tenured head coaches in all of college football across the NCAA. Now in his 36th season at the helm of the Titans, Eash is the second-longest tenured head coach in the nation behind only Al Bagnoli (Columbia - 40 seasons). Notably, of the most experienced coaches nationally, Eash is the only one with 34+ years of experience coming at one institution.

ON THE HORIZON: The Titans are back on the road for a two-game stint following Saturday's Homecoming bout with the Bears. IWU travels to North Park Saturday, Oct. 14, before heading to Carthage, Oct. 21. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m. kickoffs.