GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. WILLIAM JEWELL -- Saturday, Sept, 24, 2016, 1 p.m.
Leemon Field, Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS

McKENDREE/WILLIAM JEWELL VIDEO PREVIEW WITH COACH BABCOCK
McKENDREE GAME NOTES
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS

WILLIAM JEWELL GAME NOTES
WILLIAM JEWELL SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 22)--The McKendree University football team will jump into Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Saturday when it plays host to William Jewell College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Leemon Field. Fans who cannot attend the contest can watch the live broadcast on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree. 

The Bearcats wrapped up non-conference play last Saturday with a 28-16 setback at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Playing their first road contest of the 2016 season, McKendree jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first six minutes of play before the host Bulldogs reeled off 28 unanswered points to take the lead for good. Freshman Brandon Wildman (Monticello, IL/Monticello) drew his first career start at quarterback for the Bearcats, completing 15-of-30 pass attempts for 173 yards. Wildman rushed for a 39-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play to account for the Bearcats' first points of the day at Drake. Defensively, senior Lucky Baar (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) recorded three more quarterback sacks, giving him nine on the year. Senior A.J. Wentland (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) notched a game-high 14 tackles as well for McKendree.

Saturday's game will kick off the fifth season of competition in the GLVC for McKendree. The league's first season of football competition came in 2012, which also marked the Bearcats' first full year as league members. McKendree enjoyed its most productive season as GLVC members in 2015, winning six of its eight league contests on the way to a second-place finish in the final conference standings. The Bearcats earned the No. 2 spot in the 2016 GLVC pre-season poll. 

William Jewell will be in search of its first victory of the 2016 season on Saturday. The Cardinals enter the contest with an 0-3 overall record. William Jewell dropped a close 31-26 decision last Saturday at home in its GLVC opener against Saint Joseph's College. 

McKendree will be playing its third home game in four weeks. Following Saturday's contest with William Jewell, the Bearcats will be on the road for two consecutive contests -- Oct. 1 at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and Oct. 8 at the University of Indianapolis. McKendree's next appearance at Leemon Field will be the Homecoming game on Oct. 15 versus Saint Joseph's. 

INSIDE THE McKENDREE/WILLIAM JEWELL GAME
THE HEAD COACHES
McKENDREE: Mike Babcock is in his fourth season as the head coach of the McKendree Bearcats (19-15 at McKendree and overall).

WILLIAM JEWELL: Shawn Weigel is in his second season as the head coach of the William Jewell Cardinals (4-10 at William Jewell and overall).

THE SERIES (Since 1996)
The Bearcats have won all four previous meetings against the Cardinals, including last season's 41-23 triumph in Liberty, Mo.:
2012 -- McKENDREE 35, William Jewell 20 (at Leemon Field)
2013 -- McKENDREE 29, William Jewell 24 (at Liberty, Mo.)
2014 -- McKENDREE 41, William Jewell 20 (at Leemon Field)
2015 -- McKENDREE 41, William Jewell 23 (at Liberty, Mo.)

McKENDREE -- LAST TIME OUT
The Bearcats closed out non-conference play last Saturday with a 28-16 loss at FCS member Drake University. McKendree jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first six minutes of play, but the host Bulldogs rallied with 28 unanswered points to take the lead for good. Brandon Wildman (Monticello, IL/Monticello), making his first career start at quarterback for the Bearcats, opened the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down play early in the first quarter. Steven O'Block (Libertyville, IL/Carmel Catholic) added a 29-yard field goal following an interception by Jabaree Winston (Chicago, IL/Simeon) to account for the early 10-point lead. Elcee Burke connected with Skylar Paulson (Lanark, IL/Eastland) on a 10-yard TD strike early in the fourth quarter as well for McKendree. Wildman completed 15-of-30 pass attempts for 173 yards. Eight different receivers caught a pass for the Bearcats, with Jalyn Williams (Carbondale, IL/Carbondale) grabbing a team-high four receptions. Burke rushed for a team-leading 50 yards in the effort. A.J. Wentland (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) registered a game-high 14 tackles to pace the Bearcats' defense. Weston Brown (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) chipped in with eight stops, while Lucky Baar (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) added six tackles, including four for loss with three more quarterback sacks.

WILLIAM JEWELL -- LAST TIME OUT
A late rally came up short as the Cardinals kicked off Great Lakes Valley Conference play last Saturday with a 31-26 loss at home against Saint Joseph's College. William Jewell did put up 445 yards of total offense in the effort. Quarterback Jared Hobby completed 23-of-33 passes for 332 yards with three touchdowns. Hobby's favorite target was Anthony Mullins, who had nine receptions for 121 yards. Bulla Graft caught five passes for 120 yards and had all three touchdown grabs for the Cardinals. Damarcus Robinson paced the William Jewell rushing attack with 88 yards on 19 carries. Isaac Dozier, Andrew Pence and Gabe Chavez shared team-high honors with nine tackles apiece against Saint Joseph's. Brandon Womack booted a pair of field goals in the contest for William Jewell, including a 48-yarder on the final play of the first half.

THE LAST MEETING -- McKENDREE vs. WILLIAM JEWELL
On Sept. 26, 2015 in Liberty, Mo., McKendree scored on its first six possessions and never looked back in opening its GLVC slate with a 41-23 victory against William Jewell. Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) threw for 331 yards and a trio of touchdowns against the Cardinals' defense. That included a career-long 75-yard connection with Cameron James (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) in the first quarter. James finished the day with seven receptions for 134 yards. Fisher led the Bearcats' rushing game with 44 yards on six attempts. A.J. Wentland (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) posted a game-high 13 tackles against William Jewell, while Kyle Kirkpatrick (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) chipped in with eight stops along with an interception. As a team, McKendree registered four quarterback sacks in the win. For William Jewell, Nick west was 31-of-53 through the air for 312 yards. Bulla Graft had a game-high eight catches for 113 yards with a TD grab. Trejuan Mask rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries for the Cardinals. Nick Messer had a team-best nine tackles on the day for William Jewell.

BEARCAT TRACKS
CONFERENCE IN SESSION: Since the Bearcats first returned to the gridiron in 1996, this will be the 18th season that McKendree will be holding a conference affiliation. The Bearcats are 12-5 all-time in conference openers, which includes a 2-2 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. McKendree was 10-3 in the first game of their conference schedule while members of the Mid-States Football Association-Midwest League from 1998-2010.

BEARCATS vs. THE SHOW-ME STATE: McKendree has a record of 13-9 against teams from the state of Missouri since 1996. The Bearcats were 4-1 against programs from the Show-Me State a year ago. McKendree will have five games against Missouri schools in 2016.

EXTRA EFFORT: McKendree's 16-15 double-overtime victory against West Liberty University on Sept. 10 marked the first time in 12 years that the Bearcats have played in an overtime contest. The last time McKendree needed more than 60 minutes to decide the outcome of a game was in 2004, when the Bearcats edged past Saint Ambrose University 38-31, which was also a double-overtime affair. McKendree was able to maintain its perfect record in overtime games, pushing its record to 5-0 in those contests.

RAISING THE BAAR: Lucky Baar (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) registered three more quarterback sacks at Drake University, which marked the third consecutive game that he has brought down the opposing quarterback three times. His nine sacks lead all NCAA Division II players. In addition, Baar has tied the Bearcats' career record for quarterback sacks with 38. Oku Satcher had 38 sacks during his McKendree career from 1999-2001.

SACK MASTERS: As a team, McKendree has registered 17 quarterback sacks in its first three games of the 2016 season. The Bearcats lead the GLVC in the category, and are tied with the University of West Florida for the NCAA Division II lead in sacks per game at 5.67.

RUNNING WILD(MAN): Brandon Wildman (Monticello, IL/Monticello) posted a 39-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of the Bearcats' game at Drake University. He is the first true freshman to post a touchdown run in his first career start at McKendree since Austin Fisher had a 12-yard TD scamper at Saint Ambrose University in 2008. Wildman is also the first true freshman to start a game for the Bearcats since Isaac Fisher (Washington, IL/Washington) in 2012.

UNI-TRACKER: McKendree made history of sorts against Angelo State by wearing purple uniform pants for the first time in program history. The purple pants give the Bearcats multiple uniform combinations as they can also be worn with the new white road jerseys. We will track the McKendree football record in 2016 while wearing certain combinations.
**Graphite Jersey/Purple Pants: 1-0
**Graphite Jersey/Graphite Pants: 1-0
**White Jersey/Purple Pants: 0-1
**White Jersey/White Pants: 0-0
**White Jersey/Graphite Pants: 0-0

21 AND OVER: McKendree sports a 119-24 record (.832) when scoring at least 21 points in a game.

SIX THOUSAND AND COUNTING: With its 33-point outburst in the 2016 season opener against Angelo State, the McKendree football program has now scored more than 6,000 points since returning to the gridiron in 1996. The Bearcats have scored 6,053 points entering today's game.

RECORDS WATCH: A.J. Wentland (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) surpassed Brandon Nigro as the career leader for tackles during the Bearcats' victory at home against West Liberty University. Three other McKendree players on the 2016 roster have a chance to become the Bearcats' career leader in at least one statistical category. Listed below are those players, with their current rank and the statistics needed to become the all-time leader in the respective categories:

LUCKY BAAR
• Quarterback Sacks: Tied for first all-time with 38. Oku Satcher also had 38 sacks for the Bearcats from 1999-2001.
• Tackles for Loss -- Second all-time with 55. Oku Satcher holds the Bearcats' career record with 59.
• Forced Fumbles: Third all-time with seven. Zach Carter and Deveon Moss lead the way with eight.

STEVEN O'BLOCK
• Kick Scoring -- Third all-time with 219 points. Stephen Webb set the Bearcats' career mark with 253.

SEAN DOWLING
• Receiving Yards -- Sixth all-time with 1,074. Cameron James (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) closed his McKendree career last year with a program-record 1,614 receiving yards.

THIS DATE IN McKENDREE FOOTBALL HISTORY
Sept. 24, 2005
McKendree piled up 520 yards of total offense -- including 405 on the ground -- in rolling to a 52-0 victory at home against Ohio Dominican University. It was the Bearcats' second consecutive shutout win at Leemon Field in which McKendree outscored its opponents 96-0 in the first two games of the year on the home turf. Dominique Jones led the rushing attack for McKendree with 99 yards on the day, including touchdown bursts of 68 and 20 yards. There were 14 different players who had at least one rushing attempt in the contest for the Bearcats. Defensively, McKendree limited the visiting Panthers to just 141 yards of total offense. Joe Bendoraitis even added a defensive touchdown in the effort for the Bearcats, which came on a fumble recovery in the Ohio Dominican end zone.

Sept. 24, 2011
The Bearcats were defeated in non-conference play at William Penn University, 21-0. After the teams played a scoreless first quarter, the host Statesmen posted touchdowns in each of the final three periods to pull away for the win. Chris Montgomery had a team-leading 53 rushing yards on 22 carries for McKendree. Quarterback Austin Fisher completed eight passes for 82 yards, with Richard Bailey and Stephen Wallace each posting two receptions at William Penn. Brandon Nigro paced a balanced defensive effort for McKendree with nine tackles, while Ricardo Lopez added eight stops. William Penn entered the game with the top rushing offense in the NAIA at 415.8 yards per game, but the Bearcats limited the Statesmen to just 179 yards on the ground.