GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. INDIANAPOLIS
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, 1 p.m.
Leemon Field -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE GAME NOTES
McKENDREE STATISTICS
UINDY GAME NOTES
UINDY STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS
VIDEO PREVIEW WITH COACH MIKE BABCOCK
(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 19)—The McKendree University football team will continue its four-game home stand on Saturday when the Bearcats begin Great Lakes Valley Conference play against the University of Indianapolis. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Leemon Field. Saturday's game will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at
www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, beginning with the pre-game show at approximately 12:45 p.m.
McKendree, which is 0-2 on the season, nearly overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half of its home opener last Saturday against Michigan Tech before the visiting Huskies held on for a 24-19 win. Quarterback
Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns in the effort for the Bearcats, while
Tyler Siever (Carlyle, IL/Carlyle) caught a game-high eight passes for 56 yards. Siever's 12-yard TD grab from Pullen with just over four minutes remaining helped McKendree pull within five points, but the Bearcats could not finish off the comeback.
Devon Myles (Chicago, IL/Westinghouse College Prep) led the McKendree defense with 10 tackles, including six solos.
Jason Bennett, Jr. (Peoria, IL/Peoria), added nine stops and the Bearcats' first interception of 2019, which thwarted a potential Michigan Tech scoring drive in the final period. Bennett now has three of McKendree's last four interceptions dating back to last season.
Elliott Prott (Highland, IL/Highland) had another strong effort punting the football for McKendree. He averaged 44.2 yards on four kicks, boosting his season average to 42.6 yards per punt. Prott currently ranks 12
th in NCAA Division II in punting average.
This will be the first time since the 2016 season that McKendree opens the conference portion of its schedule at home. That year, the Bearcats registered a 28-14 win over William Jewell College at Leemon Field.
McKendree will step back out of conference next Saturday to host Chowan College before wrapping up its four-game home stand with the Bearcats' Homecoming contest against Lindenwood University on Oct. 5.
ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS
The Greyhounds are 2-0 overall and ranked No. 14 in the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II coaches' poll. Indianapolis rallied in the second half to win its season opener at then-No. 23 Ashland University before rolling to a 48-21 victory last Saturday at home versus Hillsdale College.
In the running game, the Greyhounds feature the 1-2 punch of Al McKellar and Toriano Clinton. McKellar has rushed for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns in UIndy's first two games, while Clinton is close behind with 192 yards and an average of 11.3 yards per attempt. Clinton had 172 of those yards in the Hillsdale win, while McKellar accounted for 145 yards on the ground against the Chargers.
Quarterback T.J. Edwards – who was the 2016 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year while at Southwest Baptist University – has completed nearly 74 percent of his pass attempts for 426 yards with five touchdowns in the Greyhounds' first two outings. His favorite target has been Maurice Robinson, who has 12 receptions for 163 yards.
Defensively, Indianapolis is led by Connor Steeb, who has 16 tackles early in the season. Alex Parsons is next with 14 stops along with an interception, while Joe Lambright, Trevon Hall and Mitch Dewitt have each collected 11 tackles. Lambright already has 4 ½ tackles for loss in two games.
The Greyhounds have won all seven previous meetings against McKendree. Last fall, UIndy posted a 48-10 win over the Bearcats. In UIndy's last trip to Leemon Field in 2017, McKendree battled the Greyhounds for the majority of the contest before Indianapolis registered a 28-10 win.
