LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University football team will close out its 2022 campaign Saturday with a non-conference game at NCAA FCS member Lindenwood University. Kickoff for Saturday's season finale is set for 1 p.m. at Hunter Stadium on the Lindenwood campus.

McKendree enters Saturday's game sporting a 5-5 overall record and finished 2-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference following its 52-7 loss last Saturday at then 21st-ranked Truman State. The loss was the second straight for the Bearcats and fourth in their last five games with the only win being a 42-35 come-from-behind victory on Oct. 24 at Missouri S&T.

With a win on Saturday over Lindenwood, McKendree will post its first six-win campaign since 2018 and help the Bearcats secure their first winning record since the 2018 season when they finished with a 6-5 record.

Saturday's game with Lindenwood will mark just the third meeting between the two schools since the 1997 season as the two teams squared off in 2019 on Homecoming at Leemon Field, a game the Bearcats lost, 45-37 and then they met last season in St. Charles, Mo., a game Lindenwood won 45-30. Lindenwood and McKendree have met four times on the football field since McKendree restarted its program in 1996 and the Lions hold a 3-1 edge in the series with McKendree's lone win coming in its season opener at home in 1997.

In last Saturday's setback at Truman State, the Bearcats were held to season lows in both points (7), passing yards (192), rushing yards (32) and total yards (224) against the Bulldogs, who entered the game allowing only 18 points and 307 yards per game on the season.

Against the Bulldogs, McKendree was held scoreless for nearly 59-plus minutes before redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) connected with redshirt junior receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the game. Bachman's score capped an 80-yard, 13-play drive. The touchdown pass by Pullen extended his streak to 25 straight games dating to the 2019 season.

In the second half, the Bearcats offense gained 170 yards of offense after being held to 54 yards and no points in the first half, which marked the first time since Oct. 1, 2016 against Southwest Baptist that McKendree failed to score in the first half of a game.

Despite the offensive struggles last Saturday, Bachman and sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) made history in the game as those two combined to catch 21 passes for 160 yards as Flager, Jr. caught 11 passes for 135 yards and Bachman caught 10 passes for 25 yards. It marked the first time in program history that McKendree had two receivers catch 10 or more passes in a game.

With his 135-yard performance, Flager, Jr. became the school's single season leader in pass receiving yards with 1,030 yards as he eclipsed Matt Cole's old mark of 939 yards set in 2019. Flager, Jr. is the first Bearcat receiver in school history to go 1,000 yards in receiving in a single season. On the season, Flager, Jr. leads the GLVC in receiving yards (1,030) and receiving touchdowns (10) and is second in receptions (66).

Along with Flager, Jr., Bachman also set a new single season mark as he broke his school record for receptions in a season as he has now caught 87 passes on the year to better his old mark of 80 set in 2021. Bachman enters Saturday's game having caught a GLVC-leading 87 passes for 754 yards and has had seven touchdown receptions and is fourth among active Division II players in career receptions per game at 6.2 per game.

Despite his season low 192 yards passing last time out, Pullen is still among the Division II leaders in almost every passing category as he enters Saturday's season finale first nationally in both completions per game (29.9) and total offense per game (343.9). In addition, he is second in both passing yards (3,255) and passing yards per game (325.5), third in completion percentage (.707 percent), fourth in passing touchdowns (29) and fifth in points responsible for (198). On the season, Pullen is 299-for-423 passing for a single season school record 3,255 yards and has thrown a single season school record 29 touchdowns, has had eight interceptions and has 184 yards rushing on 85 carries and has scored four touchdowns on the ground. He enters Saturday's game just 42 yards shy of Isaac Fisher's career school mark of 8,506 passing yards. Pullen has passed for 8,466 yards in four seasons as a Bearcat.

While McKendree has passed for a single season school record 3,255 yards this season, the Bearcats have also gained 1,296 yards rushing with sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) leads the way on the ground with 703 yards and is averaging 6.0 yards per carry and 70.3 yards per game. Leflore has scored six times on the ground, has also caught 47 passes for 418 yards and one touchdown, and is averaging a GLVC-leading 158.0 all-purpose yards per game. In addition to Leflore, redshirt sophomore running back Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central) is second in rushing as he has gained 319 yards on 61 carries and is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and has had six rushing scores.

Defensively, the Bearcats have forced 14 turnovers this season and have recorded 49 tackles for a loss and 11 sacks, along with 22 pass break-ups and 10 interceptions, which is third-best in the GLVC. In addition, the Bearcats are third in the league in passing defense as they are allowing 228.3 yards per game, including holding Truman State to just 53 yards passing.

Redshirt sophomore defensive back Andrew Sherry (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) leads the way defensively this season for the Bearcats as he has recorded 59 tackles, including 47 solo stops and has had a tackle for a loss, an interception, a forced fumble and two pass break-ups. Sophomore defensive back Brandon Wilson, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) is next in tackles with 48 and has had two interceptions and two pass break-ups and a tackle for a loss.

Sophomore defensive back Ethan Young (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) is tied for fourth in the league in interceptions with three, while sophomore defensive linemen Jacob Stoneburner (Effingham, Ill./Effingham) and Arman Oshana (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) have combined for 9.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks, while redshirt junior linebacker Luca Gualdoni (Johnston City, Ill./Johnston City and freshman defensive lineman Tanner Hollerich (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) have each had two sacks.

Meanwhile, Lindenwood comes into Saturday's final game of the season with McKendree sporting a 6-3 overall record and the Lions went 1-3 in their first season competing in the NCAA FCS Ohio Valley Conference. Prior to this season, Lindenwood had won two of the past three GLVC titles before moving to the Division I level this season. The Lions have won six or more games in each of the last three seasons they have played (Lindenwood did not play any games during the 2020 season that was held in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

ABOUT LINDENWOOD
Lindenwood comes into Saturday's game having won four of its last five games with the lone loss coming last weekend at Tennessee Tech in their final OVC game of the 2022 season. Against Tech, the Lions missed a two-point attempt in the final seconds to game en route to suffering a 35-24 loss.

Offensively, the Lions come into play Saturday averaging nearly 496 yards per game and scoring 36.9 points per game. On the season, Lindenwood is averaging 332.6 passing yards per game and 163 rushing yards per game.

Leading the way for the Lions offense is senior quarterback Cade Brister, who is averaging 310.7 passing yards per game and 363 yards of total on the year. Brister, who was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Week in the OVC this week, is 208-for-323 passing for 2,796 yards and has had eight interceptions and 24 touchdowns. Last week against Tennessee Tech, Brister threw for 303 yards to set a new school mark for the most games with 300 or more passing yards at seven. In addition, he has rushed for 471 yards, has gained 3,267 yards of offense, and has had a hand in 32 of Lindenwood's 44 touchdowns.

Brister's top target in the passing game is senior Payton Rose, who has caught 51 passes for 1,018 yards, has caught nine touchdown passes, and is averaging 20.0 yards per catch and 113.1 yards per game. Rose, who has gained 3,270 career all-purpose yards, tied a school mark for 100-yard receiving games in a season as he caught three passes for 102 yards, including hauling in two touchdown passes from Brister.

In addition to Rose, senior receiver Kobe Smith has caught 50 passes for 664 yards and is averaging 13.3 yards per catch and 73.8 yards per game. Smith has caught eight touchdown passes and has combined for 107 yards in returns for a total of 771 all-purpose yards.

Lindenwood's rushing attack is led by junior running back Andrew Martin and Brister. Martin has carried the ball 96 times for 496 yards and is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and has scored three times, while Brister has gained 471 yards on 133 carries and is averaging 3.5 yards per game and has scored eight times on the ground.

Another strength of the Lions is their special teams as sophomore kicker Logan Seibert is 11-for-13 on field goals, including being 6-for-7 on field goals over 40 yards this season and is 35-for-38 on extra point attempts. In addition to Seibert, senior punter Riley Ripper is averaged 39.7 yards per punt, has downed nine punts inside the 20-yard line, and has had three punts of 50 or more yards.

Junior Spencer Redd is averaging 18.4 yards per kickoff return and 10.1 yards per punt return on the year.

Defensively, Lindenwood is allowing 470.6 yards and 31.9 points per game on the year. The Lions have recorded 10 sacks, 40 tackles for a loss, have picked off three passes, and has forced 10 fumbles on the season.

Leading the way for the Lions defense are sophomore linebackers David Whittemore and Tyrone Griffin. Whittemore and Griffin have each recorded 50 tackles on the season and have combined for 5.5 tackles for a loss, one sack and two forced fumbles, both of which have been credited to Whittemore. A third Lion, junior safety Mann McGruder, has also had 50 tackles and has added two tackles for a loss and three pass break-ups.

Junior defensive end Sterlin Williams leads the Lions in both tackles for a loss (7.5) and sacks (4.5), while senior cornerback Darion Bolden has picked off two passes, including returning one 99 yards for a touchdown.