LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University football team will look to open the season 2-0 for the first time since 2018 here Saturday when the Bearcats play host to Delta State University for a 1 p.m. non-conference match-up on Championship Celebration Saturday at Leemon Field on the McKendree campus.

During halftime of Saturday's game, the Bearcats will honor the school's two national championship teams (Women's Wrestling & Women's Bowling) and one individual national champion (Jordon Spence - Men's Powerlifting) from last season.
 
McKendree enters Saturday's 2022 home opener sporting a 1-0 record after posting a 31-24 overtime win in last Thursday's season opener at Northern Michigan. Against the Wildcats, McKendree scored the first 14 points of the game and led 17-14 at the half, before NMU rallied to score a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 21-17 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Bearcats retook the lead on a 20-yard touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) to redshirt junior receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) with 5:29 left in regulation, before NMU forced overtime on a 42-yard field goal with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter.
 
In overtime, Pullen hooked up with Bachman again for a 1-yard touchdown pass on the first overtime possession to give the Bearcats a 31-24 lead and then sealed the win when they held NMU without a score.
 
"Overall, it was a fight last time out. We came out strong to start the game as we led 14-0 and then obviously, they (NMU) battled back. I thought late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, it was hard for our defense to get off the field as they (NMU) kept driving and our offense kind of sputtered, but we were able to kick a field goal before halftime which I thought was good," McKendree head coach Mike Babcock said about the NMU win. "They kept fighting, but I'm really proud of the guys in the fourth quarter and even in overtime to be able to finish strong and at the end of the day, finish with a win."
 
In the opener, the Bearcats gained 414 yards of offense with 307 of them coming through the air as Pullen went 23-for-29 for 307 yards and he had three touchdown passes and one interception. In addition, Pullen added 28 yards rushing on 15 carries for a total of 335 yards of total offense. The 335 yards of total offense pushed Pullen's career total offense total to 6.193 yards and his career passing yardage total to 5,519 yards. He has now thrown for 300 or more yards in six games, including five times in his last eight games dating to last season.
 
""I thought overall Turner had a good game. I thought the wide receivers stepped up their game as well. We didn't have a ton of yardage when it came to the passing game in terms of big chunk plays, but a lot of great catches, especially when it was needed and if it wasn't there, Turner was able to beat the defense with his legs," added Babcock.
 
Bachman led the way with seven catches for 82 yards, while sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) had five catches for 86 yards in his McKendree debut, including a 40-yard catch on the fourth quarter scoring drive that gave the Bearcats a 24-21 lead.
 
On the ground, the Bearcats gained 107 yards, including 62 yards rushing on 14 carries from sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) and he added four catches for 76 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown reception for McK's second touchdown of the game and added 44 yards on two kickoff returns as he tallied 182 all-purpose yards.
 
Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Luca Gualdoni (Johnston City, Ill./Johnston City) led the way with a career-high 10 tackles, including five solo stop en route to being named this week's inaugural Great Lakes Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon.
 
The Bearcats defense allowed 456 yards of offense to NMU as the Wildcats gained 245 yards on the ground and passed for 211 yards, but they held the Wildcats to just a field goal over their final four offensive possessions of the game.
 
Junior kicker Ryan Kastl (Washington, Ill./Washington) made one field goal, which was a 38-yarder with 4:17 left in the second quarter to give the Bearcats a 17-14 lead. He was also a perfect 4-for-4 on extra-point attempts in the win.
 
The win over Northern Michigan improved McKendree to 6-4 in season openers under Babcock and the Bearcats are now 2-2 in Thursday night season openers since restarting football in 1996.
 
Saturday's game with Delta State marks the first of five home contests for McKendree in 2022. The Bearcats went 1-4 at home last season. In addition to being the first home game of the season, Saturday's contest will mark the second straight meeting between the two teams as Delta State picked up a 45-17 win last season in Cleveland, Miss.

"It will be another tough game this weekend. When you look at our game last year against them (Delta State), it was a tight game with us in the lead going towards halftime. We probably caught them off guard a little bit last time, but I think they'll be ready now," said Babcock about Saturday's game. 
 
Following Saturday's home game with Delta State, McKendree will return to the road for its third straight non-conference game as the Bearcats travel to Painesville, Ohio, for a 6 p.m. Eastern game on Saturday, Sept. 17 against Lake Erie College. The Bearcats fell at home 17-10 to the Storm last season.
 
ABOUT DELTA STATE
The Statesmen come into Saturday's match-up with the Bearcats sporting a 1-0 record after opening the 2022 season this past Saturday with a 33-10 win at Kentucky State. In the opener against Kentucky State, Delta State scored on six of its first seven possessions, including holding a 26-7 lead at halftime. In the game, DSU gained 339 yards of offense as they passed for 174 yards and gained 165 yards rushing on 28 carries.
 
DSU's offense was paced by sophomore quarterback Cole Kirk, who was 10-for-23 passing for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception and he added 37 yards rushing on two carries for a total of 211 yards of total offense. Sophomore Kelvin Smith led the way on the ground with eight carries for 50 yards and a score, while sophomore running back Kory Gainwell had 33 yards rushing, but scored two touchdowns.
 
Delta's win was amazing considering it held the ball for a total of a little more than 16 minutes. Kentucky State held the ball for nearly 44 minutes.
 
Defensively, the Statesmen held KSU to 307 yards of offense, including just 72 yards passing on an 8-for-10 effort through the air. KSU, who runs a running based offense, picked up 235 yards rushing against DSU's defense, including Kendon Walker recording 101 yards rushing on 16 carries.
 
The Statesmen's defense recorded 11 tackles for loss in the win, including sophomore defensive back Marlon Windham recording 3.5 tackles for loss and leading the team in total tackles with nine. DSU had 12 different players record a tackle for loss in the season opener.
 
Sophomore kicker Nick Herber made two field goals in the opener, while sophomore punter Parker Burleson averaged 39.0 yards per punt on two punts.
 
Delta State is coached by Todd Cooley, who in his ninth season as Delta State's coach and has posted a 48-38 overall record and is 40-7 when scoring 30 or more points in a game, including being 1-0 this season after tallying 33 points in this season's opener. In his time with the Statesmen, Cooley has won at least six games in five seasons and led DSU to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2017 when the Statesmen went 9-4 and captured the Gulf South Conference championship.
 
Delta State won the 2000 NCAA Division II National Championship in football and has captured seven all-time GSC titles, four NCAA Regional titles and has made nine all-time NCAA playoff appearances. In the preseason GSC poll, the Statesmen were picked to finish fifth as they collected 26 points and were three points behind fourth place West Alabama. Three Statesmen players were named to the Preseason All-GSC Team and those three players recognized were senior receiver Dohnte Meyers, junior center Keshawn Jennings and graduate student defensive end Tim Williams, Jr. Meyers and Jennings were first-team selections, while Williams earned second-team honors.
 
Last season, Meyers led the Statesmen with 55 receptions for 665 yards and five touchdowns and his 55 grabs was fifth in the GSC, while the 665 yards were seventh in the GSC.
 
Jennings was a Second-Team All-GSC selection a season ago after starting all 11 games between center and guard on the offensive line.
 
Williams, Jr., ranked seventh in the GSC with 10 tackles for a loss and tied for fourth with eight solo tackles for loss. He also had 7.5 sacks, blocked two kicks and recorded 40 tackles.