LEBANON, Ill. – The Bearcats, under head coach Mike Babcock, who begins his 11^th season will hit the road for week one and head out east. For the first time since 2013, McKendree will square off against the Tiffin University Dragons.

Game Information

• 11:00 a.m. CST/12:00 p.m. EST kickoff
• Tiffin, Ohio (Frost-Kalnow Stadium)
• Live Stream
• Live Stats

Series History

• September 7, 2013 – Lebanon, Ill
  • McKendree won 32-28. The Bearcats used a fourth quarter comeback to pull out the win.
• September 1, 2012 – Tiffin, Ohio
  • Tiffin won 23-13. The Dragons scored 14 unanswered points in the 2^nd half.

McKendree versus the G-MAC
After picking up wins against Lake Erie College and Walsh University during the 2022 season, the Bearcats improved to 11-7 all-time against the current make-up of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Century Mark
McKendree head coach Babcock will be coaching in his 100^th game as the leader of the Bearcats. So far he has compiled an overall record of 53-46 (.535). Away from Leemon field, he has a record of 26-25 (.510).

Scouting the Bearcats
Mckendree returns thirteen starters from last season which they went 5-6 (2-4 GLVC), four of which are on the offensive side of the ball. One of those starters in junior wide out Yogi Flager, Jr. who led the GLVC in receiving yards with 1,144 as he was the only receiver over 1,000 yards in the conference. Flager, Jr. has also picked up a couple of preseason honors leading into the new season. The College Football Network named him to their first team all-American, while D2football.com named him to their elite 100 2^nd team.

On the defensive unit, they return seven starters, including three who picked up all-GLVC honors in 2022. Andrew Sherry leads the returners with his first team all-GLVC nod, while registering 69 tackles and picked off two passes last season. Leading the defensive line will be Jacob Stoneburner, who picked up 24 tackles, 4.5 TFLs and one sack.

Scouting the Dragons
After ending the 2022 season with an overall record of 6-5 (6-2 GMAC), the Dragons made an appearance in the Crossroads Bowl against Truman State and fell by the score of 28-27. They are receiving votes in the preseason AFCA poll.

Tiffin was also tabbed to finish 2^nd in the GMAC preseason poll tallying 71 points, including three first-place votes. Head coach Cris Resiert begins his fifth season leading the Dragons, compiling a record of 29-10.

They return a two-time first team all-GMAC and the Special Teams Player of the Year Anthony Lowe. He caught 69 passes for 810 yards and three touchdowns. Lowe also returned 12 kicks, two of them finding the end zone.