Saturday marks the first home game, the North Coast Athletic Conference season opener, and senior day for the 2016 Wabash College football team.
 
Add one more item to that list — a familiar face will lead the Allegheny Gators into Hollett Little Giant Stadium when Head Coach BJ Hammer returns to his alma mater.
 
The Gators are 0-2 for the year and have already started NCAC play after losing a 49-40 offensive shootout at Wooster last weekend. The Allegheny offense has already seen a marked improvement under Hammer's guidance, scoring 61 points through the first two games. The Gators scored only 89 points during their 0-10 2015 campaign.
 
Sophomore quarterback Logan Lee has thrown for 369 yards and six touchdowns through the first two games. He's added 110 yards on the ground to provide versatility in the option offense. Tyler Bella leads the ground attack with an average of 86.5 yards per game along with one rushing touchdown.
 
Wideout Alex Victor has also proven to be a dual threat. The freshman from Miami, Florida, leads the receiving corps with 12 catches for 110 yards with a team-high three TDs. He has added a rushing touchdown to those totals, as well, with 10 attempts for 51 yards.
 
One of the biggest offensive threats for Allegheny will be on special teams. Returner Jake Wilson leads Division III with a total of 432 yards on kick returns. Wilson ranks in the top-25 in DIII with an average of 30.9 yards per return and is 13^th in all-purpose yards.
 
While the Allegheny offense continues to improve, Hammer is best know for bringing high amounts of pressure on defense. Wabash head coach Don Morel does not expect that to change Saturday.
 
"BJ's calling card is pressure defense," Morel said. "You don't want to be in a a second- or third-down and long situation. He will dial up the pressure and try to either force your offense into making a mistake, or to end the play early with a sack or a tackle for loss.
 
"I know what BJ likes to do and he knows what I like to do. Some things for Allegheny may change by formation or how he twists someone on defense. But he's going to bring pressure on defense and we'll have to be ready for it."
 
Delon Pettiford played for Hammer for three seasons. The senior defensive back knows he and his teammates will need to be mental sharp Saturday when facing the Gators' offense.
 
"We'll treat Saturday like a normal game," Pettiford said. "Coach Hammer knows our weaknesses on offense and defense inside out. He knows all of our personalities and our strengths. I know he'll game plan and put together a scheme for each of us. He'll come after any weak links he might find. It will be interesting. We have to be mentally focused offensively and defensively and be assignment sound."
 
Being focused is one area Coach Morel feels his team has improved over the two-week practice period since the Little Giants rallied for a 41-34 overtime win at Albion.
 
"We've cleaned up a lot of the little mistakes," Morel said. "We had two procedure penalties in the Albion game. We think we have fixed those. Hopefully we'll see an overall improvement from game one to game two."
 
The Little Giants have also seen the return of several players who were not available to play at Albion. Jalen Alston missed that game on the defensive line but has practiced all week and will see time versus the Gators. Drake Christen was limited to handling fair catches on punts against the Britons. He will be back in the starting lineup as a wide receiver.
 
"We got healthy with a bye week last weekend," Morel said. "We've got some guys back that we did not have in the first game against Albion. That makes me feel better. Drake is a guy that's just been here forever. He's really dynamic in terms of what he can do. He can catch the ball, he can run with the ball, and he's even thrown the ball as a receiver. We're really excited to get him going."
 
The excitement of Senior Day and the beginning of the conference portion of the schedule has the Little Giants anxiously waiting for Saturday. Wabash is the defending NCAC champion and is the favorite in the conference coaches' preseason poll to win the title again this year.
 
"We want to satisfy our fans and community Saturday by picking up a win," Pettifor said. "There' a lot at stake this week with Coach Hammer returning, playing at home for the first time this year, it's Senior Day, and it' the conference opener. There's a lot on the table we're playing for. We have to put all that aside and focus on the basics. We have to create turnovers. That was something we lacked in the Albion game. And we have to pick up the little things in terms of position assignments. We have to sharpen up mentally and create more turnovers."
 
Kickoff takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hollett Little Giant Stadium. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and children and may be purchased day of the game. Students must have a valid college ID. The game will be broadcast on the Internet at http://www.wabash.edu/live and on the radio at 91.3 FM (WNDY). Live statistics are also available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/wabash/football.