This Week: Wabash (3-1, 3-0 NCAC) travels to Wooster, Ohio, Saturday for a North Coast Athletic Conference football matchup at The College of Wooster (2-2, 1-2 NCAC).
 
Game Information: Kickoff at John P. Papp Stadium is set for 1 p.m. A live video feed will be available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wooster/. Updated live statistics can be found at https://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/fball/2019-20/boxscores/20191012_atcy.xml.

Series History: Wabash and Wooster meet for the 24th time overall with the Little Giants holding a decisive 21-2 advantage in the series. Wabash is 17-2 versus the Fighting Scots in NCAC contests and holds a 10-1 record in games played at Wooster. The only two losses for the Little Giants came in back-to-back seasons in 2003 and 2004. The Scots claimed a 23-7 victory over Wabash at Wooster in the 2003 contest followed by a 33-30 victory in Crawfordsville in 2004. The Little Giants won last year's game 28-20 and earned a 33-28 win in their last trip to Wooster in 2017.

Rankings: Wabash received 11 points in this week's D3football.com top-25 voting. The Little Giants earned five points in the American Football Coaches Association poll.
 
Among The Best: Wabash enters the 2019 season as the fifth-winningest program in NCAA Division III history with a record of 692-389-59. The top-five programs in all-time victories among DIII teams are Mount Union (802), Wittenberg (776), Washington and Jefferson (748), Widener (708), and Wabash (692).
 
Scouting Wooster: The Fighting Scots opened the 2019 season with a pair of home victories over Bluffton (31-6) and Oberlin (17-0). Wooster has lost its last two games by a combined seven points on the road at Wittenberg (14-12) and DePauw (31-26). The Scots' defense is ranked 20th in Division III by holding opponents to an average of 12.8 points per game.

Sophomore quarterback Mateo Renteria leads the NCAC in passing yards per game with an average of 264.5. He has completed 89-of-150 pass attempts and has thrown five touchdown passes with three interceptions. Sophomore running back Troy Baughman is the top receiver for Wooster with 19 catches for 123 yards. Two-sport senior wide receiver Nick Strausbaugh (football and baseball) leads the team in receiving yards with 257 on 18 catches with one TD. Sophomore tight end Cole Hissong has caught 13 passes for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 75-yard TD on the first offensive play from scrimmage for Wooster at DePauw last Saturday.

Baughman has rushed for 299 yards and four TDs on 80 carries for an average of 74.8 yards per game for the Scots. Renteria averages 29.8 yards a game and has run for one touchdown this season.

Junior linebacker Kea'Shaun Phillips tops the tackles list this season for Wooster with 30 stops through four games. Senior defensive end Robert Alvarez and freshman defensive end Brandon Holt are tied with the most sacks for the Scots with two apiece. Alverez holds the team's top mark in tackles for losses with five for 25 yards. Four Scots share the team lead for interceptions with one each.
 
NCAC Award: Wabash senior running back Ike James earned the NCAC Football Offensive Athlete of the Week Award for his performance in Saturday's 31-13 victory over Ohio Wesleyan University. James rushed for 123 yards on 33 carries and scored the first touchdown of the game. He raced into the end zone on a two-yard carry for his sixth rushing TD of the season and 27th of his career. His 123-yard rushing effort marks his 11th career 100-yard performance in his 16 career games played.

Welcome To The Club: James joined fellow senior running back Isaac Avant as a member of the 2,000-yard rushing club on Saturday. James is the 14th player in Wabash history to rush for 2,000 or more yards in a career. He currently ranks 12th on the all-time rushing list with 2,103 yards. Avant added 38 yards to his career total on six carries including a 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close out the game. Avant is one spot ahead of James in 11th place in all-time rushing yards with 2,221.

Quite A Haul: Avant enjoyed a career day against Ohio Wesleyan as a pass receiver. The senior made seven receptions for 82 yards, including a 31-yard catch and run to set his single-game best efforts in each category.  

Outfoxing The Opposition: Senior linebacker Nick Fox set up the first score of the game for Wabash by blocking an Ohio Wesleyan punt attempt deep in the Bishops' territory on the opening drive of the game. The blocked punt was recovered by Artie Equihua and led to the Ike James two-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Wabash lead. Fox finished the game with five total tackles, including two solos.

Ever-Present Heffron: Senior linebacker Brock Heffron seemed to be everywhere on Saturday in the win over OWU. Heffron led Wabash with seven total tackles. Six of his seven stops were solo efforts. He also broke up four pass attempts by the Battling Bishops, part of a record-setting 15 breakups on the day for the Little Giants' defensive unit.

Next Week: Wabash returns to Hollett Little Giant Stadium on October 19 to play host to Wittenberg University in a 1 p.m. contest. Wabash and Wittenberg are the lone remaining unbeaten teams in NCAC games this season and have won or shared conference titles every season since 2005.