This Week: Wabash finally takes the field on Saturday when the Little Giants travel to Wisconsin to play the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers. The Little Giants begin their 133rd season of football Saturday. Wabash is 81-45-6 in its previous season-opening contests. The last time the Little Giants lost the first game of the season was in a 45-38 loss at Franklin College in 2006.
 
Game Information: Kickoff at Community Stadium at Goerke Park is scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. EDT). Wisconsin-Stevens Point will provide a live video stream of the game at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq3kqBUHZQM. Live statistics will be available at https://athletics.uwsp.edu/sidearmstats/football/summary. The game will also be broadcast live on the Wabash College student radio station, WNDY 91.3 FM, beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT with the Don Morel Pregame Show.
 
Saturday's game is Wisconsin-Stevens Points' annual Pink Game for cancer awareness. 
 
Series History: Saturday's game is the second meeting between the two programs. Wabash defeated the Pointers 16-13 last year in Crawfordsville. Matt Penola gave the Little Giants a 7-3 lead in the first period on a 54-yard catch and run. Austin Hoover added a five-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter. The Little Giants ran 54 times for 218 yards to average four yards per carry. Jake Reid threw for 140 yards and one TD in his Hollett Little Giant Stadium debut. Brock Heffron led the Wabash defense with eight tackles and three tackles for losses. The Little Giants intercepted three passes in the game --- one each for Byshup Rhodes, Jake Page, and Patrick Kelly.
 
Rankings: Wabash is ranked 21st in the latest D3football.com Top-25 poll. The Little Giants received 114 total points in the week one polling of 25 coaches, sports information directors, and media members from across the country.
 
Among The Best: Wabash enters the 2019 season as the fifth-winningest program in NCAA Division III history with a record of 689-388-59. The top-five programs in all-time victories among DIII teams are Mount Union (799), Wittenberg (773), Washington and Jefferson (745), and Widener (705).
 
Celebrating 150: College football is celebrating its 150th season this year. Wabash is one of 13 current Division III programs to have played for 130 or more season beginning with the 2019 campaign. Amherst leads that list as the Mammoths will start their 140th season this weekend against Bates College.
 
Scouting Stevens Point: The Pointers lost their opening game of the season last Saturday 21-7 at 17th-ranked John Carroll University. The Pointers trailed 14-0 before junior running back ShamaJ Williams cut that lead in half with a one-yard touchdown run to cap an 11-play, 86-yard drive midway through the third quarter. The Blue Streaks put the game away with a 49-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the 21-7 final score.
 
Williams finished with 10 carries for 34 yards for Stevens Point. Starting quarterback Max Herro threw for 110 yards and ran for 24 more on 11 carries before he left the game due to an injury. Matt Urmanski moved from wide receiver to quarterback after the injury to Herro and threw for 48 yards on 7-of-17 passing. Urmanski completed 17-of-33 passes for 179 yards in last year's game at Wabash.
 
Welcome Back: Senior running back Ike James suffered a season-ending knee injury in last year's game against Stevens Point. James rushed for 120 yards on 26 attempts as part of a 218-yard day for the Wabash ground game. James is currently tied for 11th on the Wabash career rushing touchdown list with 21 and trails Chase Belton in tenth place with 22 career rushing TDs. James ranks 17th in career rushing yards with 1,538 yards in 12 games.
 
Two-Headed Attack: Senior running back Isaac Avant gives Wabash a 1-2 punch in the ground game. Avant ranks 12th all-time in rushing yards for Wabash with 2,072 after carrying the ball 196 times for 1,181 yards in 2018. The First Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection ranked 22nd among Division III players last season in rushing yards per game with an average of 117.9 and was 25th in total rushing yards.
 
Familiar Faces: Wabash returns eight starters to a defensive unit that ranked 32nd in Division III in scoring defense by holding opposing teams to an average of 16 points per game. Senior outside linebacker Brandon Yeagy led the team with 71 total tackles to earn Second Team All-NCAC honors. Joining Yeagy on the All-NCAC team were senior inside linebacker Brock Heffron (Second Team), junior safety Jake Page (Second Team), sophomore cornerback Jose Franco (Second Team), and junior defensive lineman Blair Broady (Honorable Mention). Franco also earned the 2018 NCAC Newcomer of the Year Award. Junior defensive lineman Don Schuch was named to the 2018 All-NCAC Honorable Mention Team, but will miss the 2019 season due to a knee injury suffered in a preseason scrimmage.
 
Under Center: Senior quarterback Jake Reid returns for the Little Giants after throwing for 1,859 yards and 18 touchdowns in his first season at Wabash after transferring from the University of Mount Union. Sophomore Seth Gallman and freshmen Liam Thompson and Karson Goodman have all seen action at quarterback during the Little Giants' two scrimmages at Indiana Wesleyan and Rose-Hulman. Wabash has not officially announced a starting quarterback for Saturday's game at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, although Reid and Thompson are both listed in the two-deep depth chart.
 
Next Week: Wabash will continue its tour of the Great Lakes region when the Little Giants travel to Meadville, Pennsylvania to begin the NCAC portion of the schedule. Wabash will play at Allegheny College in a contest slated to start at 1 p.m.