Game Information – Ohio Wesleyan University (3-2, 3-0 NCAC) at Wabash College (3-2, 2-1 NCAC)

• When: Saturday, October 15, 2022,  at 1 p.m.
• Where: Little Giant Stadium; Crawfordsville, IN

• Wabash comes off its bye week to return to face North Coast Athletic Conference leader Ohio Wesleyan in a 1 p.m. contest at Little Giant Stadium.
   
• The visiting Battling Bishops are the only remaining undefeated team in conference play with a 3-0 league record. Wabash enters the game tied for second place in the conference standings with a 2-1 record.
   
• The Little Giants are 9-1 over the past ten years when playing a game after a bye week. During that span, Wabash opened the season with a bye week followed by a victory in the Little Giants' season opener in week two of the NCAA Division III schedule.
   
• Wabash tied the 2021 meeting between the two teams with a touchdown pass from Liam Thompson to Donovan Snyder with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. The Little Giants fell in overtime at Ohio Wesleyan 35-28 after the Battling Bishops scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in overtime. Thompson threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted twice and sacked six times in the game. Ohio Wesleyan ran for 206 yards and one TD while holding Wabash to 18 total rushing yards on 26 attempts.
   
• Wabash owns a 27-15-2 edge in the all-time series versus Ohio Wesleyan. The Little Giants are 15-2 versus OWU in NCAC games and are 13-7-1 in games played in Crawfordsville. The Little Giants defeated the Battling Bishops 31-13 in the last meeting at Wabash in 2019, jumping in front 14-0 in the first quarter. Liam Thompson threw for 174 yards and two TDs in that contest.
   
• Wabash enters the weekend ranked second in the nation in passing offense, averaging 357.0 yards per game. Howard Payne leads Division III with an average of 364.8 passing yards per game. The Little Giants rank seventh in total offense at 531.6 yards per game. North Central tops that list with an average of 585.8 yards of total offense a game.
   
• Liam Thompson leads the nation in total offense with an average of 404.2 yards per game. He accounted for 456 yards of offense in the win over Wittenberg, adding 22 rushing yards on seven carries to his 434 passing yards. Thompson also ranks second in passing yards per game with an average of 353.8, trailing Hamden-Sydney quarterback Tanner Bernard in first place with an average of 358.8 passing yards per game. Thompson is third in total passing yards with 1,769 and 11th in passing touchdowns with 16.
   
• Thompson's four TD passes at Wittenberg moved him into third place on the Wabash career passing touchdown list with 59, passing Russ Harbaugh '06 with 56 career TD throws. Thompson trails Harbaugh for fourth place on the Wabash career passing yardage list with 6,902 yards. Harbaugh threw for 7,118 yards in four seasons with the Little Giants.
   
• Cade Campbell scored his first touchdown of the season against Wittenberg with a 28-yard run in the closing minute of the second quarter to tie the score at 21-21 heading into halftime. He added a 66-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter for the Little Giants' final touchdown to provide a 42-28 lead with five minutes left to play. Campbell had four touches for 104 yards of offense and two TDS for an average of 26 yards per touch.
   
• Receivers Cooper Sullivan and Penn Stoller became the first Wabash duo to finish with more than 100 receiving yards in a game with a pair of 100-yard efforts at Wittenberg. That marked the first time since last season when Sullivan and Derek Allen, Jr. accomplished the feat at Kenyon. Sullivan caught a career-high 11 passes for 123 yards and one TD in the win at Wittenberg two weeks ago. Stoller hauled in six passes for 116 yards and one TD. Campbell nearly gave Wabash three players with mover than 100 receiving yards, finishing the game with two catches for 74 yards.
   
• Freshman linebacker Gavin Ruppert leads the Wabash defense and ranks second in the conference and 11th in Division III in total tackles, averaging 11.2 stops per game. He led the Little Giants with nine tackles at Wittenberg.
   
• SCOUTING OHIO WESLEYAN
  
  Ohio Wesleyan is the last undefeated team in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The Battling Bishops moved to 3-0 in league games with a 41-7 victory last Saturday over Denison. Junior quarterback Kaden Buza threw for 296 yards and five touchdown passes versus the Tigers in the victory to become the fourth OWU player to throw for at least five TDs in a game and the first since 2015. Buza ranks third in the conference in passing touchdowns with 12. Freshman Josh Hurst leads the receiving corps with 24 catches for 429 yards and five TDs. He caught a season-best six passes for 113 yards and two TDs in the Bishops' loss to Illinois Wesleyan. Junior Jakii Alston averages 24 yards per reception with 14 catches for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Jackson Gifford tops the Battling Bishops' rushing list with an average of 67 yards per game. He ran for a season-best 115 yards on 31 carries in OWU's win on Saturday. Two weeks ago, Gifford scored three of his four rushing touchdowns this season at Wooster.
  
  Ohio Wesleyan ranks second in the conference in scoring defense by holding opponents to 18.8 points a game, including only five passing touchdowns through five games. The Bishops lead the league in scoring defense in conference games, with an average of 9.3 points allowed in three games. Kenyon scored twice against OWU in the 41-14 contest before the Bishops' 35-7 win at Wooster and 41-7 victory versus Denison. OWU has outscored conference opponents 117-28 through its first three games. Sophomore free safety Drew Thornton leads the team in tackles with 39 stops. He's recorded one sack, one sack, and has made 1-1/2 tackles for losses totaling three yards. Junior Marquel Henry is the leader in sacks for the team with 4-1/2 for 48 yards. He tied for the conference lead last year with nine sacks for 56 yards, including two sacks for 17 yards in the win over Wabash. Senior cornerback Ian Riddle owns two of OWU's five interceptions. The Battling Bishops have forced five turnovers this season while giving up the football only twice.