Wabash College and Wittenberg University meet Saturday afternoon with sole possession of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings on the line.     
 
Game Info: Wabash College (5-2, 4-1 NCAC) vs Wittenberg (5-2, 4-1 NCAC)
Location: Little Giant Stadium (3,350) in Crawfordsville, IN
Game time: Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 1 p.m.
Tickets: https://wabashtickets.com
 
Wabash and Wittenberg are tied for second place in the conference standings with 4-1 marks in league play. Wittenberg lost in overtime at home to DePauw last Saturday but could tie for the conference title with a win against Wabash, followed by a victory by the Little Giants over DePauw. Wabash controls its conference and NCAA playoff destiny. The Little Giants need a win Saturday against the Tigers from Springfield, Ohio, followed by a road win next Saturday at Hiram. That would put a share of the conference title and a trip to the NCAA playoffs in the hands of the 129th Monon Bell Classic winner.
 
Last week, Wabash produced a school-record 776 yards of offense Saturday in its 67-18 win at Kenyon. The Little Giants topped the old record of 711 yards versus Denison in 2000. Wabash ran for a season-best 413 yards and five touchdowns. Three Little Giants ran for more than 100 yards in the victory — Conner Grimes (137 yards), Xavier Tyler (119 yards), and Cade Campbell (114 yards). Tyler ran for two touchdowns, with one coming on a career-long  81-yard scoring run. Grimes added a career-long 75-yard TD run, and Campbell scored on a 48-yard run.
 
Liam Thompson threw for 354 yards and four TDs. Penn Stoller matched his single-game high with three TD catches and hauled in nine passes for 113 yards. Cooper Sullivan added seven catches for 112 yards. Wabash defenders Ben Netting and Alex Ziats intercepted two Kenyon passes. The Little Giants held the Owls' run game to 80 yards and one score.
 
Series: Wabash trails Wittenberg in the all-time series, with the Tigers holding a 13-12 advantage. Wabash won last year's game 42-35 in Springfield, Ohio. The Little Giants scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, with the game-winning touchdown coming on a 66-yard pass from Liam Thompson to Cade Campbell with 5:49 remaining in the game. Wittenberg won 35-14 on its last trip to Little Giant Stadium in 2021. Wabash holds a one-game lead at home versus the Tigers with a 7-6 record. The conference series is tied at 11-11.
 
Thompson Named NFF Campbell Trophy Finalist: Liam Thompson is one of 16 finalists selected by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for the 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy. The award is presented each season to college football's premier scholar-athlete.
 
Thompson is one of 16 finalists selected from a record number of 201 semifinalists from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA. Thompson receives the Coach Lou Saban Scholar-Athlete Award, an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship endowed by George M. Steinbrenner III, as a member of the 2023 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments.
 
Thompson enters today's game against Wittenberg needing only 114 yards of total offense to break the Wabash career record of 12,054 held by Jake Knott '02. Thompson moved to second on the North Coast Athletic Conference all-time passing list last week with a career total of 10.428 yards. He trails all-time leader Mason Espinosa from Ohio Wesleyan with 11,069 yards. Thompson needs just three touchdown passes to break the conference record of 97 held by Knott.
 
Conference Rankings: Wabash enters Saturday's game as the conference leader in total offense, averaging 483.9 yards per game. The Little Giant defense ranks third in the conference with an average of 312.3 yards of offense allowed per contest. Wabash also leads the conference in rushing yards per game (228.3) and per carry (5.7) and ranks second in passing offense by averaging 255.6 yards a game. The Little Giants are second in the NCAC in pass defense, limiting opposing teams to 188.9 yards a game.
 
Scouting Wittenberg:
Kenyon enters the week off a bye after a 48-7 loss at Ohio Wesleyan on October 7. The Owls scored their lone victory of the season three weeks ago with a 40-16 home win against Hiram College. Kenyon ran for 253 yards and converted 10-of-18 third downs against Hiram while limiting the Terriers to three first downs on 12 attempts and an 0-for-3 effort on fourth down. Kenyon ranks tenth in the nation in fourth-down defense, holding opponents to a .182 successful conversion rate.
 
Sophomore running back Jordon Benjamin is second in the conference in rushing with an average of 98.5 yards per game. Benjamin has run for 591 yards and five touchdowns in six games for the Owls. Junior Drake Lewis adds another potent threat in the Kenyon backfield with a 69.3 yards-per-game rushing average. He ranks seventh in the conference in rushing and has scored four running touchdowns this season.
 
Freshman quarterback Henry Wendorf has thrown for 569 yards and three touchdowns this season. The rookie has completed 48.5 percent of his attempts (49-of-101) with six interceptions. Junior Park Penrod has played in all six games at quarterback for the Owls and has thrown for 230 yards and one score with three interceptions. David Livingston's 22 receptions lead the team in that category. Dylan Carlquist has caught 11 passes for a team-best 209 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Freshman safety Dominic Simpson leads the team in tackles with 45. Simpson also has a team-high three interceptions this season. Andy Canonico has recorded a team-best 5.5 tackles for losses of 22 yards with two sacks for 17 yards from his defensive end position.