GRIFFON FOOTBALL (2-2) at WASHBURN (1-3)
Saturday, Oct. 5, 1 p.m.
Yager Stadium | Topeka, Kansas

ST. JOSEPH - Griffon Football travels to Topeka, Kansas, for the team's second consecutive road game this Saturday. Missouri Western takes its six-game road win streak to Washburn in search of back-to-back wins for the first time in a year. 

SETTING THE STAGE

• The Griffons hit the road for the second straight week in search of their seventh straight win away from Spratt Stadium. MWSU's last loss on the road came on Sept. 15, 2018 at Central Missouri.
• It's the first time since 2016 the Griffs have played back-to-back road games, losses at Fort Hays State and Washburn. MWSU hasn't won back-to-back road games since 2014, also in Hays and in Topeka.
• This is also MWSU's first trip to Topeka since that 16-13 loss in 2016.
• Missouri Western enters as one of five MIAA teams (Central Oklahoma, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Nebraska Kearney) with a 2-2 record. They all sit behind the three 4-0 teams. Washburn is tied at 1-3 with Missouri Southern.
• If the Griffons put up over 500 yards of offense – they totaled 544 against Washburn last year – it will be the first time in the program's known history with three-straight 500-plus-yard performances (620 at Northeastern State, 504 vs Central Missouri).

 
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS

• MWSU is coming off a 58-23 win at Northeastern State that saw the Griffons rack up 620 total yards of offense, 371 on the ground.
• Despite already facing three of the top-six ranked defenses in the MIAA, the Griffons rank 19^th in DII and third in the conference in total offense, averaging 460.5 yards. That pace would give the Griffs 5,065 yards this season which would rank second in program history behind 2012's 6,420. MWSU played 15 games that year.
• After averaging more than 29 yards per completion last week, Wyatt Steigerwald ranks 11^th in DII with a 16.26-yard-per-completion average. Steigerwald is eighth in the nation with 78 points responsible for.
• Last week the Griffons had 10 different players with one catch each. For the season, seven Griffs have caught at least four passes. Devon Holmes leads the team with 20 catches and 312 receiving yards. Holmes is fourth in the MIAA in both statistics.
• The Griffons rank fifth in the MIAA, averaging 195.5 rushing yards per game, but Markel Smith ranks third with 360 yards on the ground and is in a three-way tie for the conference lead with five rushing TDs.
• Arnold Crayton ranks sixth in the MIAA with four tackles for loss.
• DJ Stirgus is ties for second in the MIAA with eight passes defended.
• Trey Vaval leads the MIAA and ranks second in the nation with 472 kick return yards.

 
SCOUTING WASHBURN

• The Ichabods have played a similar schedule to Missouri Western's. The two teams share three opponents in Northwest Missouri, Fort Hays State and Central Missouri. Washburn has lost three in a row after a 55-27 loss at Central Missouri last Saturday.
• In what has been an early season offensive explosion across the MIAA, Washburn's 52.2% third down completion rate is remarkably just third-best in the MIAA, but 11^th-best in the nation.
• Washburn's offense averages more than 33 minutes of possession per game, good for third in the MIAA and 21^st in DII.
• The Ichabods are ninth in the MIAA, averaging 400.8 yards per game and eighth in total defense, giving up 437 per game.
• Washburn has their own electric return man in James Letcher Jr. He leads the MIAA and ranks third nationally, averaging 185.8 all-purpose yards per game. Letcher's second in the MIAA with 417 kick return yards, fifth in the nation.
• Mitch Schurig has started all four games at quarterback, but Ian Trapp has played in all four and led the team with 126 pass yards for a career-high four TDs last week at UCM.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• After a 38-17 win in St. Joseph last year that snapped a three-game losing streak to the Ichabods, MWSU holds a 28-17-2 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Griffs are 12-12 in Topeka and 6-4 in the last 10.

 
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH MATT WILLIAMSON

• The 1996 MWSU graduate and two-time All-MIAA defensive lineman is 13-14 in his third season as a head coach.

 
WASHBURN HEAD COACH CRAIG SCHURIG

• In his 18^th season as head coach at Washburn, Schurig is the program's all-time wins leader with 116.