ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Retaining focus on a season that has already accumulated as many wins as last year, Griffon Football takes on Nebraska Kearney this Saturday at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium in Kearney, Nebraska.

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon Football (5-2, 4-2 MIAA) will grace the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with the "Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac on the call. The game will air on KFEQ - AM 680 and the KFEQ Live Stream.

The game is also available to watch for a subscription fee on the MIAA Network. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m., with pregame starting at 11 a.m. Game admission can be found in the "Tickets" tab.

ABOUT WEEK SEVEN
MWSU
Falling for the first time since August 31 in the season opener, Griffon Football lost 27-23 last Saturday vs. Northwest Missouri State at Spratt Stadium to break a five-game winning streak. Missouri Western jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second quarter when junior quarterback Reagan Jones rushed in from 1 yard out. Northwest scored 21 straight points to go up 24-10 at halftime, but a 90-yard pick-6 by sophomore defensive back Desmond Green gave the Griffs new life. A 13-yard touchdown strike from Senior quarterback Armani Edden to junior wide receiver Traveon James in the fourth quarter brought MWSU within four at 27-23. Still, a late interception with under 90 seconds to play sealed the game. Missouri Western heads to Kearney with a 3-0 road record.

UNK
The Lopers (2-5, 2-5 MIAA) have lost two in a row, last succumbing to Fort Hays State 31-17 in Hays, Kansas. The Tigers went ahead 17-0 before UNK finally got on the board with a field goal in the second quarter. A touchdown pass of 5 yards from graduate quarterback TJ Davis to junior wide receiver Reggie Anderson made it a 17-10 game at the half, but Hays ended the game on a 14-7 run to outpace the Lopers. In that game, the Tigers sacked Davis four times, holding him to just 91 yards through the air and 11 on the ground. Hays ran all over UNK, going off for 235 rushing yards. The Lopers return home where they are 2-1.

PROLIFIC POSITION PREVIEWS
Coaches
Tyler Fenwick is currently 5-2 with MWSU and 58-50 overall as a head coach. During his first run with MWSU as offensive coordinator from 2007-12, the Griffons only played UNK once, beating the Lopers 38-14 on Sept. 15, 2012, in St. Joseph.

In his first season with UNK, Ryan Held is 37-60 in his 10-year career. He has never faced Fenwick, last coaching in Division II at Southwestern Oklahoma State from 2005-09 before reemerging on the national scene in 2022 as an offensive coordinator at FCS program North Alabama. In his interim role at North Alabama, Held went 0-3.

Quarterbacks
Edden's performance against Northwest featured some of his best work. The senior signal caller passed for a season-high 300 yards, completing 25-of-40 passes with one touchdown and one interception. He completed a long pass of 56 yards to junior wide receiver Jonas Bennett, two yards shy of his longest pass of the season. He now averages 215.9 yards per game, fifth most in the MIAA. The gunslinger also ranks fifth in the conference with a 146.2 efficiency rating.

A two-time MIAA Offensive Player of the Year in his sixth season at UNK, Davis leads the MIAA this fall with 10 interceptions, a new career-high for him in a single campaign. He had just 10 total interceptions in the last two seasons combined, with five in 2021 and five more in 2022. Davis' 59.5% completion percentage ranks eighth in the league, but he can still hurt you with his legs. Now eighth in the MIAA, Davis has 382 rushing yards to go along with four TD scampers. 

QB STATS VS. OPPONENT

• Reagan Jones: 0-2 starting record | 24-of-48, 50%, 297 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs, long pass of 55 yards, 2 sacks | Rushing: 27 attempts, 202 yards, 2 TDs, long rush of 28 yards.
• Armani Edden: N/A
• TJ Davis: 3-0 starting record | 19-of-35, 54.3%, 328 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, long pass of 57 yards, 5 sacks. | Rushing: 72 attempts, 365 yards, 5 TDs, long rush of 59 yards.

Offensive Line
While Northwest did sack MWSU three times last Saturday, the Griffons have sonly given up seven this season, the third least in the MIAA. The O-line has propelled Missouri Western to third in the conference with 180.3 rushing yards per game. This past Saturday was just the first time the Griffons yielded more than one sack.

Nebraska Kearney is the fifth-most sacked squad in the conference, with 12 given up so far this season. Kearney gave up four more this past Saturday at Hays, tying a season-high for a second consecutive week. The Lopers were also sacked four times vs. Central Missouri on Oct. 7 and three times on Sept. 15 vs. Missouri Southern.

RIVALRY RECORD RABBIT HOLE
By the Numbers
Heading into the 33rd all-time meeting, MWSU trails UNK 12-20 in a rivalry that started in 1970 and went dormant after the 1998 season. Since the rivalry was revived in 2012, the Griffs are 6-4 against the Lopers. All-time, MWSU is 5-11 when playing in Kearney, last winning there on Nov. 23, 2018. 

Last Time Out
Missouri Western fell 39-18 to the Lopers on Oct. 8, 2022, marking the Lopers' third-straight win over the Griffons. Davis was tough to stop in that game, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Jones was more effective for MWSU, running for 103 yards and a score of his own while passing for 244 yards and one touchdown. However, MWSU fell behind 32-10 in the fourth after trailing 18-7 at halftime.

RED HOT
The Griffons have the No. 1 red zone defensive in the MIAA and the 21st-best in the country. Missouri Western only allows opponents to score 64.3% of the time at or inside the 25-yard line, forcing the most red zone turnovers with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions. Meanwhile, the offense has scored the second-most TDs, with 25 occurring in the red zone. With a 91.2% scoring rate, MWSU is 16th in the nation and third in the MIAA. The Griffons' 15 rushing scores inside the red zone rank sixth in the country, and their 10 TD passes rank fourth.

WESTERN'S WAGON
With 189.3 rushing yards per game, MWSU is third in the MIAA and 32nd nationwide.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Even with MWSU putting up a season-low 23 points, the Griffons are second in the conference and 14th in DII with 40.9 points per game. 

KEEP FEEDING CROMWELL
With nine rushing touchdowns, freshman running back Seth Cromwell is tied for 15th in the nation and second in the MIAA.

GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! (A GRIFF AFTER MIDNIGHT) VOL. 4
Forcing two more turnovers vs. Northwest, MWSU is first in the conference and tied for sixth in DII with 18 turnovers gained. Green's pick-6 was the third interception return for a TD this season. Senior defensive back Taylor Williams, who notched the first-pick-6 of the season in week two at Lincoln, forced a fumble late vs. Northwest that was recovered by senior defensive lineman Dakari Streeter. Williams now has four picks and two force fumbles to his name this season, the most turnovers forced by a Griff this season. His four interceptions are the second most in the MIAA and third most in the country.

STREETER BUZZSAW
Speaking of Streeter, he is third in the nation and still leads the MIAA with eight sacks this season.

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON FOOTBALL HISTORY
Oct. 21 | Box Score 
Then named Missouri Western State College, the 2000 Griffons battled into overtime with Central Missouri State in Warrensburg, Missouri. A low-scoring affair early, MWSC took a 9-0 lead into halftime. The Mules stormed back to take a 13-9 lead with 3:59 left in the fourth quarter. That's when Missouri Western Hall of Fame (2011) quarterback Kasey Waterman snapped into action. The Griffon gunslinger used his feet to rush in from 2 yards out, giving the Griffs a 16-13 lead with 30 seconds left in regulation. The Mules sent the game to overtime with a last-second field goal, but Waterman broke CMSU's hearts with a game-winning, 25-yard touchdown dot to fellow Hall of Famer (2012) Jerris Evans to win the game 23-16. Waterman finished with 341 passing yards and three total scores, while Evans went off for eight catches and 172 yards, hauling in both of Waterman's touchdown passes.