Football 10/4/2023 1:54:00 PM

No. 5 Falcons face Blugolds in first WIAC road test

UW-RIVER FALLS (4-0, 1-0 WIAC) AT UW-EAU CLAIRE (2-2, 1-0 WIAC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023
Time: 1 p.m.
Site: Eau Claire, Wis. // Carson Park

AGAINST THE BLUGOLDS

Saturday's matchup marks the 26th all-time meeting between UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire, with the series lead in favor of UWRF at 13-12.
Last season, the Falcons defeated the Blugolds 63-6 in River Falls, Wis. UWRF compiled a 2022 season-high 683 yards of total offense (278 rushing, 405 passing) while putting up 35 points in the first quarter alone. The 35 points in one quarter is the most during the Matt Walker era of UWRF football.

LAST TIME OUT

UWRF is coming off a 27-16 win over UW-Platteville during the 2023 WIAC opener last Saturday, Sept. 30 at Ramer Field.
Kaleb Blaha rushed a season-high 32 times while tying a career-high with four touchdown passes.
Defensively, Cade Schmidt led the Falcons with a career-high nine tackles, and was named the UWRF Male Falcon of the Week.

IN THE RANKINGS

The Falcons were ranked at No. 5 in both the AFCA Coaches' Poll and D3football.com this week.
UWRF has now been ranked among the D3football.com top 10 for the fourth week in a row.
UWRF was picked to finish fourth in the WIAC Preseason Poll and debuted at No. 23 in the D3football.com Preseason Poll.

FALCON NOTES

Quarterback Kaleb Blaha moved into third all-time at UWRF in career total offense after week three, having compiled 4,914 yards in his career. He passed Adam Knowles' total of 4,860 (1002-95).
- During the first two weeks of the season, Blaha was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for his performances against Mary Hardin-Baylor and Ohio Wesleyan.
- Blaha ranks sixth in Division III and leads the WIAC with an avearage of 363.2 yards of total offense per game.
Offensively, the Falcons rank eighth nationally and lead the WIAC with 344.2 passing yards per game and 10th in total offense (1st/WIAC) at 513 yards per game.
Defensively, UWRF is the DIII leader with an average of 10 tackles for loss per game for a total of 167 yards of loss.
- UWRF also ranks fourth nationally with an average of 4.0 sacks per game and second in rushing defense, allowing an average of 18.8 rushing yards per game.
- Jake McCortney ranks second in the WIAC with five tackles for loss while Jack Olson ranks third with 3.5 sacks.
- Dylan Brown and Michael Brown both have a total of seven passes defended, the second-most in the WIAC.
  - Dylan Brown leads the league with seven pass breakups. He became UWRF's all-time leader in pass breakups earlier this season.