The No. 5/6-ranked UW-River Falls football team opens its 2023 WIAC schedule hosting UW-Platteville during UWRF Homecoming on Sept. 30.

UW-RIVER FALLS (3-0, 0-0 WIAC) VS. UW-PLATTEVILLE (2-1, 0-0 WIAC)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023
Time: 1 p.m.
Site: River Falls, Wis. // Smith Stadium at Ramer Field

HOMECOMING FOOD AND PERSONAL PRODUCTS DRIVE

• Fans have the opportunity to donate non-perishable food items and hygiene products throughout 2023 UWRF Homecoming Week (Sept. 25-30). Bring your food and hygiene products to any athletic event, with donation bins to be located in the Falcon Center. All items will be donated to Freddy's Food Pantry.

AGAINST THE PIONEERS

• Saturday's contest marks the 66th all-time matchup between the Falcons and Pioneers, with UW-River Falls holding a 34-29-2 series advantage.
• Last season, the Pioneers defeated the Falcons 21-14 in Platteville, Wis.

LAST TIME OUT

• UWRF is coming off a bye week and closed out its nonconference schedule the week prior with a 75-3 at the University of Northwestern on Sept. 16 in St. Paul, Minn.
• The 72-point win marks the largest margin of victory in UWRF Football history, besting the previous record set during last year's season opener, a 63-0 win at Elmhurst University.
• With one pass breakup on the day, junior defensive back Dylan Brown became the UWRF all-time leader with 28 career pass breakups.

IN THE RANKINGS

• UWRF continued its historic climb in the national rankings, moving from No. 6 to No. 5 in this week's AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 7 to No. 6 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll.
  • Both mark the highest rankings in a coaches' poll and national media outlet in program history while being ranked inside top 10 for the third week in a row on D3football.com
• UWRF was picked to finish fourth in the WIAC Preseason Poll and debuted at No. 23 in the D3football.com Preseason Poll.

FALCONS COLLECT WEEKLY AND NATIONAL RECOGNITION

• Before the bye week, UWRF's Andrew Schumacher was named the WIAC Defensive Player of the Week after pacing the Falcon defense that allowed -11 rushing yards during the 75-3 win at the University of Northwestern on Saturday, Sept. 16. He had two tackles along with a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.
• During the first two weeks of the season, quarterback Kaleb Blaha was twice named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for his performances against Mary Hardin-Baylor and Ohio Wesleyan.
  • Against then-ranked No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor in the season opener, Blaha finished with 312 yards of total offense (260 passing, 52 rushing) and totaled five touchdowns, three passing and two rushing. He moved into fourth all-time among UWRF's leaders in total offense with 4,238 career yards, passing Nathan Anderson's total of 4,220 (2004-07).
  • At Ohio Wesleyan, Blaha accounted for four of UWRF's five touchdowns against OWU while accumulating a career-high 420 passing yards and 146 rushing yards for the single-game record 566 yards of total offense to break former Falcon Ben Beckman's previous record of 547 yards versus UW-La Crosse in 2019.
• Junior defensive back Aaron Borgerding totaled a team-high seven tackles (4 solo), along with an interception and two pass breakups against Mary Hardin-Baylor, and was named the WIAC Defensive Player of the Week.

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 is the WIAC leader with 329.3 yards of total offense per game.
• Defensively, UWRF is the Division III leader with an average of 12 tackles for loss per game for a total of 158 yards of loss.
  • UWRF also ranks second nationally and leads the WIAC with 16 sacks.
  • Jake McCortney is tied for the league-lead with 5 tackles for loss while Jack Olson shares the WIAC-lead with 3.5 sacks.