Kickoff

• It's Homecoming Weekend on the campus of Trinity International University, and the Trojans will look to cap off the celebration with an upset victory over a nationally-ranked opponent, when the team kicks off against the No. 25 St. Ambrose Bees. For fans unable to make the trip, Saturday's game will be available live online, at TIUTrojans.com.

Quick Hits
• The Trojans will be going for a 1-0 start to conference play for the second time in the last three years.
• On Sept. 12 at Wisconsin Lutheran, senior running back Chris Elliott set the all-time TIU rushing record, and now has 3,448 career yards. Elliott also holds the record with 681 rushing attempts and is 2nd all-time with 31 rushing TDs.
• Saturday marks the 20th meeting between the Trojans and Bees; TIU has not won in the series since 2003.
• Trinity International ranks 9th in the MSFA, with 24.8 points per game. The SAU defense averages 27.3 points allowed, good for 8th in the league.
• The Trojans have the fifth-best defense in the MSFA, allowing 23.3 points per game. St. Ambrose's offense ranks 3rd in the conference, with 37.3 points per game.
• St. Ambrose edged out a 39-35 home win over Dakota State (S.D.) last weekend in non-conference play.

Series History
• Saturday marks the 20th meeting all-time between Trinity International and St. Ambrose. The rivalry began in 1996, and the two sides have met every season since.
• The Bees earned a 22-20 home win in that first meeting in 1996.
• St. Ambrose have claimed victory in each of the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2003.
• The Trojans have just one win in program history over the Bees, a 24-3 win in Deerfield on Oct. 18, 2003.

Last Time vs St. Ambrose
• In last year's Homecoming game, the Trojans generated 416 yards of total offense, but committed five turnovers in a 34-23 loss.
• The Trojans scored three rushing touchdowns on the day, two from Chris Elliott and one fourth-quarter scramble from quarterback Stephen Anderson. Cory Windle (7 receptions, 72 yards) and Brad Hargis (8 catches, 71 yards) each put in solid performances from the TIU receiving corps.
• Defensively, senior linebacker Ethan Ming led TIU with 13 tackles, including 1.5 sacks and a tackle for loss. The Trojan defense collected four sacks in whole, but did not force a turnover for the first time in 2014.

About St. Ambrose
• The Bees have started the year with a perfect 3-0 record, breaking into the NAIA Coaches Poll for the first time this week, at No. 25
• Last season, St. Ambrose posted a record of 5-5, with a 2-3 mark in MSFA Midwest play.
• SAU runs a pass-heavy offense, averaging 312.3 yards per game in the air, good for 9th in the NAIA. Quarterback Patrick Smith ranks 7th nationally in yards per game, while wideout Brad Connor averages 110.7 receiving yards each week, good for 6th in the NAIA.
• Matt Cotiguala handles both kicking and punting duties for the Bees, and is the NAIA's national leader in field goals per game (2.7), scoring among kickers (11.3 ppg), PAT percentage (1.000), and punting (46.6 net yards per punt).

A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Give the team a three wins over the first five games for just the second time in the Kirk Wherritt era.
• ... Be just the second win over St. Ambrose in program history, and the first since 2003.
• ... Start the MSFA Midwest League season with a 1-0 mark.
• ... Be the second win in the last seven home games games, stretching back to last season.

A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Drop the Trojans' overall record to 2-3, and start the MSFA Midwest League season 0-1.
• ... Be the 12th consecutive loss to St. Ambrose, dating back to 2003.
• ... Be the first-ever loss to Concordia in program history.
• ... Be the 10th overall loss in the last 13 games for Trinity, stretching back to last season.

Leslie Frazier Field
• TIU is 10-18 at home in the Wherritt era, and are 51-74-1 all-time at Frazier Field.
• Following last weekend's loss to Concordia, the Trojans are 15-10-1 all-time in home openers, and had won the first game of the year at Frazier Field the five previous seasons before this year.

Trojan Football History
• The Trinity International Trojan football program has an all-time record of 103-162-2 (.388), dating back to their first season as a varsity program in 1990.
• TIU's head coach for the inaugural season in 1989 through 1996 was Leslie Frazier. Frazier was a member of the 1985 Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears, and is currently the defensive coordinator of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a record of 38-37-3 while at TIU, and remains the winningest coach in Trinity International history.
• The Trojans have won three MSFA Midwest League titles in school history, in 1994, 1995, and 2003.
• Trinity International has earned two NAIA Football Championship Series berths, in 1994 and 2004. TIU is still searching for their first NAIA playoff victory, falling to Northwestern (Iowa) and Georgetown (Ky.), respectively.
• TIU has one appearance in the NCCAA Victory Bowl, where they fell to Garner-Webb (N.C.), 54-14, in 2001.

Team Rankings
• Through the first four games of the season, Trinity opponents have collected the fewest total penalty yards across the country. TIU has benefited from only 74 yards from flags on the field, the lowest toal in the NAIA.
• As a team the Trojans are averaging 23.3 yards per kick return, the 14th-best average in the NAIA.
• The Trinity defensive unit has been one of the best at killing long drives; the team ranks 5th in fourth-down conversion, at 21.4%, and 40th in third-down conversion, at 35.1%.

MSFA Leaders
• Heading into Saturday's matchup, Chris Elliott is 2nd in the MSFA in rushing, with an average of 103.8 yards per game. The senior is one of just three backs in the league to average over 100 yards per game.
• J.J. Burmeister ranks 7th in the MSFA in pass efficiency, with a rating of 134.9. His 160.5 passing yards per game is the 10th-highest average in the league.
• Jeremiah Carter is 2nd in the conference in both field goal percentage (77.8%) and field goals made per game (1.75). He ranks 3rd among MSFA kickers in scoring, averaging 7.8 points per game.
• Rafael Williams ranks 2nd in punt return average, with 13.1 yards per return. Williams and Kyran Davis are both in the top five in the MSFA in kickoff return yardage (Williams: 24.5 yards per kick, 4th in MSFA; Davis: 23.5 yards per kick, 5th in MSFA).
• Defensively, linebacker Riley Schussler is 2nd in the MSFA in tackles, with an average of 13.2 stops per game. He's also 3rd among league leaders in tackles for loss, with 1.75 each game.
• Mauricio Portillo is among the MSFA top 12 this week, with an average of 8.5 tackles per game. Darwin Stone, is also among the top 50 tacklers in the league (6.8 per game).

TIU Milestones
• At Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 12, Chris Elliott became TIU's all-time leader in rushing yards, collecting 178 yards on 30 carries. Elliott now has 3,448 career rushing yards, surpassing the former record, held by Todd Johnson (1990-94).
• Against St. Xavier on Nov. 8, 2014, Elliott became just the 2nd rusher in TIU history to collect over 3,000 career rushing yards.
• Elliott recorded his second career 1,000-yard season in 2013, becoming the first Trojan to ever reach the 1K mark twice in his TIU career.
• The Miami, Fla. native's career high came as a freshman in 2012, with an MSFA-record 346 yards in the final game of the year over Waldorf.
• Wide receiver Cory Windle is closing in on a few school records of his own. The junior has collected 93 receptions during his three seasons at TIU, just 25 behind Nathan Endemano's mark of 118 (2004-05). Windle also needs 719 yards to tie Endemano for the all-time receiving record.

Record-Setting Performances
• Throughout the 2014 season, 37 single-game, season, or career records were either broken or tied in the TIU record books.
• Kicker Jeremiah Carter set a new single-game record with nine extra-points scored in the win over Trinity Bible on Nov. 1.
• Carter also tied the single-game field goal record, converting three kicks at Olivet Nazarene on Oct. 4. Trojan kickers have recorded three field goals five different times throughout program history (Kelly Tappenback, 2004; Mark Wilcox, 2008; Jason Owens, 2011; Carter, 2013 & 2014). Adding his name yet again, Carter set a new record for points scored by a kicker, with 53 points throughout last season.
• Quarterback Stephen Anderson finished his TIU career last year, making a case as one of the best signal-callers in Trojan history. Anderson now owns the all-time school record in passing yards (5,996), total offense (7,019), passing completions and attempts (536-899), and touchdowns (60). His career completion percentage of 59.6% is the highest among all Trojan QBs with at least 300 attempts.
• Anderson also set a new single-game record with seven passing touchdowns in the win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 12. Wide receiver Cory Windle tied the program's single-game receiving touchdowns record with four TD catches in that game.
• Linebacker Riley Schussler set a new single-game record with 23 tackes in the season finale at William Penn. His 136 tackles on the year is also a new TIU record.
• Fellow linebacker Ethan Ming's 6.5 sacks on the year set a new single-season record.

AFCA Good Works Team
• Junior linebacker Riley Schussler was selected as a nominee for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works TeamÆ, announced by the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association.
• Schussler is one of 197 college football players across the nation to be nominated for the highest off the field honor in college football.
• The Wrightstown, Wisc. native is one of just seven student-athletes in the NAIA, and the only representative in the Mid-States Football Association to be selected as a nominee. He also becomes the first player in Trinity International history to be nominated.

TIU in the Polls
• The Trojans start the season unranked, with their last appearance in the coaches' poll coming in 2013.
• That season, Trinity was ranked as high as No. 21 on Oct. 7, following their win over Olivet Nazarene.
• Before the 2013 season, Trinity's last ranking came in 2005 (No. 24, Sept. 19).
• TIU has been ranked 18 weeks in the program's history, and hold an all-time record of 14-11 (.560) as a nationally-ranked team.
• The Trojans are 7-46 (.132) all-time against ranked opponents, and 54-66 (.450) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 50-111 (.311) since the poll's debut in 1999.

NCCAA Victory Bowl
• The top two teams in the NCCAA based on Massey Rating will meet at the end of the season in the 2015 Victory Bowl.
• Trinity International has made one previous appearance at the Victory Bowl, in 2001. The Trojans fell to current NCAA Division I foe Gardner-Webb (N.C.), 54-14.
• The Trojans finished 9th in the NCCAA standings last season, with a Massey Rating of -0.65.
• This year, Trinity International holds Massey Rating of -0.72, good for 11th in the NCCAA standings.

#BreakTheChainsTIU
• The Trinity International football program has partnered with Bright Hope for a third year to raise $15,000 and rescue girls trapped in sex trafficking in northern India.
• Since 2013, the TIU Football team has raised $22,500 and awareness for Bright Hope's Anti-Human Trafficking Intiative.
• To learn more about the Trojans partnership with Bright Hope, visit BrightHope.org/TIU.