Series History
• This weekend will be the 4th meeting all-time between the Trojans and Lions, who have played each other every season since 2012.
• The Trojans have outscored Trinity Bible in their previous meetings by a 170-36 margin.
• Saturday marks the second trip to Ellendale for TIU Football; their last trip resulted in a 48-0 win for the Trojans in 2012.
Last Time vs Trinity Bible
• Trailing throughout most of the first half, the Trojans answered soundly with 49 unanswered to claim a 63-21 win over the Lions on Nov. 1, 2014.
• The Trojans generated 651 yards of total offense, but allowed 572 yards to the Lions, including 488 passing yards for TBC.
• Four different Trojans rushers posted 65 yards or more on the ground, led by Chris Elliott, who had 179 yards on 17 carries.
• Defensively, Riley Schussler led the way with 15 tackles, including one tackle for loss. Linebacker Ethan Ming posted 12 stops, along with 1.5 sacks and an interception.
• The Trojans snapped a five-game slide with the win over the Lions, and with the win, head coach Kirk Wherrit moves into a tie for third on TIU's all-time coaching wins list, with 17 victories.Â
About Trinity Bible
• The Lions posted a 3-7 record a year ago, including one win by forfeit over Cole College (Colo).
• Trinity Bible finished with an 0-4 mark at home last season.
• A member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), Trinity Bible finished 14th in the 15-team NCCAA Football standings. TBC is the lone program in the NCCAA to not hold dual affiliation (NAIA or NCAA).
• Last season, Trinity Bible finished 6th in the NCCAA with 28.3 points per game on average, and 10th in scoring defense, allowing 45.6 points per game.
A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Start the team with a 1-0 record in the 2015 season.
• ... Be the fourth straight victory over Trinity Bible, over the past four seasons.
• ... Give the Trojans four straight season-opening wins, the longest such streak since 2002-05.
• ... Snap a two-game losing streak from the end of last season.
• ... Be the first victory away from home in the team's last four road trips.
A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Give TIU a 0-1 mark to start the year.
• ... Be the first loss in a season-opener since 2011.
• ... Be the first-ever loss to Trinity Bible in four all-time meetings.
• ... Be the eighth overall loss in the last nine games for Trinity, stretching back to last season.
Leslie Frazier Field
• TIU is 10-17 at home in the Wherritt era, and are 51-73-1 all-time at Frazier Field.
• Including the win last season over Wisconsin Lutheran, the Trojans are 15-9-1 all-time in home openers, and have won the first game of the year at Frazier Field the past five seasons.
• The Trojans host Concordia on Saturday, September 26 for the first home game of the season.
Trojan Football History
• The Trinity International Trojan football program has an all-time record of 101-160-2 (.386), 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.
Trojan Attack
• Last season, the Trojans averaged 372.7 yards of total offense per game, good for 5th in the MSFA. They were the 5th-ranked rushing offense in the league, with 158.3 yards per game on the ground.
• Running back Chris Elliott ranked 3rd in the league, with 86.6 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Stephen Anderson finished 2014 ranked 3rd in the MSFA, with 222.9 passing yards per game.
• 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 now has 3,033 career rushing yards, and is just 239 yards shy of the all-time school record, held by Todd Johnson (1990-94).
• 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.
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.
• Comprised of 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA, the final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September. From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Allstate AFCA Good Works TeamÆ members and prominent college football media members will select the 2015 Good Works TeamÆ.
TIU Defense
• The Trojan defense had been one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers last season, and ranks 5th in the MSFA with 15 interceptions.
• TIU finished the year ranked 15th in the NAIA with 2.7 sacks per game, and 25th nationally with 27 total sacks this season.
• Linebacker Riley Schussler finished 3rd in the NAIA, and 3rd in the MSFA, with 13.6 tackles per game. His 0.3 forced fumbles per game ranked 3rd in the conference and 15th nationally. Shussler also finished 26th nationally (5th in MSFA) in passes defended per game, at 1.2.
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 7-45 (.135) all-time against ranked opponents, and 52-65 (.444) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 48-109 (.306) since the poll's debut in 1999.
NCCAA Victory Bowl
• The top two teams in the NCCAA based on winning percentage 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.
#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.
