Series History
• This weekend will be the 4th meeting all-time between the Trojans and Warriors, with Trinity winning each previous matchup.
• The Trojans and Wisconsin Lutheran first met in 2000, when TIU earned a 42-0 win in Milwaukee.
• Overall, Trinity has outscored the Warriors 132-22 over their previous three meetings.
• Wisconsin Lutheran is one of seven programs that Trinity holds a perfect record against with at least two previous meetings.
Last Time vs Wisconsin Lutheran
• Quarterback Stephen Anderson passed for 413 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a 49-22 win over the Warriors in the Trojans' home opener last season on Sept. 13.
• Anderson became just the second TIU quarterback to surpass the 400-yard mark in a single game.
• Wideout Cory Windle tied the Trinity International single-game record with four touchdown receptions on the day, finishing with six catches for 80 yards.
• The Warriors held a 22-21 lead at the half, but Trinity responded with 28 unanswered points in the second half.
• Defensively, Darwin Stone led the way with 10 tackles, while Justin Hackley finished with 1.5 sacks, and Jarrell Carter grabbed an interception in the WLC end zone to end a Warrior drive midway through the third quarter.
About Wisconsin Lutheran
• The Warriors finished 7-3 last season, including a 5-1 mark in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference.
• Wisconsin Lutheran were named NACC Co-Champs in a three-way tie, but missed out on the NCAA Division III Tournament.
• This season, the Warriors opened the year with a 38-37 double-overtime victory at Lake Forest (Ill.) in non-conference action.
• The win marks the seventh straight victory for the Warriors stretching back to last season, setting a new school-record for the program.
• Head coach Dennis Miller is in his 15th season on the Warriors' sideline, with a 55-85 record during that time.
• Trinity International head coach Kirk Wherritt worked under Miller for two seasons as a volunteer assistant in 2002-03.
A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Start the team with a 2-0 record for the third year in a row, the longest such streak since 2003-05, and tenth time overall.
• ... Be the fourth straight victory over Wisconsin Lutheran. Currently, Trinity International holds four-game win streaks over three programs: Trinity Bible (N.D.), Greenville (Ill.), and Waldorf (Iowa).
• ... Give the Trojans back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since 2011-12.
• ... Give the Trojans back-to-back wins overall for the first time since the first two games last season.
A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Drop the Trojans' overall record to 1-1.
• ... Mark the fourth time in the last six years that Trinity has started a season 1-1.
• ... Be the first-ever loss to Wisconsin Lutheran in four all-time meetings.
• ... Be the eighth overall loss in the last ten 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 102-160-2 (.390), 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
• Through just the opening game this season, Trinity International ranks 11th in the NAIA with 45 points per game. The Trojans' rushing game ranks 16th (246 ypg), while the passing attack sits 45th (211 ypg).
• Wide receiver Dillon Turk is collecting 129 yards per game in the early season, 6th-most in the NAIA.
• Freshman punt returner Raphael Williams is averaging 25.7 yards per return after collecting 77 yards on three punts at Trinity Bible. Williams sits 2nd on the NAIA leaderboard entering play this week.
• With two TDs apiece against the Lions, running backs Chris Elliott and Isaac Branch are tied for 2nd in the MSFA and 7th in the NAIA with 12.0 points scored per game.
• Elliott cracks the top 25 nationally, with 93.0 rushing yards per game, good for 25th in the NAIA.
TIU Milestones
• Against St. Xavier on Nov. 8, 2014, Chris Elliott became just the 2nd rusher in TIU history to collect over 3,000 career rushing yards. Elliott now has 3,126 career rushing yards, and is just 146 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.
• Wide receiver Cory Windle is closing in on a few school records of his own. The junior has collected 85 receptions during his three seasons at TIU, just 33 behind Nathan Endemano's mark of 118 (2004-05). Windle also needs 795 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 Team©, 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 Team©.
TIU Defense
• Entering play this week, Trinity International is the last program in the NAIA to hold their opponents scoreless, following the shutout win at Trinity Bible two weeks ago.
• The Trojans' 46 rushing yards allowed ranks 6th in the NAIA, while the pass defense ranks 35th nationally, with 194 yards allowed.
• Linebacker Riley Schussler ranks 23rd with 11.0 tackles per game, and 24th nationally with 2.0 tackles for loss per game.
• Jim Kenney's interception against the Lions has him ranked 3rd nationally, with an average of 1.0 pick each game. He sits 13th in the NAIA in total interceptions this season.
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 53-65 (.449) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 49-109 (.310) 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 -0.64, good for 10th 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.
