Kickoff
• The 2015 home opener for Trinity International Football is finally here, after starting the season with three weeks on the road. The Trojans will host the Concordia Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Steaming video and live stats will be available as the Trojans look to secure a win in their first game at Leslie Frazier Field for the sixth straight year, at TIUTrojans.com.

Quick Hits
• The Trojans will be going for a 3-1 start for the second time in the past three years.
• On Sept. 12 at Wisconsin Lutheran, senior running back Chris Elliott set the all-time TIU rushing record, with 3,304 career yards. Elliott also holds the record with 651 rushing attempts and is tied for 2nd with 30 rushing TDs.
• Saturday marks the fifth meeting between the Trojans and Cardinals; TIU has won each previous matchup.
• Trinity International ranks 8th in the MSFA, with 27.3 points per game. The Concordia defense averages 26.0 points allowed, good for 7th in the league.
• The Trojans have the sixth-best defense in the MSFA, allowing 24.0 points per game. Concordia's offense ranks 6th in the conference, with 30.3 points per game.
• Concordia earned a 28-27 road win at Siena Heights last weekend, scoring twice in the fourth quarter to overcome a 13-point deficit on the road in their MSFA Mideast League opener.

Series History
• This weekend will be the 5th meeting all-time between the Trojans and Cardinals, as the Trojans try to keep a perfect record against Concordia intact.
• Trinity and Concordia first met in 2011, when TIU took a 13-10 win in Deerfield.
• Overall, Trinity has outscored the Cardinals 161-19 over their previous four meetings.
• Concordia is one of seven programs that Trinity holds a perfect record against, with at least two previous meetings (Lake Forest; Lakeland (Wisc.); Trinity Bible (N.D.); Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.); Valparaiso (Ind.); Wisconsin Lutheran).

Last Time vs Concordia
• After allowing their opponents the first score of the new season, the Trojans looked dominant in all phases of the game, scoring 49 unanswered points en route to a 49-3 win on the road over Concordia.
• Five different players scored touchdowns either in the air or on the ground, plus two more Trojans scored on a blocked punt and interception return.
• Junior quarterback Stephen Anderson finished the day with 171 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, going 15-for-28 in the air. Chris Elliott rushed for 74 yards on 13 carries, with one touchdown.

About Concordia
• The Cardinals' program debuted in 2010, with a J.V. schedule, with varsity competition coming in 2011.
• Last season, Concordia posted a record of 3-8, with a 0-6 mark in MSFA Mideast play.
• This season, the Cardinals are off to a 2-1 start, with a blowout win over NCAA Division III Anderson (Ind.), 42-26, and a come-from-behind win at Siena Heights, 28-27.
• The win over the Saints is the first MSFA Mideast League victory for the Cardinals in program history.

A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Start the team with a 3-1 record for the second time since 2013, and the ninth time in program history.
• ... Be the fifth win over Concordia in program history, in their fifth meeting.
• ... Give the Trojans a win in their home opener in all six seasons of the Kirk Wherritt era.
• ... Be the fourth win in the last seven games, stretching back to last season, their best seven-game stretch since the last week of 2012 and the start of the 2013 season.

A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Drop the Trojans' overall record to 2-2.
• ... Mark the fourth time in the last six years that Trinity has started a season 2-2.
• ... Be the first-ever loss to Concordia in program history.
• ... Be the ninth overall loss in the last 12 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.

Trojan Football History
• The Trinity International Trojan football program has an all-time record of 103-161-2 (.389), 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 three games of the season, Trinity opponents have collected the fewest total penalty yards across the country. TIU has benefited from just 49 yards from flags on the field, the lowest toal in the NAIA.
• As a team the Trojans are averaging 15.9 yards per punt return, the 11th-best average in the NAIA.
• The Trinity defensive unit has been one of the best at killing long drives; the team ranks 23rd in third-down conversion, at 30.0%, and 14th in fourth-down conversion, at 25.0%.

MSFA Leaders
• Heading into Saturday's matchup, Chris Elliott is 3rd in the MSFA in rushing, with an average of 103.0 yards per game. The senior is one of four backs in the league to average over 100 yards per game.
• J.J. Burmeister ranks 6th in the MSFA in pass efficiency, with a rating of 133.6. His 188.0 passing yards per game is the 9th-highest average in the league.
• Wideout Dillon Turk is among the league's top ten in receptions, averaging 6.0 catches per game, tied for 6th on the MSFA leaderboard.
• Jeremiah Carter leads the conference in both field goal percentage (85.7%) and field goals made per game (2.0). He ranks 3rd among MSFA kickers in scoring, averaging 8.7 points per game.
• Rafael Williams ranks 2nd in punt return average, with 17.5 yards per return. Williams and Kyran Davis are both in the top five in the MSFA in kickoff return yardage (Williams: 24.7 yards per kick, 3rd in MSFA; Davis: 22.1 yards per kick, 5th in MSFA).
• Defensively, linebacker Riley Schussler is tied for the conference lead in tackles, with an average of 13.7 stops per game. He's also in a tie for 8th among league leaders in tackles for loss, with 1.5 each game.
• Mauricio Portillo cracks the MSFA top ten this week, with an average of 9.3 tackles per game. Darwin Stone, Daniel Harris, and Jarell Carter are all among the top 50 tacklers in the league.

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 3,342 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 91 receptions during his three seasons at TIU, just 27 behind Nathan Endemano's mark of 118 (2004-05). Windle also needs 732 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.

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 54-65 (.454) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 50-110 (.313) 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 -0.63, good for 12th 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.