The Wabash College football team hits the road for the first time in 2024 when the Little Giants travel to Platteville, Wisconsin, on Saturday to face the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers in a 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time contest. The game is the final non-conference contest of the regular season for the Little Giants.
BY THE NUMBERS
Wabash and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville meet for the first time. The Little Giants opened the season with a first-time opponent from Wisconsin when Wabash defeated St. Norbert College from De Pere 31-0. The Little Giants have faced schools from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in five previous contests with a 1-4 overall record. The lone victory came against UW-Stevens Point in 2018.
The Little Giants finished 1-1 in road games last season against non-conference opponents. Wabash traveled to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and defeated the host Tigers 29-28. The Little Giants played at Division I FCS Butler University the following week, losing 47-21 to the Bulldogs.
Wabash finished 4-2 overall in road games in 2023. The Little Giants picked up wins at Ohio Wesleyan (31-13), Kenyon (67-18), and Hiram (52-13) and suffered their only road conference loss in a 28-24 contest at Denison.
The last victory by a Wabash football team in the state of Wisconsin came in 1989 against Carroll University. The Little Giants won 37-20 on Oct. 28, 1989.
LAST WEEK
Wabash opened the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of its 2024 football schedule with a 30-13 Homecoming victory over Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday.
The Little Giants were outgained 343 to 130 in passing yards but held OWU to 82 rushing yards on 33 attempts. Wabash ran for 155 yards and one TD, led by Xavier Tyler with 79 yards on 16 carries. Blake White completed 10-of-17 passes for 78 yards and one touchdown before leaving the game with a shoulder injury. Brand Campbell completed his first collegiate pass attempt for a 23-yard touchdown strike to Kannon Chase to give Wabash a 20-6 lead early in the third quarter. Campbell finished 3-for-4 for 52 yards with one score and ran for 55 yards on six attempts. TJ Alexander finished with four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Tyler added four receptions for 22 yards.
Wabash limited the Battling Bishops to two scores in six trips to the red zone. The Little Giants held St. Norbert scoreless in the Green Knights’ only trip to the red zone in the season opener. Gavin Ruppert earned NCAC Defensive Athlete of the Week honors with a game-best 18 tackles. The Little Giants recorded six sacks for 42 yards and 12 tackles for losses totaling 54 yards. Avery Epstein joined Ruppert with an interception of OWU quarterback Kaden Buza. Epstein made the sixth interception of his career and returned the pick 51 yards to set up a five-yard TD run by Tyler. Four of Epstein’s six interceptions have been off passes by Buza.
SCOUTING UW-PLATTEVILLE
The Pioneers are 2-0 for the season after earning wins over Lakeland (65-0) and Dubuque (38-7). UW-Platteville received 53 votes in this week’s D3football.com poll and sits just outside the top 25 national rankings. The Pioneers moved into 23rd place in the American Football Coaches Association poll after receiving 173 total points from the voters.
Ryan Munz is in his third season as head coach at UW-Platteville with a record of 14-9 overall, including a 7-4 mark last year with a 36-10 win over Augustana in the Culver’s Isthmus Bowl to wrap up the year. His Pioneers’ squad enters the week ranked second among Division III teams in rushing defense after limiting their first two opponents to an average of minus 10.5 yards per game. Platteville held Dubuque to six total rushing yards on 19 carries after dominating Lakeland’s rushing offense with 16 tackles for losses totaling 98 yards. Lakeland finished the game with minus 27 yards rushing. The Pioneers have allowed only 3.5 points a game, seventh best among DIII teams through the season’s first two weeks.
Elijah Krantz leads the Pioneers with 12 tackles and one interception through two games. Riley Christensen has recorded three sacks for 27 yards and four tackles for losses totaling 31 yards. Harrison Meyer and Will Straka have contributed eight total tackles apiece for Platteville in its two victories.
The offense has been prolific for Platteville, as well. Quarterback Michael Priami ranks second in DIII in passing touchdowns with ten. He has completed 69.8 percent of his passes (30-of-43) for 473 yards with one interception. Garrett Stare and Ryan Doherty have three TD receptions each and over 100 receiving yards on five receptions. Zackary Bothun leads the rushing attack with an average of 97 yards a game on the ground. Alex Marre owns the Pioneers’ lone rushing touchdown this season.
