Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney football team play its first Saturday game of the year this week when the 6th-ranked Missouri Western State comes to town.

The "Homecoming" game kicks off at 3:00 p.m.  Click HERE for remaining Homecoming festivities.

As usual, Loper fans can hear the KRNY 102.3 FM broadcast by going HERE. For a price, you can watch the 24th all-time meeting between UNK and MWSU by going HERE. Finally, the UNK live stats page is available HERE.

Western (2-0, 1-0) is coming off a 63-3 win over former MIAA member Missouri S & T. That same S & T squad took 21st-ranked Chadron State into double overtime on September 5th before losing 40-34.

Led by All-American QB Travis Partridge, son of head Griffon Jerry Partridge, MWSU won the 2012 MIAA title with a 12-2 mark. Advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, Western lost 14 starters off that club due to graduation.  

Those seniors included defensive end Davis Bass, a 7th round pick of the Oakland Raiders now on the Chicago Bears active roster, and running back Michael Hill, currently on the Green Bay Packers practice squad.

In last year's 38-14 over UNK in St. Joseph, Partridge went 15 of 26 for 198 yards, four TD's and no INT's. He also rushed 42 yards for a score, part of Griffon ground game that got cranked up in the second half and finished at 351 yards.

Looking to beat the Lopers for a fifth straight time, the offense also includes h.m. All-MIAA tight end Reggie Jordan (6-3, 235 lbs.) and receiver Tyron Crockom (5-11, 175 lbs.).

The backfield behind Partridge now features senior Raphael Spencer (608 yards & five TD's in 2012) and junior Dominic Thomas (283 yards & two TD's in 2012) with the new o-line featuring two seniors, a junior, a redshirt sophomore and true freshmen.
 
Seven different players had over 200 yards receiving last fall with Crockom (465 yards & seven TD's), Jordan (230 yards & 11 TD's) and senior Derek Libby (256 yards & two TD's) the returning headliners.

Returning All-MIAA selections on defense are sophomore corner Michael Jordan, the 2012 MIAA Frosh of the Year, and junior WLB Stephon Juergens.
 
Juergens -- from Kearney, Mo. -- had a team-best 95 tackles last season with Jordan having four picks for 149 return yards. Juergens is again first in stops, making 17 over the first two games.
 
Up front, junior end John Oglesby is currently second in tackles (13), including two of the team's six sacks.
 
Western does have experience in the kicking game as senior punter Scott Groner is back after averaging a healthy 41.2 yards in 2012. In the return area, the Griffons blocked a punt for a score in the win over S & T with Cockrom and Libby the top returners.  
 
Finally, senior John Schmiemeier and sophomore Taylor Anderson are the kickers. Anderson made 12 of 19 field goals last fall and was 74 of 74 on PAT's.
 
UNK, coming off a strong second half at Emporia state, hopes to welcome back senior receiver Matt Berry this Saturday.
 
The versatile Berry, with over 2,200 career all-purpose yards, has missed the first two games due to injury but looks to regain the form that helped him earn All-RMAC (2011/punt return) and All-MIAA (2012/QB) honors.
 
Getting the ball to Berry will be sophomore QB Bronson Marsh. The Millard South graduate has been involved in 70% of the team's offensive plays through two games and is coming off a near-record setting performance at Emporia.
 
Part of an offense that ran 91 plays at ESU, Marsh threw 51 passes and rushed 17 times for 92 yards. The Lopers leading ground gainer on the young season, Marsh is averaging 210 yards in the air and another 85 rushing the ball.

Defensively, UNK held the Hornets to three second half points, limiting them to only 30 yards over the last six drives.

Redshirt freshman ILB Tyke Kozeal, an eight-man player at Sargent H.S., amassed 13 tackles in the game to push his team-leading total to 21. He also has a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 2.5 for a loss of 14 yards.

Another underclassman, sophomore box safety Dillon Loschen, is at 18 tackles, including one stop behind the line of scrimmage for two yards.

Things don't get any easier for Kearney next week as they travel to Maryville, Mo., to face the 4th-ranked NW Missouri State Bearcats.