Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney football team hosts two-time defending national champion Northwest Missouri State this Saturday at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. with Saturday being UNK's "Homecoming." An extended 25-minute halftime will feature the 2017 inductees into the UNK Athletic Hall of Fame. Finally, the Lopers will wear "Gold" jerseys (with Blue lettering and numbers) for the first time since the early 1970's. 

The tilt, just the 14th all-time meeting between the Lopers and Bearcats, will are live on The River 93.1 FM and The MIAA Network through News Channel Nebraska (NCN). Finally, live stats will be available. This game will be sponsored by Cunningham's Journal.

The 2017 Bearcats, ranked No. 1 in the nation, are led by first-year head coach Rich Wright, who previously served as the program's defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He replaced Adam Dorrel in December 2017; Dorrel is now head coach at FCS-member Abilene Christian (Texas) with his offensive coordinator being former Loper head man Josh Lamberson.

Northwest has reeled of 32 consecutive wins, tying for the third longest streak in Division II history. With another win, they'll trail only Michigan's Grand Valley State (40/2005-07) and Hillsdale College (34/1954-57).

The 'Cats last loss was a 25-21 road setback to Minnesota-Duluth in the 2014 playoffs. They haven't dropped a regular season game -- 28 wins in a row – since a 35-17 home setback to rival Pittsburg State on October 18, 2014.

Despite heavy graduation losses, Northwest rolled past then-No. 4 Emporia State, 34-0, in the season opener and held off Washburn, 20-14, on the road last Thursday. That was the closest game in "The Streak"; the average score has been 42-12 with just four games decided by 14 points or less.

UNK has dropped five straight to the 'Cats, dating back to a wild 45-42 home win in the 1990 season finale. Last year in Maryville, NW scored 21 points in the final two minutes of the first half to open up a 38-7 lead. They went on to win 52-14.

Senior Zach Martin, an Iowa Western transfer and Omaha North graduate, is the new quarterback. The 6-3, 205 pound senior went 6 of 7 last year as one of three backups to Kyle Zimmerman. He currently is 48 of 66 (73%) for 552 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. During the winning streak, NW's QB's have 77 TD's to 10 INT's.
 
Junior receiver Shawn Bane Jr. (eight recep., 145 yds., two TD's), senior receiver Shane Williams (15 recep., 125 yds.) and senior back Jordan Grove (12 recep., 147 yds.) were all among NW's 2016 reception leaders. Grove earned first-team All-MIAA honors with Bane Jr. on the second-team. He also was the 2015 MIAA Freshman of the Year and had two long scoring grabs vs. the Lopers last fall.
 
Senior Cameron Wilcox (5-10, 207 lbs.) has team-highs in carries (38), yards (149) and TD's (two). He had 13 TD's and 654 yards last fall as the backup to Phil Jackson II (921 yards and 11 TD's). Right tackle Ryan Huff (6-4, 278 lbs.) is the lone senior up front and one of three Nebraskans on the o-line two-deep.
 
Despite losing its top six tacklers, Northwest is allowing just 7.0 points and 232 yards per game. In 2016, the 'Cats were at 12 points and 241 yards per game. During the win streak, only six teams have cracked 20 points.
 

Behind a currently beat up defensive line, Northwest has held the opposition to a 17% (4 of 23) conversion rate on third down. Teams are also completing just 44% (24 of 54) of its passes.
 
Junior linebacker Ben Althoff (6-1, 220 lbs.) has made a team-best 15 tackles with junior end Ben Askew (6-5, 248 lbs.) at a team-best 3.0 tackles for loss. In the secondary, senior corner Marcus Jones (6-0, 178 lbs.) had a team-best four pass breakups.
 
On special teams, All-American kicker Simon Mathiesen (18 of 21 field goals and 88 of 89 PAT's) was lost to graduation. Junior Brett Garner is the new starter and has made three of five goal tries (long of 29 yards) and is 5 for 5 on PAT's
 
Northwest doesn't punt often but junior Matt Thorman has a healthy 44.2 yard average. He also has seen four of his boots land inside the 20-yard line. He averaged 37.9 yards per kick last fall with an MIAA-best 19 landing in the red zone.
 
Next, Bane Jr. is a dangerous and experienced punt and kick returner as is Grove on the kick return unit. Finally, NW blocked 13 punt/kicks last fall and returned a blocked field goal vs. Emporia 69 yards for a score this year.
 
Not surprisingly, UNK's (updated 2-deep) option-based offense enters the third week of the season tied for the MIAA lead in rushing attempts (87). Sophomores Thomas Russell (35) and Steve Worthing (32) rank second and third, respectively, in the league in carries.
 
Russell scored both Loper TD's last week and now has four career scores in 77 touches. Worthing has 115 career carries and has UNK's three longest runs (18, 20 and 21 yadrs) of the young season. He has reached the end zone just one time on the ground, a two-yard scamper last October at Northeastern State.
 
In the air, Worthing has been very efficient, completing 62% of his passes while throwing no interceptions. He also has completed passes to eight teammates, including four to Russell for 32 yards.
 
On the other side of the ball, a young linebacker corps (nine players) has amassed 58 tackles over the first two weeks. Departed tackle monster Tyke Kozeal averaged 16 tackler per game last fall.

 
Sophomore inside backers Ty Botsford (Sussex, Wisc.) and Sal Silvio (Kansas City) lead the team in tackles so far, Botsford with 14 and Silvio with 10. Botsford, in his first start, had a team-high 11 last Thursday at then-No. 15 Emporia State.
 
A young d-line has also done some good work as the Lopers lead the MIAA in rushing defense (54.0 yards per game). Mullen junior end Tye Spies (eight) and Elm Creek junior end Jake Bartling (five) have combined for 13 tackles.
 
Finally, in the back end, fifth-year senior safety George Brown (University City, Mo.) needs 14 more tackles to become the 42nd Loper since 1990 with 150 career stops. The four-year starter and co-captain has made six tackles (four solo) this fall.
 
Kearney begins a two-game road swing with a trip to Washburn next Saturday (Sept. 24).