Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney football team begins a stretch of four home games in five weeks when Washburn comes to town this Saturday (Sept. 26).

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium/Foster field with fans not in attendance able to follow along via The River 93.1/106. FM, the MIAA Network ($) or News Channel Nebraska (tape-delayed to 7 p.m.), and live stats.

Washburn, led by second-year head coach Zach Watkins, is off to a 2-1-1 (1-0) start with UNK (0-3, 0-1) looking for its first win. The Lopers have taken the last five games in the series but none by more than eight points.

Last year in Topeka, UNK was down 24-17 entering the fourth quarter but had touchdown drives of 75 and 81 yards, respectively, to move ahead by seven. The 'Bods twice had 30-yard drives but the second ended with a failed fourth down conversion. The Lopers, running for 253 yards and three TD's, followed with a first down to melt out the clock.

WU currently has one of the top passing games in the MIAA, led by senior receiver Nathan Lewis Jr. (22 recep., 390 yards, three TD's), sophomore receiver Tre Calhoun (25 recep., 318 yards, four TD's) and sophomore quarterback Logan Madden (262 ypg, eight TD's). They work behind a young line with junior Cam Robinson (44 ypg, one TD) the top back again. He ran for 71 yards (6.5 ypc) in last year's game vs. the Lopers.

For a second straight Saturday UNK will see one of the top linebackers in Division II, this time in junior J.C. Heim (44 tackles; 3.5 TFL's; 2.0 sacks; two forced fumbles). The current national and MIAA Defensive Player of the Week, he's part of a young unit that has already forced 10 fumbles and recovered seven of them. WU is giving up some yards but has a 6 of 12 red zone TD rate. Finally, running back Jaden Abongo Jr. has a 58-yard kick return to his credit.  

UNK looks to start fast after falling behind Wayne State (12-0), Chadron State (10-0) and Emporia State (16-0) over the first three weeks. The Lopers have outscored their foes 29-16 after the break but a 21% third down conversion rate has hurt chances for a complete comeback.

One reason the Blue & Gold hang around is winning the field position battle. Junior co-captain Marty Mormino (Omaha Westside) is 10th in D2 in punt average (45.9) with nearly a third of his boots traveling over 50 yards. Not to be outdone, sophomore kicker Kaden Kiernan (Kansas City) has a MIAA best five made field goals including efforts of 50 and a school record 59 yards.

On offense, sophomore back Quincey Ryker (Sargent) is at 60 yards per game with sophomore receiver Alex Parks (Overland Park, Kan.) at 11 catches for 95 yards. Finally, junior QB Devin Tate (Oxnard, Calif.) is at 166 yards of total offense per game and had a hand in three of UNK's four scores.

The Loper "D" is again one of the league's best, currently at 21 points and 331 yards per game. UNK has forced four turnovers, posts a 50% (5 of 10) red zone TD rate and limits foes to 180 passing yards per game. A balanced unit sees backer Parker Wise (Kearney) at two TFL's, end Caleb Kinkaid (North Platte) with two pass breakups and six players with at least 10 stops. That includes Wise and newcomer Kyler Lauridsen (Bennington).

UNK hosts Pittsburg State next Saturday for "Homecoming". The Gorillas (0-4) have a bye this weekend.