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Saginaw Valley State completes its two-game road trip with the season's longest trek to Frankfort, Kentucky, to face Kentucky State. The Cardinals and the Thorobreds both enter the game at 2-1 overall, with SVSU falling to rival Northwood, 35-28, last week and KSU bouncing back from a 34-15 loss to Southern to defeat Clark Atlanta, 30-3, on the road this past Saturday.

Last Time Out...
The Saginaw Valley State football team fell 35-28 in a tough battle at Northwood in the Axe Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (2-1) had a shot to win the game in the closing minutes, but couldn't convert a 4th-and-12 and turned the ball over on downs to the Timberwolves (2-0) to end the game.

Braden Hill had an incredible day for SVSU despite the loss. The junior wideout hauled in six catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort. Hill is the third Cardinal receiver to record a 100-yard performance this season.

Connor Wolf completed 21-of-35 passes for 351 yards and four touchdowns, marking his third straight 300-yard passing game.

JT Webber finished with one catch for 82 yards and a touchdown. Devin Miles caught three passes for 42 yards and Matt Vaughn had four grabs for 27.

Two Cardinal defenders had 12 tackles to lead the team. Carrington Pryor had eight solo stops and four assists for his career-high mark of 12. Jalen Edwards joined Pryor with 12 tackles, after having seven solo stops and five assists. Junyoung Chung, Sean Hodges, and Adom LeDuc tallied six tackles. Christian Ellison added five tackles to his stat line with his interception.

Cardinals Fly Through Three...
SVSU has a trio of receivers with 100-yard performances through the first three games.

JT Webber leads the Cardinals with 321 receiving yards. He had back-to-back 100-yard games to open the season. Webber tallied 107 yards in the season-opening win over McKendree before repeating in game two with 132 yards against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Matt Vaughn totaled 102 yards against the Bearcats in the season opener. Braden Hill recorded a team-best 135 receiving yards with three touchdowns in the game at Northwood last week. Hill is the only SVSU receiver to snag a touchdown catch in all three games for Saginaw Valley State.

1ST-AND-10
•Saginaw Valley State football enters a new era with first-year head coach Michael Engle. Engle became the eighth SVSU football coach when he was hired in January. Engle spent four years at UIndy before he joined the Cardinals.

• The Cardinals were chosen fifth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll. SVSU finished with 28 points, three points behind fourth-place Davenport.

• Defensive Lineman Adom LeDuc (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Utica Stevenson HS) was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List. LeDuc was named to the first-team defense, earning a spot among the 11 best defensive players in all of Division II college football.
 
• The Cardinals named wide receiver Braden Hill, offensive lineman Kaiden Bell, defensive lineman Adom LeDuc, and linebacker James McDonald.

• Kicker Teagen Lenderink was selected as the GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance in the season opener. He is the only Cardinal to receive a GLIAC Player of the Week award so far this season.

• SVSU leads the GLIAC in passing yards per game with a 328.3 average (7th in NCAA D2). The Cardinals are 43.3 yards ahead of second-place Roosevelt in that category and have had three-straight 300-yard passing games for the first time in recorded program history.

• Saginaw Valley State currently ranks second in the conference in points per game with 39.0. They trail league-leading Roosevelt by 9.0 points per game.

• The Cardinals' defense tops the league in rushing defense, allowing just 81.3 yards per game on the ground through the first three games of the season, a mark that ranks 17th in the nation. SVSU has surrendered 100 yards rushing just once this year (109 vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville).

• Following his three-touchdown performance at Northwood, Braden Hill now ranks third in all of NCAA D2 in touchdown catches with five. The junior from Charlotte has caught at least one touchdown in each of the first three games this season. 

• Teammate JT Webber falls sixth in the country for receiving yards with 321 total. He began the season with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games. He neared that mark against the Timberwolves with his one touchdown catch of 82 yards.

PASSING CLINIC
Connor Wolf has put on a show through the air for the Cardinals through the first three weeks of the season. The first-year transfer signal caller for SVSU has thrown for 300 yards in all three games so far. It is the first time that the Cardinals have had three 300-yard passing games in a single season since Jonathan Jennings hit that mark four times during the 2013 season.

He currently leads NCAA Division II in passing efficiency (223.0), passing TDs (11), and yards per pass attempt (13.31). He is second in passing yards per completion (20.52), third in passing yards (985) and points responsible for (66), and fifth in passing yards per game (328.3).

Wolf's accuracy has been on display since the season opener. His 261.958 passing efficiency against McKendree is the third-highest in D2 Football this season. The 82-yard touchdown pass to JT Webber against Northwood is tied for eighth-best in the country. Adding his ability to read the defense, Wolf has thrown touchdown passes to five different receivers, marking his place among the best passers in the country through the first three weeks of the season.

ABOUT THE THOROBREDS
Kentucky State enters the week with the same record as the Cardinals at 2-1. The Thorobreds celebrated a 30-3 road win over Clark Atlanta last week. 

Darius Cyprian caught two touchdowns to lead KSU in the win. Cyprian led all receivers with nine catches for 140 yards, along with touchdown receptions of 25 and 48 yards. 

Quarterback Jaun Gainous finished 18-of-29 for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Backup signal caller Denim Johnson was 6-of-7 for 52 yards and a score.

Kentucky State earned its first win, 41-14, in the season-opening game against Central State. The Thorobreds fell to Southern, 34-15, in game two before bouncing back with the win over Clark Atlanta last week.

Tristan Thomas leads the team in rushing with 203 yards on 38 carries. He has scored the team's only three rushing touchdowns this season. 

Jaun Gainous is completing 63% of his passes this season. He has 583 yards and six touchdowns, with no picks. 

Darius Cyprian leads the team with 25 catches for 315 yards and three scores. Jaden Hale has caught 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Aiyon Carter and Tristan Thomas also have a touchdown catch.

Roman Hernandez leads the Kentucky State defense with 18 tackles. Hernandez also recorded one interception and a tackle for loss. Elijah Henderson registered 17 tackles with three tackles for loss and a sack assist. Kendrick Curry has been credited with 16 tackles, three tackles for loss, and a sack assist.