GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Hawks, Panthers Meet Saturday at The Rock

Ohio Dominican University Panthers (4-3) at Quincy University Hawks (2-4)
Oct. 24, 2015 | 1 p.m.
Quincy, IL | QU Stadium

NONCONFERENCE TIME: The Quincy University football team gets respite this week from its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule, but it comes in the form of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power Ohio Dominican. The Panthers advanced to the national quarterfinal last season and were ranked No. 4 by the Sporting News this preseason. The school, based in Columbus, is 25-6 in its last three seasons.

AGAINST THE GLIAC: The Hawks have not fared well against GLIAC schools since moving up to Division II in 2012. QU has not won in four meetings with GLIAC teams in that time, including a 31-14 defeat at Northern Michigan in the season opener on Sept. 12.

SERIES WITH THE PANTHERS: This the third all-time meeting between the Hawks and Panthers. The programs met in the 2004 and 2005 seasons when both were in the NAIA ranks. The Hawks won, 49-39, in Columbus in the first meeting and also won the second game, 24-14 at QU Stadium on Oct. 22, 2005 – just over 10 years to the day of today's matchup.

THE ODU PROFILE: The Panthers, playing in their third straight road game, are 4-3 on the season and are coming off a 38-17 defeat to No. 4 Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich. That game followed a three-game winning streak that saw the Panthers defeat Walsh, Lake Erie and Hillsdale. Ohio Dominican has scored the same number of points it has allowed (225), ranking sixth in the 15-team GLIAC in scoring and seventh in scoring defense. Sophomore Grant Russell leads a passing attack that averages 231 yards per game. He has 11 touchdowns against five interceptions. Three receivers have at least 30 catches, led by Dez Stewart's 35 receptions and 411 yards. Darryl Johnson averages 4.8 yards per carry on the ground with a team-high five touchdowns. The Panthers are strong in special teams. All-American place kicker Brent Wahle is 10-for-11 on field goals this season with a long of 52 yards. He holds every kicking record at ODU. The Panthers are plus-5 in turnover margin, averaging two takeaways per game.

OH, SO CLOSE: The Hawks went on the road last week and hung with three-time defending GLVC champion Indianapolis, but the Greyhounds ran out the clock on a 26-20 decision at Key Stadium. The Hawks came within a score with 4:38 remaining, but the defense was unable to come up with a final stop to give the offense one last chance. QU led 7-3 in the first quarter before the 'Hounds scored the next three touchdowns to take a 23-7 lead. QU would add a touchdown just before halftime before the defense allowed just three points in the second half to keep the Hawks in the game.

DEFENSE HOLDS: The QU defense, led by the secondary, put up a terrific performance against a lethal UIndy passing attack. The Hawks allowed just 176 yards through the air, intercepting Connor Barthel once and kept reigning GLVC Offensive Player of the Year Reece Horn out of the end zone. QU surrendered a season-low 378 yards of total offense. The Hawks also posted two defensive stands inside their own 5-yard line, forcing UIndy to kick field goals.

TURNOVERS: The Hawks have won the turnover battle in each of their last three games and are plus-1 on the season in turnover margin. The Hawks forced three UIndy turnovers last week and were plus-1 on the day.

POINDEXTER'S TDs: Junior receiver Eric Poindexter is putting up a remarkable season as quarterback Nick Lonergan's favorite target. Poindexter ranks 10th in the nation and leads the GLVC in receiving touchdowns (eight). He is second in the league and 12th nationally with 102 receiving yards per game. Poindexter has caught two touchdowns in each of the last three games and has a TD catch in each of his last five contests. He already ranks sixth on QU's all-time list with 14 career touchdown receptions.

EFFICIENT LONERGAN: Lonergan rates as the eighth-most efficient quarterback in Division II entering this week's play. The fifth-year senior owns every career passing record in QU history, including completions (572), attempts (1,006), yards (7,642), touchdowns (54) and completion percentage (56.9). Lonergan leads the GLVC in passing yards per completion (15.0). Last week against UIndy, the Jacksonville, Ill. native was 14-23 for 131 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He has thrown just eight picks in 17 games since the start of last season.

THIRD DOWN TROUBLES: The QU defense has found most of its problems on third downs this season. Opposing teams have converted a GLVC-high 53.3 percent (40-75) of their third downs. That percentage has allowed opponents to run, on average, 11 more plays than the Hawks per game. Last week, UIndy was 4-for-9 on third downs, but QU ran more plays, 70-62 – the Hawks' best margin of the season.

DEFENSIVE LEADER: Redshirt-freshman T.J. Daniels leads the Hawks and ranks sixth in the GLVC in tackles per game (9.2; 56 total). He also has four pass breakups and an interception.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The Hawks, in the season of their return to QU Stadium, have been chosen by the NCAA and the American Sports Network to have their Halloween game against visiting Truman State to broadcast live on national television. Kickoff for the game will now be at 11 a.m. to accommodate the TV schedule. The game will air on select Sinclair Broadcast Group syndicates across the country and will be offered to many regional sports networks. It has the potential to be seen in 94 million homes. The game will air locally on KHQA-TV 7.

GLVCSN: The athletic communications office is pleased to announce that each home game (except Halloween) will be broadcast live on the GLVC Sports Network at QUHawks.com/watch.

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Players Mentioned

#54 T.J. Daniels: LB; 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

#5 Nick Lonergan: QB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#13 Eric Poindexter: WR; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#54 T.J. Daniels
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman
: LB

#5 Nick Lonergan
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: QB

#13 Eric Poindexter
: 5' 11"; Junior
: WR

Players Mentioned

#54 T.J. Daniels

#5 Nick Lonergan

#13 Eric Poindexter

Players Mentioned

#54 T.J. Daniels

#5 Nick Lonergan

#13 Eric Poindexter