Football 9/17/2015 10:18:00 PM Brendan Bittner

GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Hawks To Unveil QU Stadium Saturday

Lincoln University Blue Tigers (1-1, 0-0 GLVC) at Quincy University Hawks (0-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Sept. 19, 2015 | 1 p.m.
Quincy, Ill. | QU Stadium
Important Gameday Information

RADIO: ESPN 1440 WGEM-AM
LIVE STATS
WATCH: GLVC Sports Network

Quincy Game Notes (.pdf) | Lincoln Game Notes (.pdf)

#WELCOMETOTHEROCK: The Hawks make their return to QU Stadium on Saturday when they welcome Lincoln to "The Rock" for a 1 p.m. kickoff. It will be a historic day for Quincy University, which has not played at the facility since 2010. The Hawks played their home games at Quincy Public Schools' Flinn Stadium from 2011-14.

THE AMENITIES: Last December it was announced that the QU Stadium, which most recently served as a grass practice field, would be getting a $4 million upgrade. The renovations included a new sythetic turf surface installed last spring, new grandstands, a 14-by-48 foot video board with an additional scoreboard above and a new press box with five luxury suites. The stadium also includes 250 reserved "chairback" seats available between the 45-yard lines. In keeping with the limestone walls that surround the facility, throughout the season, the football program and the QU athletic department would like to welcome everyone to #TheRock.

FIRST GAME WOES: The Hawks come into Saturday's home opener looking for their first win of the season after falling at Northern Michigan, 31-14, in the lidlifter last week. That was the identical score from the teams' matchup last season at Flinn Stadium. Quincy fell behind, 17-0, early in the second quarter before regaining its footing to cut it to 17-14 after halftime. The Hawks committed a few costly mistakes, including a drive that stalled with a fumble inside the red zone in the fourth quarter that could have cut the deficit back to 24-21. Quincy was just 2-for-4 in scoring inside the red zone.

LAST TIME VS. LINCOLN: The teams played for the first time last season and Lincoln dominated all facets of the game in a 42-13 decision in Jefferson City, Mo. Morris Henderson ran for a then-GLVC record six touchdowns for the Blue Tigers, who gained 233 yards on the ground. Chris Harris ran for 100 yards in the game and scored Quincy's lone offensive touchdown in the third quarter.

LONERGAN ADDS ANOTHER: In last week's game at Northern Michigan, senior quarterback Nick Lonergan wrote his name into QU's record book yet again, becoming the program's all-time leader in pass completions with 487. He is also the program's all-time leader in passing yards (6,403), passing touchdowns (41) and completion percentage (55.9). Lonergan will make his 31st consecutive start on Saturday and has made every pass (except for one trick play in 2013) for the Hawks since his first career start on Sept. 29, 2012.

THE '300' CLUB: Saturday marked the sixth time in Lonergan's career he has thrown for 300 yards in a game. He accomplished the feat three times in 2013 and twice last season. Lonergan went 18-29 through the air for 300 yards last week. He did not throw an interception.

POINDEXTER GOES DEEP: Junior wide receiver Eric Poindexter was Lonergan's favorite target as he was for much of the 2014 season. The Newport News, Va. native caught six passes for 142 yards (23.7 yards per catch). It was the seventh time in the last two seasons he led the Hawks in receptions and the fourth time he's recorded at least 100 yards receiving. He is now just 62 receiving yards shy of 1,000 for his career.

ENJOY THE SPREAD: While Lonergan picked out Poindexter six times in the passing game, he was able to spread out his other 12 completions to a variety of receivers. Nine Hawks caught passes against the NMU defense, including three each by Kody Wood and Owen Schoenenberger.

GROUNDED GAME: Part of the reason for the Hawks' offensive struggles in the first half last week stemmed from an inability to run the ball. The Hawks garnered only two rushing yards in the first 30 minutes as the Hawks were out-gained, 214-139, overall. The running game picked up in the second half as Chris Harris churned out 55 of his 69 rushing yards in the last two quarters.

DRIVING FORWARD: The QU offense sustained drives last week of 14 plays and 11 plays, respectively – the first ending in a 16-yard weaving touchdown run by Lonergan. On the final one, the Hawks committed their only turnover of the game at the NMU 10-yard line. Quincy converted on 6-of-13 third downs, while the Wildcats were 4-for-9. NMU won the time of possession battle (31:19).

TRUE FRESHMEN: The Hawks had two true freshmen in the starting lineup last week – left tackle Devon Hickman and cornerback Christopher Parker. Parker. A third true freshman, linebacker Chymasie Malik Bighems, also played significant time. Bighems recorded six tackles while Parker added four stops.

LOOK AT LINCOLN: Lincoln will play its third game of the season this week, but its first against a Division II opponent. The Blue Tigers are 1-1 on the season with both games decided by a field goal. LU defeated Langston, 35-32, in its opener before falling to St. Francis (IL) last week, 13-10.

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

#28 Chris Harris: RB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

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

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

#88 Owen Schoenenberger: TE; 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

#25 Kody Wood: WR; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#52 Chymasie Malik Bighems: LB; 5' 11"; Freshman

#69 Devon Hickman: OL; 6' 4"; Freshman

#22 Christopher Parker: DB; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#28 Chris Harris
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: RB

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

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

#88 Owen Schoenenberger
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore
: TE

#25 Kody Wood
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: WR

#52 Chymasie Malik Bighems
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: LB

#69 Devon Hickman
: 6' 4"; Freshman
: OL

#22 Christopher Parker
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: DB