This Week: The Notre Dame College football team travels to UVa-Wise on Saturday, November 3, for a 12 p.m. kickoff. This game wraps up the Falcons Mountain East Conference schedule. 

Records: Notre Dame College is 9-0 (9-0 MEC) after a 17-10 home win against Charleston. UVa-Wise is 3-5 (3-5 MEC). The Cavaliers are coming off a bye week after losing at Charleston 24-10 on October 20.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his third year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 26-5 (25-4 MEC). Dane Damron is also in his third season. Since taking over at UVa-Wise, Damron holds a record of 14-16 (12-16 MEC).

Rankings: Notre Dame is ranked No. 13 in the October 29 AFCA Coaches' Poll. The team moved up one spot after being ranked No. 14 the last two weeks. NDC debuted at No. 23 on September 24 before moving up to 20, 17 and then 14. The Falcons are also the top ranked team in the Super Region One for the second-straight week.

Series History: The Falcons hold a 5-0 undefeated record against the Cavaliers since joining the MEC in 2013. In their first three contests, NDC won by an average margin of over 32 points. But in the past two seasons, the games have been much closer as Notre Dame won 35-29 and 31-28 in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Noting the Falcons: After clinching the Mountain East Conference Championship last week, Notre Dame now sets its sights on remaining undefeated and holding on to their No. 1 ranking in the Atlantic Region to receive a bye in the first round of the NCAA DII Playoffs. NDC will likely stick with what has gotten them this far with a strong rushing offense and rushing defense. The Falcons are currently third in NCAA DII in rush defense (72.0 yards per game) while the offense is sixth on the ground (289.2). Notre Dame also ranks first in red zone defense (52.2 opponents scoring rate) as the team has forced multiple turnovers within the 20-yard line and caused opponents to miss field goals. NDC may rank last in its own conference in pass defense (266.8), but when opponents attempt to pass the ball they have to deal with one of the top pass rushes in the country as the Falcons rank 14th in sacks (3.11).

Noting the Cavaliers: UVa-Wise's games this season have been some of the lowest scoring contests in the Mountain East. The Cavaliers rank last in the MEC in points per game (17.4), but also rank third in points allowed per game (19.4). Wise's defense has only allowed teams to score more than 17 points twice this year while the offense has scored between 14-24 points in all but two contests. The Cavs rank first in the league in pass defense (147.6) while NDC ranks 10th in pass offense (170.4) so the Falcons may clip their wings more than usual on Saturday to try their hand at beating UVa-Wise's fifth ranked rushing defense (136.1). If not for turnovers, the Cavaliers may have seen more success this season. Wise ranks last in the MEC with a turnover margin of -12, having lost the ball 24 times this season.

By the Numbers

2.5: Sacks needed from Sha'haun Williams to tie the MEC single-season record set by Shepherd's Shaneil Jenkins in 2015. Jenkins recorded 13.5 sacks in 2015 on his way to winning MEC Defensive Player of the Year.

8.0: Points allowed per game over the past three contests by the Fal- con defense. Notre Dame allowed an average of 24.17 points per game in the first six games of the season, keeping opponents to under 20 just once. In the last three weeks, Notre Dame has allowed 14, 0, and 10.

9: Wins. With nine wins this season, NDC has tied its previous season high, which was set in Mike Jacobs's first year as the head coach in 2016. The Falcons finished 9-2 that season.

125: Rushing yards needed by Jaleel McLaughlin to break the MEC single-season record set by Concord's Calvinaugh Jones in 2014. Jones recorded 1,736 yards rushing on his way to winning the MEC Of- fensive Player of the Year.