This Week: The Notre Dame College football team travels to Valdosta State for a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, December 8. The NCAA Division II Semifinal contest will determine who advances to the National Championship next week. 

Records: Notre Dame College is 13-0 after completing a perfect 11-0 regular season and defeating Hillsdale in the Second Round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs 19-14 and Slippery Rock 21-17 in the Quarterfinals. Valdosta State is also perfect after a 10-0 regular season. They beat Lenoir-Rhyne 61-21 in the Quarterfinals.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his third year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 30-5 and is 2-0 in the NCAA Playoffs. Kerwin Bell is also in his third season at the helm of the Vadosta State team. During his time with the Blazers, he is 25-7 with a 2-1 record in the NCAA Playoffs.

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 11 in the final AFCA Coaches' Poll release November 12. The team moved up two spots after being ranked No. 13 the previous week. NDC debuted at No. 23 on September 24 before moving up to 20, 17, 14, 14, and 13. Valdosta State was the third-ranked team in the poll and received one first-place vote.

Series History: This is the first game in which these teams will meet.

Falcons Road to Semifinals: Notre Dame started its season off with a 35-33 upset against the reigning Mountain East Conference Champions, No. 16 Shepherd. The upset win jump started NDC's undefeated regular season on its way to becoming just the third team in MEC history to win the conference title. The Falcons won multiple shootouts in the first half of the season, with exciting wins against West Virginia State (33-31) and Fairmont State (24-21). After defeating FSU, who would later finish second in the conference, Notre Dame would go on a role defensively, holding opponents to an average 9.8 points per game in its final five regular-season games. The Falcons have also establish themselves as comeback artists, winning four games after trailing at halftime and four after trailing to start the fourth quarter. NDC was the top-ranked team in each of the regional rankings that came out throughout the end of the season before earning the top seed and first-round bye when the NCAA announced the field. In the Second Round, NDC got off to a 10-0 start before giving up 14-straight points in the third quarter to trail by four heading into the final 15 minutes. The Falcons scored nine points in less than three minutes to end the game and win 19-14. Notre Dame also trailed in its Quarterfinal game, but not for long. The Falcons gave up a field goal in the first quarter to go down 3-0, but scored a touchdown less than three minutes later. NDC went up 21-10 before halftime and won 21-17.

Jacobs In Playoffs: During head coach Mike Jacobs's six years as an assistant coach at California University of Pennsylvania, he went 6-4 in the playoffs. As a head coach he is now 2-0 in his first postseason appearance with the Falcons. While at Cal. Pa., he lost both of his Semifinal games to the eventual National Champions; in 2008 to Minnesota-Duluth and in 2009 to Northwest Missouri State.

Second Half Opening Drives: Notre Dame has won the pregame coin toss nine times this season and chosen to defer to the second half eight of those nine times. Overall, due to Concord electing to receive in the first half in Week 4, the Falcons have started off with the ball in the third quarter nine times. NDC has scored on six of those nine second-half opening drives. Of the nine times opponents have started the first half receiving a kick, the Notre Dame defense has held its ground to not allow any points on opening drives in the first quarter.

Red Hot Red Zone Defense: Notre Dame finished the season as the top-ranked red-zone defense in the nation, stopping opponents on half of all attempts inside the 20-yard line. The Falcons stopped offenses 15 times on 30 attempts throughout the year. The defense stopped teams six times on missed field goals, four times with interceptions, three times forcing fumbles and twice on downs in the regular season. NDC kept this going in its first playoff game against Hillsdale, stopping the Chargers on three of their four red zone attempts. Hillsdale lost two fumbles on the one-yard line in the contest and ran out of time in the fourth quarter on their third attempt. Slippery Rock, however, scored on all three red-zone attempts in the Quarterfinals. Overall, the Falcons have allowed opponents to score on 19 of 37 attempts inside the 20.

Playoff History: This is the first NCAA postseason appearance for the Notre Dame football program, but it is the 16th for Valdosta State. The Blazers have made the playoffs six times since 2010 and 14 times since 2000. In 2004, 2007 and 2012, Valdosta State won the NCAA Division II Championship. Overall, VSU is 24-12 in the postseason.

Dynamic Duo: Junior wide receiver Marvelle Ross and freshman running back Jaleel McLaughlin have combined for 4,314 all-purpose yards this season to set a new NCAA Division II record for most all-purpose yards gained by two teammates. McLaughlin set a new Notre Dame College and Mountain East Conference record in rushing this year as the first player to break 2,000 yards with 2,246 so far this season. Ross became just the second individual to break 1,000 yards receiving as he currently has 1,125 yards through the air this season. The two are also the team's primary returners and have totaled 450 yards on kick returns together while Ross has managed 390 yards on punt returns.

Both have played well in the playoffs this postseason with McLaughlin eclipsing 150 yards rushing and Ross breaking the 100-yard mark receiving in both games. McLaughlin has totaled 363 rushing yards (191 vs. Hillsdale; 172 vs. Slippery Rock) while Ross has recorded 220 receiving yards (108 vs. Hillsdale; 112 vs. Slippery Rock).

Settling the Score: Valdosta State is the highest scoring team in NCAA Division II this season, averaging 54.1 points per game this year, but the Notre Dame scoring defense is one of the best in the country. NDC is ranked 13th is scoring defense in Division II, allowing just 17.2 points per game. The Falcons shifted in midseason to become one of the best teams at stopping the score as they haven't allowed more than 17 points in their last seven games. Over that sevengame span, the Notre Dame defense has allowed just 11.7 points per game. The Blazers have yet to be held below 44 points this year and have scored over 60 in each of their playoff games.

Notre Dame has also had a decent go at getting the ball in the end zone this year as the Falcons rank 39th in DII with 33.1 points per game. And the VSU defense has done its fair share as well, ranking 34th in DII with 20.4 points per game allowed.

Going the Distance: There are 744.04 miles separating Notre Dame College and Valdosta State University; it increases to 940.7 miles if your driving. That's the farthest the Falcons have traveled since joining the NCAA Division II ranks prior to the 2012 season. Since becoming DII members, NDC has only played in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The furthest Notre Dame has traveled in its first seven seasons is to it's conference opponent, The University of Virginia's College at Wise, in Wise, Va., which is 318.7 miles away, or 401.7 miles driving. In 2011, during NDC's transition year between NAIA and NCAA, the Falcons went to Ave Maria University to play in Naples, Fla., which is 1,062.9 miles away, or 1,246.4 driving.

All-American: True freshman running back, Jaleel McLaughlin, was been named a First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association on Wednesday, December 5. McLaughlin, a Harlon Hill finalist, is the first player at Notre Dame College to receive an All-American honor from the AFCA. He was one of only two freshman on the list. McLaughin has earned multiple honors this season as the Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. He was named Regional Offensive Player of the Year by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.

Super Region 1 in Semis: Since NCAA Division II went away from its directional Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest regions prior to the 2008 season to give way to the Super Regions, Super Region 1 is 2-8 in semifinal play. From 2008-11, Super Region 1 lost all four of its semifinal appearances before Winston-Salem State broke the drought in 2012 with a 41-18 win over Texas A&M. Shepherd's 34-32 victory over Grand Valley State in 2015 is the only other win for the region. Valdosta has only played one Super Region 1 team in the playoffs, defeating Winston-Salem State 35-7 in the 2012 National Championship game.

By the Numbers

19.0: Sacks recorded by defensive linemna Sha'haun Williams this sea- son. That mark is currently seventh in NCAA DII single-season history. He is a half sack away from being tied for third and two sacks away from Matt Judon's 21.0 sacks record set in 2015 at Grand Valley State.

27: Passes broken up by defensive back Jeffrey Thomas this season. That mark is currently second in NCAA DII single-season history. He need just one pass break up to tie Anthony Cook's 2001 record of 28 set at Fairmont State.

28: Passes defended up by defensive back Jeffrey Thomas this season (27 PBU, 1 INT). This mark is currently tied for fifth in NCAA DII single-sea- son history. The record of 32 is currenlty held by Anthony Cook.

2,246: Rushing yards gained by Jaleel McLaughlin this season. That mark is currently ninth in the NCAA DII single-season record book. He is 36 yards away from being top five. Jerry Seymour from Glenville State is currently fifth with 2,282 yards recorded in 2008.