This Week: Notre Dame College hosts the University of Findlay in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, October 26, at 12 p.m. on Mueller Field.

Records: Notre Dame is 7-0 (7-0 MEC) after a 51-13 home victory against Wheeling last week. Findlay is 5-2 (4-1 GMAC) after defeating Hillsdale 41-16.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his fourth year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 37-6 (33-4 MEC). In 2018, Jacobs was named MEC, Regional and National Coach of the Year. Rob Keys is in his ninth season with the Oilers and holds a 61-35.

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 6 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll released October 21. This is the Falcons second week at No. 6 after spending the first six weeks in the top five.

Series History: The Falcons first and only matchup against Findlay came in 2012, and resulted in an exciting 43-42 double-overtime win for the Oilers. Played at Findlay, the hosts got off to a 10-0 start before Notre Dame took a 14-13 lead right before halftime. The two teams traded leads five times in the second half prior to NDC tying it up 36-36 with a touchdown and two-point conversion with just 51 seconds to play to force OT. Both teams missed field goals in the first overtime. The Falcons scored first in the second overtime, but missed the extra point, which allowed Findlay to win by one point with a TD and PAT.

Noting the Falcons: After allowing opponents to gain 75 or more yards on the ground in four-straight games, and 50+ yards in five-straight contests, the Notre Dame defense got back to its run stop ways, allowing just 47 yards on 36 carries against Wheeling last week (1.3 avg). In 2018, NDC never went more than two weeks allowing 50+ yards rushing. Notre Dame is still one of the top teams in the nation in rushing defense this season, however. The Falcons currently rank 11th in rush defense with just 76.7 yards per game allowed. Findlay averaged 252.0 yards rushing per game, ranking 14th in NCAA Division II, just behind NDC at 13 with 252.6. But the Oilers have not seen a huge challenge to their run game in 2019. Findlay has played against just one team currently ranked in the top 25 in NCAA DII rushing defense. In Week 1, UF played at No. 2 Ferris State, and came close to a huge upset against the 2018 National Championship Runner-Up. The Oilers lost by just one point (24-23) after going for two and failing on a pass attempt at the end of the game. Findlay scored a touchdown with just 51 seconds to go, and instead of attempting to tie the game with a PAT kick, the Oilers went for the win and came up short. Findlay was able to gain 255 yards on the ground against Ferris State, whose average rushing yards allowed now sits at 100.0 per game. But since week one, the Oilers have not played a team in the top 75 in rushing defense and have only played three teams in the top 100, gaining over 150 yards in each contest.

Noting the Oilers: Findlay is currently on a four-game winning streak, including a big 41-16 victory against Hillsdale, who won the GMAC last season and played Notre Dame in the NCAA DII Playoffs. Findlay's victory put a halt to Hillsdale's four-game win streak, and was the first conference loss for HC in 14 games, dating back to October 14, 2017 when Hillsdale lost to Findlay. UF's win at Hillsdale was by a margin of 25 points despite the Oilers drawing a penalty seven times for 55 yards compared to Hillsdale's zero flags. Findlay has actually succeeded more this season after being penalized more than its opponent. In all five of their victories this season the Oilers have suffered from more penalties and more penalty yards, and in both the teams losses they were penalized less. Overall, in wins Findlay has earned 36 penalties for 381 yards compared to opponents 15 for 163 yards. In losses this season, UF totaled eight fouls for 60 yards compared to opponents 20 for 189 yards. Counterintuitively, Findlay has much better outcomes when committing more penalties.

Playing Keep-Away: With the threat of the NDC punt and kick returners breaking free, mainly Marvelle Ross who has had eight career return TDs to pair with over 2,000 career return yards, many teams have been kicking away from the Falcons. This often results in a squib kick on kickoffs, giving Notre Dame a shorter field to work with. Opponents may want to rethink the strategy, however, due to NDC's scoring patterns. Of Notre Dame's 55 scoring drives this season (46 TDs, 9 FGs), only seven have started inside the Notre Dame 30-yard line. NDC has not had a scoring drive that has started inside its own 20. Taking out kick, punt and interception returns, the Falcons have only scored on 28 drives started on their half of the field (and 24 when starting on the opponent's half).

Pinning Notre Dame down may be a difficult ask for opponents as the Falcons have started drives inside their own 30 just 22 times this season out of 106 possessions. NDC has began play 34 times on the opponents side of the field, scoring on 24 of those drives. But nearly half of Notre Dame's drives (50) have started between the NDC 30- and 50-yard lines. NDC has scored on 21 of those 50 possessions.

Non-Conference Foe: In his first three seasons, head coach Mike Jacobs is 4-2 against non-conference opponents, including playoff games. This is the first time NDC has scheduled a home non-conference team in Jacobs time at the helm. The Falcons last played a non-MEC regular season game on October 11, 2014 when they lost to Lake Erie. In Jacobs's first year (2016), his team won at Malone. In 2017, the Falcons lost at No. 6 Indianapolis. 2018 saw four non-conference games starting with a regular season win at Seton Hill. NDC then hosted No. 23 Hillsdale and Slippery Rock in the NCAA DII playoffs, defeating both teams before heading to No. 3 Valdosta State in the NCAA Semifinals. Notre Dame lost that game by just six points (30-24).

Homestand: This is the first time in head coach Mike Jacobs tenure that Notre Dame has played back-to-back home games in the regular season. NDC played two home games in a row last season in the NCAA DII Playoffs, defeating Hillsdale and Slippery Rock. But the Falcons have not hosted two consecutive regular season games since October 11 and 18, 2014 when the team lost to Lake Erie and upset No. 8 Shepherd.

Opening Drives: In all seven games this season, the team that starts with the ball in the first half has scored on the opening drive. The Notre Dame defense has allowed five of its seven opponents to score on opening drives in 2019. In those games, the Falcons have responded imediately on the following drive four of those five times to tie things up or take a lead of their own. In the two games in which NDC started with the ball, they drove down the field to score a touchdown. In seven games, the team beginning play in the second half has scored on opening drives just once (NDC against Charleston).

Climb the Mountain: A few Notre Dmae players are close to breaking Mountain East Conference records. Jaleel McLaughlin is just 192 yards from breaking the MEC career rushing mark of 3,890. Sha'haun Williams needs six sacks in order to break the conference's record of 40.0. And Marvelle Ross is looking to become just the second player in MEC history to break 5,000 career all-purpose yards. The wide receiver/return threat is current at 4,492.

That's Another Falcon First Down: Notre Dame running back Jaleel McLaughlin has been a first-down machine this season. Of the Falcons' 81 rushing first downs (which includes touchdowns), McLaughlin is responsible for 54. The sophomore, who leads NCAA DII in rushing, has earned a first down on 54 of his 165 rush attempts. That's nearly a third of the time (32.7 percent).

By the Numbers

6: Punts blocked by Notre Dame this season. The mark leads NCAA DII. MSU Moorhead is second with four, and no other program has more than three.

12: Straight home victories for the NDC football program. This is tied for the longest home winning streak in NCAA Division II. Valdosta State and Tarleton State each also have a streak of 12 going. Notre Dame has two home games remaining on the regular season schedule while VSU and TSU each have just one.

14: Undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division II, 13 of which are 7-0.

62: Tackles for a loss recorded by the Notre Dame defense this season. NDC ranks 12th in the country in this category, and are one of just 14 teams with more than 60 TFLs.