This Week: Notre Dame College hosts West Virginia Wesleyan College on Saturday, October 5, at 12 p.m. for the NDC Homecoming game. 

Records: Notre Dame is 4-0 (4-0 MEC) after a 40-20 road victory at Urbana. West Virginia Wesleyan is 1-3 (1-2 MEC) after defeating Wheeling 33-19.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his fourth year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 34-6 (30-4 MEC). In 2018, Jacobs was named MEC, Regional and National Coach of the Year. Tony Testa is in his first season as a head coach after spending the last six seasons as an assistant with the Bobcats

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 5 for the third-straight week in the AFCA Coaches' Poll released September 30.

Series History: The Falcons currently hold a 5-1 record against West Virginia Wesleyan. The lone victory for the Bobcats came at Notre Dame on October 21, 2017. The upset victory by WVWC came on the back of a fourth quarter that saw 13 unanswered points from the visitors. NDC was able to get revenge in 2018 with a shutout victory at Wesleyan.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is coming off two crucial victories to go into its Homecoming weekend. The Falcons were able to defeat Fairmont State in week three after FSU was picked to finish second in the MEC. Then NDC went to Urbana as the only two undefeated teams faced off. Notre Dame returned to South Euclid as the lone survivor in the zero-loss game. The Falcons have bucked some trends early in this season. NDC scored 61 points against a Fairmont State team that had allowed just 26.0 per game prior. The Falcons then ran for 263 yards against Urbana, who previously ranked fifth in NCAA DII rush defense (32.7 per game average prior). The trends for both teams line up this week as Notre Dame is first in the MEC in both scoring average (44.2) and rushing average (266.2) while Wesleyan is eighth in both of those defensive categories (34.2 and 170.2).

Noting the Bobcats: West Virginia Wesleyan ranks in the bottom half of almost every main team stat category in the Mountain East Conference. But where the Bobcats have been successful is in turnover margin. Wesleyan is one of just four teams in the positive in turnover margin with a +2 on the season. Notre Dame is also in the positive with +3. NDC is the only team in the positive with a winning record, though. WVWC is joined by Glenville State (+5) and Fairmont State (+1) as teams in the positive in turnover margin, but with a record of .500 or worse. The Bobcats have fewer turnovers gained than NDC (10 to 7), but also have fewer turnovers lost (7 to 5). Wesleyan will need to keep things going in this area if they want to defeat Notre Dame on Saturday. Under Mike Jacobs, NDC is 20-0 when winning the turnover margin. Since 2016, the Falcons are 6-3 when losing the turnover battle and 8-3 when the numbers are tied. Overall, NDC has only lost two games in program history when coming ahead in turnovers; when not leading, the Falcons have lost 29 times.

Making Moves: Despite not being listed as a starter in either category, redshirt freshman Devin Taylor has made an impact for West Virginia Wesleyan as both a wide receiver and a kick returner. Taylor ranks sixth in the MEC in receptions per game (5.50), and his 22 catches so far this season is fourth-most in the league. Taylor has also been able to shake free on kick returns with an average of 23.5 yards per return, a mark that ranks fourth in the MEC. With 252 yards receiving and 282 yards in the return game, Taylor ranks sixth in the conference in all-purpose yards (132.8 per game).

Shutout History: Last season's 41-0 shutout at West Virginia Wesleyan was only the second shutout in NDC program history, and the first in head coach Mike Jacobs tenure. The Falcons also shutout UVa-Wise in 2015. In 2016, things were much closer with the Cavaliers as NDC won by just six points (35-29).

That'll Move the Chains: Notre Dame currently ranks third in the MEC in first downs (82) and fourth in third-down conversion percentage (41.4). Wesleyan ranks last in both of those categories with just 68 first downs and a third down conversion rate of 21.1. On the defensive end, Notre Dame leads the conference in first downs allowed by opponents (69) while WVWC ranks ninth (80). Both the Falcons and Bobcats rank in the bottom half of opponent third-down conversion. NDC is seventh with a mark of 39.1 while West Virginia Wesleyan is 10th (43.6).

Homecoming: Since Notre Dame joined the MEC in 2013, the Falcons are 4-2 in Homecoming games. When head coach Mike Jacobs took over the program in 2016, the team had lost its last two Homecoming games. Since then, the Falcons have dominated on the day of celebration. Jacobs is 3-0 in Homecoming games with an average margin of victory of 30.67 points.

Unbeaten: The previous six MEC Championships were all won by teams that went undefeated. With NDC's win against Urbana last week, the Falcons are the only unbeaten team left in the conference. While West Virginia State remains perfect in conference play, the Yellow Jackets lost in their non-conference game.

Flag Down: Both teams playing in Saturday's contest have played clean games so far in 2019. West Virginia Wesleyan's 43.3 penalty yards per game is the lowest in the MEC, and 23rd in the NCAA DII. Notre Dame, due to a heavily penalized game in Week 1, is fourth in the conference with 59.8 yards of penalties per game this year. In Week 1 against Concord, the Falcons had 121 penalty yards. Since then, NDC has marks of 40, 40 and 38 for an average if 39.3, which would rank 14th in the NCAA DII.

BY THE NUMBERS

4: Touchdowns caught by tight end Zaire Mitchell in 2019. That mark matches his four TD catches from 2018.

4: Notre Dame players ranked in the top 25 in tackles in the MEC this season. Frostburg State is the only other squad with four players in the top 25 while Urbana's three is the next closest. Nathan Moore (33) currently ranks ninth, while Guam Lee (31) is 11th, Tre'von Slater (26) is 16th and Davionn Johnson (24) is 22nd.

7.7: Yards per carry averaged by Jaleel McLaughlin at Urbana last week. That is the lowest average the back has recorded all season.

33: Rushing touchdowns by Pedro Powell, who currently holds the NDC career record. Jaleel McLaughlin currently has 29.