This Week: The Notre Dame College football team earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs and will host unseeded West Chester University on Saturday, November 23, in the First Round. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. 

Records: Notre Dame is 10-1 (9-1 MEC) after a 31-14 road win, which secured the MEC Championship outright for the Falcons. West Chester is 9-2 (5-2 PSAC) after a close 20-19 home win against Cal (Pa.) after Cal went for two points with no time left to play.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his fourth year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 40-7 (36-5 MEC). In 2018, Jacobs was named MEC, Regional and National Coach of the Year. Bill Zwann is in his 17th season at the helm of the West Chester football team. Zwann has an record of 144-61 while at West Chester and is 198-75 overall as a head coach (54-14 at DIII Widener University).

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 13 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll released November 18. This is the Falcons 20th-straight week in the top 25. West Chester is ranked No. 22 in the poll. NDC earned a No. 3 seed in the Super Region 1 playoff positioning while WCU was unranked.

Series History: This is the first time the programs have matched up.

Playoff History: Last season, Notre Dame qualified for the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in program history. The Falcons earned the No. 1 seed in 2018, giving them a first-round bye. NDC went on to defeat Hillsdale (19-14) and Slippery Rock (21-17) to win the region before falling at Valdosta State (30-24) in the NCAA Semifinals. Head Coach Mike Jacobs is 2-1 in the postseason. West Chester has made the NCAA DII Playoffs 13 times, making its first appearance in 1988. The Golden Rams are 10-13 in the playoffs, but have had some impressive runs. Under Bill Zwann, WCU has made the playoffs nine times, going 10-9. In 2004, West Chester won three games before losing in the NCAA Semifinals to Valdosta State. West Chester made the semifnals again in 2013, winning three games before a loss to Lenoir Rhyne. Over the years, West Chester has lost in the opening round seven times, but have only been ousted in the first round three times since Zwann took over (out of 10 appearances), including last season when the Golden Rams lost to New Haven 35-28. WCU is 1-1 against MEC teams in the postseason while NDC is 1-0 against PSAC schools.

Noting the Golden Rams: West Chester has relied heavily on its defense this season, as WCU ranks 20th in NCAA DII in points allowed per game (16.8). The Golden Ram defense played a solid game, keeping averaged low, but has also had flashes of excitement with 25 takeaways, which ranks 16th in DII. West Chester has allowed just 3.7 yards per carry and has stifled opponents' passing game by allowing just 49.12 percent of passes to be completed. Only one other team in the PSAC (Indiana (Pa.)) has held opponents' passing percentage under 50.0 while no team in the MEC has held teams under 53 percent. Along with the defense, West Chester's punting has provided fantastic field possition for the Golden Rams. George Lambritsios ranks third in Division II with a punt average of 44.10 yards. This field possitioning has allowed the WCU offense some success. Of their 51 offensive drives that resulted in a touchdown or field goal, 28 of those drives totaled less than 60 yards. On average, an offensive drive that resulted in scoring was a drive of 56.3 yards.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame certainly has an offense that can match up against West Chester's defense. The Falcons rank 15th in points scored per game (41.2) as one of just 18 teams that average over 40 points per game. West Chester has played just two teams that have averaged over 35.0 points per game this season. The Golden Rams are 0-2 in those games.

By the Thousands: Sophomore running back, Jaleel McLaughlin is just 18 rushing yards shy of back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons. With 1,982 rushing yards so far this year, McLaughlin leads the NCAA DII by 204 yards. If McLaughlin can gain 18 yards through the remainder of the season, he will become just the second player in NCAA DII history to rush for back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons. The only other player at the DII level to rush for 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons is Franklyn Quiteh, who did it in 2012 and 2013 at Bloomsburg. There are only three players in NCAA DII history to run for 2,000 yards in multiple seasons: Quiteh, Joique Bell (Wayne State (Mich.), 2006, 2009), and Brian Shay (Emporia State, 1996, 1998). There are only six players in NCAA history, at all levels to rush for over 2,000 in back-to-back years.

Back-to-back 2,000 Yard Rushers
FCS - Troy Davis (Iowa State, 1995,1996)
FBS - Charles Roberts (Sacramento State, 1998,1999)
FBS - Zach Zenner (South Dakota State, 2012, 2013, 2014)
DII - Franklyn Quiteh (Bloomsburg, 2012, 2013)
DIII - R.J. Bowers (Grove City, 1998, 1999)
DIII - Levell Coppage (Wisconsin Whitewater, 2009, 2010, 2011)

Coppage and Zenner are the only NCAA players to record 2,000 yards in three seasons at any level.

Return of the Sack: After sitting out in Weeks 9 and 10, defensive lineman Sha'haun Williams was able to make his presence felt in his return last week at West Virginia State. The senior from Youngstown, Ohio totaled seven tackles, including six solo stops, as well as two tackles for a loss and one sack. With 38.0 career sacks, he is just two away from tying the Mountain East Conference record of 40.0. West Chester may present Williams with an opportunity to shine as the Golden Rams have allowed 21 sacks this season (1.91 per game). WCU is one of just five teams to allow more than 20 sacks and still make the playoffs. They are the only team in Super Region 1 to allow more than 20 as Tiffin is the next closest with 16 sacks allowed. Notre Dame ranks 19th in NCAA DII with just 1.09 sacks allowed per game.

Mountain Top: Shortly after the Falcons won the Mountain East Conference Championship, the MEC announced its all-conference honors. Notre Dame earned four of the top five yearly honors as well as 18 spots for 17 different players on the All-MEC lists. Sophomore running back Jaleel McLaughlin won back-to-back MEC Offensive Player of the Year honors, earning the title for the second time in his second season. Also repeating from 2018 is head coach Mike Jacobs who was named MEC Coach of the Year for the second-straight season. NDC also won both Freshman honors, just as the team did in 2018, with offensive lineman Nick Beans named MEC Offensive Freshman of the Year and defensive back Bryce Sheppert named MEC Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Tough Competition: Due to the sprawl of the PSAC, West Chester has played a wide array of teams within its own conference this season. The Golden Rams have only played five teams that finished with a .500 or above record (compared to NDC's seven). Of those winning teams, WCU has only played three with seven or more victories (compared to NDC's six). Against teams with seven or more wins, West Chester is just 1-2, which includes a one-point victory against Cal (Pa.) to end the year after Cal went for two and missed with the clock at zero. Overall, WCU has a point differential of -24 against these three teams. Notre Dame went 5-1 against teams that finished with seven or more victories and had an average margin of victory of 12.17 in these six games (an overall point differential of +73).

Jacobs vs Zwann: Notre Dame head coach Mike Jacobs spent six seasons as a defensive lineman coach at Cal (Pa.) and during that time faced the Bill Zwann-led Golden Rams five times. During that time Cal (Pa.) went 3-2 against West Chester.

By the Numbers

3: Notre Dame special teams players earned All-MEC honors. This is the second time under head coach Mike Jacobs that NDC has earned All-MEC honors for all three special teams spots. Marvelle Ross, who was also a First Team wide receiver, was named First Team returner while punter Dominic Buttazzoni and kicker Tanner Harding were named Second Team.

104: Tackles for a loss recorded by the NDC defense. This mark ranks fifth in Division II as the Falcons are one of five teams with over 100 TFLs.

174: Points scored by running back Jaleel McLaughlin. McLaughlin leads NCAA Division II in scoring this season (29 TDs: 27 rushing, 2 receiving). He is just the 26th player in DII history to score at least 170 points in a single season, and is just the second player to do so in the past five years (Marc Jones, 186 points, Gannon, 2017).

4,973: All-purpose yards gained in Marvelle Ross's career. Ross is looking to become just the second MEC player to reach 5,000 career yards, needing just 27 to hit the milestone. McLaughlin is close as well with 4,797 career yards.