This Week: Notre Dame travels to West Liberty tomorrow, September 12, for a Thursday night game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Records: Notre Dame is 1-0 (1-0 MEC) after defeating Concord 33-10. West Liberty is also 1-0 (1-0 MEC) after a close 33-30 victory against Wheeling.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his fourth year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 31-6 (27-4 MEC). In 2018, Jacobs was named MEC, Regional and National Coach of the Year. Roger Waialaeis in his 15th season at West Liberty. He has an overall record of 78-78 (25-35 MEC), and his 78 wins is best among current MEC head coaches.

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 4 in the preseason AFCA Coaches' Poll released September 9. The Falcons stayed put after being ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll. West Liberty did not receive votes.

Series History: Notre Dame is a perfect 6-0 against West Liberty in a series that began in 2013. Despite an average margin of victory of 14.3 (largely due to a 55-21 win last season), the contests have been decided by one possession three times. In the last game at West Liberty, in 2017, NDC built a 24-7 lead at halftime, but was outscored 12-0 in the second half before clotting the bleed. Last season, it was Notre Dame that trailed at halftime (14-13) only to come back and outscore the Hilltoppers 42-7 in the second half. The Falcons have had great success on the ground against WLU the past two seasons with 371 yards rushing in 2017 and 464 yards last year. Jaleel McLaughlin set a program record with 340 yards rushing against West Liberty last season.

Noting the Falcons: In Notre Dame's first game of the 2019 season, the Falcons showed a style of play that many fans have become accustomed to since head coach Mike Jacobs took over in 2016. The bend-don't-break defense held Concord to a field goal on its first drive of the game after a first-and-goal at the four yard line. And the offense had many of its signature long, explosive plays. All three of the touchdowns scored by NDC came from 30, or more yards out. The first offensive drive for the Falcons went 76 yards in just two plays. Running back Jaleel McLaughlin shot out of a cannon on the first play for a 44-yard rush before Marvelle Ross had a 32-yard catch and run where he broke multiple tackles to score the first touchdown of the season. McLaughlin and Ross scored the team's second and third touchdowns as well on 30- and 52-yard runs, respectively.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty snuck out a victory in its first game of the season, scoring a touchdown with just 31 seconds left to play to win by just three points. The Hilltoppers faced off against their neighbors, Wheeling, in the Cardinals first ever NCAA DII contest. WLU is very familiar playing in close games. Nearly half of their games since 2015 (22 of 45) have been decided by seven points or fewer. In those 22 games, West Liberty has a record of 9-13. The 22 games decided by that slim of margin are the most in the MEC over that time span. Only two other schools had 20 or more regular season games decided within seven points (Fairmont State - 21, Charleston - 20), every other school had 17 or fewer of such games (Notre Dame has had 20 total games decided by a touchdown since 2015, but three of them came in the playoffs).

Thursday Night Lights: Since joining the Mountain East Conference in 2013, Notre Dame is 4-2 in Thursday night games. The Falcons have twice played Thursday night games at Fairmont State, winning 59-51 in 2015 and 24-19 in 2017.

Thirty-something: Notre Dame kicker Tanner Harding hit four field goals from 30-plus yards against Concord (32, 37, 38, 39). The four made field goals ties a program record for most in a single game. Harding made nine field goals in 2018 and has a career field goal percentage of 68.8 (22-32). His career percentage currently stands as the best in NDC career history. Harding handled punting duties in 2018, and both he and head coach Mike Jacobs said that taking that off his shoulders has made it easier to focus on putting it through the uprights. Harding is currently tied with fellow MEC kicker Justin Watts (Glenville State) for most field goals in NCAA DII this season.

Running Short: Both teams competing this week currently rank in the top 10 in rushing defense in NCAA DII. The Falcons held Concord to just 17 yards rushing while West Liberty allowed just 29 yards on the ground to Wheeling. NDC ranks seventh in Division II in yards allowed while the Hilltoppers are 10th. Notre Dame was able to subtract many of the yards gained by the Mountain Lions with five sacks. West Liberty did not record any sacks and still held Wheeling to fewer than 30 yards rushing.

Running Free: West Liberty quarterback Zach Phillips had 16 carries last week, just five fewer than running back Quincy Wimbish. Phillips was able to gain 52 yards on the ground, but also utlimately lost 34 yards for a net total of 18 yards.

Looking like a s(n)ack: The Falcon defense recorded 5.0 sacks against Concord and currently rank sixth in NCAA Division II in the category. West Libert allowed five sacks in Week 1. Only seven teams in the country allowed more sacks than the Hilltoppers in the first week.

By the Numbers

3: Teams with two players in the top 40 in the all-purpose yards rankings: Notre Dame Tarleton State and Findlay. Last season Jaleel McLaughlin and Marvelle Ross broke the NCAA DII record for most all-purpose yards combined by teammates. McLaughlin currently ranks 16th with 188 yards while Ross is 40th with 153.

3: First downs converted by Concord on 17 third-down attempts last week. NDC currently ranks sixth in DII with a .176 third-down conversion defense.

3: Tackles for a loss recorded by junior linebacker Guam Lee. Lee currently ranks 11th in NCAA DII in the category. Lee led the Falcons last week with 10 total tackles.

12: Tackles for a loss recorded by the Notre Dame defense in Week 1. The 12.0 TFLs currently ranks fifth in NCAA Division II.