This Week: Notre Dame College football prepares for another top Mountain East Conference foe on Saturday, Oct. 9, as they battle Frostburg State on Mueller Field.

Records: Notre Dame is 4-1 this season following a 38-28 loss to Charleston. Frostburg State enters with a record of 5-0 after taking down UNC Pembroke 51-21, last Saturday.

Coaches Corner: Mickey Mental is in his second season as head coach of the NDC football program. He was awarded MEC Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to an undefeated 2020 season. He has a 9-1 (7-1 MEC) record. DeLane Fitzgerald is in his eighth season at FSU. He has a record of 57-18.

Rankings: In the latest polls, Notre Dame is ranked No. 14 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25 and No. 14 in the D2Football.com top 25. This will be the 26th consecutive week that NDC is featured in a Division II National Poll. Frostburg State entered the AFCA's D2 poll for the first time, sitting at No. 23.

Series History: NDC holds an all-time record of 2-0 against Frostburg State since the Bobcats joined the MEC in 2019. NDC went on the road and beat Frostburg 35-13 in the first matchup and last season, Chris Brimm went down with an injury, but the Falcons held on for a 25-19 win.
 
Noting the Falcons: In Notre Dame's first loss since the NCAA D2 Quarterfinals in 2019, Charleston totaled 430 yards of total offense and averaged 6.4 yards per play. NDC led 7-3 after the first quarter, but UC went into halftime leading 17-14 and would expand the lead to 10 early in the third quarter. Notre Dame cut the deficit to three points, twice, but could not regain the lead. The Golden Eagles' Tyreik McAllister was named MEC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Idris Lawrence made his first career start for NDC and ran 29 times (a season-high for any NDC running back) for 149 yards and two touchdowns. NDC struggled to get the passing game going, but Chris Brimm still distributed the ball to eight different receivers. On average this season, the Falcons use 8.4 receivers per game that haul in at least one pass. Dominic Buttazzoni punted the ball a career-high nine times.

Antoine Holloway II intercepted his fifth pass, now just one away from tying the NDC record for a season, and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. That keeps the streak alive of 10 straight games for the NDC defense with an interception.

Notre Dame's defense has now recorded a sack in 19 straight games. The last time they did not get the QB behind the line was Oct. 5, 2019 against W.Va. Wesleyan.

As a team, the NDC defense now ranks first in NCAA Division II in takeaways (18), second in passes intercepted (10), third in fumbles recovered (8), fourth in defensive touchdowns (3), fifth in turnover margin per game (+2), eighth in sacks per game (4) and ninth in tackles for loss per game (9.4). The offense is eighth in the country in red zone scoring (94.7%) and 20th in points per game (38).

Individually, Noah Harris-Lyles is first in the country in sacks per game (1.62) and tackles for loss per game (2.8) and ranks 15th in forced fumbles per game (0.5). Guam Lee ranks first in forced fumbles per game (0.8), third in total fumbles recovered (2), ninth in tackles for loss per game (2) and 12th in sacks per game (1.2). Antoine Holloway II is still averaging one interception per game, which is second best in D2. He is also 24th in passes defended per game (1.4). Xavier Perkins is also tied for third in fumbles recovered, at two. Bryce Sheppert has a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown this season, and is currently ninth in the country with an average of 30.7 yards per kickoff return.
 
Noting the FSU Bobcats: Frostburg State and UNC Pembroke were locked in a back and forth battle early last Saturday. An early touchdown pass to Malik Morris put the FSU Bobcats up 7-0, but the Braves tied the game about four minutes later. Frostburg scored late in the first and Pembroke responded with seven, early in the second quarter. However, FSU scored 37 unanswered from late second quarter to late fourth quarter. That run included a TD pass from running back Gavin Lavat, three touchdown catches by Zae Giles totaling 115 yards and a safety about a minute into the third quarter.

The Bobcats are off to their best start (5-0) since 2018. That season, FSU won 10 consecutive games, took the New Jersey Athletic Conference title and made it to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The next season, they made the jump to Division II.

In DeLane Fitzgerald's first season as head coach in 2014, FSU finished 4-6. Since then, the program has finished with a winning record over the past seven years. Excluding the spring 2021 season, Frostburg has won at least eight games every season since 2016.

Frostburg averages 35.4 points per game and allows 20.4, similar to Notre Dame, who is scoring 38 points and allowing 22.4 per game. The Frostburg defense has accumulated 24 sacks on the season, they have intercepted six passes and recovered five fumbles. Of the Bobcats' 96 first downs this season, they have ran for 51 of them. And this season, FSU has had a good mix of run and pass, with 214.6 passing yards per game and 159.6 rush yards per game.