This Week: Notre Dame College football meets Alderson Broaddus University, on Mueller Field, to close out the regular season. The Falcons' seniors will be honored before the contest and Notre Dame will be attempting to win a share of their fourth Mountain East Conference Championship in a row. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Nov. 13.

Mountain East Conference Standings: Frostburg State won on Thursday night, 56-3, over West Liberty. That moved their record to 9-1 in conference play, and allowed them to clinch a share of the MEC title. If NDC defeats Alderson Broaddus on Saturday, the Falcons will be co-champions, as the MEC does not break ties to determine a champion. It would be the first time in MEC history that two football teams tied for first. If Notre Dame wins, it would also be the first time that a team in the MEC won a share of four consecutive titles.

Senior Day: The NDC football program will honor their season prior to the game. The majority of the class has been with the program since 2017 and in that time the Falcons have totaled 47 wins, or a .870 win percentage, which includes four NCAA Division II Playoff wins. On Mueller Field, the senior class has won 25 times in front of the home crowd over the past five season, which includes last spring.

Records: Notre Dame enters the week with a 9-1 (8-1 MEC) record after a dominant 45-7 victory over UNC Pembroke. Alderson Broaddus has a record of 1-9 (1-8 MEC) following a 23-10 loss against Concord.

Coaches Corner: Mickey Mental is in his second season as head coach of the NDC football program. He has a 14-1 (12-1 MEC) record. Travis Everhart is also in his second season at Alderson Broaddus. Under Everhart, the Battlers have gone 1-13 (1-12 MEC).

Rankings: In the latest polls, Notre Dame is ranked No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25 and No. 11 in the D2Football.com top 25. This will be the 31st consecutive week that NDC is featured in a Division II National Poll. In the third regional rankings of 2021, Notre Dame moved up to No. 3 in Super Region One. The top seven teams in each region earn a bid to the NCAA D2 Playoffs.

Series History: Notre Dame and Alderson Broaddus met for the first time in the spring 2021 season. In the final regular season game of the shortened season, Notre Dame scored 69 points, their second highest scoring output of the spring, and won by a score of 69-10. The Falcons got on the board first with a Chris Brimm rushing touchdown, but AB quickly tied it up with a 74-yard TD run by Dymeir Still. NDC outscored the Battlers 62-3 the rest of the way, which included three passing touchdowns by Brimm, a receiving touchdown by both Devanaire Conliffe and Jeremy Hamilton and a pick-6 by Nathan Moore. Tanner Harding went 9-for-9 on extra points and hit two field goals.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame traveled to UNC Pembroke last week, which was the farthest south the program had been since 2018. With a strong wind affecting both teams, Pembroke put together a strong opening drive, going 80 yards down the field in 12 plays. Josh Jones completed five passes on the drive and UNC Pembroke took a 7-0 lead. On the next kickoff, the ball hit a wall of wind and was knocked down to the turf near NDC's 35-yard line. Pembroke recovered but then turned the ball over on downs. Notre Dame did not score until the 3:12-mark in the second quarter, but the Falcons started hitting on all cylinders. After an Idris Lawrence rushing TD, Pembroke's Jones threw a backward pass that was dropped and picked up for a touchdown by Guam Lee. Near the end of the half, Chris Brimm made the score 21-7 with a rushing touchdown. The Falcons' Davis Patterson blocked a punt and recovered it in the endzone for a touchdown. Brimm went 17-for-28 for 186 yards and a passing touchdown. Lawrence ran for 118 yards and two TDs. Devanaire Conliffe caught a season-high nine passes for 110 yards. The NDC defense allowed Pembroke to gain just 89 yards after the second quarter.

Tanner Harding now has the MEC and NDC record in field goals made (52), extra point kicks (247) and total points scored (403). Guam Lee is first in program history in total tackles (333), solo tackles (186), forced fumbles (7), fumbles recovered (8), fumble return yards (272) and fumbles returned for TD (4). He needs 13 assisted tackles to become the NDC leader in that category. Chris Brimm has 80 career pass TDs and needs two for the program lead. He is at 89 career touchdowns responsible for, and needs 11 to break the program record. Brimm is 219 yards away from becoming the all-time passing yards leader at NDC (currently at 8,372). Bryce Sheppert needs one interception (currently at 9) and one pick-six (2) to break the NDC records.

In NCAA Division II, the NDC defense now ranks second in blocked punts with four, third in takeaways with 29, third in turnover margin per game (+1.5), third in defensive touchdowns (5), fourth in fumbles recovered with 14, eighth in sacks per game (3.6), eighth in tackles for loss per game (8.6), eighth in interceptions (15), 15th in red zone defense, limiting teams to 65.5%, 19th in points allowed per game (16.8) and 23rd in rushing yards allowed per game (95.8). The offense ranks 9th in the country by allowing 0.8 sacks per game, 10th in red zone offense, converting 90.5% of the time and 13th in points per game (38.9).

Noah Harris-Lyles ranks in the top 15 in three categories. as he is third in forced fumbles per game with 0.44, eighth with 1.1 sacks per game and 12th with 1.7 tackles for loss per game. Guam Lee ranks fourth in D2 in fumbles recovered with three, fourth in tackles for loss per game with two and 23rd in sacks per game with 0.9. Antoine Holloway II is 15th in Division II with 0.5 interceptions per game and has five on the season. Chris Brimm ranks 16th in yards per pass attempt (8.65), 19th in passing efficiency (158.6), 21st in passing touchdowns (22), 22nd in points responsible for (156), 26th in passing yards (2,422) and 26th in completion percentage (62.9%). Bryce Sheppert has a kick return and a punt return touchdown this season.

Guam Lee is now seventh among active Division II players in total tackles (333), 17th in forced fumbles with seven and 18th in assisted tackles with 147. Chris Brimm is ninth in passing yards (8,372), ninth in total offensive yards (8,714), 16th in passing efficiency (146.87) and 18th in passing yards per game (199.3). Devanaire Conliffe has 40 touchdown receptions in his career, which is 11th best in the country among active players. He is also 15th with 158 receptions in his career, 19th in receiving yards per game (58.6) and 30th in points per game (5.5). Tanner Harding is tied for first among active career leaders in field goal makes, with 52, he also ranks seventh among active players in D2 with 7.5 points per game, 16th in field goals made per game with 0.96 and 18th in field goal percentage (72.2). Noah Harris-Lyles is fourth in forced fumbles with eight, 10th in total sacks, with 25 and 14th among active leaders with 1.2 tackles for loss per game. Bryce Sheppert is 23rd with nine interceptions in his career, along with sitting in 16th punt return average (11.2 yards).

Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus is coming off of two straight weeks at home, but they were outscored 68-17 by Frostburg State and Concord. Against CU last week, Alderson Broaddus allowed 20 points in the first half in a 23-10 loss. The Battlers were able to get on the board with a field goal in the first quarter and then scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter after snap went high on a Concord punt attempt and the Battlers recovered. AB totaled just 149 yards of total offense. Quarterback Jaylen McNair went 11-for-29 for 71 passing yards. His top target was Melique Jeffrey, with five catches. Theman Frazier hauled in an interception.

Alderson Broaddus leads the country with five blocked punts. On offense, the Battlers average 209.7 yards of total offense per game, but they are allowing the opposition 409 yards each game. The Battlers are scoring 12.6 points per game, which is second lowest in the conference, and are allowing 34.5 points per contest, which is second most in the MEC. They have allowed 40 sacks this season.

Jaylen McNair has played nine games at quarterback for AB. He has thrown for 1,117 yards and seven touchdowns. Robert Johnson, Melique Jeffrey and Terrance Tate have all caught three touchdowns, as AB has nine passing touchdowns on the season. Tracey White Jr. leads the team with 56 tackles.