This Week: Week three of the 2022 season brings West Liberty University to South Euclid for a matchup on Sept. 17. 

Records: Notre Dame enters week three with a 1-1 record and a 1-0 record in the MEC. The Falcons were able to grab their first win of 2022 in the home opener against Wheeling, 27-14. Special teams came up big with a blocked punt return for a touchdown, before Chris Brimm found Napoleon Harris on a 63-yard touchdown pass, Cameron Shirkey went two-for-two on field goal attempts and Idris Lawrence ran in for NDC's final touchdown.West Liberty is off to a 2-0 start for the first time in at least 12 years, while also sitting at 1-0 in the MEC. Shon Stephens set an Mountain East Conference record last week with four interceptions as the defense set the tone. Quarterback Rudy Garcia did it all in the third quarter as West Liberty pulled ahead with 20 points in that stanza. He threw two touchdown passes and ran one in from 24 yards away.

Coaches Corner: Garrett Mack enters his first season as head coach of the Falcons. He had been on the staff the past two seasons. Roger Waialae is now in his 18th season as the head coach at West Liberty. He holds a record 90-93 (74-73 MEC).

Rankings: In the latest polls, Notre Dame is tied at No. 17 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25 and No. 25 in the D2Football.com top 25. Notre Dame has been ranked in a national poll every week since Sept. 24, 2018. This is the 35th consecutive week inside the AFCA and D2Football top 25.

Series History: Since the first meeting in 2013, Notre Dame has dominated the series against West Liberty, going 9-0. In the fall 2021, it was no different, as Notre Dame went on the road and beat WLU, 51-10. In that game, Chris Brimm had touchdown passes of 84 yards and 70 yards in the first quarter. He would break a personal career records with 449 passing yards that day, 479 yards of total offense and six total touchdowns. The NDC offense set a program mark with 687 total yards, which was also third highest in MEC history. In the spring 2021 season, Notre Dame set a program and conference record, at the time, by scoring 70 points in a 70-7 victory over the Hilltoppers. That record has been broken by the Falcons, after they scored 72 against Alderson Broaddus in the fall. The margin of victory for NDC has not been under 19 points since the 2017 meeting.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame truly had all three phases of the game working for them in a 27-14 win over Wheeling. Wendell McClain blocked the Cardinals' first punt attempt of the day, leading to a return TD by Isaiah Stephens. The NDC defense stepped up throughout the game, holding Wheeling to a 1-of-4 mark in the red zone. Early in the first quarter, Wheeling's Chris Canaday returned a kick to NDC's 6 yard line. The Cardinals were stopped at the goal line by the NDC defense. Chris Brimm then reach 100 career touchdowns as he threw a strike across the middle of the field to Napoleon Harris, who fought off defenders down the field to score. He would finish with a career-high 121 receiving yards. After a long rushing TD put Wheeling on the board, kicker Cameron Shirkey was called upon twice to kick a field goal and gave NDC a 20-7 halftime lead. Idris Lawrence ran the ball into the endzone for the second consecutive week, putting NDC on top 27-7, in the third quarter. Wheeling scored late in the contest, but could not grab its own onside kick.

Chris Brimm set two more records, last week. He became the all-time leader in NDC history with 100 total career touchdowns (91 passing, 9 rushing) and most career offensive yards responsible for (10,002). As the starting quarterback since 2018, he has played in 47 games, winning 41 of them. In recent Division II history, Minnesota Duluth's Chase Vogler owns the most victories in a career with 46. At the Division I level, Kellen Moore had 50 at Boise State. Brimm is now the career leader at NDC in passing yards (9,611), completion percentage (60), passing touchdowns (91), pass efficiency (147.2), average yards per pass (8) and yards per completion (13.4). He is also second with 1,202 pass attempts (2nd) and 719 completions (2nd). He passed Malik Grove for most total offensive yards and total touchdowns.

Brimm is now second among active career players in all of the NCAA in touchdown passes (91), third in all of the NCAA in TDs responsible for (100), second among Division II players, and fifth in all of NCAA, in passing yards (9,611), second in DII in total offense (10,002), third in TDs responsible for (100), third in pass completions (719), third in passing yards per attempt (8) and sixth in total offense per play (7.3). Nathan Moore is currently sixth in Division II with 277 total tackles, seventh in solo tackles (150) and 8th in assisted tackles (127). Jack Kosko is currently 10th in DII with 35 tackles for loss. Tavon Hooks ranks sixth with 31 career passes defended.

Although the Falcons have had some difficulties with the opponents' run game, the defense is still near the top of Division II in several categories. They have held opposing offenses to 50-percent success rate in the red zone, which is 11th in the country, a passing efficiency of 81.1, which ranks 13th, and the Falcons are allowing opponents to throw the ball for just 126.5 yards per game, ranking 23rd among D2 teams. Nathan Moore is tied for 12th in the country with 14 solo tackles, and tied for 25th with 20 total tackles. On special teams, Antoine Holloway II is averaging 12 yards per return, which is tied for 12th in the nation.

Noting the Hilltoppers: The Hilltoppers are 2-0 to begin the season and have scored 25.5 points per game. They have more interceptions (7) than the offense has touchdowns (5). The WLU defense leads the country in interceptions as well as holding opponents' pass efficiency to 56.7. They also rank 11th in red zone defense, holding opponents to 50-percent. Shon Stephens leads Division II with seven passes defended and six interceptions. He has returned two interceptions for TDs. Last week, against Alderson Broaddus, QBs Rudy Garcia went 11-14 with 122 passing yards, while Jamie Divens went 9-16, for 99 passing yards. Eleven different receivers caught at least one pass.