This Week: On Sept. 9, Notre Dame College football is back on Mueller Field for a Mountain East Conference matchup against West Virginia Wesleyan College. The game is set to begin at 12 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame is 1-0 after a tight battle against Ohio Dominican in the season opener. The Falcons used a 53-yard passing touchdown in the second quarter to take the lead and never gave it back. West Virginia Wesleyan will enter week two with an 0-1 record, following a 49-6 loss at the hands of Johnson C. Smith University. WVWC has not won a season opening game since 2017.

Coaches Corner: Garrett Mack enters his second season at the helm of the NDC football program. He has a record of 10-3 (9-1 MEC). Dwayne Martin is now in his third season coaching W.Va. Wesleyan, currently holding a record of 1-22 (1-19 MEC).

Rankings: NDC is receiving five votes in the week one American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25 poll.

Series History: Notre Dame has gotten the best of West Virginia Wesleyan most of the time in this matchup. The Falcons have won eight of the nine matchups since joining the Mountain East Conference in 2013. NDC has scored over 40 points in six of the games and has scored over 50 points in three of the contests. After NDC lost to the Bobcats in 2017, they have won each matchup since by an average of 39.3 points over the last four matchups.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame won its home opener for the 13th consecutive season, taking down Ohio Dominican, 23-21. Although NDC held the lead for good after a 53-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Murphy to Tyshawn Lighty with 5:57 left in the second quarter, the Panthers never let the Falcons feel comfortable. Midway through the third stanza, a 70-yard run on the first play of an ODU drive made the score 16-14. Notre Dame scored its first points of the second half when Jay Sharp ran into the endzone with 10:42 on the fourth quarter clock. Ohio Dominican, again, cut the deficit to two points, and then recovered a fumble with a minute left. The Panthers were unable to go 94 yards down the field for a score. The Falcons totaled 324 yards of total offense. Murphy threw for 225 yards in his first start and Nathan Rosario-Santos led the defense with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Cameron Shirkey made three field goals and two PATs.

"Our guys come to Notre Dame for a reason and that's to play with these expectations," head coach Garrett Mack said after the first game. "Defensively, we brought back two starters from last year's playoff team and we played pretty well. Offensively, same thing, you graduated a quarterback who was here for six years and some offensive linemen. We played three running backs, eight receivers and nine defensive linemen. I'm proud of these guys."

Noting the Bobcats: West Virginia Wesleyan scored first with a field goal last Saturday versus Johnson C. Smith, but lost momentum quickly in the 49-6 loss. On the first drive of the game, the Bobcats went 76 yards, over eight plays, including a 43-yard pass from Nathan Payne to Nathaniel Garnett. But the drive stalled and WVWC put three points on the board. Johnson C. Smith scored a touchdown, midway through the first quarter, and then added 14 points in each of the final three quarters. The Bobcats allowed 34 first downs and 479 yards of total offense. Johnson C. Smith went 9-for-11 on third down conversions. Nathaniel Garnett caught three passes for 82 yards. On the defensive side, Ely Ghameshlougy had eight tackles for WVWC and Steven Taylor added seven tackles and two tackles for loss.