Waverly, Iowa—The No. 3/3 Wartburg football team (12-0 overall) will host No. 5/6 UW-Whitewater (11-1) in an NCAA Playoff quarterfinal next Saturday, Dec. 2, the NCAA announced tonight. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
This marks the second-straight year the Knights have hosted a quarterfinal game. This is the third time Wartburg has been awarded the quarterfinal game, but only the second time it will be played on campus. The 1982 meeting against Bishop (Texas) was moved to the UNI Dome due to heavy snowfall. The bracket size started with eight teams that year, thus the Knights started at the quarterfinal round.
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The Series
UW-Whitewater owns the all-time series lead at 3-0, and all meetings have occurred in the NCAA Playoffs. This also marks the first trip to Waverly for the Warhawks.
Monday Press Conferences
Coach Winter
Student-athletes
Press clippings
Feature
from D3football.com
In The (D3FB) Huddle
podcast (Owen Grover interview)
Feature on
Nile McLaughlin from the Quad Cities Times.
Wartburg
Hunter Clasen has rushed for 1,406 yards and 21 touchdowns. He surpassed the 1,000 rushing yards mark for the second-straight year. Clasen has scored a rushing touchdown in 29 of his last 31 games. This streak dates back to the last five games of the 2021 season, and the only games he did not score in was at Coe in 2022 and at Bethel this season.
Nile McLaughlin has thrown for 2,942 yards and 33 touchdowns. He is 25-1 as the starting quarterback. Three receivers have over 600 yards as
Drake George has 693,
Carter Henry has 678, and
Thor Maakestad has 622. George and Makestad each have seven TDs.
Owen Grover leads the defense with 95 total tackles.
Jordan Downing has a team-high 13.5 TFLs and 10.0 sacks.
Cael O'Neill is 58-61 in PATs and has made five field goals.
Career Record Watch
Clasen is second in total TDs (56) and points (336), all purpose yards (5,495) and rushing TDs (52), third in rushing yards (3,839) and eighth in kick return yards (908).
McLaughlin is third in passing TDs (63), fifth in pass completions (505) and sixth in passing yards (6,421).
Cael O'Neill is third in field goals (23) and fifth in PATs (118).
Drake George is sixth in pass receptions (138), and ninth in pass reception yards (1,734) and pass reception TDs (17).
Ben Bryant is first in punt return yards (862) and fifth in punt returns (61).
Rochford is tied for first in interception return TDs (4). Grover is first in total tackles (346), third in assisted tackles (157), and fourth in solo tackles (189).
Downing is first in sacks (30.5), second in fumbles forced (5), and eighth in TFLS (46.0).
Season Record Watch
Clasen is tied for second in rushing TDs (21), third in points (138) and total TDs (23), and fifth in rushing yards (1,406).
McLaughlin is third in passing TDs (33), fifth in completions (220), and sixth in passing yards (2,942).
O'Neill is third in PATs (58).
Kanan Morris is tied for sixth in fumble returns (2).
Rochford is first in interception return TDs (3) and tied for second in INTs (7). Downing and
Justin Grieff are tied for sixth in forced fumbles (2). Grieff is also eighth in quarterback hurries (7) and Downing is tied for eighth in sacks (10.0).
Ben Parker is tied for fourth in blocked kicks (2).
On the season team lists, this squad is tied for first in pick-sixs (4), tied for second in pass breakups (62), tied for third in fumble returns (7) and points (522), third in quarterback hurries (27) and PATs (64), tied for fourth in punt return TDs (2) and blocked kicks (5), fourth in TDs (73) and passing TDs (34), fifth in completions (233), sixth in passing yards and pass reception yards (3,111), tied for sixth in rushing TDs (32), seventh in pass receptions (233), and 10th in punt return yards (407) and rushing yards (2,450).
National Stat Rankings
The Knights rank in the top 50 of 22 different national statistics. They are tied for 1
st in winning percentage (1.000), 1
st in rushing defense (35.3), 2
nd in defensive touchdowns (5), 4
th in passes intercepted (21), 5
th in scoring defense (10.2), 8
th in turnovers gained (28), 9
th in sacks allowed (0.67), 12
th in scoring offense (43.5), 12
th in total defense (244.9), 15
th in first downs offense (269), 16
th in blocked punts (3), 21
st in total offense (463.4), 23
rd in team passing efficiency defense (101.62), 24
th in punt return defense (3.11), 29
th in third down conversion percentage (0.484), 30
th in rushing offense (204.2), 30
th in blocked kicks (5), 32
nd in team passing efficiency (158.63), 39
th in first downs defense (164), 39
th in third down conversion percentage defense (0.321) and 41
st in fourth down conversion percentage defense (0.357).
Individually, the Knights have 10 players ranking in the top 100 of various national statistics.
Hunter Clasen is 4
th in rushing touchdowns (21), 4
th in total points scored (138), 4
th in total touchdowns (23), 6
th in rushing yards (1,406), 9
th in scoring (11.5), 14
th in rushing yards per game (117.2), 23
rd in all purpose yards (139.08), 24
th in rush yards per carry (6.28) and 80
th in points responsible for (138).
Nile McLaughlin is 13
th in passing touchdowns (33), 16
th in passing yards (2,942), 18
th in points responsible for (210), 31
st in passing efficiency (160.0), 36
th in points responsible for per game (17.5), 43
rd in pass yards per attempt (8.41), 48
th in passing yards per game (245.2), 58
th in completion percentage (0.629), 58
th in completions per game (18.33), 62
nd passing yards per completion (13.37) and 68
th in total offense (244.8).
Ben Parker is 23
rd in blocked kicks (2).
Kanan Morris is 32
nd in fumbles recovered (2).
Parker Rochford is 14
th in interceptions per game (0.6) and 29
th in passes defended (1.3).
Blake Janssen is tied for 10
th in punt return touchdowns (1).
Jagger Schmitt is tied for 10
th in punt return touchdowns (1).
Jordan Downing is 33
rd in sacks (0.83).
Thor Maakestad is 17
th in yards per reception (20.06).
Carter Henry is 84
th in yards per reception (16.95).
UW-Whitewater
The Warhawks enter the week on a seven-game winning streak. This is the first time since 2019 UWW has been on the road for the quarterfinals.
Tamir Thomas has rushed for 1,372 yards and 16 TDs. Quarterback Alec Ogden has thrown for 1,983 yards and 19 scores. His top receiver has been Tommy Coates with 642 yards on 53 catches for eight TDs.
Joey Antonietti leads the defense with 90 tackles and Matt Burba has a team-best 8.0 TFLs.
