CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University football team remains home in the middle of their three-game homestand as they welcome the Saints of Thomas More University to Finley Stadium on Saturday for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
 
The second-straight night game at Finley Stadium will air on WLCU TV – Comcast 10 as well as online on the CU Sports Network and on the radio on 88.7 The Tiger with Jim Freeman and Matt Payton set for the call.
 
TIGER CLAWZ

• The Tigers are coming off of a 23-14 home loss to Georgetown College last Saturday as CU moved to 1-4 on the season along with 0-2 in Mid-South Conference Bluegrass Division games and 0-2 at home.
• Protection was a big issue for Campbellsville against Georgetown as CU allowed 10 sacks of quarterback Talaileva Sufia for a total loss of 65 yards.
• The Tigers took leads into halftime and the third quarter for the second time this season but ended up taking their first loss of the season while holding a lead that late into a game after beating Union for their only win.
• Despite forcing multiple turnovers in a game for the first time this season, including their first interception of the season, they still lost the turnover battle after losing three fumbles and throwing an interception.
• Through the first five games of the season, the Tigers have won the time of possession battle in every one of their games this season but have struggled to consistently put points on the board, especially at home with their two home games seeing CU get shutout against Reinhardt University and only score two touchdowns in their loss to Georgetown College.

 
SERIES FACTS: IT'S BEEN A WHILE

• With Thomas More in their first season at the NAIA level after moving away from NCAA Division III, they will face off against Campbellsville for the first time in two decades with their last match-up coming in 1998.
• The Tigers and the Saints have only played twice in a home-and-home series back in 1997 and 1998 with CU taking home wins on both occasions, first by a final score of 22-19 in Campbellsville in 1997 then a road win in Crestview Hills, Ky. in 1998 with a final score of 16-10.
• The 1998 win at Thomas More came behind a dominant Campbellsville rushing attack as the Tigers ran for a total of 356 yards with two different players rushing for over 100 yards in the game in Billy Troutman (167) and Tim Mays (142). CU also intercepted Thomas More's quarterback four times in the game with Mike Blackburn finishing with two picks in the game.
• The first win in the series was a lot of the same, a strong Tiger rushing attack while forcing three interceptions from the Saints to finish off a 22-19 win in 1997.

 
SCOUTING THOMAS MORE UNIVERSITY

• It has been a bit of a roller coaster start for Thomas More in their first season in the NAIA as they sit at 2-3 after wins against St. Thomas and CCU.
• TMU's losses have come to Kentucky Christian, Cumberland University and Wisconsin-Platteville as they kept an old NCAA DIII opponent on their schedule after moving away from NCAA competition this season.
• The Saints allow just about as many points as they score per game with their offense averaging 29.2 points per game and their defense allowing an even 29.0 points per game. Their offensive balance leans more towards the passing game with a 253.2 passing yards per game average compared to 146.0 rushing yards per game.
• Quarterback Justin Post has made all of TMU's passing attempts this season, going 100-for-167 for 1266 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.
• Linebacker Peyton Van Horn is the team leader in tackles with 49 total tackles, 31 solo and 18 assisted while adding a pair of tackles for a loss of four yards.

 
GROUND GAME QUESTIONS

• What's been a strength for the Tigers so far this season, the running attack will head into the second half of the season facing a few questions following a rough game on the ground last Saturday.
• Heading into the Saturday's game CU's two leading rushers are not listed on the  active roster in David Richardson (364) and Emmanuel Johnson (128).
• Both Richardson and Johnson were the only Tiger ball carriers over 100 yards through the five games played this season with the next highest yardage total comes from quarterback Talaileva Sufia, who has 71 net yards.
• Saul Brady and Ormani Zanders will get the bulk of the carries in the backfield for CU with the pair only combining for a total of 16 carries so far this season.
• Zanders was the leading ruser for the Tigers in 2018 as he finished wth 530 yards on the ground, a majority in the second half of the season, so he will be looking for a repeat performance.

 
LOOKING FOR THAT FINISHING TOUCH

• Campbellsville has seen a lot of offensive success this season but consistency has been a bit of an issue for the Tigers on the way to their 1-4 start to the season.
• Breaking down the quarter-by-quarter scoring numbers of CU this season shows a team that has gotten off to good starts to halves, scoring 31 points in first quarters and 63 points in third quarters but their ability to finish out a half comes into question only scoring 10 points in the second quarter and 13 in the fourth.
• In their losses to Lindsey Wilson (Aug. 29) and Southeastern (Sept. 28), hot third quarters got the Tigers back to within a score of each opponent but they were only able to score a combined six points while also being outscored in the fourth quarter of those games to fall short of the full comeback.
• Third down conversions have also shown to go down as the half continues as the Tigers are over 40-percent combined in the first and third but right around 15-percent in the second and fourth quarters.

 
WOAH, WE'RE HALFWAY THERE

• CU's football season has officially hit the halfway point after their fifth game of the season against Georgetown last Saturday.
• The Tigers sitting at 1-4 through five games is their lowest win total through five games since the 2016 season.
• Despite unfavorable results, the Campbellsville quarterback situation has seemed to improve as the season has continued with Talaileva Sufia finishing the game last weekend going 21-for-29 for 199 yards, his best completion percentage and most yards in a game this season.
• Defensively the Tigers may also be finding their stride right around the halfway point of the 2019 season, allowing their fewest points in a loss against Georgetown (23) and forcing a season-high two turnovers against GC at Finley Stadium.

 
LOOKING AHEAD

• Next up for CU after this weekend will be Homecoming Saturday when the Tigers welcome in University of Pikeville to Finley Stadium for a 2:01 p.m. ET kickoff.
• Following the Homecoming game, Campbellsville will have three games remaining in 2019, two on the road and senior day at home against Cumberland University on Nov. 9.