CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University football team will get back on the road for the first time in a month as they head to Williamsburg, Ky. to take on the No. 9 team in the NAIA Coaches' Poll, University of the Cumberlands for a 7 pm. ET kickoff.
 
The game will be broadcast on the airwaves of 88.7 The Tiger with the voice of Fighting Tiger Football, Jim Freeman on the call joined by Matt Payton for the Mid-South Conference matchup.


TIGER CLAWZ

• CU will be looking to break their current four-game losing streak with one of the tougher opponents on their 2019 schedule as the Patriots will be the highest ranked team they will play at the time of the contest.
• Last week, the Tigers dropped their Homecoming game 35-15 to University of Pikeville to fall to 1-6 on the season.
• Campbellsville had the first two scores of the game, scoring defensively to open things up in the first quarter with a safety then hitting a field goal later in the quarter to go up 5-0.
• The Bears went on to outscore the Tigers 35-10 for the rest of the game with all of their touchdown drives starting won a short field after four turnovers and a blocked punt including one defensive touchdown on a fumble return for a touchdown.
• The Tigers recorded more first downs and threw for more yards than Pikeville but were outgained as a whole and on the ground by the Bears with UPike also winning the turnover battle to help them come out on top.
• For the second-straight week, Noah Bicksler had a solid overall kicking performance, going 2-for-2 on field goals and averaging 38.6 yards per punt with two pinned inside the 20.

 
SERIES FACTS: PATRIOTS' RECENT SUCCESS

• This will be the second-straight season that the Tigers and Patriots will clash after not playing for the first time in about 30 years in 2017 as Cumberlands holds an overall series advantage 18-12 in the 30 meetings.
• Last season, UC took a 35-21 win in Williamsburg behind a 21-point third quarter with the help of a couple of big-play touchdowns on a 73-yard TD run and a 57-yard TD pass.
• Saturday will be the third-straight game in the series played in Williamsburg as the Patriots have round recent success in the series, winning 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams as the only Campbellsville win in that stretch came in 2014 when the Tigers took a 58-12 win in Williamsburg.
• In that 2014 win, Jacob Russell had a stellar day throwing the ball going 25-for-36 with 385 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and only being sacked one time. His favorite target in the game was Demytreus Gipson, who finished the game with two touchdowns on his eight catches for 153 yards.

 
SCOUTING UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS

• The Patriots have been a dominant offensive unit in their first season back in the Tigers' division, scoring 45.3 points per game while averaging 426.5 yards of total offense so far in 2019.
• Their offensive gameplan, based on the numbers, appears to be that of a ground-heavy attack as UC averages 237.0 rushing yards per game compared to under 200 passing yards per game currently at a 189.5 average through six games this season.
• Despite the gaudy offensive numbers, the Patriots' defense has been stout this season holding opponents to 13.2 yards per game, under 100 rushing yards per game, and only 184.3 passing yards per game even though they've held significant leads in all of their games this season, forcing teams to attack the air.
• The Cumberlands rushing attack is led by a two-headed monster of starting running back Martize Smith and quarterback Josiah Robbins with both averaging about seven yards per carry and combining for eight touchdowns.

 
LOOKING TO PLAY SPOILER

• With the Tigers heading into enemy territory of an NAIA Top-10 opponent, CU will look to play a little bit of a spoiler with a sub .500 record guaranteed for Campbellsville after dropping their sixth game of the season.
• The Patriots, sitting at 6-0, have only had one game that finished with a one-possession margin of victory as the recent success and with a looming regular season finale against fellow top-10 and undefeated MSC team Lindsey Wilson, UC could be vulnerable to overlooking a team like Campbellsville.
• In recent history, the Tigers would have to look back to 2015 for the last time the knocked off an NAIA Top-10 opponent, when they did it three times against No. 3 Faulkner and No. 8 Lindsey Wilson on the road, then No. 7 Reinhardt at home on their way to back-to-back MSC West Division Championships.
• In general, CU's last win against a ranked opponent was in the 2017 home finale when they topped the then No. 22 Phoenix of Cumberland University 58-34.

 
SHORT FIELD ADVANTAGE

• Through seven games in the 2019 season, Campbellsville University football has  been their own worst enemy at times, giving their opponents short fields either via turnover or other miscues.
• On the season, the Tigers have turned the ball over 19 times compared to just getting seven turnovers on the defensive side for a -12 turnover margin.
• As a result, CU has allowed a total of 96 points on "short field situations" classified as drives that start inside of Campbellsville territory.
• Those 96 points are 45-percent of the total of 215 points scored against the Tigers this season with 12 touchdowns and four field goals scored in those situations in 2019.
• Most recently, the Tigers allowed all but one touchdown in those situations last week against Pikeville and also allowed 27 points on short fields in their opener to Lindsey Wilson.

 
LOOKING AHEAD

• After Saturday's game, Campbellsville football will get a bit of a break with an off-week coming the following week as they will go without a game on Nov. 2.
• After that, the Tigers will honor their senior class of 2019 with Senior Day when they host Cumberland University on Nov. 9 for their final home game of the season at Finley Stadium.
• Their 2019 season finale will be played on the road when they head to McKenzie, Tenn. to take on the Wildcats of Bethel University.