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The Fighting Saints look for a big bounce back win against No. 22 Montana Western this week. The Saints fell to Western in Week 1, 31-24, in a game that came down to the wire. This time, the Saints look look to finish off the Bulldogs.
QUICK NOTES
* Turning over a new page: In four consecutive games, the Saints have recorded at least one takeaway from their opposition. The Saints picked off COI once last week.
* Home anomaly: Previous to Saturday's home loss to COI, the Saints were averaging 49 points per game at Nelson Stadium this season. COI held the Saints to season-low 14 points.
* Freshman running back Matthew Burgess is averaging 104.2 rushing yards per game, good for No. 19 in the NAIA. He's scored eight touchdowns this season.
*Burgess became the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 153 yards and three touchdowns against No. 23 Rocky Mountain on Sept. 14. Burgess is the first Saint to win the award since Mac Roche won it in Sept. of 2015.
* The last time the Fighting Saints had a running back record three rushing touchdowns in a game was when Carroll's all-time leading rusher Dustin Rinker accomplished the feat against Valley City State in the NAIA Playoffs in 2014. Matt Burgess has done it twice.
* Junior wide receiver Shane Sipes posted consecutive 100-yard receiving games in Week 2 and 3 before consecutive 63-yard outings against SOU and COI. The deep-threat showed late last week that he's capable of breaking the big play at any time.
* Senior running back Major Ali's 63-yard reception against Montana Western was his longest play of his career with the Fighting Saints. His previous long was a 48-yard rush in 2018.
* Sophomore tight end Tony Collins' 65 yards against SOU were his career-high for a game. Collins is No. 5 in the Frontier Conference for scoring touchdowns per game, averaging 7.5 points per outing.
* Devan Bridgewater's 300-yard game to open up the season was the second time the Saints have passed for over 300 yards since Sept. 3, 2016, when quarterback JT Linder threw for 330 yards, two touchdowns and an interception when he completed 19-of-33 passes against Montana Tech as the Saints defeated the Orediggers 27-24. More recently last season, Kolby Killoy threw for 309 yards against Eastern Oregon on Senior Day.
* Bridgewater is averaging 235 yards per game so far this season, which ranks No.221 in the NAIA. He's accounted for 10 touchdowns this season.
* For the second time in five games, the Saints did not put up 500 yards of offense last weekend against COI. The Saints' offense is averaging 429.7 yards per game, which is No. 13 in the NAIA.
* The last time the Fighting Saints were ranked in the NAIA Top 25 was September of 2016 when they held a ranking of No. 21.
* With a conversion rate of 46.4 percent, the Saints own the No. 7 mark in the NAIA for third down conversions.
* Keeping the QB clean: Carroll's offensive line has only given up four sacks this season, an average of .800 sack a game. Both marks are Top 10 in the NAIA.
* Senior cornerback Isazah King recorded a career-high four pass break-ups against Western. Prior to that, King had broken up three passes in a single game in two instances, against Rocky on Aug. 23, 2018, and then two weeks later against Linfield Sept. 8, 2018.
*King and freshman DB Zach Spiroff rank No. 4 in the NAIA in passes defended per game at 1.8.
* Saints coach Troy Purcell played at Carroll under Bob "Putter" Petrino, who posted a 163-90-2 record (.644) from 1971-1998. In Petrino's first season at the helm, the team went 2-3.
* The Saints were picked to finish seventh in the Frontier Conference by coaches and media.
* Carroll has won six championships, the most of any current member of the NAIA. Texas A&I won seven before changing affiliation.
* Western fell for the first time this season to Montana Tech last week, 35-12.
* Western won the first game in the final few minutes, converting a fourth-and-six for a 37-yard touchdown with :58 seconds left.
