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The Fighting Saints head to Eastern Oregon to close out the regular season. Carroll looks to end the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
QUICK NOTES
* In seven of the past eight games, the Saints have recorded at least one takeaway from their opposition. Without recording a turnover, the Saints defeated No. 17 Montana Tech 30-19 last weekend, though the Saints blocked a PAT attempt and returned it for two points.
* Carroll's win last weekend guaranteed the Saints their first winning season since 2014.
* The Saints were ranked No. 22 in the latest NAIA Top 25. 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.
* The Saints now own three wins over NAIA Top 25 teams: Rocky, Western and Montana Tech. Carroll is 3-2 this season against teams in the Top 25.
* Rex Irby had two picks two weeks ago, including one he returned for a 37-yard touchdown. His efforts earned him Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Irby is the first Saint to win the award since Nov. 6 of 2017 when Parker Bernhardt claimed the honor.
* Road-weary no more: Carroll's consecutive road wins over MSU-Northern and Rocky have the Saints sitting in the upper echelon of the Frontier Conference. A final road win over EOU this weekend would give the Saints a 3-2 road record this season.
* Freshman running back Matthew Burgess is averaging 102.1 rushing yards per game, good for No. 15 in the NAIA. He's scored 12 touchdowns this season and his 72 total points are No. 7 in the NAIA. Burgess has four games where he's scored two or more touchdowns.
* Chasing a grand in La Grande: Matt Burgess (919 rushing yards) and Shane Sipes (906 receiving yards) both could hit 1,000-yard seasons this weekend in Oregon. If each player hit their average per game
*Burgess won his second Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 21. His career-high 183 rushing yards and two touchdowns powered the Saints. Burgess previously won the award 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.
* Sometimes, you gotta win ugly: Carroll showed it can win any style of game on Saturday, defeating Montana State-Northern in a gruesome, penalty-laden affair on November 2.
* Best For Last: The Saints are +32 over their opponents in the second and fourth quarters.
* Devan Bridgewater's 300-yard game to open up the season was just 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 236 yards per game so far this season, which ranks No. 24 in the NAIA. He's accounted for 19 touchdowns this season.
* Flirting with 500: In three games this season, the Saints have put up 500 or more yards of total offense. The Saints rank No. 20 in the NAIA in yards per game at 424.2.
* 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. This week, the Saints received votes but did not crack the Top 25.
* Good call, coach: With a conversion rate of 46.2 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 an average of .800 sacks a game. It's the No. 4 mark 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.
*Freshman DB Zach Spiroff rank No. 5 in the NAIA in passes defended per game at 1.6.
* 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.
