ABOUT THE GAME

• Millersville was victorious in its last game at home and now faces the 15th-ranked Shepherd Rams, who come to Biemesderfer Stadium with a 5-1 record. Shepherd, owner of the No. 2-ranked offense in Division II, is coming off a 75-21 win over over Lock Haven while Millersville looks to bounce back from its 27-7 road loss at East Stroudsburg.
• Saturday is Homecoming at Millersville. Dating back to 1968, Millersville is 23-25-1 all-time on Homecoming Saturday and has won three of the last 14 dating back to 2006. Millersville’s last Homecoming win came on Oct. 14, 2017 against Lock Haven. This is the second-straight Homecoming match-up against Shepherd. The Rams won 34-10 in their last trip to Biemesderfer Stadium (Oct. 26, 2019). Millersville is a perfect 13-0 when scoring at least 30 points in the Homecoming game. Millersville, however, has scored 14 points or fewer in seven of the last 11 Homecoming games. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Redshirt freshman running back Jaheim Morris is finding some footing in the run game. He’s toted the ball 17 times in each of the last two games after totaling 23 carries in the first four games combined. He rushed for 95 yards against Lock Haven and 76 against East Stroudsburg, giving him a 5.0 yards per carry average over his last two games. 
• After a pair of injuries to the quarterback position, Cole Klayman entered in the fourth quarter last week and led the team on a touchdown drive. Klayman, the week one starter, draws the start Saturday as well. He is an efficient 22-of-33 passing with no turnovers.
• Isaiah Onuschak remains the PSAC’s leading tackler, averaging 10.2 per game. He's made at least seven tackles in each game this season and also has three passes broken up. 
• Tyler Tate’s 7 1/2 sacks are tied for third-most in the PSAC. It's also the most by any Marauder since Lee Rizzotto's 13 ½ in 1999. Tate's career-high of 3 ½ came two weeks ago against Lock Haven. He has recorded at least one tackle for loss in five of the six games. 
• Steve Sweeney and Tyler Patron-Penn are tied for third in the PSAC interceptions with two apiece. Millersville has picked off a pass in four of six games, including three against Clarion. Millersville ranks third in the PSAC in interceptions. 
   

SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Millersville has its work cut out for it Saturday as Shepherd rolls into town boasting one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses. Shepherd ranks first in the PSAC and second nationally in scoring (48.5), first in the league and second in the nation in total offense (543.3) and first in Division II in passing offense (373.5). 
• Quarterback Tyson Bagent led Division II in passing yards and completions per game in 2019, and he’s back at it in 2021. He’s already a three-time PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Week, and he leads the nation in passing yards (370.8), total offense (376.5),  and passing touchdowns (27) while ranking second in the nation in passing efficiency. He’s tossed at least four touchdowns in every game this season and has totaled just three INTs in 225 attempts. Despite all the pas attempts, he's been sacked only three times all season. 
• Ryan Beach has quickly become Bagent’s favorite target. The redshirt freshmanleads the PSAC in catches (46) and touchdowns (8) and is second in yards (556). Josh Gontarek is the team’s big-play threat. He averages 22.9 yards per catch on 21 receptions. 
• The potency of the passing game opens up the run game for Ronnie Brown, who is averaging an incredible 11.1 yards per carry. He ranks sixth in the PSAC in rushing yards despite haveing just 34 carries--35 fewer than any other runner ranked in the top 11. As a team, the Rams averaged 6.7 yards per carry. 

THE LAST TIME OUT

• Millersville: ESU 27, Millersville 7 (Oct. 9, 2021) - East Stroudsburg averaged 6.3 yards per carry on the ground, finishing with 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns from the PSAC's leading rusher, Gunner Anglovich. Anglovich entered the game averaging better than 100 yards per game and he finished Saturday with 139 yards, including an 11-yard TD run in the second quarter and a 55-yard run on the first series of the third. The ESU defense gave the Marauders few opportunities. Millersville ran the ball 44 times for 100 yards (2.3 per carry) and totaled just 96 yards passing. 56 of those yards came on one fourth-quarter drive from Cole Klayman. Klayman was the third Millersville quarterback to play in the game
• Shepherd: Shepherd 75, Lock Haven 21 (Oct. 9, 2021) - Shepherd scored 48 first-half points, including 31 in the second quarter. Tyson Bagent threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns and Ronnie Brown accounted for three scores--two rushing and one receiving. 

SERIES HISTORY

• The series between Millersville and Shepherd goes back to 1938, and Millersville holds a 15-7-1 lead in the all-time series. The teams did not play for 30 years between 1941 and 1971. Shepherd went 3-1-1 against Millersville between 1971-1984, but Millersville won 11 of 12 between 1985-1999, including a 21-14 NCAA playoff win in 1999. The teams met for the first time as PSAC East opponents in 2019. Shepherd has won the last three meetings, averaging 32.7 points per game while holding Millersville to 8.0 points per game. 
• THE LAST MEETING (Shepherd 34, Millersville 10 (Oct. 5, 2019): Millersville limited Shepherd--the nation's top-ranked passing attack--to its fewest offensive yards of the season but could not finish drives or take advantage of several short field opportunities. Shepherd was limited to 457 yards of offense, which was their lowest output of the season. Quarterback Tyson Bagent completed 30-of-42 passes for 326 yards, but that total was its second-lowest of the season.