ABOUT THE GAME

• Millersville is back at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium after a two-game road swing to the PSAC West. This week, longtime foe West Chester comes to Millersville for the PSAC East opener. Millersville comes into the weekend with a 1-2 record after last week's 30-0 loss at Cal U. West Chester has bounced back from its 41-17 road loss to Bentley in the season opener by winning two in a row over PSAC West opponents Mercyhurst (56-10) and Edinboro (41-37). 
• • Since Biemesderfer Stadium opened in 1970, Millersville is 139-115-3 (.547) at home. The Marauders, however, have lost their last 12 PSAC East openers with the last division-opening win coming in 2007 against East Stroudsburg (36-24). The last time Millersville won a PSAC East opener at home was in 2000. West Chester and Millersville have become traditional season-opening opponents having started divisional play against each other in six of the last eight seasons. Millersville dropped its first home game of 2021 (14-9 vs. Pace) and has five home games remaining. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• To knock off West Chester, Millersville will need to play complimentary football. Last week, the Marauders ran just 32 offensive plays and had the ball for just over 15 minutes while Cal U ran 70 plays and had more than 44 minutes in time of possession. While the Marauders rank seventh in the PSAC in scoring defense (20.3), run defense and sacks, it ranks last (16th) in opponent third down conversion rate, allowing teams to pick up a first down on 55.8 percent of their tries. On the other side of the ball, the offense has converted 8-of-36 (.222) third downs. That also ranks 16th in the PSAC. 
• West Chester is allowing 29.3 points per game with two of three teams scoring at least 37 points, but the Golden Rams did hold Mercyhurst to 10 points in week two. Millersville's third down conversion rate improving would go a long way toward sustaining drives and scoring more points. The Marauders rank 16th in total offense, averaging just 161.3 yards per game, and they rank 15th in scoring offense with 10.0 points per game. Millersville has entered the opponent's red zone just six times in three games and has scored on three of those trips. Millersville is the only team in the conference without a field goal attempt.
• Punter Zach Banta is tied for second in the PSAC with three punts of at least 50 yards and his long of 61 is one of four 60-yard punts in the PSAC this season. He's averaging 40.3 yards per punt, and has placed six of 17 inside the opponents' 20. 
• After making a career-high 16 tackles in week two at Clarion, Isaiah Onuschak recorded 14 more stops last week at Cal U. He now leads the PSAC in tackles with 37, and his 23 solo stops as lead the conference. The 2019 All-PSAC East selection has recorded 10 or more tackles in nine of 14 career games. Fellow linebacker Rafael Lozada also ranks in the PSAC's top 10 with 8.3 tackles per game. 
• Tyler Tate, the recent recipient of the No. 0 jersey, which is voted on by the team, has been active in the trenches. He tallied a career-high 2 ½ sacks against Cal U and now ranks third in the PSAC with 3 ½. His 5 ½ tackles for loss are fourth-most in the PSAC.
• While the Marauders did not generate a turnover against Cal U, they have picked off four passes in three games. Millersville had just five interceptions in all of 2019. Steve Sweeney leads the Marauders with two picks. 
• Redshirt freshman Jared Jenkins earned his first career start under center in week three. He is Millersville's leader in rushing yards and is 16-for-27 passing with two touchdown passes. 
   

SCOUTING THE WEST CHESTER

• West Chester's offense has been rolling the last two weeks, especially on the ground where it gained 242 yards with five touchdowns in week two and 260 yards with three touchdowns in week three. West Chester is committed to the run, totaling more than 40 carries in each of the first three games. After allowing 300 yards rushing to Bentley in the opener, West Chester has limited its last two opponents to 154 yards total. 
• As a team, West Chester is averaging 5.4 yards per rush, which is the best mark in the PSAC. Ja'Den McKenzie is fourth in the PSAC in rushing with 228 yards, but Phil Poquie (197) and Shane Dooley (112) also average more than 5.0 yards per carry and have each scored at least one touchdown. 
• Four different players have thrown passes for West Chester, but Dooley has become the primary signal caller over the last two weeks. He did not play in the opener. He went 7-for-10 for 208 yards and three touchdowns in week two and 9-for-19 for 151 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions last week. 

THE LAST TIME OUT

• Millersville: Cal U 30, Millersville 0  (Sept. 18 2021) - Millersville ran into the brick wall that is Cal U's defense, and the Vulcans' offense, led by quarterback Noah Mitchell, played keep away with an efficient passing attack that sustained six lengthy scoring drives in Saturday's 30-0 win over the Marauders. The Vulcans entered the game as the PSAC's No. 1-ranked defense in yards and rushing, and they certainly lived up to that billing in pitching its second-straight shutout. The Marauders managed just four first downs and ran more than three plays on just three of its eight offensive drives. On the other side of the ball, Millersville couldn't get Mitchell on the sidelines. Mitchell completed his first 20 pass attempts and finished 27-for-29 for 320 yards. He threw a touchdown and ran in another. He did not throw an incomplete pass until the third quarter. 
• West Chester: West Chester 41, Edinboro 37 (Sept. 18, 2021) - JaDen McKenzie plowed in from one yard out with the go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds left in the game, and then Obi Anyatonwu intercepted Edinboro's Hail Mary in the end zone as time expired to clinch a thrilling 41-37 victory for West Chester over visiting Edinboro at John A. Farrell Stadium. West Chester, playing its first game at home in 672 days, handed head coach Bill Zwaan his 200th career victory in the process. 

SERIES HISTORY

• West Chester has won the last 17 meetings and has averaged 48 points per game in the last 14 match-ups. West Chester has won the last seven games at Biemesderfer Stadium. Millersville's last win over West Chester was on Nov. 9, 2002, coming by a 31-24 score at home. 
• THE LAST MEETING (West Chester 48, Millersvlle 7 (Oct. 5, 2019): Millersville lost four fumbles, threw an interceptions and turned the ball over on downs twice, and West Chester converted those Marauder mistakes into five scoring drives totaling 31 points. Field position was also key early as West Chester's first four scores came on drives of 50 yards or fewer. On West Chester's second snap from scrimmage, quarterback Paul Dooley turned a broken play into a 50-yard touchdown run. Millersville's defense rebounded by forcing a three-and-out, but the ensuing punt was fumbled, and West Chester recovered at the Millersville 14. Four plays, later, Ja'Den McKenzie rushed in from three-yards out for a 14-0 West Chester lead. Millersville did not pick up a first down until its seventh drive. Isaiah Onuschak totaled 12 tackles, forced a fumble and recorded his fourth sack of the season. Chase Alisauckas also recorded a sack. Tyler Patron-Penn had one of two Millersville interceptions.